Peace Watch

Women, Human Rights, and Islam
Poverty and basic security—along with political freedoms—are among priority issues for women in the Muslim world.

August 2002

Top to bottom: Nayereh Tohidi, Nasreen Mustafa Sideek and Amina Rasul-Bernardo.

A positive fall-out of the September 11 attacks and the demise of Afghanistan's Taliban regime is the sudden global attention to the problems facing women in the Muslim world.

To grapple with these issues, the U.S. Institute of Peace, with Women in International Security, organized a panel discussion on June 17. Pamela Aall, director of the Institute's Education Program, introduced the meeting and Richard D. Kauzlarich, director of the Institute's new Special Initiative on the Muslim World, moderated the event.

The panel included Nayereh Tohidi, associate professor of women's studies at California State University, Northridge, and presently a research scholar at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Amina Rasul-Bernardo, an Institute senior fellow; and Nasreen Mustafa Sideek, minister of reconstruction and development of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Tohidi said the increased attention to Muslim women's issues can be used to create a deeper awareness of commonalities, as well as differences, among Muslim and other women.

When addressing the issue of women's rights in Muslim countries, one must not focus only on religion but also on historical, social, and economic factors. While orthodoxy closes some doors for women, it has opened new ones for traditionally marginalized women. The veil, for example, does not always serve the function of seclusion. It also provides a means for the newly urbanized, the first generation to pursue higher education, and the more conservative women to enter public space. "It is a way for women to negotiate modernity," noted Tohidi.

Philippines and the Mindanao

Focusing on the Mindanao region of the Philippines, which has a largely Muslim population, Rasul-Bernardo explained that martial law and ethnic conflict have increased male dominance of public space, which has eroded women's status over the past 30 years. This new male-dominated orthodoxy interprets Sharia (Islamic law) in a way that restricts rather than protects women's rights, particularly in family law.

Rasul-Bernardo stressed that there is a difference between the educated, urbanized women of the elite, who lead the call for political and social freedoms and influence, and the women of the poor and displaced, who are preoccupied with the survival of their families. Interventions should target both these groups.

The good news is that women retain access to education and that politics is not an exclusively male arena, despite the growing orthodoxy. "Whichever individual, male or female, can best assure the survival of the family or the clan is supported by the family, the clan, and the community," said Rasul-Bernardo.

Kurdish Women in Iraq

Sideek spoke about the Kurdish region of Iraq. She noted that women and men there share the same constraints. However, the Kurdish region has international protection and a strong family system.

Kurdish women in Iraq, said Sideek, "are tempered and seasoned, positioned to contribute significantly to improving the quality of life for all Iraqis." These women have a history of leadership: heading households, leading tribes, and participating in armed struggle.

In spite of the strengths of Kurdish society, the long and continuing struggle with the Iraqi government has taken a toll. Fear and uncertainty remain, as do threats of brutality and of the use of chemical weapons. Education is available but the system is in need of modernization and expansion.

The role of women in the public sector has expanded in the last decade, though their participation remains limited. The 35 members of the ruling Kurdistan Regional Party Central Committee include one woman. Four of sixty parliamentarians are women. Besides Sideek herself, there is one other woman in the 25-member cabinet.