„Women in the Arab Spring – the Case of Egypt
Political transition and women’s activism“
Panel Discussion
28/11/2013
Panelists: Sherine IBRAHIM, CARE Middle East and North Africa Regional Managment Unit
Iman MANDOUR, Board Member of Center for Egyptian Women Legal Assistance
Alexandra SCHNEIDER, Director of the documentary “Young, Female, Egyptian” (2013)
Moderation: Dr. Cengiz GÜNAY, Senior Fellow oiip
Venue: oiip, Berggasse 7, 1090 Wien
Participants: 70
Summary: Verena Kunz
Organized in cooperation with CARE Austria
„Women in the Arab Spring – the Case of Egypt
Political transition and women’s activism“
Austrian Institute for International Affairs - oiip
Abstract
The panel discussion “Women in the Arab Spring – The Case of Egypt”, organized by the Austrian
Institute of International Affairs (oiip) in cooperation with CARE Austria, dealt with the situation of
women in Egypt in the process of political transition. The focus of the debate lay on the agency of
female activists and their involvement with the transition process. The panel did also bring up the
question of violence against women and the problems within the configuration of female protesting
groups in Egypt. Framed by the documentary “Young, Female, Egyptian” (2013) it highlighted the
strong will and commitment of female activists.
Die vom Österreichischen Institut für Internationale Politik (oiip) in Kooperation mit CARE Austria
abgehaltene Podiumsdiskussion “Women in the Arab Spring – The Case of Egypt“ drehte sich um die
Situation von Frauen in Ägypten in einem Prozess politischer Transformation sowie um weibliche
Aktivistinnen und ihr Engagement in diesem Prozess. Die Diskutierenden beschäftigten sich
außerdem mit Gewalt gegen Frauen und den Problemen der weiblichen Protestgruppen in Ägypten.
Umrahmt von der Dokumentation „Young, Female, Egyptian“ (2013) betonte die Podiumsdiskussion
den festen Willen und das Engagement dieser Frauen.
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„Women in the Arab Spring – the Case of Egypt
Political transition and women’s activism“
Austrian Institute for International Affairs - oiip
Summary
The panel discussion, organized by the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip) in cooperation
with CARE Austria, dealt with today’s situation of women in Egypt and how this situation has
changed since the start of the uprisings in 2011.
Dr. Andrea Wagner-Hager, Chief Executive Director of CARE
Austria, opened the debate by reminding the audience of the
pictures of Tahir Square that created excitement about a new start
in 2011. However today, the Middle East is facing the biggest
human catastrophe ever. In these specific situations, CARE is a big
player due to its development projects and emergency help.
Related to the presentation of women in the Arab Spring, we need
to ask whether for these girls and women this is rather an Arab
Autumn.
After welcoming the audience and panelists on behalf of the
Austrian Institute of International Affairs and introducing the
panelists, Cengiz GÜNAY opened the panel with some brief remarks on the topic to be discussed. In
the period of only three years, since the uprisings have begun, impressive forms of organization and
social media developed. All sectors of society were represented at Tahir and they were united in
their will to change the course of the country. There were also many women among the protesters.
Hopes were flying high, when Mubarak stepped down as a result of the people’s will. However today,
different images are dominating our perception. Therefore, GÜNAY opened the debate by asking
what has happened to these women demonstrating in Tahir Place and what consequences the falling
apart of the formerly mentioned societal coalition that is now highly politically polarized had on
women regarding the occurrence of violence, the role of women in constitutional processes and the
engagement of women.
The session was initiated by a short trailer made by
Elisabeth SCHNEIDER, which portrays five different
women and their situations in Egypt. Schneider started
filming in June 2011 and accompanied these women for
a certain period of time. Her documentary “Young,
Female, Egyptian” does not aim to address political
issues as such, it rather portrays the lives and hardships of five very different activists.
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„Women in the Arab Spring – the Case of Egypt
Political transition and women’s activism“
Austrian Institute for International Affairs - oiip
SCHNEIDER argued that it is their belief in changing society and their will to get engaged with which
connects these diverse women. Replying to GÜNAY’s question what has changed since the end of the
filming, SCHNEIDER elaborates that their lives have significantly changed. While one of the activists
who could count on the support of her husband got divorced, another one has faced financial
troubles. The Islamist activist who had worked for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice
Party broke contact after Muhammed Mursi became elected President.
Iman MANDOUR stated that one of the dilemmas is
that women are seen as one of the many sectors within
society. MANDOUR argued that under the Mubarak
regime, both men and women had been marginalized.
Today, the situation is characterized by a greater
involvement on an everyday basis, although men might
still have more opportunities to get engaged via formal
ways such as elections where women are treated as a marginalized group across all parties. Women’s
rights organizations are highlighting specific female topics such as sexual harassment and others.
Their aim is to raise awareness for these issues. However, the need to get more women and gender
affairs to parliament and the public sphere is still urging. In MANDOUR’s opinion the discussion of
gender issues should not only involve women but also representatives from other societal groups in
order to address this topic properly and equally. It is important not to forget the core issues such as
economic rights and social justice for women.
