Tunisian Group's Anti-Niqab Video Causes A Ruckus

Although there are some subservient fools who believe that the niqab (full Islamic face veil with just a slit for the eyes) makes them more pious, there are others who are rallying to make sure it doesn't become the norm in their country.  Some women with an organization called Egalité et Parité  (Equality and Parity) in Tunisia, a country that is battling to ensure Salafists don't impose their ultra conservative ways on what once was a secular nation, produced an anti-niqab video (see below) which is, naturally, causing a ruckus.

In their campaign, Equality and Parity used niqab-shaped stickers and put them in bathroom stalls, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, and dressing rooms in malls. They filmed the reaction of women to the niqab stickers on the mirror, and turned them into a short film that is making its rounds on the internet.

Equality and Parity hopes that through this sticker campaign they can educate women and Tunisians in general on the severity of being forced to wear a niqab.

Ousted dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali banned the niqab when he was in power, and since his departure there have been protests, including one at Manouba University, advocating for the niqab.

Ben Ali treated those who were outwardly religious with extreme suspicion. During his time in power, it was not uncommon for police to stop women in the street and order them to unveil. The niqab has found itself at the epicenter in the Salafi-secularist debate.

Suspicious with good reason, considering the ultra religious want to establish Sharia law and force everyone to become as religious as they are.

Members of Equality and Parity stated in a press release that:

“We are fighting with and for all Tunisians from all regions, including those living abroad, who are also involved in our cause. We commit to define each of our goals based on a preliminary analysis of the current sociopolitical situation, which seems to exclude Tunisian women, especially in decision-making bodies, means of mass communication and the public space,”

They also stated that they will not hesitate to protest or plan sit-ins if women's rights are violated. Their mission statement on their Facebook Page says they will:

Fight to combat the weak representation of women in decision making bodies, be they political, social, economic or cultural.

Take action
to establish full citizenship (for women),
to eradicate all discrimination,
to ensure equality between men and women,
to make sure Tunisia joins all International Conventions favoring human rights, and in particular the lifting of reservations on the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW).

Not suprisingly, the usual suspects (both the religious Muslims and liberals) have been highly critical of the video.

Iraqi Women Want Equal Or Tougher Laws For Men In 'Honor Killings'

Gender equality in the Arab/Middle Eastern world is pretty much non-existent. Whether rooted in religion or culture, or a combination of both, females have never fared well in that region, especially when it comes to the law. So, some Iraqi women activists are trying to change that.

A group of female activists, headed by the Minister of State for Women’s Affairs Ibtihal al-Zaidi (al-Maliki's only female cabinet member), are trying to change Article 409 of Iraq's Penal Code. According to Zaidi, Article 409, which is the law applicable to 'honor killings', unfairly favors men. Even though killing someone can land the murderer the death penalty, 'honor killings' are handled differently.  For that, you just get jail time, but women will spend far more time in prison than men.

She [Zaidi] recounted the story of a 12-year-old Iraqi girl who killed her father after she saw him committing adultery. She was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

“If a man saw one of his female dependents committing adultery, how would he be punished? Six months and he’ll get out."

“A woman, even a 12-year-old, got 15 years in jail for an act she committed out of fear and horror of what she saw.

“Definitely, we have brought up this issue and we asked ‘where is the fairness and justice?’. Here the sentence for a woman differs from a man’s. Fairness and equality is required in this issue,” Zaidi told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.

Zaidi said she was planning to present a recommendation to the cabinet to modify Article 409 to require the same sentence for male and female killers. But she believes any proposed changes to the law are likely to provoke a “strong reaction”.

“At the end of the day, we are a Middle Eastern culture where tribal norms dictate affairs,” said Zaidi, an Arabic linguist and independent member of Maliki’s ruling coalition.“We will require some time before these recommendations turn into law ... there needs to be social awareness about this issue.”

As it stands with Article 409 if a man “surprises his wife or one of his female dependents (who is) in a state of adultery or finds her in bed with a partner and kills her immediately, or kills one of them”, he'll get a max of 3 years.


She's also trying to deal with the terrible problem of domestic violence in Iraq.  Although official estimates claim 20 percent of women are abused, Sundus Abbas of  the women's rights organization 'Women's Leadership Institute', believes it's closer to a whopping 73 percent. Unlike Zaidi,  Abbas has a different perspective on Article 409.

Zaidi’s proposed changes to the honor killing law fail to address the issue, she said. Giving female killers the same rights as male killers would still provide “legal cover for violence against women”.

“It is not correct to give the husband the right to kill his wife under this pretext and to give the same right to the wife in the same provision,” she told Reuters.

“I believe (Article 409) must be abolished and instead have a law that punishes a crime regardless of the reason.”

Good luck with that. Changing the mindset of  a religiously conservative, tribal mentality, patriarchal society will take a lot more than abolishing or toughening laws, but at least they're making the effort.