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Pickles, Inc.
INTERACTIVE MAP: The Many Lives of Muslim Women
Introduction
Muslim women around the world have lifestyles that vary from country to country, community to community, and family to family. In secular Western democracies, some Muslim women struggle to retain their religious and cultural heritage, while others embrace the freedom to worship, dress, and work as they wish. In Muslim-majority countries, some women find the legal, cultural, and religious traditions to be repressive, while others revel in the omnipresence of Islam.
Experiences differ across the globe, but laws and, especially, local practices matter. In many Muslim-majority nations, women's political rights exceed their rights within the family; many countries adhere to a version of Sharia (Islamic fundamentalist) law, and cultural norms are often even stricter. As a result, many Muslim women effectively have no rights, or recourse, to protect themselves -- physically, sexually, financially, or otherwise -- from abuse, especially by husbands. Even in countries where laws protect women, local social traditions can also drastically curtail their rights.
In some countries, reform has begun. Some Muslim nations are modifying and/or enforcing criminal codes, and others are taking steps to eliminate Sharia law. Israel, a Western-style democracy that has historically deferred to religious traditions on family issues, has recently passed laws designed to protect Muslim women and girls from abusive marriages; in Tunisia, too, women have earned equal legal rights in the home. Traditional Muslim culture has justified its restrictions by arguing that excessive female freedom weakens the family. Many Muslim women wish to prove the opposite. By expanding their rights, they seek to strengthen their families -- and their religion.
Algeria
Algeria's population is 99 percent Muslim. As in many nations in North Africa and the Middle East, women have broad political and professional rights, yet Sharia-based laws curtail their rights in the home. Especially in rural areas, social pressures discourage women from working outside the home. For example, women constitute more than half of the country's university student population, and they can pursue many professional careers, own businesses, and sign contracts. Yet only 20 percent of the workforce is female, and reports of employment discrimination are widespread -- and rarely investigated. Approximately a quarter of Algerian judges are women, yet the country's Family Code subjugates women to their husbands.
Under the Family Code, enacted in 1984, a woman does not have the rights of an adult; she is effectively a minor, and her husband (or another male relative) acts as her legal guardian. The code also permits men to marry up to four wives, consistent with traditional Islamic practice, though in reality very few Algerian marriages (perhaps 5 percent) are polygamous. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, after winning reelection in 2004, announced a plan to reform the Family Code. He has made good on that promise, but only to a degree: the elimination of some provisions of the code has been approved, but the rules on guardianship and polygamy remain intact.
In women's rights, Algeria now lags behind neighboring Tunisia and Morocco, the latter having passed substantial changes on women's rights in the family in early 2004. After King Mohammed VI announced Morocco's reforms, prominent Algerian lawyer and feminist Nadia Ait-Zai noted, "We're at the bottom of the class in North Africa. Algeria is now the only country where women need a man's permission to get married." Ironically, women played an indirect -- albeit unintentional and unforeseeable -- role that eventually led to today's laws; they were key players in the Algerian struggle for independence from France. (Able to hide bombs in their clothing and move more freely than men, women were highly effective rebels.) Algeria won independence in 1962, and since then the government has faced many political, and some military, challenges by Islamists. In 1991-92, Islamists were on the verge of a national electoral victory when the military cancelled elections.
Egypt
In 1899, a man named Qasim Amin published the first feminist manifesto in the Arab world, "The Liberation of Woman." The pamphlet advocated for girls' education and demanded reform of marital laws. These ideas were relatively uncontroversial at the time, but it was Amin's argument against the veil and in favor of European culture that provoked angry criticism. More than a century later, Egypt continues its public and private debate on women's rights and roles. Traditions shaping women's lives are not only religious but also cultural. For example, a 2000 study that estimated a staggeringly high rate of female genital mutilation in Egypt -- 97 percent of women who had ever married -- found that the practice was no more common among Muslims than among Coptic Christians. (Copts constitute between 5 and 10 percent of the country's population.) Though labor laws require equal pay for equal work, most women face strong social pressures against working outside the home.
In some cases, women's rights have been affected by largely unrelated political developments at home and abroad. For example, a 1967 proposed law would have granted women equality in family matters; before it could be passed, Egypt went to war against Israel, and the proposal withered away. In 1980, a year after Anwar Sadat signed a peace accord with Israel that infuriated Islamic fundamentalists, the parliament voted to impose Islamic Sharia law as Egypt's "chief source of legislation." (Passage of the law did not legitimize Sadat in the eyes of Islamists, who assassinated him a year later.) The codification and enforcement of Sharia law means that women have limited familial rights, with matters of divorce, inheritance, and citizenship all favoring men.
