tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/womens-rights-31542/articlesWomen's rights – The Conversation2024-03-21T02:52:04Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2263082024-03-21T02:52:04Z2024-03-21T02:52:04ZWomen have been excluded from men’s spaces for centuries. And that’s why the MONA Ladies Lounge matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583316/original/file-20240321-26-fq9x7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=147%2C170%2C5028%2C3709&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gender, class, race, culture and religion are all categories used to exclude people in ways that privileged people will never experience. This exclusion can be as blatant as a gang of masked people <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-21/police-investigate-racist-sign-on-main-north-road-bridge/102250570">performing the Nazi salute</a>, or as subtle as an upper-middle-class golf club quietly binning membership applications from Jews or Muslims.</p>
<p>The question of how we redress these exclusions is once again in the news because of a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-20/mona-ladies-lounge-legal-fight-men-excluded/103605236">legal case</a> taken up against Hobart’s contemporary art gallery, MONA. The anti-discrimination case has been launched on the basis that it contains a women-only Ladies Lounge art installation created by Kirsha Kaechle, an artist who is also married to the museum’s founder, David Walsh.</p>
<p>Jason Lau brought the complaint because he had been denied access to the space, which features works by Pablo Picasso and Sidney Nolan, on account of his gender. Kaechle said she is “delighted” the anti-discrimination complaint has ended up in Tasmania’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal.</p>
<p>“The men are experiencing Ladies Lounge, their experience of rejection is the artwork,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/mar/20/artist-behind-monas-ladies-only-lounge-absolutely-delighted-man-is-suing-for-gender-discrimination">she said</a>.</p>
<p>“OK, they experience the artwork differently than women, but men are certainly experiencing the artwork as it’s intended.”</p>
<p>Whatever decision the tribunal hands down, these recent events remind us that women still struggle to claim a small slice of the pie men have claimed for centuries.</p>
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<h2>A history of keeping women out</h2>
<p>As a kid in primary school, growing up in Newcastle – a working-class beachside town – I was occasionally asked by my Nanna to head down to the local pub in my PJs and give my Granddad a nudge to come home for dinner.</p>
<p>Until 1965, women were <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/100-years-international-womens-day-2011%22">excluded from public bars</a>. A few bars would let them drink in the “ladies lounge”, which would confine them to a small area and often charge them more for drinks than men. </p>
<p>Even so, working-class women had little time to lounge. Most worked menial jobs while also doing all the domestic labour.</p>
<p>Because I was a kid, I was warmly received at the <a href="https://www.visitnewcastle.com.au/see-do/eat-drink/the-bennett-hotel">Bennett Hotel</a> and would sit up at the bar with a raspberry lemonade. The men – most of whom had knocked off at 4pm from working on the docks or <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/founding-of-bhp">at BHP</a> – were seriously drunk by 6pm.</p>
<p>Today, there are still prestigious clubs across Australia that exclude women, the <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/club-land-19941118-k65ge">Melbourne Club</a> being a notorious example. Even if they don’t explicitly ban women from being members, they are male-dominated by their very nature. Membership relies on being “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/jun/17/ascot-royal-enclosure">the right sort of chap</a>”: someone who went to the right school and university and rose up the ranks.</p>
<p>Men have controlled parliaments, the corporate sector and now claim dominion <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-big-tech-whistleblowers-women-here-is-what-the-research-shows-184033">over big tech</a>. It’s no skin off their collective noses if women have a room to gather and drink tea or a glass of wine.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ai-industry-is-on-the-verge-of-becoming-another-boys-club-were-all-going-to-lose-out-if-it-does-219802">The AI industry is on the verge of becoming another boys' club. We’re all going to lose out if it does</a>
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<h2>Why women’s spaces matter in art</h2>
<p>There’s a good reason women might want to hang out in a space where they feel comfortable. At the sharp end, there are women who are survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. On average <a href="https://www.ourwatch.org.au/quick-facts/">one woman is killed every nine days</a> by an intimate partner. </p>
<p>Beyond that, the Ladies Lounge is an apt subversion of a throughline that has dominated the art world for centures: art is made for the male gaze. Even though art galleries are public spaces, they have been overwhelmingly stocked with <a href="https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/win-for-women-as-new-report-shows-increased-gender-equality-in-the-visual-arts-259122-2365133/">work by male artists</a>, many of whom have built careers painting female nudes designed for the male gaze. </p>
<p>Art historian Kenneth Clarke (1903-83) <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27823159">described</a> a female nude this way:</p>
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<p>By art, Boucher has allowed us to enjoy her with as little shame as she is enjoying herself. </p>
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<p>Really, Kenneth?</p>
<p>In 1989, American activist art group Guerrilla Girls <a href="https://www.guerrillagirls.com/naked-through-the-ages">found fewer than 5%</a> of the artists in the modern art section of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art were women, yet 85% of the nudes were of women. By 2012, these numbers had barely shifted: fewer than 4% of the artists were women, while 76% of the nudes were of women.</p>
<p>Women walk through the world with an enormous cultural weight simply because they are women. The sexy young woman. The maternal saintly body. The invisible older woman. This is why women’s spaces matter, and why women should be able to choose whether, when and how they can be seen.</p>
<p>One of my favourite Australian contemporary artists is <a href="https://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artist/julie-rrap">Julie Rrap</a> who, with extraordinary talent and wit, uses her body to make art that returns the male gaze. Since the 1980s, she has been producing photographs, videos and sculptures that play with the female form in a way that subverts the tradition of the classical nude in Western art.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CCVXJMtAtap/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Rrap’s work is a classic example of a woman artist reclaiming space in a traditional male setting: the art museum. </p>
<h2>Ways to go</h2>
<p>My last word goes to Emma Jones, a young woman who is completing her honours thesis at Sydney University on these very questions. Asked whether women’s spaces were still relevant, she said: </p>
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<p>The world is still dominated by men trying to speak on behalf of women. Social media has given a powerful platform to a fresh wave of men attempting to ‘educate’ other men about what women ‘really’ want. The need for women to meaningfully connect with other women, feel heard and develop their voice is just as relevant today as it’s always been.</p>
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<p>I’m with you on that, babe. When you become the leader of a women-dominated federal government, I look forward to seeing you support a bill to set up a men’s space in Parliament House. I’ll be catching up with you in the members’ bar.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-werent-there-any-great-women-artists-in-gratitude-to-linda-nochlin-153099">Why weren't there any great women artists? In gratitude to Linda Nochlin</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catharine Lumby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lounge creator and artist Kirsha Kaechle said the lounge was being ‘experienced’ by men exactly as intended – by excluding them.Catharine Lumby, Professor of Media, Department of Media, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254182024-03-14T19:58:07Z2024-03-14T19:58:07ZIn France, abortion rights and hijab bans highlight a double standard on women’s rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581779/original/file-20240313-26-4feh20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C153%2C5348%2C3443&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even though laws on religious symbols are worded neutrally, in practice, they are mostly applied to Muslim women’s attire.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The French parliament recently voted in favour of enshrining the <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2024/03/04/france-enshrines-freedom-to-abortion-in-constitution-in-world-first_6584252_5.html">right to abortion into the country’s constitution</a>. While crowds celebrated outside, the slogan “my body my choice” was projected onto the Eiffel Tower <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/06/france-abortion-rights-emmanuel-macron">in giant letters</a>.</p>
<p>Although concerns about <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/05/france-protects-abortion-guaranteed-freedom-constitution">barriers and access</a> still remain, women in France are now guaranteed the right to an abortion up to 14 weeks into their pregnancy, mirroring Spain but still <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/01/france-expands-abortion-access-two-key-moves">well behind</a> Sweden’s 18 weeks and the 24 weeks allowed in The Netherlands.</p>
<p>The decision comes at a time when women’s reproductive rights elsewhere are under threat. In contrast to the United States Supreme Court’s decision <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/24/us/roe-wade-overturned-supreme-court.html">overturning abortion rights</a>, France’s vote to enshrine them into its constitution looks like a feminist dream. </p>
<p>In his triumphant speech, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/world/europe/france-abortion-rights-constitution.html">“We are sending the message to all women: Your body belongs to you and no one has the right to control it in your stead.”</a> </p>
<p>Yet just last year, Attal, as education minister, banned Muslim girls from wearing <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/french-education-minister-announces-ban-on-islamic-dress-in-schools/">abayas in schools</a>. His message — and France’s — to Muslim girls and women seems to be the opposite.</p>
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<h2>Hijab bans</h2>
<p>France’s double standard on women’s rights is most plainly seen in its treatment of Muslim women and girls. A week after its historic abortion vote, France marks 20 years since the adoption of the <a href="https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000000417977">March 2004 law</a> that bans students in public schools from wearing conspicuous symbols or clothing that manifest a religious affiliation.</p>
<p>In principle, the 2004 law applies to all students and prohibits them from wearing religious symbols like crosses, kippas (yarmulkes) and hijabs. But in practice, it is a sexist and racist law that <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur21/7280/2023/en/">disproportionately targets Muslim girls</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/a9fd3c25-946c-4486-8dd5-5d9d13da4a34">My doctoral research</a> showed how Muslim girls are racially and religiously profiled by school administrators and have been suspended or expelled for wearing hoodies, hats, <a href="https://www.liberation.fr/societe/2013/04/04/la-jupe-et-le-bandeau-lettre-a-sirine_893735/">headbands</a> and <a href="https://www.cairn.info/islamophobie-comment-les-elites-francaises--9782707189462.htm">even long skirts</a>. Last year, they were also <a href="https://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2023/Hebdo32/MENG2323654N">banned from wearing abayas</a>, which are long garments that are worn over clothing.</p>
<p>In my research, I refer to these bans as “anti-veiling laws” because, although they speak of religious symbols in general, the primary motivation behind these is always Muslim women’s dress. </p>
<p>France’s law led other jurisdictions across Europe and North America to ban Muslim women’s attire in various contexts. <a href="https://www.justiceinitiative.org/uploads/0b300685-1b89-46e2-bcf6-7ae5a77cb62c/policy-brief-restrictions-on-muslim-women%27s-dress-03252022.pdf">A 2022 report</a> from the Open Society Justice Initiative found that out of the 27 European Union member countries, only five have never enacted, or attempted to enact, bans on veiling. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Québec holds the distinction of being the only province in Canada to implement a <a href="https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/l-0.3">ban on religious symbols</a>.</p>
<p>Former Québec Premier Pauline Marois cited the French law as being an <a href="https://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/395252/pauline-marois-et-jean-marc-ayrault-sont-sur-la-meme-longueur-d-onde?">“inspiration”</a> for her government’s failed <a href="https://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-60-40-1.html?appelant=MC">Bill 60</a>, known as the Charter of Québec Values. That bill was a precursor to <a href="https://ccla.org/major-cases-and-reports/bill-21/">Québec’s Bill 21</a>, which bans teachers, judges, prosecutors, police officers and other officials in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols.</p>
<h2>Discrimination against Muslim women</h2>
<p>Even though the laws are worded neutrally, claiming to defend abstract principles like secularism, religious neutrality, gender equality or “<a href="https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#%7B%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-145466%22%5D%7D">living together</a>,” in practice they are <a href="https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/behind-the-veil-9781788970846.html">mostly applied to Muslim women’s attire</a>.</p>
<p>Human rights groups like <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur21/7280/2023/en/">Amnesty International</a> and the <a href="https://ccieurope.org/report2023/">Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe</a> have demonstrated that the surveillance, suspension and expulsion of Muslim girls at school have led to a decrease in their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055420000106">educational and employment outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to <a href="https://ccieurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/report-ccie-2023.pdf">increasing discrimination</a> against them, these bans also violate their right to education without discrimination, a right that is upheld in several international treaties, including the United Nations <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>.</p>
<p>However, the most insidious aspect of France’s 2004 law is how it has been used to justify even further restrictions on the rights of Muslim women and girls, such as women wearing <a href="https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000022911670">face veils or niqabs</a>, mothers wishing to accompany their children on <a href="https://www.education.gouv.fr/circulaire-preparation-rentree-2012?cid_bo=59726">school outings</a> and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230629-top-court-rules-in-favour-of-hijab-ban-in-french-women-s-football">women athletes</a> who <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/france-ensure-muslim-women-and-girls-can-play-sports/">wear hijab</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, Muslim women are routinely told to take off their clothes or to wear less clothing, even in places or contexts where they legally have the right to wear whatever they want, including at <a href="https://doi.org/10.13169/islastudj.4.1.0101">public beaches</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61883529">swimming pools</a>.</p>
<h2>Body sovereignty</h2>
<p>This brings us back to the issue of a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. Access to abortion is an important right for women everywhere, but women’s rights extend beyond abortion.</p>
<p>The concept of body sovereignty was developed by Indigenous feminists and activists, and refers to a person’s autonomy over their own body as well as to their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2017.1366179">relationship to land</a>, <a href="https://www.adiosbarbie.com/2016/01/a-critical-conversation-with-sheena-roetman-on-body-sovereignty-and-justice/">belief systems</a> and ways of being that are <a href="https://www.journal.mai.ac.nz/system/files/MAI_Jrnl_2020_V9_2_Gillon_FINAL.pdf">intersectional</a>, <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/jgi/vol1/iss1/4">sexually diverse</a>, non-Eurocentric, non-ableist and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783319893506">non-fatist</a>. It includes everything from diet, clothing, sexual activity and beauty ideals to reproductive health and freedom from violence.</p>
<p>Anti-veiling laws discriminate against Muslim women and girls, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjwl.32.1.05">encourage violence against them</a> and undermine the principle of body sovereignty.</p>
<p>Feminists and pro-choice activists everywhere should pause and think about what it means for governments to guarantee abortion rights to women while denying them the more expansive concept of body sovereignty. If feminists and their allies are outraged when theocratic regimes impose religious dress on women, they should be similarly outraged when democratic governments also restrict what women can wear: these are two sides of the same coin. </p>
<p>Both undermine women’s freedom, body sovereignty and self-determination. It is time for feminists everywhere to demand an end to laws that force women to dress one way or another, regardless of where in the world they are enacted.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roshan Arah Jahangeer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As France enshrines abortion rights in its constitution, the country’s ban on wearing religious symbols in schools turns 20 years old.Roshan Arah Jahangeer, Postdoctoral Researcher, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2257142024-03-13T14:57:43Z2024-03-13T14:57:43ZAbortion rights are featuring in this year’s European election campaign in a way we’ve not seen before<p>The recent landmark decision in France to inscribe the right to abortion in the constitution serves to protect the law that first legalised abortion in the country in 1975. This law – the so-called Veil law – was championed by Simone Veil, one of France’s most admired and respected political figures, and an icon of the women’s rights movement.</p>
