Post #9: Sources didn't give a lot of information....meh

Women’s Rights General Information:

http://www.theinterdependent.com/111206/supporting-women%E2%80%99s-rights-in-the-middle-east-begins-at-home

-Women were involved in Tahrir Square, yet they aren’t involved in constitutional reform committee in Egypt

-Libya’s Transitional National Council says that Islamic law=comes first including polygamy

Clinton and Situation in the Middle East:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/11/hillary-clinton-on-middle-east-womens-revolution.html

-Tunisia=2 women appointed in transitional government, Egypt=women shut out of the committees and councils deciding the shape of Egypt’s new democracy

-Data=countries w/ low rights for women suffer economically and politically

-There has been a petition for getting/encouraging a woman to get a female legal expert to help creating the new Egypt government, launched by Egyptian women

This information mainly focuses on the the lack of changes in general when it comes to the Middle East. The second source shows that Hillary Clinton is trying to change this, and that change might be around the corner.

Post #8: Article with Information on Iran and Saudi Arabia, YAY!

Blog Comparing Saudi Arabia and Iran:

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/27/zakaria-comparing-the-status-of-women-in-iran-and-saudi-arabia%E2%80%A8/

-In Saudi Arabia, not many co-ed facilities exist, but it is trying to be changed, but it could be said that women aren’t integrated into the workforce well

-Some Comparisons between Iran and S.A= Women can drive in Iran, not in S.A, Saudi women have been banned from voting for years until recently while in Iran women’s suffrage began in 1963

-2010: Iran=3% ministerial positions were female and 5% of parliament seats, in S.A none of the above positions were available to women

-For the World Economic Forum: Iran was ranked 123/131 and Saudi Arabia was 129/131

-As for political rights: Iran was 129/131 and SA was 131/131

This blog comparing Saudi Arabia and Iran was definitely a god-send, it covered two of the three countries I wanted to focus on for my presentation!!! It gave a more positive light on Iran's situation when it comes to women's rights (which is very difficult to find). Both countries have difficult situations for women, but at least in Iran there is demonstration of progress.  

Post #7: More Info on Iraqi Women

Iraq Women’s Rights:

http://news.change.org/stories/women-s-rights-in-iraq-decreasing-by-the-day

-Iraq women could divorce, inherit property, study work and live under Saddam

-New Iraqi constitution now contains laws=no law can contradict rulings of Islam, modern laws and politics= under control of conservative Islamic groups, with support of Iranian government

-Iraq women now risk their lives going to school or work, under the occupation women now have decreased security and decreased rights, being targets of religious groups as victims of kidnapping and murder b/c of dressing “inappropriately or attending university 

-If their husbands are hurt, detained or murdered women are economically threatened

Iraq Women’s Rights-Aljeezera:

http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2010/03/201031965344341860.html

- On July 14^th 1958 Personal Status Law=gave Iraqi women many of the rights Western women do today

-Women are more under pressure to marry young for better security

-Prior to occupation there was rarely an abduction of a woman

This set-back might be related to the modern and secular standard of living decline since 2003

-Also many women flee their homes when their husbands were arrested by occupation forces, this happens b/c a household w/o a male figure became more vulnerable sine 2003  

Both Have information that proves that women are still under extreme oppression. It is especially interesting that Saddam, someone who is seen as a cruel and evil man by the US actually gave women in the Middle East more rights than they have currently under US occupation. That information really shows that perspective is very important when it comes to history.

Post #6 Iran Information

Hey people, this blog focuses on the third country I have decided to focus on: Iran. The specific infromation focuses on the One Million Signatures Campaign, but also gives some backround on women's rights in Iran as well.

Iran Women’s Rights:

http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/10/31/fighting-women-s-rights-iran

-One Million Signatures Campaign is a petition with a simple remises: Iran’s parliament should pass or change laws to allow equal rights in marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance.