Yet Sharia law has not stopped girls and women from making substantial progress in Egypt. In 1970, only 50 percent of girls attended primary school; by 1998, the rate was up to 72 percent. In 1976, only 6 percent of women worked outside the home; in 1995, 23 percent did. In 2004, women held only 11 out of the People's Assembly's 454 seats and two of the 32 cabinet posts. In 2003, Tahany al-Gabbani became the first woman to serve on Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court.
France
The public-housing projects of French suburbs are filled with Arab Muslims, most of whose families were originally from North Africa. Muslims from other African nations have also settled in France, but the bulk of French Muslims trace their roots to Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia. On average, North Africans have struggled in France; Muslims represent not quite 10 percent of the nation, but half of France's prison population. Some observers compare the circumstances of French Arabs to those of African Americans in the slums of northern U.S. cities in the 1960s and 1970s.
Muslim schoolgirls were at the forefront of a recent public debate over the right to wear headscarves in public schools. The controversy about the nature of secularism in France evolved into a national conversation on multiculturalism, particularly the role of Islam. As French citizens, Muslim women have equal rights -- a law banning the headscarf in schools also applies to other religious items such as crucifixes and yarmulkes -- and some have thrived academically and professionally. Yet equal protection under the law does not always translate into safety. Rates of violence against women, particularly rape, are disproportionately high in Muslim neighborhoods; victims are likely to be blamed for bringing dishonor to their families, so most rapes go unreported. (Some Muslim women wear the headscarf in hopes of escaping the attention of rapists.) Gang rapes are commonplace.
Samira Bellil, whose grandparents immigrated to France from Algeria, was repeatedly gang raped by acquaintances when she was a teenager in the late 1980s. She explained in an interview with 60 MINUTES, "I couldn't say anything, because in my culture, your family is dishonored if you lose your virginity." Her suspicions were confirmed when her family, upon learning of the rapes, threw her out of their home. Bellil published a book about her experience and became a leading activist in protecting women from violence. She was recently one of 14 women from France's projects to be honored by the French government, which hung her portrait outside of the parliament building.
Iraq
Prior to and during the early years of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraqi gender policies were among the most progressive in the region. Efforts to eliminate illiteracy, which disproportionately impacted women, were largely successful. In 1970, the Iraqi constitution declared all citizens equal. In 1980, women gained the right to run for office. Yet real political power never extended far beyond Saddam Hussein's inner circle, and women soon learned that their rights and opportunities were subject to the political winds.
From 1980 through 1988, Iraq fought a devastating war with neighboring Iran. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, only to be expelled by a multinational coalition less than a year later. The wars and their aftermath resulted in sanctions, a weakened economy, and a loosening of Saddam Hussein's political grip. He responded by appeasing Islamic fundamentalists and tribal leaders, freeing local figures to re-establish traditional religious and cultural standards for women. At the same time, the collapsing Iraqi economy hit women and children particularly hard.
The U.S.-led invasion has freed Iraq (which is 97 percent Muslim) of dictatorship, but the future remains uncertain. Today, due to economic instability and widespread violence, a primary concern for Iraqi women is survival -- for them and their families. Infant mortality rates are high. Almost half of children under age 5 are malnourished and 193 out of every 100,000 births result in the mother's death. (By comparison, the rate in Jordan is 41 deaths per 100,000.) Street crime, including rape, kidnapping, and murder, has skyrocketed since the fall of the Baathist regime. Meanwhile, Islamic fundamentalist militias have effectively imposed Sharia law in many parts of the country. In 2004, the Ministry of Higher Education noted that 3,000 women postponed their university studies, citing security concerns
Many women have attached their hopes -- and fears -- to the new constitution, which remains unapproved as of late August 2005. One of the most prominent women in contemporary Iraqi politics is Dr. Raja Kuzai, a former gynecologist who serves on the National Assembly. Along with other secular politicians, she has expressed concerns that the draft constitution, as written, will pave the way to Sharia law. If that is the case, she said, "I am not going to stay here." Millions of Iraqi women -- and men -- are hoping for future developments that encourage Kuzai to stay.
Israel
For Muslim women in Israel, broad legal rights are not often matched by political clout and financial success. Approximately 20 percent of Israeli citizens are Arab, and most Arab Israelis are Muslim. Israeli Muslims have full citizenship, and women are equal to men in the eyes of the law. Arabs hold important positions in the Israeli government, with a number of elected members of the Knesset (Parliament); in 2003 Salim Joubran became the first Arab appointed to Israel's influential Supreme Court. Women in Israel have reached all levels of government, including prime minister (Golda Meir, 1969-1974). In the 2003 elections, nine Arabs and 18 women gained seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Yet political achievements by Jewish women and Muslim men have generally not been matched by Muslim women, who face challenges as Arabs and as women.
