Women’s rights inch forward in ME (Oman Tribune)

WASHINGTON Women’s rights have inched forward in the Middle East, but gender inequality remains the norm in the region and in some countries the situation has taken a turn for the worse, says a US study.

“The Middle East remains the most repressive region when it comes to women’s rights but we have noticed some modest gains which have led to a cautious optimism in the fields of education, labour participation and vote participation,” said Sanja Kelly, author of the report.

Researchers in 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa conducted hundreds of interviews with women to evaluate what progress, if any, women’s rights had made.

The report, published last week by US democracy watchdog Freedom House, found that Algeria, Kuwait and Jordan had taken large steps forward in improving women’s rights.

In contrast however, Iraq, and the Palestinian Territories  had fallen behind.

Women in Tunisia enjoy the greatest freedoms of any women in the region, followed by their counterparts in Morocco, Algeria and Lebanon, the study found.

In Kuwait, women now have the same political rights as men, and four women were elected to parliament in May for the first time in the country’s history. But on average, only 28 per cent of Middle Eastern women work or were “economically active,” the lowest rate in the world, even if some countries such as Qatar had much better rates.

More than four in 10 women in Qatar worked in 2007 compared with 36 per cent seven years earlier, and similar gains were seen in Algeria and Libya.

“There are more women entrepreneurs, more women doctors, more women PhDs, and more women in universities, than ever before,” said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House, which supports and monitors democracy and human rights. “However, substantial roadblocks remain for women pursuing careers.”

For while in Saudi Arabia, women can earn law degrees, they are barred from appearing in court on behalf of their clients, she noted.

A 2005 reform in Algeria improved women’s autonomy in the family and lifted a family code that had recognised women as guardians of kin and tradition rather than rather than autonomous individuals.

But Muslim family law continues to govern anything related the family: marriage, divorce, child guardianship, inheritance, Kelly said. 

http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=65827&heading=Middle%20East