-There is a very educated and engaged female population in Iran

-They had lost some legal rights after 1979, but they had also gained wider access to education, healthcare and birth control

-Female doctors, politicians and MPs yet there is discrimination against women in the legal system

-many women’s groups are being formed however they aren’t really sure what to do

-After the One Million Signatures Campaign arrests began, the media wasn’t able to write about the arrested groups

-33 women were held in Evin Prison, their interrogators tried to get results but even they understood the simplicity of the campaigns goals
The One Million Signatures Campaign shows that there is hope for women if they attempt to gain more rights and priviledges. However they are still big challenges the women in Iran have to overcome.

Post #5: More Iraq Situations

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a long time. I was in Russia for spring break so I was a little bit...preoccupied. Anyways these notes are a continuation from the source I used in Post #2. It focuses mainly on Iraqi women and their rights.

- In 1959-Civil Status Law, progressed marriage, custody, education and healthcare for women

-After Saddam’s rule however women’s literary rates in Iraq plummeted

-After Saddam’s end the women turn to the clerics, seeing them as good people,

-In 2003 there were big expectations for women’s rights in Iraq

-After April 2003: “They didn't wait for anybody to tell them what to do or how to do it. They started to figure out how to apply for funding, they pushed to have conferences, they pushed to be active, and this was in all segments--religious conservative women, as well as secular women.”

-They were further motivated by that fact that in In December 2003, very quietly, Islamists tried to pass a decree that would have abolished the 1959 personal status civil law and replaced it with religious law.

-Women’s groups successfully pushed back the first attempt quickly, but SCIRI (a party of the Shii’a coalition wouldn’t give up

-It was a conflict between liberals and Islamists

This information proves that women in Iraq are trying to move forward, but the Islamists are against women gaining rights, as they believe their religion requires women to be submissive to their husbands. There are liberals in Iraq that want to help women gain the rights the liberals feel they deserve and that there have been modern/recent attempts at gaining Iraq women furthur rights in their country.

Post #4-Iraq Situation

Iraq Women’s Rights:

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-06-26/world/pysk.mohammed_1_honor-killings-baghdad-morgue-iraqi-women?_s=PM:WORLD

-In 2003 Yanar Mohammed founded the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, to give a voice to women and protect women who are in need

-Iraqi women have enjoyed more freedoms than women in surrounding countries

-However kidnapping, rape and murder of women is on the rise

-Honor Killings=killing of a woman who brought perceived dishonor to her family is also being common

-Mohammad focuses on fighting for equity in wages and for freedoms that women in other nations take for granted: right to not be sold. To not be raped and not be murdered, to not to have to wear a veil

This specific article focused on Yanar Mohammed, a women who tried her best to work on a project that was supposed to help women gain rights. For the women in Iraq, the situation is dire, there is an increase in murder and rape of Iraqi women. The situation is a neutral gray, I believe, as Mohammed wasn't punished extremely and that she felt that there was hope for the women in Iraq.

Post #3-Info on Saudi Arabia

Why Women’s Right In Saudi Arabia Are Still So Bad:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/why-womens-rights-in-saudi-arabia-are-still-so-bad/245780/

-Women cannot run for office in the elections, they can’t vote

-King Abdullah promised over a decade ago that he would grant women the ability to make full contributions to the nation, yet today women cannot work in most jobs

-1961-first elementary schools for girls were opened

-Adbulllah had spoken in 2005 about the need to bring out full human rights into their country

-However these promises=undermined by the conservative clerics

-Even in liberal cities, in Friday sermons preachers and clerics claim that “human rights” are for homosexuals

-These accusations for a country where homosexuality is considered wrong discredit the kind’s agenda among the conservative population

-It will be difficult for women to gain the right to vote when they still are required by law to cover their faces.

-Women are also forbidden to pursue most occupations, not allowed to drive, travel w/o male chaperones inside or outside the country, inherit at an equal rate to men

Conclusion:
Saudi Arabia is probably the country in the Middle East that has the strongest rules and restrictions on the women who live there. There have been some steps in the right direction: better educatoin and a small conselations for them. However women in Saudi Arabia have been promised better rights, and those promises have been as empty as a dried up lake in the Sahara Desert. The country is very religous and the preachers and pastors claim that rights for women is a passage for homosexuality to become more socially acceptable, which is a big deal in Saudi Arabia. Women still have restrictions on their rights and their situation is still dire.