Sherin IBRAHIM referred to a research project conducted by
CARE that showed that women activists are above all
characterized by energy, passion and excitement about what they
are doing. Therefore we necessarily need to speak about an Arab
Spring for the women and not about an Arab Autumn as
mentioned in the welcoming remarks. The common vision that
drives these women is the wish for inclusivity, pluralism, diversity
and acceptance. Among the different Middle Eastern countries,
both women and men were keen to attain social justice in their
respective countries. Hence, they were willing to sacrifice in order
to be able to contribute. However, there are a couple of
challenges that need to be faced today. Firstly, the internal
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„Women in the Arab Spring – the Case of Egypt
Political transition and women’s activism“
Austrian Institute for International Affairs - oiip
challenge of the fragmentation of women’s rights movements and activists leading to unclear targetsetting. Secondly, more organized groups are often disconnected from the grassroots level and
regularly associated with the traditional old regime. Thirdly, the activists’ focus has shifted from the
initial issues such as social justice, good governance and freedom to stability and counter-terrorism
due to the frequent changes in government. Other challenges are the restrictions for civil society.
IBRAHIM emphasized that there are also considerable problems within the youth movements.
According to her, they have however the potential to bridge the gap between elitist NGOs and the
more conservative grass-roots. In her opinion, this societal gap in regard to women’s rights is not
insurmountable; however, the process of coming across will take time.
MANDOUR added that although the fight for women’s rights under the Mubarak regime was difficult,
some things were achieved, even though more would have been possible. The Mubarak regime was
too anxious in regard to women’s rights. However, the gains of the women’s rights movements of
the time must not necessarily be tagged as something bad as this would lead to a process of
questioning formerly gained rights, i.e. rights regarding divorce or the age of marriage, and the
weakening of international organizations.
Commenting on GÜNAY’s question whether violence against women has increased during the last
three years of transition, MANDOUR explains the two different types of violence against women
occurring in Egypt. On the one hand there are organized gang rapes being used as a weapon against
female activists based on the patriarchal model of society. This kind of violence mainly occurred
shortly after the revolution. On the other hand there is sexual harassment related to issues such as
the dressing code that has been going on for thirty years, but has now come to the attention of the
public.
Subsequently, MANDOUR explained the differences in the work of classic NGOs, which includes
screening and monitoring phases, and the work of new groups, which is characterized by dynamic,
spontaneous activities related to concrete events. IBRAHIM added that violence against women has
changed over time. Whereas in the late 1990s approximately 95% of all women had to undergo
female genital cutting, recently a new form of violence, the so-called rescue marriage for reasons of
‘protection’, has evolved. She highlights, that violence needs to be named and not framed or covered
up by different names.
In the last round of the debate SCHNEIDER addressed the question what external actors who get
engaged with female activism in Egypt should be aware of. In SCHNEIDER’s opinion Egypt is
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„Women in the Arab Spring – the Case of Egypt
Political transition and women’s activism“
Austrian Institute for International Affairs - oiip
characterized by a culture of contact which means that it is very easy to get in touch with locals.
However one has to be willing to commit to unforeseeable situations of contact which requires a
certain degree of spontaneity.
The audience referred to a study describing the reportedly deteriorated situation of Egyptian
women, the involvement of women in the process of drawing a new constitution and the related
lacks of transparency and accuracy, women’s genital cutting, the fragmentation of women’s rights
groups as a mirror of the fragmented political system, the role of women in parties and candidature
for parliament as well as the general role of civil society. Due to the great interest of the audience,
there was a second round of questions that mainly focused on the risks that women’s activists take
while demonstrating and whether there is any difference in the treatment of men and women
regarding their judicial treatment.
Conclusion
The panelists conclude with the notion that
women in the Arab Spring and in the
processes of political transition are altogether
characterized by an incredible will to become
engaged and to change things for the better.
Most of them perceive the opportunity of
getting involved as an activist as something
fantastic. Although fighting for women’s
rights, these activists also cover general
demands, i.e. “bread and freedom”, with relevance for the whole of society. Regarding the topic of
violence, the panelists agreed that notwithstanding the common assessment of the situation of
women in the uprisings, none of them has ever felt more endangered than the men demonstrating
next to them.
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„Women in the Arab Spring – the Case of Egypt
Political transition and women’s activism“
Austrian Institute for International Affairs - oiip
____
Sherine IBRAHIM is the CARE Deputy Director for Regional Programs in the MENA region. IBRAHIM
works extensively on promoting gender equality and girls’ and women’s empowerment
programming. She has more than eighteen years of international experience in the field of
development. She holds Masters Degrees from the American University in Cairo and from the
London School of Economics and Political Science and started her working career in Egypt as a
researcher on women’s sexual and reproductive health rights.
Iman MANDOUR has been active in lobbying women’s human rights since 1995 and has contributed
to various national policy changes on the national level on campaigns of having women judges, equal
nationality rights for children born to Egyptian women and foreign fathers, changing the Egyptian
family laws and working on women’s rights under Islamic sharia to bridge the gap to attain
international rights. MANDOUR is also very active in international lobbying such as the CEDAW and
the CSW to advance the situation of women in Egypt and transmit the views of women’s NGOs.
Alexandra SCHNEIDER was born in the 20th century in Münsterlingen, Switzerland. Having grown up
in several countries such as the United States, Denmark, Germany and Austria, she finished the
twelve years of school intermezzo with an award in art in the late 90’s. She went to France to learn
French and to love good wine. SCHNEIDER studied social work and did a Master of Comparative
Social Studies in Maastricht, the Netherlands. She has been working in Vienna as a social worker and
gender mainstreaming expert. Since 2006 she has reverted to art by starting to study film at the
Filmakademie in Vienna under the leadership of Prof. Michael Haneke and Prof. Peter Patzak.
Cengiz GÜNAY is Senior Fellow at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip) and Lecturer at
the University of Vienna (Institute for Political Science, International Development and the Institute
for Oriental Studies). His fields of research amongst others consist of political Islam, democratization
and reform, socio-economic and political transformation processes and Social Movements in the
Middle East as well as EU-Turkey relations. His regional focus lies on Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia.
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