<p>In 1974, Veil, a magistrate who had been asked by French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing to serve as health minister in his government, delivered a momentous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45MOc6PYoY8">speech</a>. She presented the public health case for the decriminalisation of abortion to the National Assembly, which at the time was composed almost entirely of men. </p>
<p>The speech was met by fierce opposition and hostility, especially by those on the political right. Veil nevertheless managed to convince a majority of the deputies to vote in favour of her proposal. Once approved by the Senate, the law entered into force in 1975. Veil thereby became a symbol of women’s empowerment and emancipation.</p>
<p>Following her political success at national level, Veil stood in the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979. Once elected, the parliament chose her as its president, and she became the first woman to head any of the European institutions.</p>
<h2>An election ahead</h2>
<p>Political parties are now gearing up for the latest round of elections to the European Parliament in June, more than 40 years after Veil first entered the institution. And issues of reproductive rights are on the agenda once again. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A black and white portrait photo of Simone Veil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581645/original/file-20240313-16-e73bjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581645/original/file-20240313-16-e73bjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581645/original/file-20240313-16-e73bjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581645/original/file-20240313-16-e73bjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581645/original/file-20240313-16-e73bjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581645/original/file-20240313-16-e73bjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581645/original/file-20240313-16-e73bjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Simone Veil, legend of the women’s rights movement and European politics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Veil#/media/File:Simone_Veil_bij_uitreiking_Four_Freedoms_Awards_in_Middelburg,_Bestanddeelnr_933-0124_-_Restoration.jpg">Wikipedia/Anefo photo collection</a></span>
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<p>In 2022, the European parliament felt the need to issue a <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0243_EN.html">resolution</a> strongly condemning backsliding in women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health rights. </p>
<p>This came in response to the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which had guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion for 50 years. But it was also a response to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/abortion-right-europe-vary-widely-getting-squeezed/">developments</a> in some EU member states. </p>
<p>The resolution highlighted in particular the de facto ban on abortion that has come into force in Poland in recent years but also mentioned Malta, where abortion is illegal, Slovakia, where access is restricted, Hungary, where procedures are “not available” and Italy, where rights are being threatened. </p>
<p>Importantly, the resolution also calls for the right to abortion to be included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which would mean all women in the European Union would have the right to access reproductive healthcare of this kind, thereby offering them some protection from restrictions in their home nations. </p>
<p>This call was echoed by French president <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240308-france-s-macron-to-seal-abortion-becoming-constitutional-right">Emmanuel Macron</a> during the ceremony marking the new constitutional right to abortion in France.</p>
<p>Yet, the parliamentary resolution masks internal divisions between, and sometimes within, the political groups of the European parliament. As these political groups are launching their campaigns and election manifestos, it is clear that the issue of abortion has become part of the wider political polarisation seen across Europe.</p>
<p>Many far-right parties, which are predicted to <a href="https://ecfr.eu/publication/a-sharp-right-turn-a-forecast-for-the-2024-european-parliament-elections/">make significant gains</a> in the upcoming elections, call for restrictions on abortion rights. The European Conservatives and Reformists, a right-wing group that brings together parties such as Brothers of Italy and Spain’s Vox, says it wants to “<a href="https://ecrgroup.eu/campaign/family_and_life">defend life, from its conception until its natural end.</a>”. </p>
<p>The political parties within the Identity & Democracy group do not share a common position on the issue, but several adopt a restrictive approach. For example, the Alternative for Germany recently <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-parliament-bundestagvotes-to-remove-ban-on-abortion-advertising/">voted against</a> a proposal to ban a law preventing doctors from providing information on abortion procedures in Germany.</p>
<p>The centre-right European People’s Party, the biggest political group in the Parliament, remains <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/abortion-debate-european-parliament-division-hatred/">divided</a> on the issue, but most of its MEPs agree that abortion should remain a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13378">matter of national competence</a>. </p>
<p>Groups on the other side of the political spectrum, meanwhile, are making explicit reference to the need to safeguard and expand reproductive health and rights in their European election manifestos. They include <a href="https://left.eu/mon-corps-mon-choix/">the Left</a> group, <a href="https://www.datocms-assets.com/87481/1708539548-egp_manifesto-2024_courage-to-change.pdf">the Greens</a> and the <a href="https://pes.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2024_PES_Manifesto_EN.pdf">Socialist & Democrats</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, the liberal group Renew Europe is pushing for greater alignment on abortion rights across the EU. It it is behind the recently launched <a href="https://www.simoneveilpact.eu/">Simone Veil Pact</a>, which calls for greater pan-European effort on gender equality.</p>
<h2>A new parliamentary term</h2>
<p>Veil considered the European parliament a key institution in the democratic development of the European Community. She saw the right given to Europeans to vote for the parliament as a <a href="https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/1999/1/1/174d384d-d5c7-4c02-ad78-b1f6efc9740a/publishable_en.pdf">milestone</a> and a springboard for increased parliamentary involvement in European integration and decision-making. Under her leadership, the European parliament gained greater recognition and transformed into a real political actor.</p>
<p>Veil held the post of president for three years, and she remained a member of the European parliament until 1993. During her three terms as an MEP, she continued to support issues relating to women’s rights.</p>
<p>The arguments once made by Simone Veil, who in 2018 was honoured with a <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20180629-liveblog-france-women-rights-abortion-simone-veil-holocaust-pantheon">burial in the Panthéon</a> (the Parisian mausoleum reserved exclusively for France’s most eminent citizens), are surfacing once again ahead of the hotly contested European parliament elections. </p>
<p>When the 720 newly elected MEPs meet for the next parliamentary term, discussions and debates around abortion and women’s rights are bound to continue. They may well take a different tone and occupy a higher position depending on the outcome of the elections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Legendary European parliament president Simone Veil fought for women’s reproductive rights in France and in Brussels. Is her legacy about to be re-opened?Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén, Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252932024-03-08T13:35:16Z2024-03-08T13:35:16ZHow three 18th century ‘deviant mothers’ defied social norms in their novel writing<p>The onset of the French Revolution, at the end of the 18th century, had a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/England_and_the_French_Revolution.html?id=sA23AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">seismic impact</a> on British thinking. Ideas of the nation were <a href="https://archive.org/details/representationso0000paul">being hardened</a> through xenophobia, an unquestioned reverence for institutional authority and a vocabulary of English “manliness” and “chivalry”. The publication of philosopher Edmund Burke’s <a href="https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/burke/revfrance.pdf">Reflections on the Revolution in France</a> (1790) reinforced this conservative stance. </p>
<p>But at the same time, a small but steadily growing group of thinkers vocally <a href="https://archive.org/details/englishjacobinno0000kell/page/n7/mode/2up">supported the revolution</a> and called for similar class reforms in England. Many women writers <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/women-writing-and-revolution-1790-1827-9780198122722?cc=gb&lang=en">responded to these ideas with enthusiasm</a>. They knew that change, conservative or revolutionary, would inevitably shape gender relations and the fight for women’s rights.</p>
<p>Three such women, ridiculed at the time for their decisively radical writing, and celebrated for it today, are Mary Wollstonecraft, Charlotte Smith and Mary Robinson. Their novels feature defiant and non-conforming heroines, who resist the tyranny of forced marriages and indifferent parents. Ultimately, they seek moral, intellectual and economic liberation. </p>
<p>This reconfiguration of the heroine includes portraying them as “deviant” mothers. This was especially important at a time when the definition of “virtuous motherhood” had become <a href="https://archive.org/details/politicsofmother0000bowe/page/34/mode/2up">increasingly restrictive</a>. These women resisted the traditional ideas of mothering not only by writing subversively but also by rebelling against the social norms that expected them to be acquiescent mothers raising submissive daughters themselves.</p>
<h2>1. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)</h2>
<p>Credited as the pioneer of first-wave feminism in England, Mary Wollstonecraft is best known for her book, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3420">A Vindication of the Rights of Woman</a> (1792). But Wollstonecraft also wrote a fictional parallel to this work. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft reading a book" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580422/original/file-20240307-24-ggr1gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft by John Opie (circa 1790-1791).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MaryWollstonecraft.jpg">Tate Britain</a></span>
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</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/134/134-h/134-h.htm">Maria: or the Wrongs of Woman</a> (1798) chronicles the life of a woman who is married to an abusive husband. He publicly “proves” her mad, so she is confined in an asylum and can no longer see their infant daughter. Hopeless in prison, Maria writes a manuscript to her daughter, recording episodes from her harrowing life. </p>
<p>The warden at the asylum, Jemima, is a lower-class woman, born out of wedlock and stigmatised from birth. She grows up an impoverished orphan and is sexually abused by her stepfather and later by her employer. Her rape results in pregnancy and she aborts the child. The novel is a bleak commentary on the cyclical nature of sexual violence inflicted on mothers like Jemima and Maria, who live in the shadows of civil society.</p>
<p>We know her as the mother of the novelist Mary Shelley, but before her marriage to William Godwin, Wollstonecraft too had given birth to a daughter out of wedlock. While caring for her infant, Fanny, she coped with the abandonment of Fanny’s biological father. Her autobiographical travel writing, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3529/3529-h/3529-h.htm">Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark</a> (1796), was composed during this difficult period and dedicates extensive sections to her experiences as a new mother.</p>
<h2>2. Charlotte Smith (1749-1806)</h2>
<p>Charlotte Smith was unhappily married to a gambling addict, and of the 12 children born in this troubled marriage, only nine survived. </p>
<p>Her life as a writer was <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Charlotte_Smith.html?id=SfHMCwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y">marked by desperation</a>, as she struggled to support her children and grandchildren and fought a lifelong legal battle for her father-in-law’s property. Smith wrote prolifically and her novels portray women at various stages of their lives, from older matriarchs leading the family to young mothers and women who give birth outside marriage. </p>
<p>These are often sympathetic portrayals, and the narrator doesn’t make a moral commentary. For instance, in <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41646">Emmeline</a> (1788), one of the characters who gives birth to an “illegitimate” child is reunited with her lover and given a happy ending. This is transgressive as the norm was to depict “promiscuous” women as suffering and dying to caution young women readers. </p>
<p><a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=930MDSl9EMQC&rdid=book-930MDSl9EMQC&rdot=1&pli=1">Desmond</a> (1792), Smith’s most overtly political novel, goes even further in its rebellion. Its English hero unequivocally sympathises with the revolutionaries in France. Moreover, he falls in love in love with a young mother of three children. There’s a convergence of personal and political liberation as the plot unfolds.</p>
<h2>3. Mary Robinson (1757-1800)</h2>
<p>Much like Smith and Wollstonecraft, Mary Robinson championed women’s rights, education and autonomy. She <a href="https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-23857">acquired celebrity status</a> as a stage actress and was dubbed “Perdita” after the Shakespearean heroine. As a poet, she earned the informal title <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/apr/12/sappho-phaon-mary-robinson">“the English Sappho”</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Painting of Mary Robinson with her dog." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1186&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1186&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580425/original/file-20240307-28-icfbxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1186&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mrs Mary Robinson (Perdita) by Gainsborough (1781).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gainsborough_Mary-Robinson.jpg">Wallace Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Her initial journey as an author resembles Smith’s. Robinson was coerced to marry young, to a man deep in gambling and debt. When he failed to repay his debts and was imprisoned, Robinson was sent to prison with him. However, she took <a href="https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/perdita-the-life-of-mary-robinson-text-only-paula-byrne?variant=32555097620558">the unusual step</a> of taking her infant daughter to prison with her rather than leaving her in a state care home, as was convention.</p>
<p>Robinson’s eventual rise to literary and theatrical stardom was accompanied by an unconventional personal life, as she separated from her husband and had several affairs. Unlike Smith, who presented herself as a self-sacrificing and chaste single mother to the public, Robinson became <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230118034_4%20OR%20https://www.jstor.org/stable/20798271?seq=29">a sexualised actress and author</a>, an even more “deviant mother”. Her memoirs were posthumously published by her daughter.</p>
<p>Robinson’s novel, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_natural_daughter.html?id=tsQwuAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">The Natural Daughter</a> (1799), set in the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/women-writing-and-revolution-1790-1827-9780198122722?cc=gb&lang=en">backdrop of the French Revolution</a>, portrays a newly married heroine who takes an unmarried mother’s baby under her care in order to protect both the mother and the baby. When the biological mother goes missing, rumours arise that the baby is her own from an illicit affair, leading to the breakdown of her marriage. </p>
<p>The novel follows the lives of both women, the adoptive mother who faces shame and social ostracism, and the biological one who rises to fame as an actress – much like Robinson herself.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aditi Upmanyu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Their novels feature defiant heroines, who resist the tyranny of forced marriages and seek moral, intellectual and economic liberation.Aditi Upmanyu, PhD candidate in English Literature, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2248202024-03-05T13:27:43Z2024-03-05T13:27:43ZHow Ireland’s double referendum fits into a longer history of voting for constitutional change<p>The referendums taking place in Ireland on March 8 highlight the importance of language. In <a href="https://www.electoralcommission.ie/referendums/referendum-information/what-are-you-being-asked-to-decide-on/">two votes</a>, the public will decide whether to change the wording in the national constitution so that it no longer implies that a woman’s work is in the home and that a family is founded in marriage. </p>
<p>The votes also highlight the potential dangers for governments that seek to amend their constitutions. While both votes look set to pass, there are questions around why, in amending the constitution, the current government hasn’t taken the opportunity to better support people who work as carers for family members – or the people they care for. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/de_valera_eamon.shtml">Eamon de Valera</a>, the primary creator of the 1937 constitution, would not have envisaged the majority of women working anywhere but at home. Equally, it is unsurprising that Leo Varadkar, the current Taoiseach, has been cautious in the wording his government has proposed for the most recent amendments to the constitution. There has been not been much dispute over the proposal to remove gendered language but the <a href="https://www.electoralcommission.ie/referendums/referendum-information/what-are-you-being-asked-to-decide-on/#CareAmendment">proposed replacement text</a> commits the state to “strive” to provide support to people working in the home but not to do any more than that. </p>
