MMW - I Wear the Hijab… So?

Last month, Egyptian journalist Dalia Rabie had an enlightening experience when she was banned from joining her own birthday party at one of Cairo’s fancy restaurants, L’Aubergine.

Rabie relates that the guy standing on the door who stopped her asked her if the fact that she is – unfortunately – wearing hijab was mentioned prior to the reservation.

I Wear the Hijab… So?

MMW: What Women Wear: Women’s Clothing, Media, and Egypt’s Revolutionary Elections

Women in the Egyptian revolution have been a great source of international attention and appreciation. It is when women participate that you truly can call it a “people’s” revolution.

When the news started to come out about the elections for the Revolutionary Parliament, everyone looked closely for women’s participation; women candidates, women voters, women section in each party program, and women finally winning seats in the parliament. With the general fear from the dominance of the so-called Islamic parties affecting women rights in Egypt in general, and political participation specifically, and with the minimal success of women in the first stage, worries started to get bigger.

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WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

SCAF CRIMES!

Knock on all doors

leave no relative, friend, colleague, or a neighbor

Let them watch this even if you had to do it by force

If you can’t go to Tahrir,

If you have to go to work,

If you don’t want to make your family worries,

If you’re so confused,

If you don’t want to be in the middle,

watch… and make everybody watch!

That is your role, your duty, and your responsibility!

Tahrir Blue Bra

The Egyptian Army has been violently attacking, beating, murdering peaceful protesters. One iconic image that will remain from the December massacres is that of an anonymous unconscious woman, who had been dragged, viciously beaten, and semi-stripped by the valiant uniformed soldiers, her blue bra contrasting with her pale skin and her ripped shirt beneath her, as a soldier's foot lands on her stomach. This is her: 

The bra is in solidarity with this woman, with every woman who's been harassed or beaten, and with every protester in Egypt. Thank you for supporting Egypt's unarmed freedom seekers!

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Source: Tahrir Blue Bra on Twibbon

Not doing anything is actually "doing" nothing!

Through more than one discussion about what has been happening in Egypt since Jan 25^th and what citizen political participation is, together with my own fight all over to stand against violence of all sorts, I came across a lot of people who think that minding their own business is a good thing to do, that they are not meddling in something they don’t get, and in turn actually helping.

Earlier when I was talking in the “Sinister Spinster” blog about divorcees and single women in general and what they suffer, a lot came across me and told me “why do you care?” “you know nothing about that” and “it is not our business to speak about other women and how they are treated” or my favorite “she might actually like to be abused, why are you so sure she is in pain?”

And today, with politics almost everywhere, there’s a voice that really believes a true citizen should just shut up, and stop interfering in political matters, in fighting against Military Trials for civilians, or Emergency Law. Why? Because “we might not know everything”

Problem with that is that it not only puts no responsibility what so ever on the citizen when it comes to how his country is being run, but also gives everything wrong to just have a bigger chance and a more deeper impact.

See, when injustice happens near you, and you choose not to do anything, you in fact are doing something! You are allowing more injustice to pass by with no resistance, you allow more corrupt people to have bigger chances of poisoning all our lives, and you are forgetting that no matter how hard it is for you to believe, but there’s a very high possibility, next time, the victim will be you!

When your colleague is being bullied, don’t watch passively, do something!

When your neighbor is being hit by her husband, don’t listen silently, do something!

When your co-worker is fired for discriminative reasons, don’t ignore, do something!

When the woman next to you in the subway gets harassed, don’t stand right there, do something!

When your fellow citizens are put in military prisons, don’t shut up, say something!

When Emergency law is being forced in your country, don’t do nothing, you HAVE TO do something!

I won’t claim I know, or I should tell you what it is that you should do. Each one of us knows exactly what he is capable of, what the risks he can take are, and what the prices he can pay are.
What I know is that each one of us HAS TO have to a stance against all sorts of injustice in this world.

Be positive, take initiative, pick a cause, have a fight… show the world what it is like to have you… imprint your soul!

Just be!

Numbers Talk:

GLOBAL VILLAGE

How will violence against women look in a scaled down world, in a global village of 1,000 people? (the figures are based on statistics from UN, WHO and governmental and non-governmental organizations)

·         500 are women

·         It would be 510, but 10 were never born due to gender-selective abortion or died in infancy due to neglect

·         300 are Asian women

·         167 of the women will be beaten or in some other way exposed to violence during their lifetime

·         100 of the women will be victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime

WOMEN AND POPULATION

·         49.7% of the world population are women (3,132,342,000 women; 3,169,122,000 men) (UN Population Division).

·         At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations as a result of sex-selective abortions or inadequate care as they are seen less important than boys (E, Joni Seager, 2003).

VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY

Violence within the family takes different forms  

1-   physical aggression, such as slapping, hitting, kicking and beating  

2-   psychological abuse, such as intimidation, constant belittling and humiliation, including various controlling behaviors, such as isolating a person from their family and friends, monitoring and restricting their movements, access to information or assistance.

