On November 2, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues and the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs held a joint hearing on the role of women in the Arab Spring.
Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said, “In December 2010, the world turned its attention to Tunisia after a young street vendor set himself on fire to protest the government’s unjust treatment of the Tunisian people…Since then, we have seen dictators toppled in Egypt and Libya, and anti-government protests erupt from Syria to Yemen. And in each of these countries, we’ve seen women fighting for change. Whether it was the young female students marching in Tahrir Square, or the women in Yemen who took to the streets to burn their veils in a sign of defiance. These women have much at risk and their courage has inspired women around the world…As we watch the Arab Spring unfold, it’s clear that we’re witnessing profound change. But what is not yet clear is what this change will mean for the women of the Middle East.”
Ranking Member Jim DeMint (R-SC) said, “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once said, ‘Women’s rights are human rights.” Certainly, if women cannot freely worship and are being threatened with murder, human rights are not being duly respected. While the Arab Spring is presenting positive changes, there is much more to be done when it comes to supporting women’s rights around the world. Within the region, women continue to face public and private discrimination on a daily basis. To use Saudi Arabia as an example, women are unable to obtain drivers’ licenses, restaurants are segregated by gender, and there is unequal opportunity for education and employment. I applaud King Abdullah’s announcement this year that women will be granted the right to participate in the 2015 local elections. However, this reform is only one in a line of necessary changes that Saudis can make to embrace rights for women.”
“I believe that many women woke up with the Arab Spring, and they will not go back to sleep,” said Melanne Verveer, ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues at the State Department. Ambassador Verveer then described how women have fared since the Arab Spring began: “We do not know what direction Tunisia will take as the political parties begin coalition negotiations to form the country’s first democratically elected government. All political parties who won significant seats responded to Human Rights Watch’s pre-election survey indicating their support for the principles of gender equality and non-discrimination. They all, including, favored maintaining the country’s progressive personal status codes, which grant Tunisian women the same rights as Tunisian men. Since its election into the Constituent Assembly, [the moderate Islamist al-Nahda party] has also publicly expressed its disinclination to impose a conservative dress code upon Tunisian women. These are all promising signs…During the transition, Tunisia’s Ministry for Women’s Affairs, though small, was active in promoting voter education for women for the Constituent Assembly elections. This ministry has also worked to assist businesswomen in rural, oft-neglected parts of Tunisia to start up enterprises through microcredit. Throughout Tunisia, several women’s civil society groups have been established since the January 14 revolution, providing a range of social services, including civic and voter education. In this period of democratic transition, which has provided all Tunisians greater freedom of expression, these civil society groups are working tirelessly to maintain the strong role Tunisian women traditionally played in their society.”
Dr. Tamara Cofman Wittes, deputy assistant secretary for Near East Affairs and deputy special coordinator for Middle East Transitions at the State Department, said, “USAID [United States Agency for International Development] is focusing on women’s issues across all its programs in Egypt. USAID is bringing together women-led civil society organizations from all governorates in Egypt to strategize on ways they can improve women’s participation in elections and political parties. These conversations are specifically focused on increasing the participation of women candidates before the upcoming parliamentary elections. During this time of transition, USAID is continuing its crucial work to improve maternal and child health, combat violence against women, and extend equal access to justice and education for women and girls. On the economic front, USAID partners will provide 1,000 new business loans within the next twelve months in Qena, one of the poorest, least served areas of Egypt, to spur job creation and to increase employment opportunities for the poor. Women are slated to receive about 60 percent of these loans. MEPI [Middle East Partnership Initiative] is working with Vital Voices to create a network of women activists across the region, and to help Egyptian women’s groups develop their priorities for legislative change…Other State Department programs assist women who want to compete in the newly open political process. In the past several months, more than 200 women from a diverse array of political parties have taken advantage of US-government-funded training programs, which are offered on a non-partisan basis, and which provide everything from training on how to confidently deliver a stump speech – to organizational skills that will help them sharpen their party platforms and build campaigns that resonate with voters.”
Manal Omar, director of Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs at the United States Institute of Peace, said, “Few would dispute women’s role in the revolution. The question on women’s minds today is whether it is sustainable or not…Libyan women are not starting from a blank slate. Libyan women have had the legal right to vote since 1964, a right some countries in the region have only recently gained. Women also have a long history of organizing; the first women’s group dates back to 1955 in Benghazi…In 1997, the Charter on the Rights and Duties of Women in Libya provided several safeguards for women, including integration into national security, rights in marriage, divorce, and custody, and nationality of children. It also safeguarded their right to work, social security, and financial independence. Qaddafi’s regime mandated equal pay for equal work for men and women. In 2007, the Libyan government, in coordination with UNDP [United Nations Development Program], launched a project to address the legal ramifications of divorce and property rights, two crucial sectors that have great impact on economic empowerment of women. Libyan women see these rights as guaranteed, and anticipate that there will be opportunities under the NTC for advancement. NTC president Mustafa Abdel Jalil worried many women with his liberation speech in which he declared that Libya’s future legal system would be based on Islamic law. Most women claim to trust in the president’s leadership, but admit that his recent speech had them concerned. There is a strong emphasis that women do not generally oppose Islamic law, and in fact many feel Islamic law is the best framework for protecting their rights. Their concern, however, is with the trend towards imposing a monolithic interpretation of Islamic law.”
Mahnaz Afkhami, president of the Women’s Learning Partnership, and Sandra Bunn-Livingstone, Esq., president and chief executive officer of Freedom³, also testified.