One challenge for Arabs relates to military service: in order to avoid the possibility of Arab Israelis fighting against other Arabs, Israel exempts Arabs (except for Druze) from mandatory military service. Most Arabs do not serve, and miss out on the veterans' benefits and security clearance -- and, often, networking opportunities -- that can help Israelis obtain good jobs. In many Arab communities, women are not expected to work outside the home and many must leave school in order to help their families. Religious and cultural traditions have also limited women's (and girls') rights in marriage, so the government has taken steps to give Muslim women more rights at home. Israel recently passed laws banning polygamy and child marriage -- a significant development in a system that often defers to Muslim (or Jewish or Christian, depending on the situation) religious law in family matters.
In 1999, Hussniya Jabara became the first Muslim -- and Arab -- woman elected to the Knesset, on the secular left-wing Meretz ticket. The same year marked the first time an Arab Israeli won the Miss Israel contest. Whether a beauty pageant should be associated with long-term progress for women is a matter of opinion, but the honor undoubtedly raised the profile of Israeli Muslim women, at home and abroad.
Jordan
Women in Jordan live in a mostly traditional Arab culture and are governed by a version of Sharia law. Their ruler, King Abdullah II, was educated in the United States, and his wife, Queen Rania, who had a highly successful business career before becoming queen, is a strong advocate for women's rights. Whether or not Abdullah is inclined to revamp Jordanian laws and practices, drastic changes would likely be impracticable; the king knows that any measures perceived to be anti-Islamic could lead to violence or even revolution. (More than half of Jordan's residents are stateless Palestinians, many of them young, unemployed, disaffected, and Islamist.)
Yet the country appears to be implementing some changes, however gradually. The U.S. State Department's 2004 report on human rights in Jordan noted that, unlike in 2003, no cases of female genital mutilation were reported. Sexual harassment is strictly forbidden, and is not thought to be a widespread problem. In theory, Jordan permits women educational and employment opportunities in medicine, law, engineering, and other professions -- and civil law guarantees equal pay for equal work. Yet in practice, many Jordanian women feel societal pressures discouraging them from such professions. Sharia law in Jordan mandates that male heirs receive twice the money that females inherit; women may not pass citizenship on to their children.
In late 2002, Queen Rania caused a stir when she issued a decree granting Jordanian women the same rights as men in passing citizenship to their children. Rania is Palestinian, and many Jordanians insisted that her decree was designed to create a Palestinian majority among Jordanian citizens. Opponents argued that she would bestow Jordanian citizenship upon hundreds of thousands of children born to Palestinian fathers and Jordanian mothers. (Certainly, some objected to the decree simply because it increased rights for women.) As a result of the controversy, Jordan's cabinet quietly weakened Rania's decree to the point of obsolescence. In the fragile world of Jordanian politics, even a simple gesture toward gender equality can have unforeseen ramifications.
Lebanon
Lebanon is approximately 60 to 70 percent Muslim, and most of the remaining population is Christian. (Estimates are less than precise. A national census has not been conducted in decades, in part because an official census would force a redistribution of parliamentary power.) The dominant powers are Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, and Maronite Christians, but the country is also home to an array of other Muslim and Christian sects. Cultural norms play a strong role in civil and criminal law: Muslim men may divorce easily, but Muslim women cannot do so without their husbands' approval; a married woman may only get a passport with her husband's signature; while battery is a crime, Lebanese law does not explicitly prohibit domestic violence. Also, the law permits drastically reduced sentences for "honor crimes" against women -- such as when a man kills a female relative for committing adultery or having premarital sex. In Lebanon, according to the U.S. State Department, "No person has been convicted in a case legally considered an honor crime."
