In the aftermath of the political upheavals in the Arab world, women’s rights have largely fallen by the wayside. Human rights organizations are concerned that gender equality has actually taken a step backward.They stood at the forefront of the popular protests in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Habib Bourghiba Avenue in Tunis and Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli. During the so-called “Arab Spring,” women successfully fought side by side with men for a democratic new beginning. Yet the fruits of their labor have not been harvested.”We have observed with concern an increase in sexual assaults against women in public places as well as the veiling of women,” Dagmar Schumacher, the head of the UN Women’s bureau in Brussels, told DW.
The Islamic television station Maria TV, which has been on-air in Egypt since October, allows only fully veiled women on its broadcasts. There have been reports out of Egypt and Libya of an increase in sexual assaults. Schumacher fears a “step backward for women in comparison to the situation before the Arab Spring.”In Tunisia, there is an ongoing debate about whether the country’s new constitution, likely to be passed next year, should consider men and women to be “complementary.” Full equality, legally guaranteed in Tunisia since the 1950s, appears to be in danger under the government of the Islamist Ennahda Party.
“The women bloggers, who were so forcefully engaged in the revolutions of the Arab Spring, have been sidelined,” Schumacher said. “And when it comes to drawing up constitutions, suddenly gender equality is not so important anymore. That has led to a high degree of frustration among women.”Women are often disadvantaged – and not just in the Arab world – when society is being reordered after war or armed conflict, said Heide Göttner, who works with the aid organization Amica.