<p>This has been taken by many as a missed opportunity and is clear evidence of Varadkar’s reluctance to follow the advice of the <a href="https://citizensassembly.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/report-of-the-citizens-assembly-on-gender-equality.pdf">citizens’ assembly</a> held on this topic and a <a href="https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/committees/33/gender-equality/">parliamentary committee</a>. Both called for a more ambitious form of wording in the amended constitution. </p>
<h2>Court rulings and public votes</h2>
<p>Political disagreements over Ireland’s constitution date back at least to the 1950s. The courts have long interpreted its wording in surprising ways. Broadly, each case before the courts has reflected the prevalent economic and social attitudes of the time.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2023/05/20/a-story-of-church-and-state-in-1950s-ireland-with-an-intriguing-twist/#:%7E:text=The%20Tilson%20case%20involved%20a,the%20Tilson%20family%20tailoring%20firm.">Tilson Case in 1950</a>, which centred around how the children of a Protestant father and Catholic mother should be raised, was the first striking example. It was decided as part of this case that the constitutional article referring to the “special position” of the Catholic church could lead to church and canon law potentially taking precedence over civil law. This article was uncontroversially deleted from the constitution in a 1972 referendum.</p>
<p>It was in that decade, the 1970s, when the major battles began over the constitution. On one side were those who advocated a basic law which upheld traditional Catholic values. On the other were those who argued for a transition to a more liberal, pluralist society. At the same time, an active supreme court was interpreting the constitution in previously unimaginable ways.</p>
<p>A case brought by <a href="https://www.nwci.ie/learn/article/nwc_mark_50_years_since_may_mcgee_won_landmark_contraception_case">May McGee </a> in 1973 hinged on the constitutional right to privacy but was aimed at, and ended up overturning, a 1935 ban on contraception.</p>
<p>A successful court case on the right of women to sit on juries followed. But then the 1980s witnessed the first of a series of divisive referendums. A referendum to make divorce constitutional failed in 1986 and barely passed in 1995.</p>
<p>Even more acrimonious was the <a href="https://www.referendum.ie/archive/referendum-on-the-right-to-life-of-the-unborn-eighth-amendment-of-the-constitution-bill-1982/">referendum</a> in 1983 which made abortion unconstitutional but, in actuality, led in 1992 to the supreme court interpreting the same article in the constitution as <a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/twenty-years-on-a-timeline-of-the-x-case-347359-Feb2012/">granting women the right to abortion</a>. There followed more referendums that year and again in 2018, when a majority of people voted in a referendum to legalise abortion.</p>
<h2>Lessons from Irish referendums</h2>
<p>Ireland has by now held multiple referendums on amending its constitution. Over the course of these events it has become clear that the government is more likely to succeed in getting people to vote for change when it runs an effective campaign that makes them feel engaged. Perhaps more important than that is to prepare the ground well. Governments win support for legislative and constitutional change when those changes are carefully planned and have been clearly articulated and explained to the electorate prior to the referendum.</p>
<p>When that has not been the case, governments have been defeated in their attempts to amend the constitution. Notable examples which stand out here, include the 2001 vote on the European Union’s <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/the-parliament-and-the-treaties/treaty-of-nice">Nice treaty</a> and then the 2008 vote on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/13/ireland">Lisbon treaty</a>. A 2013 referendum on abolishing the senate, the upper house of the Irish parliament also went against the government.</p>
<p>There is some evidence of complacency on the part of the government and political parties ahead of the March 8 referendums but the expectation, generally, seems to be of <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/majority-irish-voters-intend-vote-121645980.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAN7yF8PTQXuRf2WVRtnY56tyshdTKSQXzUMOEK2J0ghmwegrPTJStlvgF19A3u30m86QxtqeUZrnEjLkNQh09CHO4jwaz1Q9mE4FhpMXtLz-EuhVSLfBjqw2EV6kWFYHSAGW3wLKhG9jDXkjC1LPzH5TW-094fiPQLwydX5hiawa">healthy majority in favour of change</a>. This would follow strong majorities for change in the 2018 referendum to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/26/ireland-votes-by-landslide-to-legalise-abortion">legalise abortion</a>, when 66% of people voted yes, and the 2015 vote that saw 62% of people support same-sex marriage. </p>
<p>The question will not, though, perhaps be whether these referendums transform Ireland into a secular society or more liberal society. It will be whether the state will enact the legislative changes to give effect to the constitution amendments, if passed. Will carers and the people they care for receive real support from the state? And will all families be fully recognised in government policies? That is where the hard work begins.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tomás Finn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Updating the constitution to reflect more liberal values has been the work of decades.Tomás Finn, Lecturer in History, University of GalwayLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226902024-02-27T15:05:30Z2024-02-27T15:05:30ZGifts that live on, from best bodices to money for bridge repairs: Women’s wills in medieval France give a glimpse into their surprising independence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577678/original/file-20240223-20-h7u1l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C1%2C949%2C949&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women's wills and last testaments provide a more nuanced picture of life in the Middle Ages than medieval stereotypes allow, such as that depicted in "Death and the Prostitute" by Master of Philippe of Guelders.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/DetailsPage.aspx?Feminae_ID=37729">Gallica/Bibliothèque nationale de France/Feminae</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In medieval Europe, views of women could often be summed up in two words: sinner or saint.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://web.uri.edu/history/meet/joelle-rollo-koster/">a historian of the Middle Ages</a>, I teach a course entitled Between Eve and Mary: the two biblical figures who sum up this binary view of half of humanity. In the Bible’s telling, Eve <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203&version=KJV">got humans expelled from the Garden of Eden</a>, unable to resist biting into the forbidden fruit. Mary, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201&version=KJV">conceived the Son of God</a> without human intercourse. </p>
<p>Either way, they’re daunting models – and either way, patriarchy considered women in need of protection and control. But how can we know what medieval women thought? Did they really accept this vision of themselves? </p>
<p>I do not believe that we can totally understand someone who lived and died hundreds of years ago. However, we can try to somewhat reconstruct their frame of mind with the resources we have available. </p>
<p>Few documents that survive from medieval Europe were written by women or even dictated by women. Those that do are often formulaic, full of legal and religious language. Yet the wills <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/363743">and censuses</a> that survive, and which I study, open a window into their lives and minds, even if not produced by women’s hands. These documents suggest that medieval women had at least some form of empowerment to define their lives – and deaths.</p>
<h2>A centuries-old census</h2>
<p>In 1371, the city of Avignon, in present-day France, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/jowh.2010.0480">organized a census</a>. The resulting document is ripe with the names of more than 3,820 heads of household. Of these, 563 were female – women who were in charge of their own household and did not shy away from declaring it publicly.</p>
<p>These were not women of high social status but individuals scarcely remembered by history, who left only traces in these administrative documents. One-fifth of them declared an occupation, including both single and married women: from unskilled laborer or handmaid to innkeeper, bookseller or stonecutter. </p>
<p>Nearly 50% of the women declared a place of origin. The majority came from around Avignon and other parts of southern France, but some 30% came from what is now northern France, southwest Germany and Italy. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration of a blond woman in a pink dress carrying a wooden vessel on top of her head outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration from 11th-century physician Ibn Butlan’s text Tacuinum sanitatis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b105072169/f186.image.r=%22Latin%209333%22?lang=EN#">Bibliothèque nationale de France</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The majority of ladies who arrived from faraway regions arrived alone, suggesting medieval women were not always necessarily “stuck” at home under the domination of a father, brother, cousin, uncle or husband. Even if they wound up that way, they seemed to show some guts by leaving in the first place. </p>
<h2>New cities, new lives</h2>
<p>In cities like Avignon, with a large proportion of immigrants, long-lasting lineages disappeared. As <a href="https://ehess.academia.edu/JacquesChiffoleau">historian Jacques Chiffoleau</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/9196772">has suggested</a>, most late medieval Avignonese were “orphans” who lacked extended family networks in their new surroundings – <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203866085">and this was reflected in the culture</a>.</p>
<p>Since the 12th century, women in the south of France had been considered “sui iuris” – capable of managing their own legal affairs – if they were not under a father or husband’s control. They could dispose of their own possessions and distribute them at will, both <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Death-in-Medieval-Europe-Death-Scripted-and-Death-Choreographed/Rollo-Koster/p/book/9781138802131">before and after death</a>. Married daughters’ dowries often prevented them from inheriting parents’ property, but they could when no male descendants could be found.</p>
<p>In the late Middle Ages, women’s legal rights expanded as urbanization and immigration changed social relationships. They could become legal guardians of their children. What’s more, judging by women’s testaments, widows and older daughters did make legal decisions of their own without the “required” male guardianship.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An old manuscript page with lines of font and a brightly colored illustration of men and women standing in a field while others climb trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A page from the Book of Hours by Master d'Alelaide of Savoia, a 15th-century artist, shows the harvesting of pears and apples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/book-of-hours-by-master-dalelaide-of-savoia-detail-news-photo/1011961044?adppopup=true">PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, married women could <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Across-the-Religious-Divide-Women-Property-and-Law-in-the-Wider-Mediterranean/Sperling-Wray/p/book/9780415807173">make legally binding decisions</a> as long as their husbands were present with them in front of a notary. Although husbands were technically considered their wives’ “guardians,” they could declare them legally free of guardianship. Wives would then be allowed to name their witnesses, appoint their universal heir and list donations and bequests to individuals and the church, which they hoped would save their soul.</p>
<h2>Speaking beyond the grave</h2>
<p>European archives literally overflow with legal documents that are awaiting discovery in musty boxes. What is lacking is a new generation of historians who can analyze them and paleographers who can read the handwriting.</p>
<p>Everyone high and low used notaries’ services for contractual forms, from an engagement and marriage to the sale of property, business transactions and donations. In this mass of documentation, <a href="https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/3052">wills provide a refreshing perspective</a> into medieval women’s agency and emotions as they contemplated the end of their lives.</p>
<p>In the 60 or so <a href="https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/3052">women’s testaments kept in Avignon</a>, women named where and with whom they wanted to be buried, often choosing their children or parents over their husbands. They named which charities, religious orders, hospitals for the poor, parishes and nunneries would benefit from their generosity, including bequests for repairs on Avignon’s famous bridge. </p>
<p>These women may have dictated their last wishes lying in bed, waiting for death, with the notary guiding their decisions. Still, given the things they dictated – donations for the dowries of poor girls, for their relatives and friends, to have their names remembered in Catholic Masses for the dead – I would argue that we are hearing their own voices. </p>
<h2>Rosaries, repairs and furs</h2>
<p>In 1354, Gassende Raynaud of Aix asked to be buried with her sister, Almuseta. She left a house to her friend Aysseline, while Douce Raynaud – who may have been another sister – received six dishes, six pitchers, two platters, a pewter jug, a cauldron, her best cooking pot, a cloak of fur with muslin, a big blanket, two large sheets, her best bodice, a little coffer, and all the mending thread and hemp that she possessed. She left a coffer, a copper warmer, the best trivet of the house and four new sheets to her friend Alasacia Boete.</p>
<p>Gassende’s generosity didn’t stop there. Jacobeta, Alasacia’s daughter, received a rosary of amber; Georgiana, Alasacia’s daughter-in-law, a bodice; and Marita, Alasacia’s granddaughter, a tunic. To her friend Alasacia Guillaume, Gassende left the unusual gift of a portable altar for prayers and an embroidered blanket. To Dulcie Marine, she bequeathed a choir book called an antiphonary and the best of her cloaks or furs.</p>
<p>In another Avignon will, written in 1317, Barthélemie Tortose made bequests to several Dominican friars, including her brother. She left funds to the prior of the order, her brother’s supervisor: perhaps rewarding the “boss” in order to keep her brother in his favor. She provided for charities and repairs for two bridges over the violent Rhône River, but also substantial support to provide food and clothing to all nuns’ convents of the city. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration in shades of green and red showing two towns connected by a bridge over a river with a few small islands in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 16th-century illustration of the Rhone River, with Avignon on the right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More especially, she supported her female kin, such as leaving rental income to her niece, a Benedictine nun. She then requested that her clothes be cut into habits for nuns and liturgical garments. </p>
<p>We can get a glimpse at <a href="https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/3052/WomenandWillsFrance2012Rollo-KosterandReyerson.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y">just how personal these bequests were</a>: These women assumed that what they had touched, or what had touched their skin, would also touch another’s. Most of all, they expected that their possessions would transmit their memory, their existence, their identity. </p>
<p>What’s more, medieval women could be pretty radical.</p>
<p>At least 10 women whose wills I’ve read asked to be buried in monks’ cassocks, including Guimona Rubastenqui. Widow of an Avignon fishmonger – usually a profitable occupation – she requested that Carmelite brother Johannes Aymerici give her one of his old habits, for which she paid him six florins.</p>
<h2>Asserting their will</h2>
<p>So, what do we make of all this?</p>
<p>It is impossible to completely reconstruct how people lived, loved and died centuries ago. I have spent my adult life thinking “medieval,” yet know I will never get there. But we certainly have clues – and what I call an educated intuition.</p>
<p>By modern standards, these women faced real limits on their power and independence. However, I have argued that they “freed” themselves at death – their wills presenting a rare opportunity to make personal legal decisions and to live on in written records.</p>
<p>Medieval women could have agency. Not all of them, not all the time. But this small sample shows that they could choose whom they wanted to reward and whom they could help. </p>
<p>As for the burial in men’s garb, I have no way of knowing whether their wishes were followed. But from my perspective, there is something extremely satisfying in knowing that at least they tried.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joelle Rollo-Koster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>European women’s rights expanded in early medieval cities, though they were still limited. Last wills and testaments were some of the few documents women could dictate themselves.Joelle Rollo-Koster, Professor of Medieval History, University of Rhode IslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2224772024-02-01T17:18:52Z2024-02-01T17:18:52ZAccording to Ireland’s constitution, a woman’s duties are in the home – but a referendum could be about to change its sexist wording<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572865/original/file-20240201-21-2wan8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C403%2C4724%2C3288&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-lying-on-kitchen-counter-92597254">Shutterstock/Everett Collection </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On March 8 – International Women’s Day – Irish citizens will vote in a referendum on whether or not to replace the so-called “woman in the home” clause in the Irish constitution.</p>
<p>This clause, which dates from 1937, specifies that: “The State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.” It goes on to say that: “The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.”</p>
