Sexual rights in Muslim societies
A few weeks after the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11th 2001, 19 representatives of non governmental organisations and experts from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen met in Istanbul for the landmark meeting, ‘Women, Sexuality and Social Change in the Middle East and Mediterranean’.
The meeting, the first of its kind, aimed to break taboos around sexuality and the role sexuality plays in disempowering women in the Middle East and North Africa. The meeting also put into context the links between sexuality, gender equality, and social and political struggles.
All the participants were working on women’s sexual oppression issues, including honour crimes, female genital mutilation (FGM), virginity tests or sexuality and war. They issued a press statement after the meeting stating that sexuality and its control is linked to systems of power, politics, law and domination in society.
The analysis at that time was that increasing global militarism, conservatism and nationalism would add to the mechanisms of political, economic, social, legal and cultural manipulation that oppress women’s sexuality. This has been proved true over subsequent years. The meeting led to the foundation of an international solidarity network, The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR).
CSBR is founded on the principle that all people have the right to bodily and sexual integrity and freedom. It takes an inclusive and affirmative approach to sexuality. CSBR has played a crucial role in establishing the notion of sexual rights — previously non-existent as a term in Muslim societies — as well as in breaking taboos around lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender rights. It has also strengthened the work of its members by building links between regions, themes and ways of thinking. The coalition now includes forty NGOs and academics from the Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia.
Many national laws in the Middle East and South and South-East Asia include discriminatory provisions sanctioning violations of human rights: honour killing perpetrators receive sentence reductions, marital rape is not criminalised, abortion is illegal, same-sex relations are criminalised, and so on. These violations extend beyond sexual, reproductive and bodily rights and gender equality. They are major barriers to development and equality as they obstruct access to economic, political, social and educational opportunities for women and young people.
The so-called global war on terror, which began in response to the 2001 attacks, led to growing Islamophobia and the tendency to view Islam as a monolithic religion, rather than recognising the diversity of Islamic interpretations and religious practices in Muslim societies. Increasing militarisation and violence, as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, have led to an unprecedented expansion of Muslim religious and nationalist ideologies, and have marginalised existing liberal voices in the region. Consequently, CSBR has had to work harder to open up spaces for liberal voices on sexuality and rights.
In this challenging context, in order to achieve gender equality, social justice and democratisation, it remains essential to:
Women for Women’s Human Rights — New Ways, Inönü Caddesi, 29/6 Saadet Apt, Gümüssuyu, Istanbul, Turkey (34437) pinar_ilk@superonline.com
T +90 212 2510029
F +90 212 2510065
The meeting, the first of its kind, aimed to break taboos around sexuality and the role sexuality plays in disempowering women in the Middle East and North Africa. The meeting also put into context the links between sexuality, gender equality, and social and political struggles.
All the participants were working on women’s sexual oppression issues, including honour crimes, female genital mutilation (FGM), virginity tests or sexuality and war. They issued a press statement after the meeting stating that sexuality and its control is linked to systems of power, politics, law and domination in society.
The analysis at that time was that increasing global militarism, conservatism and nationalism would add to the mechanisms of political, economic, social, legal and cultural manipulation that oppress women’s sexuality. This has been proved true over subsequent years. The meeting led to the foundation of an international solidarity network, The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR).
CSBR is founded on the principle that all people have the right to bodily and sexual integrity and freedom. It takes an inclusive and affirmative approach to sexuality. CSBR has played a crucial role in establishing the notion of sexual rights — previously non-existent as a term in Muslim societies — as well as in breaking taboos around lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender rights. It has also strengthened the work of its members by building links between regions, themes and ways of thinking. The coalition now includes forty NGOs and academics from the Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia.
Many national laws in the Middle East and South and South-East Asia include discriminatory provisions sanctioning violations of human rights: honour killing perpetrators receive sentence reductions, marital rape is not criminalised, abortion is illegal, same-sex relations are criminalised, and so on. These violations extend beyond sexual, reproductive and bodily rights and gender equality. They are major barriers to development and equality as they obstruct access to economic, political, social and educational opportunities for women and young people.
The so-called global war on terror, which began in response to the 2001 attacks, led to growing Islamophobia and the tendency to view Islam as a monolithic religion, rather than recognising the diversity of Islamic interpretations and religious practices in Muslim societies. Increasing militarisation and violence, as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, have led to an unprecedented expansion of Muslim religious and nationalist ideologies, and have marginalised existing liberal voices in the region. Consequently, CSBR has had to work harder to open up spaces for liberal voices on sexuality and rights.
In this challenging context, in order to achieve gender equality, social justice and democratisation, it remains essential to:
- revise and reinforce legal systems to better protect rights, particularly women’s rights
- adopt and implement rights-based education and health programmes and policies
- increase budget allocations for programmes and organisations to ensure gender equality
- develop policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate the feminisation of poverty and HIV and AIDS.
Women for Women’s Human Rights — New Ways, Inönü Caddesi, 29/6 Saadet Apt, Gümüssuyu, Istanbul, Turkey (34437) pinar_ilk@superonline.com
T +90 212 2510029
F +90 212 2510065
