Middle Eastern women are still far from equality

The case of Mahsa Amini once again raises the issue of the role and freedoms of the female universe in the region and in the Muslim, Shia and Sunni world. Silence reigns over Tehran’s recent entry into the UN body for the protection of women, with the favorable vote of Western governments. In the Saudi kingdom, behind the “successful” cases hides a daily reality of rape and humiliation.

Milan () – The weeks of protests in Iran, which erupted after the death of the young Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police who had arrested her for not wearing the hijab correctly, they have revived the theme of the woman question in the Middle East and in the Islamic world. And it is an issue that affects Shiites and Sunnis. The female universe is leading the battle against the compulsory veil and for freedom and rights in the Islamic Republic: and although he looks at Saudi Arabia (and the other Gulf nations) the reality is that it is still a long way from equality. Despite the numerous proclamations of Arab leaders and newspaper articles extolling certain marginal aspects or stories, reality hides a daily practice based on patriarchy, subjugation and segregation. And that, in the most extreme cases or in situations of special exploitation as is the case of migrant workers, it is made up of humiliation, harassment, violence and humiliation.

Tehran and the UN

Mahsa’s death and the tremendous repression perpetrated by Tehran, invoked by the supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and by the president, the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, are already part of the daily chronicle. Since mid-September, after the murder of the young woman of Kurdish origin, the entire country has been crossed by massive protest demonstrations led by women. The protests have spread – in addition to the capital – to areas where ethnic minorities live: from the Kurds in the northwest, to the Baluchis in the south, on the border with Pakistan. The heavy hand used by the police and security forces, linked to the political-religious leadership, has left a balance of more than 240 dead, 32 of them minors, and thousands of detainees.

Tehran denies the accusations of violent death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman. She believes that behind the demonstrations there are external agents and Western governments who want to foment chaos and destabilize the state. Few photos and videos manage to get around the censorship and network blockade imposed by the ayatollahs’ regime. But those that succeed, show spontaneous demonstrations, mostly peaceful and with a strong symbolic character: women who cut their hair or burn the veil, a symbol of oppression.

In this context of violence and repression, a piece of news that has remained silent is shocking: in March, the Islamic Republic joined the UN Commission on the Status of Women, with a mandate of four years and thanks to the votes of some Western governments. It is a United Nations agency based in Geneva, whose “exclusive” mission is “to promote gender equality and the emancipation of women.”

Various Iranian activists and intellectuals abroad commented on the issue, emphasizing the real usefulness of such organizations. “When democracies turn a blind eye to UN bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, which are usurped by regimes like the Iranian one – which prides itself on humiliating women, killing girls for showing a lock of hair, or legalizing the inequality and subordination of women by regulating their lives, schools and the media in a totalitarian way – those same democracies end up humiliating themselves”.

The latest example is that of climbing champion Elnaz Rekabi, who competed at the Asian Games in South Korea refusing to wear a veil out of solidarity with the women of her country. The athlete has already been arrested, taken to the embassy in Seoul and trace of her has been lost, while her family and friends try – in vain – to contact her.

Stories of a repression that is already common in the Iranian theocracy, where women are more than half of the population and are among the most educated in the entire Middle East, with a literacy rate of more than 80% and more than 60% in the university student body. However, according to Islamic law they have fewer rights than men in terms of divorce and lose custody of their children when they turn seven, they need permission to travel abroad, their testimony is worth half that of men, they vote and They lead but they cannot be judges or run for president. And Raisi’s rise brought a tightening of restrictions, with some banks or offices banned, and greater powers given to the infamous morality police.

Riyadh and cosmetic reforms

From Shiite Iran to the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf, the condition remains one of inferiority, despite the much-touted reforms, especially from Riyadh. Recently, the Wahhabi kingdom lifted the male guardian requirement for pilgrimages to Mecca and sanctioned equality in the so-called “blood money”. These days, the newspapers echo two pieces of news that allegedly confirm the growing degree of emancipation and freedom of women in the Arab world, in the face of repression in Tehran. The portal gulfnews describes as “milestone” the achievement of Amal bint Faisal, the first female jockey to receive a license to compete in horse racing “after having passed the entrance exam”. The Saudi Conservative Daily Arab News praises the opening of a “women only” restaurant in Gaza, thanks to Reham Hamouda’s entrepreneurial spirit and willpower: “It was a dream,” she says, “and it has come true.” The business guarantees economic independence for me and the other restaurant workers – who, of course, are all women”. The gastronomy business, he continues, represents an “acceptable path” for emancipation and “women from all condition and age”. With an eye, always and in any case, on the strict separation of the sexes so that they can “remove the veil… which makes them extremely happy”.

Chronicles that are not enough to erase a daily reality that continues to be marked by repression, even violent: in August, the Saudi authorities sentenced 34 years to Salma al-Shehab, a doctoral student at Leeds who had returned to her home country for a short break. It was all ‘because of a tweet’: her “fault” of her, having invoked more reforms and greater freedoms and rights. Abuses and violations that become real humiliations when it comes to migrant workers from South Asia, Southeast Asia or Africa. In Kenya, the images of a compatriot who emigrated to Riyadh, where her family who hired her forced her to breastfeed two puppies, have gone viral. In the video you can clearly hear the crying and moaning of the woman, desperate for her situation.

“She left her husband and children in Kenya two months after giving birth,” says Francis Atwoli, general secretary of the organization of trade unions (COTU). [la familia saudí] found out, the boss forced her to breastfeed the puppies.” “Our young women are subjected to indirect slavery and their dignity is trampled on,” adds the union leader. And if the field is extended to the rest of the Middle East (and North Africa, the region known as MENA), the situation does not seem to improve: World Bank estimates indicate that at least 35% of women have suffered situations of violence domestic: in Egypt, 62% of men (and 49% of women) are in favor of honor killings; in Lebanon the father has almost absolute authority over his daughters and, in case of divorce, the woman loses custody of the children.

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