Women Rights in the Arab World! Understanding Masculinities

SHOCKING FIGURES!

I've been reading this 280 pages of research paper for the last 3 weeks which is done by UN Women & PROMUNDO covering a sample size of 10,000 nationals from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine. Below are some highlights of the findings from one of the countries covered by the study.

Being raised by a Pharmacist working mother, with 3 kids and a lot of house work, cleaning, teaching, entertaining - to do was just enough to unlock my mind to the value of how important to encourage our communities to empower women and to unlock the hidden power and value they could add to our society. Going through the research findings was surprising and terribly shocking to me. I, at some point, could have imagined that women in the Arab world have got so many restriction, culturally and historically, but this figures, have got me all, big time!

The outcome is horribly shocking to me! Are you ready?

SOME SHOCKING FIGURES:

1. A woman’s most important role is to take care of the home and cook for the family (Agree - 86.3% Male - Female 76.7%)
2. A man should have the final word about decisions in the home (Agree - 90.1% Male - 70% Female)
3. Women should have the same freedom to access sites on the Internet as men (Agree - 25.7% Male - 41.6% Female)
4. Husband does not allow his wife to wear certain clothes (Agree - 98% Male - 65% Female).
5. If a woman is raped, she should marry her rapist ( Agree - 64% Male - 60% Female).
6. Women who dress provocatively deserve to be harassed (Agree - 74% Male - 64% Female).

The authors concluded the study in many points, the most important points to highlight in my opinion are the following:

1. Men are the pillars of patriarchies across the MENA region, yet, in a time of shifting gender relations, there is relatively little research on how they see women or their own manhood. 
2. A majority of men surveyed in the four countries support a wide array of inequitable, traditional attitudes. But a sizeable minority – a quarter or more of men in every country – show support for at least some dimensions of women’s equality and empowerment. 
3. While men’s inequitable attitudes and practices prevail across the four countries, it is evident from this research that there are also individual men and women – from the elite to the most marginalized – whose life experiences show that gender equality is possible. 
4. The MENA region has some of the lowest rates of women’s economic participation in the world. Given economic instability in the region in recent years and high unemployment rates among youth (those aged 15 to 25), it is not surprising that three-quarters or more of men in the four countries, and women at nearly the same rates, support the priority of men’s access to jobs over women’s. 
5. In nearly every other country where IMAGES has been carried out (in other regions of the world), younger men have consistently shown more equitable attitudes and practices than their older counterparts; in three of the four countries included in IMAGES MENA, this was not the case. 
6. The other most prevalent form of gender-based violence in the region is street-based sexual harassment, mainly sexual comments, stalking/following, or staring/ogling. 
7. Men expect to control their wives’ personal freedoms, from what they wear and where they go to when the couple has sex. 

But Also, the authors of the research suggested some important recommendations, I will list some of the most important recommendations here.

1. ENGAGE KEY SOURCES OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE TO CHANGE SOCIAL NORMS THAT UPHOLD INEQUITABLE MASCULINITIES 
2. ENGAGE MEN IN SUPPORTING A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY AGENDA FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS 
3. CHANGE THE WAY BOYS AND GIRLS ARE SOCIALISED, FROM THE HOME TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM 

I would really like to share more points so I can save you the time of going through the whole papers by sharing some points, however, I do encourage all of you to find the time to go through it as it shades light on many points that women face in most of the Middle East countries.

My quote to all of us is

More scary numbers? Check the full report@ http://bit.ly/2qPmer0

Aboud Khederchah