<p>Originally, the purpose of the provision was to acknowledge the importance of care in the home, which was then provided almost exclusively by mothers. The purpose was to ensure that mothers could remain in the home and would not be forced to work due to financial reasons.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/irish-referendum-how-the-catholic-church-shaped-irelands-constitution-to-define-the-status-of-women-222231">Irish referendum: how the Catholic church shaped Ireland's constitution to define the status of women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, the state help implied by the wording was never actually put into practice – women were never supported to provide care in the home. Worse, the constitution was often used to bolster arguments that a woman’s place was in the home and that policies which excluded women from work were acceptable.</p>
<p>Now, as part of a double referendum, Irish citizens will have the chance to change the constitution to a more gender-neutral wording. This is alongside <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd1pjlmgp1ro">another vote</a> on whether to change the constitution’s definition of “family” to expand it beyond marriage. </p>
<h2>What’s at stake?</h2>
<p>Some confusion seems to have arisen ahead of the referendum, with some groups arguing that removing the reference to women will mean removing any right of women to stay at home and raise their children.</p>
<p>However, the reality is that the provision has never resulted in any rights for women to remain in the home. Nor has it resulted in any economic duty on the state to provide for those who wish to do so. This is primarily due to the wording which only requires the state to “endeavour” to provide such support.</p>
<p>That effectively means the government only has to make an effort – not that it is obliged to help. In fact, any attempts to use the provision to provide for such rights have <a href="https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/what-happened-when-a-badly-beaten-wife-put-the-constitutions-line-about-womens-life-in-the-home-to-the-test/a1475658715.html">failed in the courts</a>. So, the current provision is not only an anachronism but a useless one. It has never had any positive legal effect. We are instead left with the declaration, in the most basic law of the state, that women (and not men) have duties they are expected to attend to in the home.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ireland-abortion-referendum-voters-have-freed-women-from-this-insidious-law-97295">Ireland abortion referendum: voters have freed women from this insidious law</a>
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<p>This part of the constitution has long been controversial and there have been many recommendations to either delete or replace it. The most recent of these came from a <a href="https://citizensassembly.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/report-of-the-citizens-assembly-on-gender-equality.pdf">citizens’ assembly</a> established for the very purpose of advising on the fate of the clause.</p>
<p>In 2022, this assembly voted to replace the clause with a gender-neutral alternative. But the assembly also wanted the words to have meaning rather than just being symbolic, so it proposed a wording that would oblige the state to take reasonable measures to support care, drawing on similar <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-2-bill-rights#29">wording</a> from the South African constitution. A parliamentary committee set up to consider the proposals also endorsed this wording. </p>
<p>However, the Irish government has decided to put a watered-down version to the people. The amendment being proposed in the referendum reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The State recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>An important change – but an opportunity missed</h2>
<p>The wording is a disappointment for those who had pushed for reform. While it replaces the gendered language and removes the implication that a woman’s proper place is in the home, it fails to commit the state to providing support for people who work in the home caring for others. They can no more expect to receive benefits or rights that compensate them for this essential work than they would have before the referendum.</p>
<p>The proposed text merely replaces the word “endeavour” with the word “strive”. This means it is unlikely to lead to any concrete rights or any legally recognisable duty on the part of the state.</p>
<p>So, while one historical anachronism looks set to be corrected in this referendum, Ireland is still essentially being asked to replace a non-operative clause containing outdated and patronising language with a new non-operative clause with slightly more acceptable language.</p>
<p>But disappointing though it may be that no positive rights or duties are likely to ensue, the removal from the constitution of a 1930s mentality that does not reflect in any way the reality of Irish life in the 21st century is at least an improvement – and surely worth a yes vote.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Cahillane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A vote on International Women’s Day should make the constitution more gender-neutral – but there is still a catch.Laura Cahillane, Associate Professor of Law, University of Limerick, University of LimerickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2135142023-11-16T13:19:33Z2023-11-16T13:19:33ZWomen’s activism in Iran continues, despite street protests dying down in face of state repression<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559153/original/file-20231113-17-zs1f9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Iranian woman not wearing a mandatory headscarf walks past a group of young women who cover their hair in November 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/young-iranian-woman-without-wearing-a-mandatory-headscarf-news-photo/1761137953?adppopup=true">Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Large-scale protests that erupted in 2022 across Iran, <a href="https://theconversation.com/iranian-women-keep-up-the-pressure-for-real-change-but-will-broad-public-support-continue-191631">centering on women’s rights</a>, captured the world’s attention. </p>
<p>Iranians peacefully protested in the streets of places ranging from Tehran to small towns across the country, chanting, “Woman, life, freedom.” The protests reflected many Iranians’ growing frustration with the political regime in power since 1979 – and its ongoing violation of citizens’ basic rights, especially those of women and other historically marginalized groups. </p>
<p>While the latest wave of street protests dwindled by the first few months of 2023, nonviolent protests for freedom, democracy and equality have a long history in Iran and continue today. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/10/iranian-human-rights-activist-wins-nobel-peace-prize">Nobel Peace Prize committee</a> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/jailed-iranian-activist-narges-mohammadi-wins-2023-nobel-peace-prize-2023-10-06/">granted its 2023 prize to Narges Mohammadi</a>, a prominent and currently imprisoned women’s rights advocate in Iran. This recognized popular resistance to Iran’s authoritarian regime. </p>
<p>As a scholar of women’s rights in Muslim cultures, I have <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-women-s-political-representation-in-iran-and-turkey.html">documented women’s political activism</a> in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. My research shows that even when women are not demonstrating en masse in the streets, they consistently fight against gender discrimination, often at their own peril. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People march in the streets near a tipped over bin that appears on fire or is smoking." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559156/original/file-20231113-21-gu5lff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People demonstrate in Tehran in September 2022 to protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Jhina Amini, a woman who was arrested and killed for improperly covering her hair in Tehran.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-gather-in-protest-against-the-death-of-mahsa-amini-news-photo/1426271236?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Understanding women’s rights in Iran</h2>
<p>In 1979, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-iranian-revolution-a-timeline-of-events/">Iran underwent a major political</a> revolution after protesters toppled the country’s long-standing secular monarchy. </p>
<p>In its place, conservative clerics established an Islamic government. One key feature of the new government was greatly restricting women’s rights, such as forcing all women to appear in public with a proper hijab, or a modest form of dress that covers their hair and body, while only their face and hands are uncovered. Although many Iranian women <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/03/iran-protests-hijab-women-mahsa-amini/">protested mandatory hijab</a>, by 1981 the new Iranian government began to enforce it. </p>
<p>Today, women and teen girls in Iran who appear in public with improper hijab, or showing parts of their hair or body, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-hijab-women-politics-protests-6e07fae990369a58cb162eb6c5a7ab2a">risk punishment</a>, ranging from monetary fines to imprisonment. </p>
<p>Iranian women have been campaigning against such discriminatory laws by <a href="https://www.wluml.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Hoodfar-Against-all-odds-womens-mvmt-in-Iran.pdf">publicly demanding their rights</a> from the regime throughout the years. </p>
<p>Women’s protests resulted in a few legal changes, like the government recognizing women’s rights to get custody of their children in some circumstances, or establishing some grounds for women to ask for a divorce. </p>
<p>But women and girls continue to have few rights compared with men and routinely experience gender discrimination in Iran. </p>
<h2>The 2022 Iran protests</h2>
<p>The latest round of women-led protests in Iran erupted after police killed a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman named Mahsa Jhina Amini in September 2022. Police officers beat her while she was in custody for allegedly violating the mandatory hijab laws. </p>
<p>For months, women led <a href="https://www.rebelnews.ie/2023/09/12/iran-one-year-on-from-the-women-life-freedom-protests/">the vast majority of the protests</a> across Iran, risking their lives and freedom.</p>
<p>Within the first five months of the protests, police imprisoned <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/05/1154584532/iran-acknowledges-it-has-detained-tens-of-thousands-in-recent-protests">nearly 20,000 activists and protesters</a>. While the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/iran-announces-pardoning-of-more-than-22000-arrested-during-protests">majority of the protesters</a> were later <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-arrested-pardons-mahsa-amini-ae3c45c6bcc883900ff1b1e83f85df95">pardoned and released</a>, an unknown number still remain behind bars. </p>
<p>The protests also resulted in police killing at least <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/announcement/documentary-inside-iranian-uprising/">500 individuals</a>, many of them children.</p>
<h2>Shifts in Iranian protests</h2>
<p>While these mass protests have died down, political activism in the name of equality and freedom in Iran remains vibrant and active – it has just taken on different forms. </p>
<p>One new dimension to Iran’s women rights movement is that widely recognized, imprisoned female activists continue to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/jailed-iranian-womens-activist-smuggles-out-letter-thanks-nobel-peace-prize-2023-10-31/">leak statements</a> and <a href="https://iranwire.com/en/politics/110408-like-purgatory-audio-leak-exposes-inhumane-conditions-for-iranian-female-prisoners/">voice recordings</a>, decrying their conditions in prison and encouraging activists to keep up their work. </p>
<p>Discussions about women’s rights activism are also increasingly happening in private forums on Telegram, WhatsApp channels and other social media platforms. </p>
<p>Women also continue to quietly engage in civil disobedience – although this comes with its own risks. </p>
<p>One example is Iranian women simply not covering their hair when they appear in public. One 2023 report estimates that at least <a href="https://nowthisnews.com/news/a-year-after-jina-mahsa-aminis-death-iranian-women-are-brazenly-defying-hijab-law">20% of Iranian women</a> defy Iran’s mandatory hijab laws.</p>
<p>In October 2023, Iran’s notorious morality police beat and killed 17-year-old <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iranian-girl-armita-geravand-hospitalized-morality-police-rcna118787">Armita Geravand</a> after she appeared unveiled on her way to school. </p>
<p>Other women are refusing to back down, despite Iran banning <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-education-refused-without-hijab/32347464.html">female students and faculty with improper hijab</a> from entering university campuses or receiving their course credits or degrees.</p>
<p>One Tehran university faculty member described to me how she covered her hair, but not with a maghnaeh, the state-mandated form of hijab that drapes over hair and shoulders, tightening around the face. </p>
<p>“I cover my hair, but not with a maghnaeh, rather with a loose headscarf. I am determined to appear as so and to support my students. I am not alone in dressing this way,” this woman said. </p>
<p>Iranian authorities have been debating another <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/sep/13/irans-gender-apartheid-bill-could-jail-women-for-10-years-for-not-wearing-hijab">controversial bill</a> that would make punishments for women who defy the hijab laws more severe. </p>
<p>The new bill authorizes use of facial recognition and social media surveillance to identify and punish women who do not observe the hijab as mandated by the conservative authorities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Narges Mohammadi wears a yellow shirt and has a big smile as she sits at a table with flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559155/original/file-20231113-19-f8s2lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate Narges Mohammadi, pictured in 2021 while not in prison, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her ‘fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tehran-iran-narges-mohammadi-a-jailed-iranian-womens-rights-news-photo/1708936302?adppopup=true">Reihan Taravati/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Women abroad support Iranian activism</h2>
<p>Iranian women and human rights activists living abroad have also been active in organizing conferences, workshops and podcasts on supporting pro-democratic uprisings inside Iran. </p>
<p>As one Iranian women’s rights activist based in the United States recently explained, “The Iranian women’s rights movement currently benefits from dual forms of activism: one inside Iran and the other by the Iranian diaspora.” </p>
<p>Since the 2022 protests, women’s rights advocates inside and outside of the country have formed stronger networks. </p>
<p>These advocates have positioned women’s rights and gender equality as key demands for the future of Iran, as some feminists outlined in a recently published <a href="https://www.iwbr.org/copy-of-persian-home">Iran Women’s Bill of Rights</a>.</p>
<h2>State backlash against protests</h2>
<p>The Iranian regime, meanwhile, has tried to ward off any kind of dissent.</p>
<p>Just weeks prior to the one-year anniversary of Amini’s killing and planned memorial events, Iranian authorities preemptively arrested <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/iran-arrests-womens-rights-activists-ahead-woman-life/story?id=102334170">several women’s rights defenders</a> in August 2023. The authorities appeared to fear new street protests. </p>
<p>The government <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/16/middleeast/mahsa-amini-father-detained-anniversary-intl/index.html">has also pressured the families of killed protestors</a> to refrain from holding any memorial services. The rationale is that such gatherings would lead to more protests. </p>
<p>These government crackdowns on women’s rights defenders and any potential protests show the strength and viability of the Iranian women’s rights movement.</p>
<p>As the previous decades of resistance demonstrate, women’s nonviolent activism for democracy and freedom will continue, despite state violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mona Tajali is affiliated with the transnational feminist solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML). </span></em></p>Iranian women are still pressing for women’s rights and equality, just in quieter forms, including not wearing mandatory hair covers. Imprisoned activists are also leaking messages to others.Mona Tajali, Associate Professor of International Relations and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Agnes Scott CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2137172023-11-13T13:29:12Z2023-11-13T13:29:12ZMexico will soon elect its first female president – but that landmark masks an uneven march toward women’s rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558364/original/file-20231108-15-sy1yyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C38%2C8588%2C5703&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Claudia Sheinbaum, the favorite to become Mexico's first female president.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MexicoElections/72c870d1426245e9b5acff64d1d0eef5/photo?Query=Sheinbaum&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=211&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Marco Ugarte</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/mexico-elegira-pronto-a-su-primera-presidenta-pero-este-hito-oculta-una-marcha-desigual-hacia-los-derechos-de-la-mujer-217642"><em>Leer en español.</em></a> </p>
<p>Mexico will <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/americas/mexico-female-candidates-presidential-election-intl/index.html">elect its first female president</a> in 2024, barring any surprises between now and the June vote. </p>
<p>The looming landmark moment was all but guaranteed in September after the country’s leading parties each nominated a woman as its candidate – the ruling Morena party <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-ruling-party-name-presidential-candidate-with-sheinbaum-favorite-2023-09-06/#:%7E:text=%22Today%20the%20Mexican%20people%20decided,purple%20color%20of%20her%20party.">named former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum</a> as its nominee days after the main opposition coalition, Broad Front for Mexico, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-politics-elections-2024-xochitl-galvez-nominee-8df70cef1f5e9ee242d495570578d5ed">announced Xóchitl Gálvez</a>, a senator for the center-right National Action Party, as its own.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?username=vidalxm">scholars who study politics</a> <a href="https://cchambersju-research.uta.edu/">and gender in Mexico</a>, we know that optics are one thing, actual power another. Seventy years after <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-45.1.164">women won the right to vote</a> in Mexico, is the country moving any closer to making changes that would give women real equality?</p>
