Arab women face widespread lack of freedom-study

Reuters

 
Sat May 21, 2005 5:46 AM ET

By Jeremy Gaunt

DEAD SEA, Jordan (Reuters) - Women face a pervasive lack of freedom in the Arab world and no country in the region meets international standards for protecting their rights, human rights activists charged on Saturday.

Freedom House, a U.S.-based group, said a study of countries in the broader Middle East and North Africa had found that women were disadvantaged in nearly all areas of society, including justice, the economy, education, healthcare and media.

The study, which was distributed at a World Economic Forum regional meeting in Jordan, called for Arab governments to eliminate discriminatory laws and remove barriers to women participating in politics and business.

Sameena Nazir, editor of the report, said such moves were necessary both as a matter of principle and in order to make moves toward democracy in the region meaningful.

"Women are half the population of the Middle East," she told Reuters in an interview. "If they are not part of the democratisation process in a full capacity, the process will be incomplete.

The study ranked 16 Arab countries, the West Bank and Gaza on various areas such as access to justice, economic rights and social and cultural rights.

Only three countries -- Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria -- scored at or above a level described as reflecting "imperfect adherence" to universally accepted rights standards in more than one category.

Many countries, notably Saudi Arabia and some fellow Gulf states, had very low scores.

The study said, for example, that women in Saudi Arabia could not be treated in hospital without a male's permission. A United Arab Emirates law, meanwhile, required a woman to give up her citizenship if she married a non-UAE citizen.

Freedom House noted some changes across the region.

Morocco, it said, had expanded women's rights substantially in a new family code while Egypt had increased women's divorce rights.

Nazir said the study had been completed before Kuwait's recent decision grant women suffrage.

"It is a huge development for women's rights recognition in Kuwait ... and in the region," she said.