Arab Women and Reform

What do Arab Women Think of Reform?

The Arab Reform Initiative is pleased to announce the launch of a new research project that seeks to conduct a cross-cutting analysis of issues related to women and reform. The study aims to examine conceptions of reform among Arab women at two levels we view as intertwined: what they consider to be the focal points of reform that concern society as a whole, and what they themselves wish to gain from it. In relation to the first level, we make the assumption that women, as a specific “category” with common characteristics, have a certain perspective that can shed qualitative light on the concept of reform itself, and on the setting of its priorities. Of course, this assumption takes account of the differing realities of women, based on highly significant geographic, social and intellectual structures; however, since this fact applies to any subject it does not detract from the importance of the research. At the second, related, level, the study seeks to explore the extent to which demands for reform have been formulated that are specific to women, as expressed by the women interviewees. Here, the study aims to present women’s own perceptions of their interests, what they see as the priority, and what they are prepared to compromise on or concede.

All of the above starts from the premise that Arab women are “active”, and that they develop strategies, whether in a conscious, planned way or instinctually, to safeguard their interests and ambitions.

We choose to begin by studying the situation as it currently stands in two countries, Morocco and Jordan (see the framework reports below). We selected Morocco due to its importance within its regional environment, and because it recently passed a new family code, the Mudawana, which represents a progressive piece of legislation with respect to personal status and family law. Its enactment was preceded by a grinding conflict that created sharp polarization between opposing movements, each who took to the streets in million-strong demonstrations. Moreover, the subsequent implementation of the law has presented significant difficulties. Jordan was selected because it leads the countries of the Mashreq in international studies on women in terms of achievements made. Moreover, it stands at the intersection of several major issues, from neighbouring Palestine and Iraq to its efforts to marry a tribal/Bedouin structure with an accelerating pace of urbanisation, all of which make Jordan an interesting example.

Interviews will be conducted in these two countries with a select number of women. We have endeavoured to ensure that the sample reflects the broadest possible range of groups in social, cultural, geographic, and age-demographic terms. For each country we will present an analysis of the framework of the study, providing a snapshot of the two realities. ARI will publish the interviews successively, to be followed by an analytical report that will conclude the first stage of the research project, and allow the methodology to be evaluated and adjusted where necessary.

Our specific interest in this subject stems from the central position that women occupy within the reform discourse in the Arab region, and in the arrangements that are made under its auspices. This centrality is perhaps justifiable when viewed as an expression of a desire to improve the conditions in which “half of society” lives, including those concerning the rights of women and their place in the public sphere, and as an attempt to reconcile the reality of Arab women with constitutions and laws that refer to equality among all citizens without discrimination. In contrast, the issue of women is frequently invoked – in an emotional and sporadic manner – in the anti-reform discourse generally, in order to discredit it as alien to the needs of the local reality and value system, or to accuse it of harbouring hidden intentions to fragment the community and the family by “inciting” women. In order to undermine this approach one must highlight the actual, and not hypothetical, reality. That women are present and active within all domains of society, and enter into a range of conflicts, is impossible to deny or conceal. This reality requires, indeed demands, that the resulting conclusions are drawn, and the necessary legal, administrative, and intellectual tools are provided to contend with it.

The proposed reforms often prioritize what is commonly referred to in the field as the “empowerment of women,” which focuses on specific groups of women who can be appointed to senior official positions. And thus the achievement is symbolic, if not purely formal. These approaches tend to overlook women’s social status and the role they actually play in terms of employment: it is argued, for example, that women “went out to work” only recently; however, this is an external reading of the reality, since the overwhelming majority of Arab women have worked since time immemorial in shepherding, agriculture, and crafts, and subsequently in teaching, nursing, industry, services, etc... Likewise, there is a tendency to amplify phenomena that are harmful to women but in reality are extremely marginal. As a result, a plethora of studies conducted and positions adopted on women in the region tend to ignore the Arab woman’s perspective on the subject, which in our view is that which most accurately expresses the dynamics of the reality.

Nahla Chahal, the Arab Reform Initiative (Translated by Katie Hesketh)

• Studies
• Interviews of women
• Press articles