<h2>Uneven fight for gender equality</h2>
<p>Women now <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/07/mexico-women-gender-parity/">represent half of Congress</a>, after electoral reforms nearly a decade ago mandated gender parity in nominations to Mexico’s legislatures. And two women, Ana Lilia Rivera and Marcela Guerra Castillo, occupy the top posts in both chambers of Congress. Meanwhile, Norma Lucía Piña is the <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/mexico-s-supreme-court-elects-first-female-chief-justice-/6901488.html">first woman to serve as chief justice</a> of Mexico’s Supreme Court. </p>
<p>But electing women to high office doesn’t necessarily shift power in meaningful ways. It’s what experts on women in politics call “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1978">descriptive representation</a>” – when political leaders resemble a group of voters but fail to set policies designed to protect them. In contrast, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299231154864">substantive representation</a>” occurs when officials enact laws that truly benefit the groups that they claim to represent.</p>
<p>Scholars who study the difference between the two, including <a href="https://polsci.umass.edu/people/sonia-e-alvarez">Sonia Alvarez</a>, <a href="https://polisci.unm.edu/people/faculty/profile/mala-htun.html">Mala Htun</a> and <a href="https://www.oxy.edu/academics/faculty/jennifer-piscopo">Jennifer Piscopo</a>, have found that wins in public spheres, such as the right to vote or hold office, have rarely led to progress for women in private spaces – such as the right to reproductive freedom or protections against domestic violence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman holds a green flare during a street protest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558365/original/file-20231108-25-j6vxc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558365/original/file-20231108-25-j6vxc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558365/original/file-20231108-25-j6vxc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558365/original/file-20231108-25-j6vxc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558365/original/file-20231108-25-j6vxc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558365/original/file-20231108-25-j6vxc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558365/original/file-20231108-25-j6vxc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of feminist organizations demonstrate in favor of the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City on Sept. 28, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-feminist-organizations-demonstrate-in-favour-of-news-photo/1696063220?adppopup=true">Photo by Silvana Flores/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In other words, Mexico may have surpassed many countries – including the U.S. – in promoting women to political leadership positions, but it still hasn’t shed its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-36324570">stigma of machismo</a> and its <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/mexico-takes-another-step-toward-its-authoritarian-past/">history of authoritarianism</a>.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-gender/article/abs/regionalizing-womens-human-rights-in-latin-america/8469F364E098DD1D8CF3088CC58BC86B">resurgent feminist movement</a> throughout Latin America led to major breakthroughs in women’s rights. By the end of the decade, many countries had passed legislation against gender-based violence and reforms requiring gender quotas in party nomination lists. In the past 17 years, seven women have been elected president across Central and South America. </p>
<p>Yet the fight for gender equality has advanced unevenly. Mexico is a country still rattled by <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/07/were-here-tell-it-mexican-women-break-silence-over-femicides">high rates of femicide</a>. Government data shows that, on average, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-caribbean-gender-6594c9b2c9ea39a52dc3204e16be704c"> 10 women and girls are killed every day</a> by partners or family members.</p>
<h2>Government accused of harassment</h2>
<p>During his term, the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and his party, Morena, have been accused of downplaying the extent of the femicide crisis, with at least one critic claiming he’s “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/world/americas/violence-women-mexico-president.html">the first president to outright deny</a>” the violence. </p>
<p>Rather, López Obrador has used his daily “mañanera” news conference to issue <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/14/mexico-president-continues-attacks-on-opposition-despite-order">verbal assaults against women</a> in office, including 2024 nominee Gálvez. In July 2023, the independent <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/mexicos-national-electoral-institute-explainer">National Electoral Institute</a> found López Obrador guilty of targeting Gálvez in derogatory statements related to her gender. </p>
<p>López Obrador has also denounced Supreme Court chief justice Piña in what Mexico’s National Association of Judges <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jufed.org/photos/a.119395656264809/742860923918276/?type=3">has described as hate speech</a> and the federal judiciary condemned as “<a href="https://twitter.com/SCJN/status/1637968261143986176?s=20">gender-based violence</a>” and hatred against her. His statements at <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-lopez-obrador-politics-rally-elections-5160cbaf5ccd453f7333d651e41b79dd">a rally in March</a> incited his followers to burn <a href="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/JNtltrZs">Piña in effigy</a>, prompting critics to suggest that such attacks don’t simply reflect López Obrador’s distaste for checks and balances, but <a href="https://www.nycbar.org/member-and-career-services/committees/reports-listing/reports/detail/second-statement-condemning-the-mexican-presidents-attacks-on-judicial-independence#_ftn14">aim to undermine women</a> in positions of power.</p>
<h2>Mexico’s patronage politics</h2>
<p>Observers view <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-sheinbaum-favorite-win-presidential-nomination-poll-shows-2023-09-05/">current 2024 front-runner</a> Sheinbaum as López Obrador’s handpicked successor: He has publicly endorsed her, and she has vowed to continue his “fourth transformation,” a campaign promise to end government corruption and reduce poverty that’s had <a href="https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-02-22/la-fiscalia-abre-una-investigacion-por-el-caso-del-hijo-de-lopez-obrador-y-un-contratista-de-pemex.html">mixed results</a>. </p>
<p>Sheinbaum’s record as mayor of Mexico City has been equally mixed. She has publicly described herself as a <a href="https://www.capital21.cdmx.gob.mx/noticias/?p=3084">feminist</a> and has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-mayor-doubles-down-accusation-alleged-femicide-cover-up-2023-01-17/">criticized</a> state prosecutors for covering up the killing of Ariadna Lopez, a 27-year-old woman. At the same time, Sheinbaum <a href="https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mayor-apologizes-to-protesters/">attempted to criminalize participants</a> of a mass protest against the thousands of women who’ve disappeared in recent years, claiming that these demonstrations were violent.</p>
<p>Political scientists have shown that even when the faces of politics change, the operatives behind the scenes can stay the same – especially in Mexico, where political parties are <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/voting-for-autocracy/F6671D230EC7C458A30035ADB20F9289">mired in patronage politics</a> – when party leaders reward loyalty by deciding who gets to run for office and who gets to keep their jobs when the government is handed over to a new administration.</p>
<p>If Sheinbaum is elected, she’ll likely still be beholden to the Morena coalition and will rely to a large degree on López Obrador to help push through her policies. </p>
<h2>A feminist future?</h2>
<p>Both Sheinbaum and Gálvez have <a href="https://gatopardo.com/noticias-actuales/claudia-sheinbaum/">championed women</a> and shared their <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/20/mexico-presidential-elections-galvez-interview/">experiences as women</a> on the campaign trail. But, so far, neither has signaled that her legislative agendas would advance the interests of women through policies, such as expanding access to health care or fighting for family leave and equal pay in the workplace. </p>
<p>As criticism of López Obrador has overshadowed Sheinbaum’s campaign, we believe she faces a greater challenge in convincing voters of her commitment to women’s rights. </p>
<p>While Gálvez’s path to the presidency is narrow, her ability to advocate for a pro-women agenda seems more plausible. She has publicly supported <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2023/jul/08/although-she-is-now-aligned-with-the-conservative-opposition-galvezs-record-is-one-of-a-liberal-an-2592712.html">LGBTQ+ rights in Mexico</a> even as a member of the conservative National Action Party, suggesting she’s capable of speaking and acting independently of party leadership when it matters. </p>
<p>Aside from front-line politics, women’s rights in Mexico have moved forward when leaders have committed to substantive change.</p>
<p>Notably, Mexico’s Supreme Court under Pinã has declared all federal and state laws <a href="https://elpais.com/mexico/2023-01-05/el-empuje-de-la-nueva-presidenta-norma-pina-a-la-agenda-feminista-de-criticar-la-violencia-obstetrica-a-defender-el-aborto.html">prohibiting abortion unconstitutional</a>. When Piña took office, she <a href="https://elpais.com/mexico/2023-01-05/el-empuje-de-la-nueva-presidenta-norma-pina-a-la-agenda-feminista-de-criticar-la-violencia-obstetrica-a-defender-el-aborto.html?event=go&event_log=go&prod=REGCRARTMEX&o=cerrmex">promised to take on women’s rights</a> in her agenda. So far, she’s delivered.</p>
<p>If either presidential candidate hopes to have similar success, they’ll need to follow Pinã’s lead by centering their platforms around the issues that most affect women in their day-to-day lives, beginning with rising femicide rates. Women may be gaining political power in Mexico, but the question now is whether they’ll use it to fight for the women they represent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Women represent half of Mexico’s Congress and hold key positions in politics and the judiciary. But the country is still dogged by high rates of femicide.Xavier Medina Vidal, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at ArlingtonChristopher Chambers-Ju, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Texas at ArlingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2152272023-10-08T00:12:51Z2023-10-08T00:12:51ZIranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, in prison for speaking up against human rights violations, has been a voice for women for almost two decades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552623/original/file-20231007-20-wcxpc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=181%2C40%2C3163%2C2188&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women's rights advocate, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. Photo taken in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tehran-iran-narges-mohammadi-a-jailed-iranian-womens-rights-news-photo/1708936159?adppopup=true">Reihane Taravati / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Woman, Life, Freedom,” the slogan adopted by Iranians to protest the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/death-of-Jina-Mahsa-Amini">unjust death of Mahsa Amini in 2022</a>, is, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/06/world/nobel-peace-prize?te=1&nl=from-the-times&emc=edit_ufn_20231006">most suitable way to describe the work</a> of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, <a href="https://pen.org/advocacy-case/narges-mohammadi/">Narges Mohammadi</a>.</p>
<p>Mohammadi is the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-nobel-prize-narges-mohammadi-shirin-ebadi-4839c9fb79dc74d83851acb20849dade#:%7E:text=When%20Shirin%20Ebadi%20won%20her,the%20country's%20government%20from%20within%22%22">second Iranian woman</a> to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, exactly 20 years after Shirin Ebadi was awarded the prize for her work to promote democracy and initiate legal reform under Islamic law in 2003. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/06/world/nobel-peace-prize/the-nobel-peace-prize-has-honored-imprisoned-activists-before?smid=url-share">Mohammadi is the fourth</a> Nobel Peace Prize laureate to be chosen while still incarcerated, joining the ranks of <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1991/kyi/facts/">Aung San Suu Kyi</a> and <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2022/bialiatski/facts/">Ales Bialiatski</a>.</p>
<p>According to the Nobel committee, Mohammadi has been <a href="https://iran-protests.com/narges-mohammadi/">arrested no less than 13 times</a>. She has been convicted five times, sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes. While she has been released on and off over the past four years, her work on behalf of women and her outspoken advocacy against the death penalty have made her a repeated target of the Islamist regime in Iran. </p>
<p>To this day, she remains behind bars in Iran’s most notorious prison for political detainees, Evin, which is located in the hills of northern Tehran.</p>
<p>I have been studying women’s rights, human rights and gender and sexual politics in Iran for more than two decades. I have had the opportunity to meet and work with Shirin Ebadi and dozens of women’s rights activists in Iran throughout my time <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=15943">conducting fieldwork on Iran’s sexual revolution</a>. I have witnessed the bravery of Iranian women as they boldly agitated for change. Women’s activism in Iran is not just a recent phenomenon – they have been at the forefront of calls for change in Iran for more than a century.</p>
<h2>Activism after the Iranian revolution</h2>
<p>Mohammadi began finding her activist roots as a student in the late 1980s and early 1990s at Imam Khomeini International University, where she wrote articles decrying the repression women in Iran faced. Following the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/11/iran-1979-the-islamic-revolution-that-shook-the-world">revolution in 1979</a>, the Islamist regime that took power under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued mandatory veiling decrees and imposed harsh limitations on travel, child custody, inheritance and divorce, as it ushered in an era of harsh repression for women. </p>
<p>Mohammadi was born in Zanjan, Iran, but grew up just outside of Tehran in the suburb of Karaj. After graduating from high school, she moved to Qazvin, northwest of Tehran to attend university, where she studied physics and engineering. Upon her arrival, she quickly became an activist, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2012/05/profile-nationalist-religious-and-steadfast-narges-mohammadi.html">co-founding a group called Tashakkol Daaneshjooei Roshangaraan</a> – translated as Illuminating Student Group – where she wrote articles calling for accountability from the regime. </p>
<p>Her writings led to her arrest twice during her time as a college student. This marked the beginning of a decades-long passion for promoting human rights in Iran that landed her in jail repeatedly. In 2002, Mohammadi, along with the Ebadi, founded the <a href="https://www.humanrights-ir.org/about-us">Defenders of Human Rights Center</a>, whose mandate is to defend the rights of women, political prisoners and ethnic minorities in Iran.</p>
<p>When she was awarded the Sakharov Prize in 2018, for “defence of human rights and freedom of thought,” Mohammadi <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2023/oct/06/nobel-prize-writings-narges-mohammadi#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20are%20fueled%20by%20a,freedom%20embraces%20the%20Iranian%20people.%E2%80%9D">called for ending the death penalty</a> and injustices against women. She protested against the imprisonment and torture of political and civil rights activists, and she said she “will not be silent in the face of human rights violations.” </p>
<p>In 2007, when Shirin Ebadi <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/1079179.html">established the National Peace Council</a> for peaceful resistance to the death penalty, harsh family laws and poor treatment of prisoners, Mohammadi was elected president of the 83-member body.</p>
<h2>Echoing the call for change</h2>
<p>Mohammadi follows a long line of women who have been at the forefront of calls for change in Iran, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/04/iranian-women-and-the-struggle-for-democracy-i-the-pre-revolution-era.html">dating back to the era of the Persian Empire</a>. </p>
<p>In 1906, a Constitutional Revolution – referred to as the <a href="https://www.iranchamber.com/history/constitutional_revolution/constitutional_revolution.php">Mashrouteh Revolution</a> – took place. This was a movement that pressed for codification of laws and rights to protect the people of Iran when the country was under the threat of colonialism. Women were at the forefront to call for equal rights for all Iranians – including and especially equal rights for all genders.</p>
<p>Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, women’s activism has gotten louder and more bold. Thousands of protesters have spent the last four decades calling for accountability, equality and human rights under the Islamic Republic.</p>
<p>In 2009, women were central to the <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/green-movement">Green Movement</a> that called for democracy and election transparency. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/world/middleeast/23neda.html">Green Movement</a> was an expression of outrage at the alleged <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/a-decade-after-iran-s-green-movement-some-lessons/">fraudulent re-election of conservative hardliner</a> Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. </p>
