Oppression of Women in the Middle East
Take a moment to imagine being held captive in a prison, where you are tortured and violently mistreated at the young age of 16. Instead of planning your senior dance and thinking about the bright future ahead of you, your main concern is how to survive the next 24 hours. You are forced into making decisions against your will and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change them. Marina Nemat, author of the memoir, Prisoner of Tehran, experienced a life similar to the one situation described during the harsh years of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. After getting arrested in 1982, she was taken to Evin, a political prison, where she would spend the next two years of her teenage life. She was sentenced to death for voicing her opinion on the government, but, was saved from execution by a guard named Ali. After threatening to hurt her family if she refused, she was forced to marry him. The next years spent in Evin with Ali, included mistreatment, rape, and being forced to change her religious views to Islam. Ali ultimately took advantage of Marina because she was seen to be a harmless and useless young woman. Prisoner of Tehran demonstrates how women in Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, are oppressed and taken advantage of. By being sexually abused, controlled, and denied basic human rights these women are left psychologically drained and damaged.
The mistreatment of women in Middle Eastern countries is an extremely disheartening and serious problem. According to the religion of Islam, "Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other. As to women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish...
... middle of paper ...
...unts_Decision_To_Cast_Off_Hijab/2099074.html>.
"Official Laws Against Women In Iran." WFAFI. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. .
"Research." Peaceful Families. Peaceful Families Project, n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2014. .
"Sanaz Nezami's family in Iran watches her final hours online." CBC. CBC Radio Canada, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. .
"The Status Of Violence Against Women In Islamic Republic Of Iran." Association For Women's Rights In Development. AWID, n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2014. .
"Women's Organization of Iran." Foundation of Iranian Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. .
With such a unanimous resentment, particularly in the dominating religious sect of Iran, it is important to address the ideologies within the religion enforce the country’s patriarchal social structure, i.e. the “form of social organization in which males dominate females” (text 38). Furthermore, with the Islamic Revolution of 1979, these attitudes were the driving force behind many of the discriminatory laws that confined women in Iran to a life defined by its limitations.
2003 "The Conservative-Reformist Conflict Over Women's Rights in Iran." In International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society 16.1. Pp. 39-51.
Yahyaoui Krivenko, Ekaterina. Women, Islam And International Law : Within The Context Of The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 4 Nov. 2013.
The decree passed by president in year 2009 related to women's right were opposed by some of the conservative members of Parliament. Afghanistan has a cultural society where from the past and still up to this time majority of people abuse women and are opposed to the liberty of women in country. Still there are families who are ashamed of having a girl still there are families where a wife is considered to be as a slave, and still there are families who behave with a Mother as an enemy since she was not able to born a boy rather than a girl. The decree passed by President Hamid Karzai was due to the high percentage of violation against women in the country, where more than 3000 violence cases were record against women. This decree was based on the article 22 of Afghanistan constitution, which states that “The citizens of Afghanistan, men and women, have equal rights and duties before the law" (Afghanistan, 2004). Based on this article of constitution we can find out that men and women are equal before law and this law insures all the liberty given to a man will be same for a woman. Unfortunately, according to biannual report given by Human right commission "violence against women" there are four different type of violence practiced against women in different parts of country. The main reason behind the violence taking place against women are related to Economical condition of a family, literacy level of a family, cultural background of the family as well as usage of drug has caused several violation act by husband and their family members against a woman. In addition, the result of violence is almost same in every place of country (beating, Sexual abuse, forced marriages, denial access to education, Emotional and Psychological Abuse and murder). In this paper I will focus on the policies taken place by the government of Afghanistan and their failure; as well, I will focus on establishing some policies in order to limit or to band all the abuses happening against women in the country.
Trofin, Liliana and Madalina Tomescu. “Women’s Rights in the Middle East”. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice Vol. 2(1). 1948-9137 (2010): 152-157.
As revealed in Azar Nafisi's book Reading Lolita in Tehran, Iran's radical religious and political views are the driving force behind the domination and maltreatment of the country's people. Throughout the book there are many examples of this oppressive treatment which is enforced because of strict religious convictions. Nafisi compares the oppression happening during a tense period of revolution with various works of fiction that mirrors what is becoming life in Iran. The tyrannical treatment of Iranian people can be analyzed by uncovering themes found throughout Nafisi's book.
Tohisi, Nayereh. "Iranian Women and Gender Relations in Los Angeles." California Dreams and Realities: Readings for Critical Thinkers and Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik, and J F. Solomon. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1993. 149-159. Print.
Imagine waking up every day and having to cover your entire face and body, to avoid punishment, then serving the men in the community rather than working or going to school. Then, picture women as subservient and inadequate to men in society on every level. This is the impertinence that women in the Middle East face every single day of their life; it is how they are born and raised and it is all they know. In Malala Yousafzai’s factual autobiography, I Am Malala, the Taliban target Malala for empowering girls to go to school and they shoot her in the head; however, somehow, Malala lives to continue the battle for women’s right to an education. The book was published in October 2013 by Little, Brown and Company and it gives a first-hand portrayal of what life is like for women in Malala’s home town of Swat Valley, Pakistan (Lamb and Yousafzai 3). The issue is that women do not have the opportunity to educate themselves or exercise what many consider natural freedoms. This is predominating in many Middle Eastern Countries. Women in the Middle East should have equal rights as men and they need help gaining their freedoms.
Women’s rights in the Middle East are being restricted, therefore there are many different reactions. Some people were in favor of women having equal rights while there are some who are against women to have the same rights. Since before times, many countries in the Middle East have been taking women for granted and minimized their rights by telling them they can't do something or selling them as if they were prized. When women were treated as prizes it was a practice in Afghanistan called Ba’ad that used women as the compensation, for example a story of a girl named Sakina. She was a consolation prize so that her brother could marry a woman and the Jirga system told her she had to marry a 80 year old guy when she was like 18. This tells me
Middle Eastern women need to stand up for their rights and get educated to reverse the notion that they are servants and properties of their men. Furthermore, they need to rise up to their potentials and prove beyond doubt that they are equal to men. This practice would lead the path for future generations to follow and protect the inalienable rights of women. Finally, these women need to break the cycle of oppression by addressing these deeply rooted beliefs, gaining the tools to fight back, and joining forces to make lifelong changes.
The Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 created a lasting affect on the societal role of women through modern day Iran. Women in Iran before the revolution were not entirely treated equal to men, but despite some cultural perceptions of women being inferior to men, they had made progress to become socially equal under the Shah. Several misconceptions and theories have been published and studied to show the inequality of women versus men because of Islam. However, contrasting theories have also been made to show that inequality has little to do with the religion, but instead with the forceful nature upon which it was implemented in the revolution. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the Islamic and political history of Iran and its social implications over Iranian women.
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
Female’s oppression in the Islam religion and Islamic states is a valid concern. Violence between the sexes and strict decrees for cleanliness seem for Westerners to create an abnormally large schism between the sexes. Is such a perception true
“Women’s human security rights in the Arab world: on nobody's agenda.” 50.50 Inclusive Democracy, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.