Demand an end to Gender equality against women's rights and education in the middle east

Women in the Arab region are on average more disadvantaged economically, politically, and socially than are women in other regions, and certainly more so than in regions with similar income levels or at similar stages of economic development (e.g., Latin America, Southeast Asia, East Asia). Arab women's share of the formal non-agricultural labour force is relatively small, as is their share of earned income. Given the region's oil wealth and urbanization, literacy and educational attainment rates are comparatively low, especially for the adult female population. Women also are under-represented in governance and decision-making positions. All Arab countries have in place family laws – also known as personal status codes – that confer upon women the status of dependent and minor with respect to marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance. Because of these family laws, states that have signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women have done so with significant reservations. Although the sexual division of labour operates in varying degrees in most of the world, it is particularly resilient in the Arab countries. Women remain associated primarily with their family roles, and a kind of "patriarchal gender contract" prevails across the region. The cumulative effect is gender-based discrimination and second-class citizenship for women, albeit in varying degrees across the countries of the region. At the same time, since at least the early 1980s, issues pertaining to women and the family have been highly politicised, partly due to with Islam's cultural and political revival. One manifestation has been the re-emergence or expansion of hijab (Islamic dress, or veiling) in countries such as Egypt, which led to spirited debates among feminists in the 1980s and 1990s concerning the meaning of this phenomenon. Another was the stricter application of Muslim family laws by the state, partly to placate Islamist movements or revive state legitimacy. Islamic revival raised questions not only about women's rights but also about human rights. In contradistinction to "Western" conceptions of women's rights and human rights (with their emphasis on individual autonomy, choice, agency, and rights), the idea of "Islamic" women's rights and human rights has been advanced, with an emphasis on respect for family, religion, and community. The distinctive pattern of gender inequality and women's marginalization from economic and political life in the Arab region raises several sets of questions. First, what factors explain this state of affairs? To what extent are Islam and Arab culture implicated? What is the role of factors such as patriarchal social structures, the regional oil economy, authoritarian states, and the strength of Islamist movements? Second, despite the fact that all Arab countries are governed to some extent by Islamic laws and norms and all are part of what used to be called the "Arab nation", what differences can be observed in gender norms and relations, and what explains these differences? Third, what is the potential for a progressive interpretation of Islam that is in line with the advancement of women and the promotion of gender equality and women's rights? Fourth, how have Arab states responded to feminist demands for equality and empowerment, and what legal, policy, and discursive changes have come about as a result of women's collective action? The Arab world has been known in part for its attachment to religious and cultural traditions, for its limited political and civil rights, and for stalled or stagnating development, whether measured by economic or social indicators. Amartya Sen argues that the central objective of development is not income growth, In the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan, veiling is or has been compulsory, and the authorities defend it on grounds of religious imperatives and cultural practices. This has been especially the case in the Islamic Republic of Iran. industrialization, or employment per se, but capabilities in a much broader sense, defined in terms of what people are actually able to do and to be, or the substantive freedoms the capabilities to choose a life one has reason to value. Can human development be pursued in the Arab region in a way that makes possible women's advancement, human rights, and cultural freedoms?