<p>And while men and women marched alongside one another, it was women who led the way. Neda Aga Soltan, a 26-year-old student protester who was shot while standing peacefully in support of the protests on the streets of Tehran by a member of Iran’s paramilitary forces, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/tehranbureaudeathintehran/">quickly became the face of the protests</a>.</p>
<p>In 2022, women of all ages and religious, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds joined the protests when <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/15/1199882515/a-year-after-mahsa-aminis-death-iran-still-reels-from-protests-and-crackdowns">22-year-old Mahsa Amini died</a> in custody. Amini had traveled to Tehran from Kurdistan Province for a holiday with her brother. But as soon as she stepped off the train, Amini was arrested by the morality police. The protests, following her death in custody, came to be known the world over for their defining chant of “Zan, Zendigi, Azadi” – Women, Life, Freedom. Schoolgirls as young as 12 were <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2023/mar/08/mass-poisoning-schoolgirls-iran#:%7E:text=Between%20November%202022%20and%20March,rights%20groups%20and%20government%20officials">standing up in public</a> during these protests demanding accountability from the Islamist regime. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several Iranian protesters hold photographs of a young woman during a demonstration." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552611/original/file-20231006-31-21b8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Iranian protesters call for justice for Mahsa Amini during a protest organized in London’s Trafalgar Square.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/iranian-protesters-hold-photographs-of-mahsa-amini-during-news-photo/1244373894?adppopup=true">Steve Taylor/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>These protests were not an isolated incident of bravery. Rather, they were the result of decades of resistance movements led by women tired of facing oppression and inequality.</p>
<h2>Sowing the seeds of dissent</h2>
<p>The recognition by the Nobel committee of Mohammadi’s work puts the global spotlight on the fight for women’s rights in the Middle East.</p>
<p>Mohammadi’s family, the Oslo-based award committee, and her colleagues at the Defenders of Human Rights Center have all articulated the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2023/press-release/">significance of the prize</a>, not just for Mohammadi, but for all Iranian women who continue to bravely resist the oppression of the Iranian regime.</p>
<p>In 2022, the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022/in-full/1-benchmarking-gender-gaps-2022/">World Economic Forum ranked Iran</a> among the worst five countries in the world for women’s economic opportunities and participation, health, educational attainment and political power. </p>
<p>It is unclear, though, whether Mohammadi knows about her win. She shared <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/06/world/nobel-peace-prize-winner-2023-intl/index.html">a message from prison</a> on Oct. 4 through her family when she was told that she was under consideration as a finalist. She said that she will continue to strive for “democracy, freedom, and equality” and vowed to remain in Iran to continue her activism. “Standing alongside the brave mothers of Iran, I will continue to fight against the relentless discrimination, tyranny, and gender-based oppression by the oppressive religious government until the liberation of women,” she said. </p>
<p>It is highly unlikely that Iranian women will give up the fight – even under threat of tear gas, arrest and years of detention or brutality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pardis Mahdavi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Narges Mohammadi is the second Iranian woman, after Shirin Ebadi, to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She remains locked up in Evin, Iran’s most notorious prison for political detainees.Pardis Mahdavi, President, University of La VerneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2151922023-10-07T13:39:47Z2023-10-07T13:39:47ZNobel peace prize 2023: award for Iranian women’s rights protester highlights fight against declining democracy around the world<p>One hundred days after Iranians first protested the killing of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini for wearing her hijab incorrectly, Narges Mohammadi sat down in her prison cell to <a href="https://iranwire.com/en/politics/111879-nargess-mohammadis-shocking-letter-about-sexual-assault-against-prisoners/">write a letter</a> to the country’s women. She promised: “We shall not back down until the moment of victory, meaning the establishment of democracy, peace, human rights and an end to tyranny”. </p>
<p>In recognition of her indomitable spirit – and the bravery shown by thousands of Iranians at the forefront of the woman-life-freedom movement – Mohammadi has <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-peace-prize-narges-mohammadi-wins-on-behalf-of-thousands-of-iranian-women-struggling-for-human-rights-215190">won the 2023 Nobel peace prize</a>. </p>
<p>The Nobel committee recognised her “fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”. But it also pointedly extended the accolade to all of those women who have taken to the streets in protest against the oppressive theocratic government, including <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-protests-death-count-human-rights-report/32224340.html#">more than 500 demonstrators who were killed, thousands injured and 20,000 arrested</a>.</p>
<h2>Women’s fight for rights and justice</h2>
<p>Mohammadi is not the first Iranian woman to win the Nobel peace prize. In 2003, lawyer Shirin Ebadi was <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2003/ebadi/facts/">awarded the distinction</a> for her work promoting human rights which had also seen her imprisoned by the regime. Ebadi gave me this statement after this year’s announcement: </p>
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<p>I have known Narges Mohammadi for many years. She was the spokesperson for the Defenders of Human Rights Centre which I co-founded. For her activities, Narges has been in prison for a long time. She is still in prison now. I hope that the Peace Prize awarded to Narges for her brave work for women’s and human rights will help to bring more attention to Iran and women’s fight for democracy. Because it is women who will open the doors to democracy in Iran.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-peace-prize-narges-mohammadi-wins-on-behalf-of-thousands-of-iranian-women-struggling-for-human-rights-215190">Nobel peace prize: Narges Mohammadi wins on behalf of thousands of Iranian women struggling for human rights</a>
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<p>The executive director of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, Maria Butler, <a href="https://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/narges_mohammadi">commented that</a>: “Too often in times of conflict women are seen only as victims, their contributions to justice and peace-building are overlooked, and their voices excluded.” </p>
<p>Since it was established in 1901, the Nobel Peace Prize has only gone to 19 women including Mohammadi, compared to more than 90 men. If Mohammadi is the “symbol of what it means to be a freedom fighter in Iran”, as the chair of the Nobel prize committee <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2023/summary/">Berit Reiss-Andersen has said</a>, she is also a powerful symbol for all women and girls around the world. </p>
<p>It’s also significant that alongside Mohammadi, in the <a href="https://www.prio.org/news/3009">shortlist assembled by Henrik Urdal</a>, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) was Mahbouba Seraj, who is fighting a similar campaign for the rights of women in Afghanistan. As Seraj <a href="https://www.prio.org/news/3009">wrote in August</a>, this year about the takeover of her country by the Taliban in 2021: </p>
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<p>The women of Afghanistan went from existence – from being part of society, from working, from being part of every aspect of life as doctors, judges, nurses, engineers, women running offices – to nothing. Everything they had, even the most basic right to go to high school, was taken away from them. </p>
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<h2>Declining democracy</h2>
<p>When she announced the prize winner, Nobel committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said that the choice of Nobel peace laureates over the past few years had reflected a decline in democracy around the world. Just as Mohammadi’s 2023 award represents the struggle of all Iranian women against oppression, the 2022 award to <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-peace-prize-goes-to-belarusian-russian-and-ukrainian-human-rights-activists-192110">Ales Bialiatski</a> from Belarus was also aiming to represent a broader struggle for democracy in an autocratic country.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announces the winner of the 2023 Nobel peace prize.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The award to Bialatski, who remains in prison having been jailed without trial in 2021 for his role in pro-democracy protests, reflected the value of civil society against the dictatorial powers adopted by the Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko, in 2016. Bialiatski shared the award with Russian human rights organisation, Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Centre for Civil Liberties. As the Nobel committee put it: “Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy.”</p>
<p>The 2021 award went to two journalists: Maria Ressa in Philippines and Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov in Russia. Ressa, the founder of the investigative news website Rappler, consistently risked her life and liberty to bring to light abuses of power under the authoritarian rule of former president, Rodrigo Duterte. She has spent years <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/philippine-nobel-prize-winner-maria-ressa-acquitted-of-tax-charges">fighting multiple charges</a> filed against her by the Duterte government in order to stay out of prison. She and a Rappler colleague are appealing against a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/08/philippines-nobel-laureate-maria-ressa-loses-appeal-against-cyber-libel-conviction#">cyber libel conviction </a> which could have a seven-year prison sentence.</p>
<p>Muratov won for his leadership of the opposition newspaper and website Novaya Gazeta in Russia. He has since been <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/russia-declares-nobel-prize-winning-editor-dmitry-muratov-to-be-a-foreign-agent">declared a “foreign agent”</a> by the Kremlin. He moved the editorial offices and staff of Novaya Gazeta to Latvia soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, but has stayed in Moscow where he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/aug/20/dmitry-muratov-russian-nobel-peace-prize-winner-who-wont-be-silenced-by-putin">faces regular harassment</a>.</p>
<p>International IDEA, an independent organisation which tracks democracy around the world, said that at the end of 2021, “nearly one half of the 173 countries assessed by International IDEA are <a href="https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/gsod-report-2022#chapter2.1">experiencing declines</a> in at least one sub-attribute of democracy”. </p>
<p>Whether these are legal clampdowns on public right to protest, as in the new <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/public-order-laws-are-we-losing-the-right-to-protest-12878592">Public Order Laws in the UK</a>, illegal military-backed coups on democratically elected governments as seen in various African countries such as <a href="https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/gsod-report-2022#chapter2.1">Gabon and Niger</a> in 2022 or deliberate attempts to exploit religious divisions, such as by <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/09/30/arundhati-roy-in-india-the-political-thinkers-in-modi-s-party-openly-worshiped-hitler-and-mussolini_6142003_4.html">India’s Modi government</a>, respect for democratic principles is under pressure.</p>
<p>Making the Nobel award to Mohammadi, committee chair Reiss-Andersen said that she hoped that offering solidarity with the jailed human rights activist and the broader woman-life-freedom movement in Iran would spark change.</p>
<p>“But I would also like to remind you that it took three Nobel prizes before apartheid fell in South Africa, she added: "Peace is not a quick fix.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leïla Choukroune does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Nobel peace prize committee noted that awards in recent years highlight pressure on democracy which they say is in decline around the world.Leïla Choukroune, Professor of International Law, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2151902023-10-06T15:15:45Z2023-10-06T15:15:45ZNobel peace prize: Narges Mohammadi wins on behalf of thousands of Iranian women struggling for human rights<p>Prominent Iranian women’s rights advocate Narges Mohammadi has won the 2023 Nobel peace prize for her long fight against the oppression of women in Iran. Mohammadi is serving multiple prison sentences in Evin prison in Tehran on charges which include spreading propaganda against the state. She was <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2023/press-release/">named by the committee</a> for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”. </p>
<p>The award comes as women across Iran and around the world continue to protest the treatment of women in Iran after the death of <a href="https://theconversation.com/mahsa-amini-a-year-into-the-protest-movement-in-iran-this-is-whats-changed-212661">Mahsa Amini</a> in the custody of morality police, for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s dress code for women.</p>
<p>The committee said: “The motto adopted by the demonstrators – "Woman-Life–Freedom” – suitably expresses the dedication and work of Narges Mohammadi.“</p>
<p>That the Woman-Life-Freedom protests have endured so long in the face of Iranian state repression is in itself remarkable. But this year-long protest, the latest wave of decades of battles fought by women against religious authoritarianism in Iran sparked, seems to be turning into an unprecedented shift in the decades of struggle against one of the most repressive regimes in modern history.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-protests-in-iran-are-part-of-a-long-history-of-womens-resistance-191551">The protests in Iran are part of a long history of women's resistance</a>
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<p>After the 1979 revolution in Iran, Islamic clerics led by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Ruhollah-Khomeini">Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini</a> seized a firm grip on government. The regime quickly introduced a raft of oppressive laws <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/162994.pdf">directed specifically at women</a>. But despite the <a href="https://women.ncr-iran.org/2020/11/22/violence-against-women-in-iran/">violence directed at them</a> by the regime, women continued at the forefront of protest against oppression in Iran.</p>
<p>Narges Mohamaddi joined the struggle as a student in the early 1990s. After graduating in physics and taking employment as an engineer, she began to agitate for women’s rights and write columns in reform-minded newspapers. </p>
<p>She was first arrested in 1998 for her <a href="https://iliberty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Narges-Mohammadi.pdf">criticism of the Iranian government</a>. By 2003 she was working with the the Defenders of Human Rights Centre in Tehran, set up by Shirin Ebadi, who won that year’s Nobel peace prize, the first woman from the Islamic world to <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2003/ebadi/facts/">receive the award</a>.</p>
<p>Mohammadi has been arrested 13 times and convicted on five occasions and sentenced to a total of <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2023/press-release/">31 years in prison and 154 lashes</a>. She was incarcerated in Tehran’s most notorious prison in 2022 when the wave of protests, which was to become known as Woman-Life-Freedom, began to gain global recognition. </p>
<p>Mohammadi organised solidarity actions with fellow inmates and was punished by the authorities by prohibiting visitors and phone calls. Despite this, she managed to smuggle out an article she wrote for the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/16/opinion/narges-mohammadi-iran-women.html">New York Times</a>, which ran in September 2023 with the headline: "The more they lock us up, the stronger we become.”</p>
<h2>Women’s voices raised in protest</h2>
<p>Movements led by women have often been effective at forcing democratic change. Examples are abundant through history and continue to force change. </p>
<p>In Argentina in recent years, the <em>#NiUnaMenos</em> (Not One Less) movement of women and girls <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/the-womens-movement-is-leading-reform-in-argentina">seeking justice for femicide</a> led in 2019 directly to the establishment by the administration of President Alberto Fernández of a new Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity. Thanks to the persistence of Argentinian women raising their voices, the country is set to chart a path toward change. </p>
<p>Women have been prominent in the rights movement in Chile, both before and after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dictatorship_of_Chile">Pinochet dictatorship</a>. But the current feminist movement there, which is agitating strongly for abortion rights, was strongly influenced by <em>#NiUnaMenos</em>. </p>
<p>As a result of their work, legal protections for abortion were included in a new constitution that was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chile-abortion-debate-gets-key-place-constitution-redraft-2022-03-16/">prepared in 2022</a> to replace the decades-old constitution established under Pinochet. A plebiscite rejected the constitutional redraft in September 2022, but women continue at the forefront of rights protests <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chile-voters-sour-right-wing-constitution-abortion-clause-stirs-debate-2023-10-06/">as the debate continues</a>.</p>
<h2>Woman-Life-Freedom</h2>
<p>Meanwhile Iranian women continue to march for their rights. One year after the Woman-Life-Freedom movement sprang to life, it remains impossible to predict whether they will succeed in the face of savage repression from the clerical establishment and its conservative supporters. </p>
<p>But the regime’s sense of invincibility – and women’s marginalisation from politics – has been severely shaken. Even as the security services try to crackdown on protesters, the struggle against the patriarchal regime will continue. </p>
