Summary Report:

In many societies where traditional beliefs and religion are of primary focus in shaping the daily lives of the individual, the rights of women suffer.  Practices such as polygamy and female genital mutilation are clear abuses of the rights of a woman, but also to be considered are the rights to a divorce, access to medical care, maternal rights, or even the ability to conduct herself in public.  In Islamic regions, the division is especially difficult to make between religious and traditional practices, and the oppressions of women are manifold.  It is important to recognize these incursions into the rights of women, so that we may stop them.

The domestic and marital rights of women are an area that is strongly influenced by cultural and religious traditions and laws.  The traditional financial dependency of women to men has seen the continued practice of polygamy.  While Canada has discussed the minimum age of consent to polygamous marriage, in other areas of the world the importance places on virginity has seen polygamous marriages arranged as young as 7 years old.  In India, a woman may inherit property, seek divorce, or remarry, yet in Islamic neighbor Pakistan, she is blocked from all of these.  Moreover, the women Pakistani refugee camps are often blocked from receiving much needed aid due to the taboo against them being seen in public. 

Many cultures with strong patriarchal traditions exhibit continuation of practices resulting in high maternal- and female-mortality rates.  In cases of marital infidelity, women are subjected to harsh corporal punishments (beating, floggings, etc.), which would never be inflicted on a man committing a similar indiscretion.  A woman’s right to her children is also called into question in some societies.  A father is seen as the natural guardian of his children, while a mother is merely a constructive guardian, responsible for their care and support; in interfaith marriages, the children will be raised in the religion of their father.  Relatedly, the emphasis placed on the importance of sons has led to strongly scewed gender ratios; the youngest generations of China, in particular, are known for their millions of missing baby girls, the societal effects of which are just now beginning to surface with the children’s maturation.

In many Western states, burqas—the traditional head-coverings worn by Islamic women—has seen much coverage in the press.  Many women choose to wear the burqa on the basis of their beliefs, but there is increasing support in many Western nations to ban it based on concern for security, incompatibility with the national image, and the value and protection of women.  France is pushing a ban on the burqa, arguing its incompatibility with the republican image and security of the state, while in reaction to terrorist acts, Italy has had such a law preventing all face-covering in place since the 1970s.  Belgian federal law does not take a stance on the burqa, but allows its local municipalities to ban it.  Moreover, many institutional settings, without banning the burqa by name, require facial visibility.

Although repression of women is widespread in the traditional practices associated with the Islamic faith, the interpretations of the Koran and Islamic law vary widely, and many leaders advocate for the increased protection and rights for women.  Islamic feminism began in earnest in the late 1980s, with new translations and interpretations of religious texts leading to a more egalitarian trajectory, but it was as early as the 1930s that some Islamic scholars advocated for the formal educational rights of women, and denounced their mistreatment due to misinterpretations of texts.  Tunisia denounced polygamy, and granted women the rights to seek divorce.  In while in Pakistan, the increased rates of conversion to Christianity by women wishing to escape the oppression of traditional Islamic law has brought greater awareness to the discrepancies of female rights, and a reexamination of the regulations governing many harmful practices.

Repression and violence against women can only be stopped by continued examination of the conflicts that can arise in the collision between the laws of tradition, culture, and religion.  While discussion and reexamination of cultural laws by scholars and leaders are steps in the right direction, women themselves need to be encouraged to take part in these discussions.  The treatment of women that flout standards of treaties signed by member states under the excuse of the “freedom for cultural beliefs” clause is a travesty of human rights.  Education for women, access and participation in international dialogues on female rights, and an international call to accountability by their oppressors are key elements in this battle.  Victimization of women in any form is glaringly unacceptable facts in too many countries; it should be of paramount importance to right these injustices.

By: Katelyn Radack, WILPF International Secretariat, March 2010