WUNRN
International Forum
on
Mediterranean Women’s Rights in the Aftermath
of the Arab Uprisings
Centre ISIS pour
Femmeset
Développement
June 21, 22 and 23 , 2013
At the Palais des
Congrès, Fez, Morocco
Women’s rights in the south of the Mediterranean have been on the rise with ups and downs. These rights triggered debates and dialogue between women from the two shores of the Mediterranean. Currently, there seems to be a backlash on these rights after the Arab uprisings. In reflecting on the fate of these rights more tha two years after the uprisings, many paradoxes come to mind.
On the one hand, we witness a spectacular presence of women of all ages, ideologies, ethnicities and social statuses during the political mobilization phases of the uprisings (as has been well documented by the media), and yet, on the other hand, in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, etc. the new governments, elected by the people, have a very weak, if not zero, representation of women. Further, on on the one hand, the political Islamization of the MENA region is a fact, but yet (and here is the paradox), what most women’s rights advocates (scholars and activists) scored through decades was also “Islamic” gains (women’s rights advocates in the region fought to improve, not replace, Sharia laws and they have targeted patriarchy not Islam). More than that, many Islamic feminists (scholars and activists) worked together and Islam has never been a problem so far as women’s rights advocates in the region are concerned.
These paradoxes call for serious debate and action. The goal of the forum is to discuss the relevant issues and the ensuing new challenges for feminist academics, activists and politicians. The forum is organized around nine major axes:
1. Equality of sexes in the new constitutions
2. Feminist discourses in the region (secular/liberal and Islamic feminisms)
3. Feminine and feminist activisms
4. Women’s political participation in the eve of the Arab uprisings
5. Women and economic empowerment
6. Women and cultural Rights
7. Rural Women
8. Women’s rights and public/individual freedoms, masculinites
9. Women and transnational networking
The languages of the forum will be : Arabic, French and English.
Contact: Fatima Sadiqi - sadiqi_fatima@yahoo.fr
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