<p>Even if the protests do not lead to the collapse of the regime, the voices of women demanding freedom of speech, bodily autonomy and political engagement may have already <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/26/unveiling-resistance-struggle-womens-rights-iran">shifted the social and political landscape</a> in Iran. </p>
<p>The Nobel prize panel has recognised Narges Mohammadi for her work over 30 years of agitating for rights for Iranian women. But it has <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2023/press-release/">made it clear</a> that the award is also for the “hundreds of thousands of people who, in the preceding year, have demonstrated against the theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women”.</p>
<p>Women’s voices are now becoming a serious threat to the legitimacy of the Iranian theocracy. Sceptics may say that in the past the regime has always successfully used violence and censorship to silence protest. </p>
<p>But this new wave of protests has reverberated around the world, raising the profile of women’s struggle on the streets of Iranian cities and encouraging women across the globe to fight for their own rights and freedoms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215190/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hind Elhinnawy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Nobel prize committee said Narges Mohammadi represented the struggle of many thousands of brave women fighting for their rights.Hind Elhinnawy, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2142022023-09-27T12:22:55Z2023-09-27T12:22:55ZWhat is an abaya − and why does it cause such controversy in France? A scholar of European studies explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550289/original/file-20230926-21-3zqi6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C7%2C4898%2C3245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The abaya is typically paired with a headscarf to cover the hair.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/women-attend-a-book-fair-in-riyadh-saudi-arabia-on-march-11-news-photo/646814194?adppopup=true">Lynsey Addario/Getty Images Reportage</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Worn by some Muslim women, an abaya is a long, loose-fitting, robelike garment that covers the entire body, except for the face, hands and feet. Through the abaya, women can <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2159028">express their religious identity</a> and dedication to following Islamic guidelines regarding modest attire. </p>
<p>In more conservative social circles, the abaya is part of expected dress conforming to social norms and culture. In Saudi Arabia, for example, women were required to wear an abaya <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-women/saudi-women-should-have-choice-whether-to-wear-abaya-robe-crown-prince-idUSKBN1GV190">until 2018</a>.</p>
<p>Worn over everyday clothing, the abaya is typically paired with a headscarf to cover the hair. This garment <a href="https://www.learnreligions.com/islamic-clothing-definition-abaya-2004279">finds its primary usage</a> in North Africa; the Horn of Africa, which includes countries such as Somalia and Somaliland; and the Arabian Peninsula. </p>
<p>Traditionally, the abaya was black or dark in color, reflecting a conservative approach. In present times, however, its design and aesthetics can vary between regions and communities. In some places, abayas may feature intricate embroidery that is specific to that locality. In others, the choice of fabric and the style of draping can differ, allowing women to align their abaya with regional fashion preferences. These regional variations offer <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/fspc.1.1.45_1">women a way to express their cultural identity</a> while respecting religious norms. </p>
<p>In fact, modern abayas – offering a wide spectrum of colors and innovative designs – <a href="https://en.vogue.me/fashion/saudi-designers-reinventing-the-abaya/">have become a fashion statement</a>. These designer abayas offer a departure from the conventional plain styles and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20160623-the-high-end-designer-fashion-hidden-beneath-the-abaya">incorporate innovative patterns</a>, like floral prints and geometric designs, and even metallic embellishments such as belts and pins. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Some women modeling colorful abayas." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550302/original/file-20230926-19-138yj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Models displaying abayas during a fashion show in Amman, Jordan, in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/models-display-dresses-by-jordanian-designer-ayat-al-zoubi-news-photo/467076500?adppopup=true">Jordan Pix/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>In societies where Muslims constitute a minority, the abaya takes on an added layer of significance. Muslim women can use the abaya as a <a href="https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/pdf/doi/10.4324/9781351256568-27">means to connect</a> with their cultural heritage. But it has also drawn criticism. </p>
<p>Critics argue that religious garments like the abaya represent a form of religious control <a href="https://doi.org/10.2979/MEW.2010.6.1.46">over women’s bodies</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109911405827">and</a> a <a href="https://sekkamag.com/2019/04/30/non-fiction-the-day-i-was-called-out-for-wearing-an-abaya/">reinforcement of patriarchy</a>. </p>
<p>Other critics of abayas say they object to public symbols of religious identity. Some individuals who advocate for a strong separation between religious and state affairs <a href="https://policycommons.net/artifacts/4826610/the-latest-laicite-clothing-controversy-in-france/5663213/">argue that religious expressions should be limited</a> to private settings. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/world/europe/france-abaya-muslims-school.html">France recently banned the wearing of abayas</a> in its public schools, arguing that it was in conflict with secular principles, which has caused an uproar. </p>
<p>Others, however, say these laws predominantly affect the country’s Muslim minority. This is because Christians do not typically express their religious identity through attire. Even when they do, Christianity often <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315149707-15/christonormativity-religious-neutrality-armin-langer">prioritizes belief over outward religious practices</a>, as opposed to mainstream Islam. </p>
<p>These critiques underscore the ongoing discussion surrounding the tension between religious practices and individual rights in diverse, multicultural societies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Armin Langer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In some conservative countries, the abaya is part of expected dress. But in countries where Muslims are in the minority, the abaya can be a way for women to connect with their religious identity.Armin Langer, Assistant Professor of European Studies, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2132222023-09-21T20:58:19Z2023-09-21T20:58:19ZA year after Mahsa Amini’s death, Iran’s women continue their long fight for ‘women, life, freedom’<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/a-year-after-mahsa-aminis-death-irans-women-continue-their-long-fight-for-women-life-freedom" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The killing of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2022/12/06/mahsa-amini-the-spark-that-ignited-a-women-led-revolution/?sh=4a3f59f35c3d">Mahsa (Jina) Amini</a> in Iran a year ago ignited massive protests by Iranians against the Islamic regime.</p>
<p>But civil unrest has been a feature of Iranian life since the early months of the regime, continuing to this day via different forms of resistance, including petitions, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/world/middleeast/iran-protest-strikes.html">mass labour strikes</a>, revolutionary songs and political graffiti. </p>
<p>A look back at the history of the women’s rights movement over the past five decades explains how the <a href="https://amnesty.ca/human-rights-news/iran-one-year-after-the-woman-life-freedom-uprising-international-community-must-combat-impunity-for-brutal-crackdown/">Women, Life, Freedom uprisings</a> have stood on the shoulders of those preceding waves of protests.</p>
<h2>Homa Darabi’s self-immolation</h2>
<p>Less than a month after the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Islamic Republic marked its dictatorship by enforcing compulsory hijab. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/iran-women-protests-1979-revolution-1.6605982">On International Women’s Day that same year</a>, thousands of Iranian women protested against the obligatory hijab, chanting: “Where are women’s rights in the rise of freedom?” </p>
<p>The protest lasted eight days, but the struggle against the regime has continued for 44 years. Soon enough, Iranian women realized that the Islamic revolution would not in fact result in more freedom, but would instead dim its light as the regime persecuted thousands of protesters and activists. </p>
<p>These actions transformed the hopeful people of the Islamic revolution into the oppressed citizens of the Islamic regime.</p>
<p>One of the symbols of this widespread dismay was the depression and suicide of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/iranian-woman-in-suicide-protest-1396070.html">Homa Darabi</a>, the feminist and political activist, child psychiatrist and academic. </p>
<p>Disappointed by the revolution and barred from all her positions, Darabi set herself on fire in front of the Administrative Court of Justice building in protest to the compulsory hijab.</p>
<h2>Feminist reformists</h2>
<p>Frustrated Iranians had hope for <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/khamenei-and-end-irans-hopeless-reformist-movement">the reformist movement</a> that emerged in the mid-1990s. </p>
<p>It involved feminist activists channelling their struggle against the misogynist regime via civil society institutions and accepted social practices. </p>
<p>In 2006, they organized <a href="https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/iranian-activists-one-million-signatures-campaign-gender-justice-2006-2008">a campaign to collect a million signatures demanding the repeal of laws that discriminated against women</a>. </p>
<p>They insisted their campaign wasn’t politically motivated as they conformed to Islamic principles, and said they were merely acting as mediators between citizens and the state in their quest for gender equity. </p>
<p>Their strategy was to enlighten citizens in person about the Islamic Republic’s discriminatory laws against women, and ask them to sign their petition. </p>
<p>These feminists negotiated with ayatollahs and invited them to reinterpret Islamic sharia about women to be more aligned with modern-day Iranian society. They also met with reformist members of parliament to lobby for changes to laws that discriminated against women.</p>
<p>Although their one-million signature campaign made demands via the existing system, their efforts were met with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/03/opinion/sunday/iran-hijab-women-scarves.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsunday&action=click&contentCollection=sunday&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront">violent attacks by police</a> and the massive persecution of the activists.</p>
<p>This crackdown on the reformist campaign proved the Islamic republic had no intention of restoring rights to women. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1tiO6l4J_A8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Amnesty International video on the equality campaign in Iran.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Vida Movahed’s white flag</h2>
<p>If the 1979 revolution resulted in despondency for many citizens even as it spurred the reformist movement into civic activism, <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/green-movement">Iran’s pro-democracy Green Movement</a> and its pervasive use of the internet were mirrored in the digital activism of Iran’s feminists.</p>
<p>After the government’s <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/6/12/what-happened-to-the-green-movement-in-iran">brutal suppression of the Green Movement</a> in 2009, the only place left for resistance was social media. Despite internet blackouts or censorship, Iranian women used digital platforms, posting pictures of their everyday lives while practising civil disobedience.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mystealthyfreedom.org">My Stealthy Freedom</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40218711">White Wednesdays campaigns</a>, along with the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/world/middleeast/iran-sexual-violence-metoo-women.html">Iranian #MeToo movement</a>, are examples of feminist digital activism.</p>
<p>In 2017, Vida Movahed, stood on one of the utility boxes of a crowded and historically political street in Tehran named Enghelab (revolution), removed her white head scarf and waved it in front of a crowd.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"962647926467067904"}"></div></p>
<p>The photo of her performative civil disobedience went viral and spurred the hashtag <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-42954970">#TheGirlofEnghelabStreet</a>. Movahed inspired many other girls and women across the country, prompting them to wave white scarves to protest the compulsory hijab during the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-islamic-republic-of-iran-four-decades-on-the-2017-18-protests-amid-a-triple-crisis/">2017-18 Iranian protests</a>. </p>
<p>In response, the dictatorship <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/01/irans-year-of-shame-more-than-7000-arrested-in-chilling-crackdown-on-dissent-during-2018/">violently attacked and imprisoned women, girls and thousands of other protesters in a violent crackdown</a>.</p>
<p>In the face of these continuing violent crackdowns in response to protests, Iranians have demanded regime change. Burning the compulsory hijab has become a symbol of the opposition between the Islamic regime and the people. </p>
<h2>Say her name: Mahsa Amini</h2>
<p>Today, it’s almost impossible to draw distinctions between different social movements in Iran. The nature of Iranians’ struggle has become intersectional and revolutionary. All protest movements are battling in solidarity against the systemic oppression of the Islamic dictatorship.</p>
<p>Iranians have learned from past failures that fighting for women’s rights must not be reduced to identity politics; it’s not secondary to the bigger struggle against the regime whose authority and legitimacy relies on systematic patriarchy and misogyny.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large crowd and cars are seen on a tree-lined city street, smoke billowing in places." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486507/original/file-20220926-27-3rh4qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486507/original/file-20220926-27-3rh4qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486507/original/file-20220926-27-3rh4qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486507/original/file-20220926-27-3rh4qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486507/original/file-20220926-27-3rh4qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486507/original/file-20220926-27-3rh4qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486507/original/file-20220926-27-3rh4qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters chant slogans during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini on Sept. 21, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Islamic regime has made Iran the only country in the world that enforces the hijab, yet it hopes to present Iran to the world, especially Islamic countries, as the best model of Islamic sovereignty. It’s using the compulsory hijab to control female sexuality and to promote its Islamic propaganda globally.</p>
<p>The Islamic regime preys upon social divisions — primarily sexual and gender differences — in order to exploit citizens from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to safeguard its ideological foundations. </p>
<p>The Kurdish Amini was on the margins in terms of various Iranian hierarchies — gender, race, religion. But her name has consequently become a unifying force that brings together all oppressed and ostracized minorities in Iran. </p>
<p>Iranians aren’t just protesting against the hijab, but against all the controlling and repressive mechanisms of the Islamic regime imposed on their bodies, their sexuality and their freedoms. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/sep/18/we-never-stopped-protesting-irans-youth-take-freedom-fight-underground">The continuing unrest in Iran</a> — and the brave women who have led the charge for decades — isn’t just about freeing women, it’s about restoring human rights and ensuring all of Iranians are free from the misogynist and totalitarian Islamic regime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paria Rahimi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The continuing unrest in Iran — and the brave women who have led the charge for decades — isn’t just about freeing women, it’s about restoring human rights for all Iranians.Paria Rahimi, PhD Student, Theory and Criticism, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116232023-09-19T12:14:56Z2023-09-19T12:14:56ZUS policy of ‘pragmatic engagement’ in Afghanistan risks legitimatizing Taliban rule<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548369/original/file-20230914-15-hde5rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C29%2C4911%2C3257&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters celebrate the second anniversary of Taliban rule on Aug. 15, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/taliban-supporters-parade-through-the-streets-of-kabul-on-news-photo/1601157436?adppopup=true">Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For two decades, the conflict in Afghanistan <a href="https://theconversation.com/calculating-the-costs-of-the-afghanistan-war-in-lives-dollars-and-years-164588">occupied international attention and U.S. resources</a>. But ever since <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2573268/biden-announces-full-us-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-by-sept-11/">American troops withdrew</a> in 2021, the conflict has seemingly been viewed in Washington more as a concern <a href="https://www.carnegie.org/our-work/article/afghanistan-after-us-withdrawal-five-conclusions/">localized to the region of Central and South Asia</a>.</p>
<p>This is due in large part to <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/shifting-priorities-the-us-and-the-middle-east-in-a-multipolar-world/">the U.S.’s shifting global priorities</a>. The invasion in Ukraine and Chinese ambitions in the Pacific have meant that Afghanistan is no longer a top priority for the U.S. administration.</p>