Women can vote, and face no legal barriers in seeking political office. But cultural pressure is another matter: from 1992 through 2004, only three women won election to the 128-seat Parliament. Five women now sit in Parliament, and only one is Muslim. She is Bahia Hariri, who is from a highly influential Lebanese family. (Her brother, the late Rafik Hariri, was a billionaire who became prime minister, and his assassination in February 2005 sparked what some are calling the "Cedar Revolution." Her nephew, Saad Hariri, led a successful anti-Syria coalition in the subsequent elections.) Bahia Hariri's achievements go far beyond her pedigree; she has earned respect as a moderate voice in Parliament and was praised for her ability to calm crowds -- and for bravely appearing in public -- amid a spate of car bombings since her brother's death. In March 2005, THE ECONOMIST magazine floated her name (more out of hope than expectation) as a strong candidate for prime minister. Hariri did not attain that office, but she earned another election to Parliament. Lebanon remains unstable, with frequent bombings and extraordinarily high rates of assassination; in the worst-case scenario, the country could return to the chaos of its long civil war. It also might, someday, elect Bahia Hariri as the first female prime minister in the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia
The death of King Fahd in early August 2005 appears to have changed little in Saudi Arabian politics, as the new King Abdullah had been the de facto Saudi ruler since Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995. The smooth transition in leadership from one octogenarian to another may not bode well for Saudi women, who could be forgiven for not seeking change -- they have absolutely no political rights. A recently released study by Freedom House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding political and economic freedom, assessed 16 Middle Eastern countries (and the Palestinian Territories) on women's rights; Saudi Arabia received the lowest ratings in every category. (On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 as the high score, Saudi Arabia received 1.6 for Social and Cultural Rights, it's highest score. For Political Rights and Civic Voice, Saudi Arabia received 1.0, the lowest rating possible.)
Certainly, some Saudi women -- and many Saudi men -- approve of their second-class citizenship, which many argue is consistent with Islamic ideals. Women may not drive or vote, and must dress modestly in public; behind closed doors, rape, domestic violence, and child abuse are often treated as private, not criminal, matters. Yet women are not entirely hidden from the public eye; they have access to higher education and some sectors of employment. The public and private intersected dramatically in April 2004, when popular TV presenter Rania al-Baz was nearly beaten to death by her then-husband. She allowed Saudi newspapers to publish the photos of her horrifically bruised and swollen face, breaking a taboo and inspiring public debate on domestic violence.
Sudan
Life in Sudan varies substantially from region to region, as the Arab-dominated north bears little resemblance to the mostly black African south. The Arab Muslim leadership governs by Sharia (Islamic fundamentalist) law, while the African population is largely animist and Christian -- though a substantial number are Muslim. Sudan was torn by civil war for decades, with at least 2 million people dying from violence and famine. In the mostly Muslim western province of Darfur, government-sponsored Arab militias known as "janjaweed" have pillaged African villages, killing men and raping women by the thousands -- sometimes working in concert with government troops. As many as 400,000 people have been killed, and more than 2 million have been displaced. The janjaweed have employed rape as a war tactic, apparently not only to terrorize the population but also with the intent of fathering a generation of half-Arab children to African women in Darfur.
In the north, women face sexual subjugation of a different sort: female genital mutilation. Though officially illegal, the practice remains common in Sudan, with female circumcision rates thought to be around 90 percent in northern provinces. Less violent but more pervasive than rape and genital mutilation, Sharia law strictly controls the day-to-day actions of Sudanese women -- mandating the headscarf on the street and subordination to men in the home. Yet women in Sudan are not without rights: they hold about 10 percent of the seats in the national assembly, and they also serve in the military and on the High Court. Still, Sudan's 20 million women face an uncertain future. In July 2005 -- six months after brokering a peace accord and three weeks after becoming vice president -- former southern rebel leader John Garang died in a helicopter crash. Without him, stability may again prove elusive in one of the world's most desperate countries -- for men and women alike.
United States
Bolstered by immigration and conversion, Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States. For many people, Islam has been inextricably linked with Arab Americans ever since the attacks of September 11, 2001, but the numbers tell a more complicated story: none of the hijackers was an American citizen (or a long-term resident), most Arab Americans are Christian, and only a quarter of American Muslims are Arab. Estimates vary, but the American Muslim population is thought to be at least 3 million. According to the U.S. State Department, the greatest proportion of practicing American Muslims -- approximately a third -- are South Asian; another 30 percent are African American. The United States is also home to tens of thousands of sub-Saharan African, European, and white American Muslims, among other groups.
With such ethnic and cultural diversity, the experience of American Muslim women varies greatly from community to community and family to family; many work outside the home and wear the latest fashions, while others live a more traditional Islamic lifestyle. (Some Muslim women who wear the headscarf in public are verbally harassed, a curious twist on the state-enforced dress codes in fundamentalist countries.) Significantly, U.S. laws protect Muslim women in many ways that Sharia law does not. Muslim American women are free to practice their religion, dress as they wish, vote and run for office, and generally enjoy the freedoms of the United States -- including divorce, orders of protection, and child-custody rights unavailable to women under some interpretations of Islamic law. As is the case in all American communities, domestic violence often goes unreported.
Geopolitical developments have resulted in a vast increase in media coverage of Islam and Muslims, and many Americans are far more knowledgeable about Islam than they were prior to 2001. Yet awareness does not always equal understanding: the Council on American Islamic Relations has found that reports of discrimination, violence, and harassment against Muslims in the United States have increased by 300 percent since 2000.
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