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Redesigning the Social Contract Toward
Political Empowerment of Women in the Arab
Peninsula

• Rahma Hugaira
• Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow
• National Endowment for Democracy
• July 9, 2007

• Please note that the views expressed in this
  presentation represent the opinions and analysis
  of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect
  those of the National Endowment of Democracy.

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Overview

• Introduction
• Social and political background of Arabian
  peninsula
• Historical development of womens political
  participation
• The Social Contract in the Arabian peninsula
• Obstacles to womens political participation
• Recommendations

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Introduction

• Arabian peninsula Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait,
  Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Yemen
• All except Yemen joined to Gulf Corporate Council
  (GCC) on May 25, 1981
• Population of Arab Gulf States 33.5 million
• Population of Yemen 21 million

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Distinguishing Characteristics

• Geography (isolation) surrounded by three seas
• Religion the birthplace of Islam
• Economy wealthy oil-dependent states, except
  Yemen
• Tribal culture tribal loyalty is dominant
• Political System monarchies, except Yemen
• Paternal Social System services without taxation

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Regimes In Power

• States
• Provide free public services for citizens
• Ban political parties
• Citizens cant change their governments
• Judiciary is not independent
• Monarchs
• Have unlimited political power
• Can dissolve the elected parliaments
• Hold legislative and executive powers
• Limited wave of political reforms

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Political Progress Has Been Recent

Source Table composed of data from United Nation
Development Programme
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Political Participation of Women
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Women Voters are Increasing
Percentage of Women Voters
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Women Candidates are Decreasing
Percentage of Women Candidates for Public
Office
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Stages of Womens Participation in Public Life
Women in the Workforce in 2000

• Kuwait 31
• Bahrain 21
• Yemen 28
• Oman 17
• Saudi 16
• UAE 15
• Qatar 61
• womens participation in governmental positions
  from 199197

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Womens Political Participation Today
Source Data drawn from the United Nations
Development Programme
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Why is there a Lack of Development?

• Low percentage of female representation
• Changes in democratic institutions are slow and
  weak
• The spread of traditional loyalties
• People have become more religious

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Coalition of Forces The Social Contract in the
Gulf States

• Linked to each other as a coalition of forces
• Created tribal and religious autocrats
• They share common characteristics
• Promote patriarchy
• Fanaticism of sect and tribe
• Promote the same stereotyping of
• women (housekeeper)
• Men hold all the important, influential positions
• Wahabism
• Implementing Wahabisms directives by force
• Representing Islam as a religion of blind
  worship, rather than a religion of humanitarian
  principles

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Obstacle IThe Absence of Good Governance

• The social contract of ruling families in the
  Gulf
• The contract is between tribal men and ruling
  family
• Imposed as strict political order for life
• Represents tribal, sect, familial interests
  first
• Encourages religious fanaticism and uses tribes
  to keep societies closed
• Makes political loyalty a religious obligation
• Controls the media
• Absence of fair contract that protects all rights
• The rule of law is suppressed by the rule of
  the ruler

Regime
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Obstacle I The Absence of Good Governance

• The social contract of the citizens
• Fanatic loyalty to religion and tribe, more than
  to the rule of law
• Commitment to autocrats more than to institutions
  
• The followers of other sects and weak tribes are
  marginalized
• This paves the way for Islamic groups to build up
  support
• Yet, there is a growing desire to implement
  reforms domestically

Regime
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Obstacle II Prevalence of Unfair and
Non-egalitarian Interpretations of Islam

• All the religious scholars and speakers are men
• Examples of stereotyping of women
• Woman have inferior minds and religiosity
• No successful nation lets a woman rule
• Women are shameful

Religion
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Obstacle II Women under Wahabi Dominance

• According to Saudi law women are prohibited from
• Working in some fields, for example engineering
• Driving a car
• Traveling alone, unless she has a mahram
  (relative) with her or a letter from a mahram
• Being alone she must stay with a man can be her
  husband
• Being compromised she cannot stay with men who
  are not mahrems
• Being indecent she must cover her face and hair
• Using internet cafes

Religion
Propagating discrimination of women around the
world
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Obstacle III Tribal Culture Male-dominance

• Tribal culture promotes male interests
• All tribal leaders are men
• Monarchies boost the role of tribes
• Paternal grip of men in families
• Almost all lawmakers are men
• Most decision-making meetings are held during
  exclusively male sessions (i.e., dewanias in
  Kuwait )
• School curriculums promote the stereotyping of
  women
• Media promotes negative role of women

Culture
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Obstacle III Culture Stereotyping Women

• Promotes negative attitudes toward women
• Legitimizes violence against women
• Societies, including women themselves, look down
  on women
• Women are seen as a cause for corruption of
  morals
• Women are easy to undermine through slander or
  the spreading of rumors
• Women are believed to be unqualified to lead

Culture

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Redesigning the Social Contract Toward
Political Empowerment of Women in the Arab Gulf
Break through this coalition

• Work on grassroots
• Carry out political and social reforms
• Enforce the rule of law
• Link feminists with liberals and marginalized
  sectors
• Unite the agenda
• Increase pressure on rulers

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Recommendations in the Field of ReligionWomen
Should be Muftias
Actions for Civil Society and the International
Community

• Monitor speeches made in mosques concerning
  womens rights
• Set up dialogues for scholars on womens role in
  society
• Run long-term awareness programs for scholars on
  the role of women
• Create lobbying groups of women and men to
  counteract extreme fatwas
• Support and publicize scholars moderate fatwas
  on womens issues

Religion
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Recommendations in the Field of
ReligionMinimize the Spread of Religious
Educational Institutions Against Human Rights
Actions for Arab Governments

• Officially enable women to be a part of
  interpretation (ijtehad)
• Issue official fatwas that reflect the
  significance of womens participation
• Develop the role of official media in promoting
  womens rights

Religion
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Recommendations for CultureMove Activities from
Hotels to the Field
Actions for Civil Society and the International
Community

• Set up long-term awareness programs through
  mosques media concerning the importance of
  women in society
• Produce media materials that tell the stories of
  successful women
• Move NGO activities from hotels and conference
  rooms to the field, where women live
• Adopt plans to decrease violence against women

Culture
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Recommendations for CultureRemove
Discriminatory Material from the Classroom
Actions for Governments

• Include womens rights and gender equality in
  educational curriculums
• Reconstruct the social rules inside the family,
  based on new constructions of gender
• Adopt programmatic mechanisms to enforce
  international agreements
• Issue protective laws for women against violence,
  threats and harassment
• Act seriously to minimize educational and
  cultural illiteracy among women

Culture
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Recommendations for Regimes Reserve a
Percentage of Seats for Women
Political Actions for Governments

• Mobilize women in political parties to exert
  pressure to give women equal chances to be
  candidates
• Give women a percentage of seats in
  decision-making institutions (quota system)
• Set up new electoral procedures that ensure equal
  opportunities and financing for women candidates
  
• Enable legislation and international actions to
  ensure womens rights in economic and political
  sectors

Regime
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Political Action for Civil Society

• Adopt programmatic mechanisms to enforce
  international agreements, instead of only working
  on awareness activities
• Move NGO activities from hotels and conferences
  rooms to the field, where most women are located
• Coordinate between interested institutions and
  NGOs to create a single, accumulative
  achievement, instead of wasting efforts
• Put pressure on parties to give women equal
  opportunities to run for office

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Redesigning the Social Contract Toward
Political Empowerment of Women in the Arab Gulf