Kate Allen praises women

Amnesty International's Director, Kate Allen, has praised the role played by women during the Arab Spring.   Speaking at a seminar on women's rights during the annual British Labour Party conference, Allen said: "The voices of women were heard loud and clear on the streets across the Middle East and North Africa." "Women were equal partners with men during the popular uprisings. They were on the streets leading the uprisings, protesting, being assaulted, being arrested and being killed", she said. "In those revolutions, women broke decades of social boundaries." She also expressed optimism in the upcoming Tunisian elections, where half of the candidates are women. However, Allen is concerned that the progress made by women in Egypt during the revolution are being quickly eroded. "Women in Egypt have said it (the revolution) was the only time in their lives that they experienced equality", she said. "That is what they are trying to cling onto now."  Allen said that some conservative and religious parties in Egypt are pushing an agenda that seeks to curtail the rights of women. She also questioned the commitment of Egypt's military leaders to women's rights. During a march that commemorated International Women's Day on March 8th, scores of Egyptian women were arrested and tortured. Allen said that many of the women arrested had their virginity checked, a violation ostensibly to prove that the prisoners has not been raped by the armed forces. Allen expressed concern in the Egyptian leadership's apparent belief that only virgins are vulnerable to rape. Hoda El-Sadda, an Egyptian women's rights activist, echoed Allen's concerns. She added that the backlash against women's rights has been fuelled by its association with the old regime. Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of the ousted-Egyptian President, was long seen as a champion of women's rights. However, El-Sadda questioned Mubarak's commitment to the cause, suggesting that she appropriated and manipulated the work of NGOs for political gain. Regardless, this association saw the women marching on International Women's Day accused of being "supporters of Suzanne Mubarak" and the old regime. El-Sadda considers this an ominous development, and one that is vulnerable to manipulation by anti-women's rights groups. She observed that some groups are now advocating changes to personal status laws, including the curtailment of child custody rights and the possible re-introduction of obedience laws. She said that talk of female electoral quotas (which were used by the old regime to gain tighter control over parliament) have subsequently been treated with suspicion, a major blow to women in Egyptian public life. However, El-Sadda praised the ongoing role of women in universities in Egypt. Female representation in university faculties represents female participation rates in university; a rarity in Western universities. She also expressed delight in the university board elections which were held last week, where more than half of the candidates were women. However, while El-Sadda said that there is reason for optimism for women in the public sphere, she remained highly concerned about the personal status of women. She also warned of a potential "backlash against women's rights across the region."