[proletar] New concerns for women?
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1044/fe1.htm 21 - 27 April 2011 Issue No. 1044 Features Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 New concerns for women? Should women be concerned about their rights after the revolution, asks Dena Rashed Click to view caption I shall remain free -- It doesn't take a long conversation before one hears the phrase, women in Egypt have enough rights. What more do they want? This is a question that is often heard in conversations with some men, often when women are discussing their lacking rights. However, over the past few weeks the question has been given a new urgency in the light of news that some voices have been calling for a review of certain laws that concern women. Debates in the media have included the right of divorced parents to have access to their children, khul' -- the right of a woman to divorce without her husband's consent if she forgoes her financial rights -- and the quota of women in parliament. Since Egypt has become more accustomed to demonstrations since the 25 January Revolution, it was less surprising when divorced husbands took to the streets to demonstrate some weeks ago in order to demand changes in the law that would allow them to see more of their children. Their main demand was to change the law that allows divorced husbands to see their children but not to have custody of them. Women's and mothers' NGOs responded by stressing mothers' rights, warning of attempts to take away existing rights. It has been particularly alarming over recent weeks that laws governing the rights of women have been dubbed Suzanne's laws, in reference to the wife of former president Hosni Mubarak. Nihad Abul-Qomsan, head of the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (NCWR), is one activist who has been feeling that women are being excluded from the revolution and even being asked to step aside. She believes that the debate on changing the rights of divorced husbands is meant as a blow to the whole personal status law, as she told Al-Ahram Weekly in an interview. If we want to provide a decent environment for men, then we have to do the same for women. There is definitely a problem with the law providing the right of divorced fathers to see their children, since mothers have custody of the children until the latter are 15. At the same time, the law does not provide mothers with an efficient way to attain alimony for their children. As a result, we have mothers with children but no money available from the father's side, so mothers end up having a grudge against the father, Abul-Qomsan said. The state, she says, has abdicated its responsibility in this area, letting society handle it in the way it thinks fit and making alimony something that a woman has to struggle for on a personal basis. When matters are like this, we can't just ask for a certain part of the law to be changed and leave the rest. The revolution didn't arrive to abolish women's rights, which is why we need a clear statement from the Military Council stressing the protection of women's rights. Abul-Qomsan said that certain Islamist forces could be using women's rights as an entry point into political debate, particularly when the country as a whole is busy with political arrangements. Women, she says, have been largely excluded from the new cabinet and from the constitutional committee that framed the recent constitutional amendments. There are also concerns over khul'. Over the past few years, and especially after the khul' law in 2000, this has been seen as a victory for women by many people rather than as a right long granted by Islam. Abul-Qomsan believes that voices now calling for a review of the khul' law want women to return to the situation before the law was passed. In the absence of reliable statistics on cases of khul', Abul-Qomsan believes that many people may be under the impression that many women resort to this law, which is not in fact the case. People need to know that the majority of divorce cases do not employ khul ', she says. If society hasn't been able to accept khul' more than 10 years after its inception, this means that government, education and the media have not played their proper role in showing that this right is important to society. For Abul-Qomsan, the Muslim Brotherhood has been casting doubt on the law. They say they are for Sharia law, yet they argue that khul' does not conform to the values and traditions of society. This raises the question of what kind of Egypt we want, and what kind of principles we want: human rights and democracy, or certain traditions of society? As an activist, Abul-Qomsan believes that the loudest voice tend to get heard, though these may not represent majority views. With no clear statements
Re: [proletar] New concerns for women?
Islam udah ada 14 abad, ternyata tetap aja ga beres. Kalo itu emang betul hukum auloh yg ngatur segala aspek kehidupan spt yg diklaim orang Islam, hrsnya udah ga ada lagi masalah sosial sejak 14 abad yg lalu. Nyatanya, masalah sosial di negara Islam itu justru jauh lebih parah dibandingkan dgn di negara lain. Artinya, hukum Islam itu ga lebih dr sampah doang. From: sunny am...@tele2.se To: undisclosed-recipi...@yahoo.com Sent: Sun, April 24, 2011 5:45:05 AM Subject: [proletar] New concerns for women? http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1044/fe1.htm 21 - 27 April 2011 Issue No. 1044 Features Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 New concerns for women? Should women be concerned about their rights after the revolution, asks Dena Rashed -- Click to view caption I shall remain free -- It doesn't take a long conversation before one hears the phrase, women in Egypt have enough rights. What more do they want? This is a question that is often heard in conversations with some men, often when women are discussing their lacking rights. However, over the past few weeks the question has been given a new urgency in the light of news that some voices have been calling for a review of certain laws that concern women. Debates in the media have included the right of divorced parents to have access to their children, khul' -- the right of a woman to divorce without her husband's consent if she forgoes her financial rights -- and the quota of women in parliament. Since Egypt has become more accustomed to demonstrations since the 25 January Revolution, it was less surprising when divorced husbands took to the streets to demonstrate some weeks ago in order to demand changes in the law that would allow them to see more of their children. Their main demand was to change the law that allows divorced husbands to see their children but not to have custody of them. Women's and mothers' NGOs responded by stressing mothers' rights, warning of attempts to take away existing rights. It has been particularly alarming over recent weeks that laws governing the rights of women have been dubbed Suzanne's laws, in reference to the wife of former president Hosni Mubarak. Nihad Abul-Qomsan, head of the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (NCWR), is one activist who has been feeling that women are being excluded from the revolution and even being asked to step aside. She believes that the debate on changing the rights of divorced husbands is meant as a blow to the whole personal status law, as she told Al-Ahram Weekly in an interview. If we want to provide a decent environment for men, then we have to do the same for women. There is definitely a problem with the law providing the right of divorced fathers to see their children, since mothers have custody of the children until the latter are 15. At the same time, the law does not provide mothers with an efficient way to attain alimony for their children. As a result, we have mothers with children but no money available from the father's side, so mothers end up having a grudge against the father, Abul-Qomsan said. The state, she says, has abdicated its responsibility in this area, letting society handle it in the way it thinks fit and making alimony something that a woman has to struggle for on a personal basis. When matters are like this, we can't just ask for a certain part of the law to be changed and leave the rest. The revolution didn't arrive to abolish women's rights, which is why we need a clear statement from the Military Council stressing the protection of women's rights. Abul-Qomsan said that certain Islamist forces could be using women's rights as an entry point into political debate, particularly when the country as a whole is busy with political arrangements. Women, she says, have been largely excluded from the new cabinet and from the constitutional committee that framed the recent constitutional amendments. There are also concerns over khul'. Over the past few years, and especially after the khul' law in 2000, this has been seen as a victory for women by many people rather than as a right long granted by Islam. Abul-Qomsan believes that voices now calling for a review of the khul' law want women to return to the situation before the law was passed. In the absence of reliable statistics on cases of khul', Abul-Qomsan believes that many people may be under the impression that many women resort to this law, which is not in fact the case. People need to know that the majority of divorce cases do not employ khul ', she says. If society hasn't been able to accept khul' more than 10 years after its inception, this means that government, education and the media have not played their proper role in showing that this right is important