Around the world

·         At least one in every three women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her (L Heise, M Ellsberg, M Gottemoeller, 1999).

·         Up to 47% of women report that their first sexual intercourse was forced (WHO 2002).

·         Up to 70% of female murder victims are killed by their male partners (WHO 2002).

·         In Kenya more than one woman a week was reportedly killed by her male partner (Joni Seager, 2003).

·         In Zambia five women a week were murdered by a male partner or family member (Joni Seager 2003).

·         In Egypt 35% of women reported being beaten by their husband at some point in their marriage (UNICEF 2000).

·         In Bolivia 17% of all women aged 20 years and over have experienced physical violence in the previous 12 months (WHO 2002).

·         In Canada the costs of violence against the family amount to $1.6 billion per year, including medical care and lost productivity (UNICEF 2000).

·         In the USA a woman is battered, usually by her husband/partner, every 15 seconds (UN Study on the World’s Women, 2000).

·         In Bangladesh 50% of all murders are of women by their partners (Joni Seager, 2003).

·         In New Zealand 20% of women reported being hit or physically abused by a male partner (UNICEF 2000).

·         In Pakistan 42% of women accept violence as part of their fate; 33% feel too helpless to stand up to it; 19% protested and 4% took action against it (Government study in Punjab 2001).

·         In the Russian Federation 36,000 women are beaten on a daily basis by their husband or partner, according to Russian non-governmental organizations (OMCT 2003).

·         In Spain one woman every five days was killed by her male partner in 2000 (Joni Seager, The Atlas of Women).

·         About two women per week are killed by their partners in the United Kingdom (Joni Seager, 2003).

Violence against women is violence against humanity, against the continuity of this life.

Violence against women is violence against the essence of this world

We’ve been living in a male-dominant world for ages, and look what they have been doing … live, and let the women live… I assure you, it will be an amazing place to live in!

Source: Making Violence against Women Count, Facts and Figures - a Summary

International Women's Day ... for all Egyptians!

Hello everyone, every woman, every man, every Egyptian.

As you may already know, today is the international Women’s Day which is a very special day for me. It’s when all women all over the world try to highlight the main issues from which we suffer. And also point out the specific ones.

I have been fighting domestic violence against women for long time now and I still am, but I find it hard to talk it about at the same time all Egyptians were hit, kicked, ran over, and shot by police. The same time we are being attacked by thugs now, and at the same time we are electrified by the militants every now and then!

Today I will not be an Egyptian women, today I’m an Egyptian.

And as I have been saying for so many times;

VIOLENCE IS NOT OK AND DOES NOT HAVE AN EXCUSE

I would like to salute all Egyptian women and men who have been fighting police, injustice, corruption, and even their fellow Egyptians who are so immersed in the corruption that they are no longer able to be struck by it!

I chose to look for the bigger picture and just point out my frustration by neglecting women role in the constitution reforming committee, which included only men, as to put aside any battles that will distract us from the main bigger goal … The Revolution.

But I think now is the time to say it loud, stating a constitutional amendment that will prevent women from the possibility of running for presidential elections is not and will not be accepted.

But you know why I am not worried? Because I know that the men who were right beside me from day 1 eventually will not allow it either. Some of them might be reluctant to speak it up, but when the time comes when you have to take a stance, they will not accept it … Am I not right? :)

It's worth adding that I just received now a link to the whole constitution amendments that are to be voted upon, and language speaking it doesn't make the president a man at all. I'll keep on researching about them, and keep you posted!

Happy international women’s day to all Egyptians!

God bless us all, and God bless the revolution!

The demands of the Egyptian revolution at Tahrir Square

Demands for an immediate response:

1. The resignation of President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak

2. The abolition of Emergency Law

3. Abolition of the State Security Investigation

4. The Declaration of Mr. Omar Soliman’s commitment not to run for the presidency in the upcoming presidential election

5. Resolve the People's Assembly and Shura Council

6. The release of all detained since Jan. 25

7. End the curfew for the return of normal life in all parts of the country

8. Cancellation of the University guards

9. Proper Investigations for those responsible for the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators since January 25, and the bullying that followed the January 28

10. Dismissal of Anas ElFikky and stop the surge and the threat of treason accusations in the media against the revolution, and stop inciting hatred against foreigners in the streets

11. Compensate shopkeepers for their losses during the curfew

12. Broadcasting the demands above through Radio and Television.

The demands of the transitional period:

1. Drafting a new constitution

2. The right to publish newspapers without prior authorization, as well as TV and radio stations

3. Implementation of the rule of the minimum wage in 1200 c – “21 606 administrative rule”

4. The right to form political parties by notice

5. The right to establish trade unions and associations by notifice

6. Achieve true independence of the national newspapers, radio and television stations with all the requisite legislation and restructuring of institutions and ministries

7. Cancel the performance of national service in the police

8. Stop security control over communications and Internet

 

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