Commemoration of International Women’s Day and ArabWomen’s struggle under patriarchal and class capitalist society
As a 25-year-old Tunisian young woman I celebrate today International Women’s Day . I celebrate my achievements , rights and liberty as a human being and as a woman though we still have a lot to fight for . The fight in Tunisia and the rest of Arab countries is feminism to cut off patriarchy and achieve gender equality .
Women and girls around the world still work in more than three quarters of unpaid care work, and in many developing economies the informal economy affects women to disproportionate degrees and left without social and economic insurance , such as pensions, sick days , unemployment allowance . The pandemic has demonstrated once again that our economic systems depend on millions of women who live in marginalized and vulnerable situations and thrive at their expense: female workers, migrant women, non-landowners, and indigenous women were among those whose jobs and livelihoods were lost by the crisis.
Women in the Arab region have long striven against oppression and patriarchal society to obtain their rights for greater representation in their countries political and social systems . In the past few years several Arab countries have stated laws to protect women and their rights , but when it comes to implementation laws in fact are merely designed to polish the image of governments and ruling political parties .
In 2017 the Tunisian government passed a law to protect women and their rights so as to end with all the forms of violence . Donia Ben Othman , a Tunisian lawyer and political activist argued :” The state is required to take all the necessary measures to protect women under this law , from physical , moral , social , economic and political violence “ . Yet , in terms of implementations the law is remained a mere piece of paper . Does the problem rely on the law itself or does this demonstrate the failure of the elite who have struggled for decades ?
Tunisian women are still confronted with all the kinds of violence mainly during the lockdown . Abuse cases have increased five-fold since a curfew was imposed in March 2020 and the pandemic has led to violence escalation on women, whether through the military response to the crisis or the increased monitoring of women human rights defenders and their vulnerability to repression, or in gender-based violence with the attendant consequences of the numerous closure measures on women’s safety and diminishing their access to protection measures .
Recently Rania Amdouni a queer and feminist activist has been the victim of a campaign of incitement and stigmatization for several weeks, calling “anomaly” due to her appearances in recent protests though Tunisian constitution ensures rights and liberties . On February 27 , 2021 she was arrested , Rania went to the police station to lodge a complaint against the instigators of smear campaigns and threats against her. She had been accused of undermining public morals .On March 4th ,2021 she has just been sentenced to six months in prison . In addition , the human rights activist, Nawras Zoghbi Douzi is being abused by student organization activists with ties to Ennahda, as well as women who are protesting in the hall of Ministry of Women for their right to work were abused by the security forces .
In Lebanon the appointment of six female cabinet members on January 22 is viewed for many as a “folkloric “to reduce the anger of the protesters . According to the Lebanese political activist Nada Nassef women were appointed to the “wrong posts” rather than within their areas of expertise. Although women in Lebanon have equal rights but in terms of Citizenship and personal status law are unfair with women . When it comes to legislation and laws , nothing have achieved yet .
Personal Status and Family Laws :
Reforms of Family status laws are likely a main battleground for women in some Arab countries . Polygamy is legal and socially accepted like in Egypt although not widely practiced . Women in some Arab regions are murdered every year in the name of “honor”. Sometimes the law is the problem , that’s why laws against gender-based violence in some countries like Jordan are changing . What is an honor killing ? Why is it still happening ? How can these murders be stopped ? As Nawal Al Saadawi calls into question “ Could honor be an anatomical quality that a person is born with or not? If the hymen is a sign of a girl’s honor, then what is a man’s honor evidence ?”
Women and the access to education :
Such reforms are crucial to improving women conditions such as access to education .
Access to education remains a serious problem for women in some countries , mainly for rural women . For instance , rural women in Yemen are deprived of access to education and any public role . Aside from , educated urban women in Egypt and North Africa stand up to problems that are similar to those women encountered everywhere .
The slow breakdown of the barrier separating the role of men and women and traditions that restrict women ‘s liberty under male dominance and conservative society .
Access to education widely differs from one country to another . The enrollment rate for women is higher than for men in Algeria , Bahrain , Jordan , Kuwait , Lebanon , Tunisia , Qatar the UAE .
What is clear is that education does not open up the same employment opportunities for women as for men .
Although the laws state the protection of women , their rights and their gains , the status of Arab women remains fragile . Everyday we hear women struggles with no clue about tomorrow if they will survive or not .
How can we get out of this crisis and put a practical end to the forms of violence and discrimination that women are confronted with ?