<p>Naturally, the U.S.’s exit from Afghanistan has left the Biden administration with weaker leverage in the country. Indeed, some observers are now <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/05/23/afghanistan-biden-taliban-akhundzada-haqqani/">calling for the U.S. to diplomatically recognize</a> the Taliban government – something the Biden administration has stated it has <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-afghanistan/">yet to make a decision on</a>.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.unomaha.edu/international-studies-and-programs/about-us/directory/sherjan-ahmadzai.php">expert on international relations and Afghanistan</a>, I would argue recognizing the Taliban without pushing for a political road map and guarantees from them would be a mistake. As a partner in the Doha agreement – the peace deal <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Agreement-For-Bringing-Peace-to-Afghanistan-02.29.20.pdf">signed by the U.S. and the Taliban in 2020</a> leading to American troop withdrawal – Washington has an obligation to hold the Taliban to account over its side of the bargain: Preventing terrorists from operating in Afghanistan and engaging in intra-Afghan talks to end decades of conflict.</p>
<p>Yet over the past two years, the U.S.’s <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-afghanistan/">policy of “pragmatic engagement</a>” in Afghanistan – which amounts to working with the Taliban on limited security concerns while urging a course correction on human rights – has done little to discourage Taliban policies that have <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/report-afghanistan/">degraded the rights of Afghan citizens</a>. Nor has it pushed the Taliban to long-promised talks with other factions and parties in Afghanistan aimed at ending decades of turmoil.</p>
<h2>Evolving US interests</h2>
<p>America was drawn into Afghanistan after the 9/11 attack on the U.S mainland. Its goal was to <a href="https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan">dismantle and destroy al-Qaida</a> and its affiliate groups. But at the same time, it was considered to be in the U.S.’s interest to also assist Afghans in <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/11/17/bush-on-nation-building-and-afghanistan/">creating a more equal and just political system</a> after decades of civil war and instability. The vision was for a government that respected human rights, guaranteed access to education for all and promoted democracy. </p>
<p>Some of those ideals made it into the Doha agreement and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-16/afghanistan-taliban-spokesperson-says-they-respect-women/100298394">public statements by the Taliban delegation before the deal was signed</a>. Yet, more than three years after the agreement was inked in the Qatari capital, the Taliban appears to show no intention of following through on its promises. It has <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/03/afghanistan-un-experts-say-20-years-progress-women-and-girls-rights-erased">restricted the rights of women and girls</a> to education and <a href="https://www.iranintl.com/en/202308317600">rejected the idea of an inclusive government</a> with input from other Afghans. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/08/31/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-end-of-the-war-in-afghanistan/">U.S. government’s policy of pragmatic engagement</a> amounts to combating terrorism through an “<a href="https://mwi.westpoint.edu/over-the-horizon-counterterrorism-new-name-same-old-challenges/">over-the-horizon” strategy</a> directed from outside the country and intervening in Afghan affairs only through the Taliban itself, an unconventional partner for the U.S. in this effort.</p>
<p>In July 2023, President Biden implied that working with the Taliban in counterterrorism efforts <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/06/30/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-supreme-courts-decision-on-the-administrations-student-debt-relief-program/">had borne fruit</a>: “I said al-Qaida would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban.”</p>
<h2>Taliban failing on pledges</h2>
<p>Yet, after <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/02.29.20-US-Afghanistan-Joint-Declaration.pdf">vowing in the Doha agreement</a> to send a “clear message” to groups such as al-Qaida that “threaten the security of the United States and its allies,” the Taliban <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-year-after-the-fall-of-kabul-talibans-false-commitments-on-terrorism-have-been-fully-exposed-188132">has yet to publicly sever ties</a> with the group <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan">or banish militants</a> from Afghanistan. </p>
<p>The Taliban has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65382277">killed a few individuals</a> identified as being threats to the U.S., notably by targeting the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-isis-k-two-terrorism-experts-on-the-group-behind-the-deadly-kabul-airport-attack-and-its-rivalry-with-the-taliban-166873">terrorist group ISIS-K</a>. But it has been less helpful in cracking down on al-Qaida members. Indeed, <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-was-ayman-al-zawahri-where-does-his-death-leave-al-qaida-and-what-does-it-say-about-us-counterterrorism-188056">al-Qaida leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri</a> was hiding out in Kabul – something that couldn’t have happened without the involvement of high-ranking Taliban officials – until a U.S. operation in July 2022 killed him.</p>
<p>In maintaining contacts with the Taliban for counterterrorism goals without pressuring the group on human rights issues, the U.S. might serve to legitimatize the Taliban’s leadership of the country at times when the group <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/25/taliban-dissolves-afghanistan-election-commission">still lacks an internal mandate</a>.</p>
<p>Despite these concerns, the U.S. is seemingly pushing ahead with this policy of “pragmatic engagement.”</p>
<p>In July 2023, A U.S. delegation led by Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Rina Amir, the special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights, <a href="https://www.state.gov/meeting-of-u-s-officials-with-taliban-representatives/">met with the Taliban</a> foreign minister in Doha. A State Department press release <a href="https://www.state.gov/meeting-of-u-s-officials-with-taliban-representatives/">framed the meeting</a> as a confidence-building exercise, noting positive developments such as growth in trade, a “decrease in large-scale terrorist attacks” and a “reduction in opium cultivation.”</p>
<p>Mention was made of the U.S. urging the Taliban to “reverse policies responsible for deteriorating human rights.” But as <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-meeting-with-taliban-puts-high-gloss-on-dismal-conditions-in-afghanistan/ar-AA1eJzbi?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=a3af02c159b04490a661e7cb28c5ba85&ei=268">one critic noted</a>, such language “fall(s) atrociously short of describing the Taliban’s vast inhumanity toward Afghans.”</p>
<h2>Lack of regional consensus</h2>
<p>The void left by the U.S. is being <a href="https://www.mei.edu/events/iran-russia-and-china-post-us-withdrawal-afghan-landscape">filled by regional powers and countries that share a border</a> with Afghanistan: China, India, Russia, Pakistan and Iran.</p>
<p>But every one of these countries has its own interests in Afghanistan. Sometimes these are directly conflicting, such as with Pakistan and India, which have <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/01/india-pakistan-rivalry-afghanistan">long been suspicious</a> of the other’s influence in Afghanistan. Historically, all border countries have <a href="https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/game-old-empire-return-proxy-wars-afghanistan">looked upon warring Afghan factions as proxies</a> to further their own aims – a tactic that has only added to the instability of the country.</p>
<p>The result is a lack of coordination between regional players on Afghanistan’s path forward and little pressure on the Taliban to continue down the political road map as set out by the Doha agreement.</p>
<h2>Repeating past mistakes</h2>
<p>This failure to hold the Taliban accountable risks repeating past mistakes in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>In the 50 years since the last <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/18/archives/afghan-king-overthrown-a-republic-is-proclaimed-afghanistan-king-is.html">Afghan monarch was dethroned in 1973</a>, the country has been ruled by a succession of single-party governments that have excluded other political groups. In 2001, the international community excluded the Taliban from the <a href="https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/693627/a-review-of-the-2001-bonn-conference-and-application-to-the-road-ahead-in-afgha/">Bonn Conference</a>, which set the pathway to governance for the country after the U.S. invasion.</p>
<p>Masoom Stanekzai, a former chief peace negotiator for the Afghan government, <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/10/missteps-and-missed-opportunities-peace-afghanistan">called the exclusion of the Taliban</a> “a strategic mistake” – and for good reason, I believe: History has shown that excluding factions in Afghanistan has led only to civil strife.</p>
<p>Since 2021, the Taliban has been allowed to continue Afghanistan down this path of single-party governance. As Andrew Watkins, senior expert on Afghanistan for the U.S. Institute of Peace, noted, the Taliban <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/08/one-year-later-taliban-reprise-repressive-rule-struggle-build-state">has shown in its governance one intent</a>: “To establish uncontested and unquestioned authority over Afghanistan’s state and society.”</p>
<p>With such ambitions, the Taliban leaves little room for the intra-Afghan dialogue needed for Afghanistan to move forward. </p>
<h2>The US role</h2>
<p>By signing the 2020 deal with the Taliban, the U.S took on joint responsibility for the delivery of promises made in the agreement. The pledge by Washington to withdraw forces has been fulfilled. But two years on from that, the Taliban has yet to deliver on its commitments. </p>
<p>This leaves the Biden administration with a choice: Try to keep the Doha deal alive by pressuring the Taliban into intra-Afghan talks, or accept that the deal is now dead. Either way, “pragmatic engagement” with the Taliban has shown itself to be wanting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sher Jan Ahmadzai is affiliated with Afghan-American Foundation. </span></em></p>The Biden administration has not ruled out diplomatic recognition of the Taliban. Doing so risks legitimizing the group’s rule without holding it accountable.Sher Jan Ahmadzai, Director, Center for Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska OmahaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105372023-09-05T12:31:07Z2023-09-05T12:31:07ZSaudi reforms are softening Islam’s role, but critics warn the kingdom will still take a hard line against dissent<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545381/original/file-20230829-17-2c62j3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C8%2C1762%2C1183&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SaudiArabiaHistoryofSuccession/9eb082a3e58543aea3bc012814e60aad/photo?Query=saudi%20arabia%20mbs&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=25&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, pool, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, or “MBS,” is bringing a new vision of a “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41747476">moderate, balanced”</a> Saudi Islam by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/world/middleeast/mohammed-bin-salman-saudi-arabia.html">minimizing the role of Saudi religious institutions</a> once seen as critical to the monarchy. </p>
<p>For decades, Saudi kings provided support to religious scholars and institutions that advocated an austere form of Sunni Islam known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-wahhabism-in-saudi-arabia-36693">Wahhabism</a>. The kingdom enforced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139047586.005">strict codes of morality</a>, placing restrictions on the rights of women and religious minorities, among others. </p>
<p>Under MBS, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-women-drive.html">women have been allowed to drive</a>; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/11/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-islam-wahhabism-religious-police.html">co-educational classrooms</a>, <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2017/12/12/Saudis-welcome-decision-to-allow-public-cinemas">movie theaters</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/middleeast/saudi-arabia-biggest-rave-mime-intl/index.html">all-night concerts</a> in the desert – in which men and women dance together – are a new normal. </p>
<p>Scholars <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1663">Yasmine Farouk</a> and <a href="https://politicalscience.columbian.gwu.edu/nathan-j-brown">Nathan J. Brown</a> call the diminishing role of Wahhabi religious scholars within Saudi domestic and international policy nothing short of a “<a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/07/saudi-arabia-s-religious-reforms-are-touching-nothing-but-changing-everything-pub-84650">revolution</a>” in Saudi affairs.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/saudi-crown-prince-lambasts-his-kingdoms-wahhabi-establishment">MBS acknowledges</a> that these reforms risk infuriating certain constituents or could even provoke retaliation. As a scholar who studies <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/and-god-knows-the-martyrs-9780190092153?cc=us&lang=en&">interpretations of Islamic law</a> to justify or contest militancy, I’ve followed these reforms closely.</p>
<p>In the past, Saudis who challenged the authority of Wahhabis have provoked unrest. When King Fahd, who ruled between 1982-2005, rejected the advice of his Wahhabi scholars and allowed the U.S. military to station weapons and female service members on Saudi soil, several of them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511809439">supported a violent insurrection</a> against him.</p>
<p>MBS <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/04/mohammed-bin-salman-saudi-arabia-palace-interview/622822/">seems unconcerned</a> with such challenges. In an interview broadcast widely throughout the kingdom, MBS <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/saudi-crown-prince-lambasts-his-kingdoms-wahhabi-establishment">chastised Wahhabi scholars</a>, accusing some of falsifying Islamic doctrines. He then detained a major Wahhabi scholar <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/25/middleeast/saudi-cleric-sheikh-salman-al-awda-intl/index.html">from whom he once sought counsel</a>, charging him with crimes against the monarchy. MBS <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41747476#:%7E:text=Prince%20Mohammed%20defended%20the%20reforms,to%20live%20a%20normal%20life.">defended these actions</a>, claiming, “We are returning to what we were before. A country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions, traditions and people around the globe.”</p>
<h2>Negotiating Wahhabism</h2>
<p>This proclaimed return of “moderate Islam” echoes the reforms of MBS’s grandfather, King Abdulaziz, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511993510.008">founder of the modern Saudi kingdom</a>. This vision rejects policies toward Wahhabi Islam favored by his uncles, King Faisal and King Khalid.</p>
<p>Between 1925 and 1932, Abdulaziz suppressed Wahhabi scholars and militants who had demanded that he uphold <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/9780691241609/wahhabism">their version of “pure Islam”</a> and not open the kingdom to trade and development. He did the opposite and asserted the supremacy of the monarchy.</p>
<p>The booming Saudi oil economy developed by Abdulaziz required his son, King Faisal, who ruled from 1964 to 1975, to <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674049642">reconsider the monarchy’s relationship</a> with Wahhabism. Unlike Abdulaziz, Faisal believed Wahhabis would help him save the kingdom.</p>
<p>Saudis who felt left behind in the emerging Saudi oil economy had found an inspirational symbol of liberation in Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who helped overthrow the Egyptian monarchy in 1952 and implemented plans to redistribute Egyptian wealth.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674049642">Faisal encouraged</a> Wahhabi scholars to work with politically driven Islamists to reject the revolutionary politics of Abdel Nasser’s Egypt and craft a new vision of Islam for Saudi youth.</p>
<p>Faisal permitted Wahhabi scholars to reform Saudi educational institutions with their conservative Islamic curriculum. Abroad, Faisal’s scholars presented Wahhabism as <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25998">an authentic Islamic alternative</a> to the Cold War ideologies of the U.S. and USSR. Wealthy Saudis, these Wahhabi scholars argued, had a religious duty to promote Wahhabism across the globe.</p>
<h2>Resisting Wahhabism</h2>
<p>Faisal’s reforms met with success. King Khalid, who followed Faisal, continued to favor Wahhabi scholars, particularly while responding to two major challenges in 1979. </p>
<p>A group of Saudi students, who believed Faisal’s and Khalid’s reforms to be illegitimate, seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s most sacred site, for two weeks in 1979. An attack on the Grand Mosque was viewed as an attack on the monarchy itself, which claims the mantle of “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white photograph showing smoke rising above the minarets of a mosque with other buildings in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545382/original/file-20230829-21-b5h148.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545382/original/file-20230829-21-b5h148.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545382/original/file-20230829-21-b5h148.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545382/original/file-20230829-21-b5h148.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545382/original/file-20230829-21-b5h148.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545382/original/file-20230829-21-b5h148.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545382/original/file-20230829-21-b5h148.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/picture-dated-november-1979-of-burning-meccas-great-mosque-news-photo/51398174?adppopup=true">AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The seizure came to a violent end with combined action by French and Saudi military forces. Afterward, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/25/inside-the-kingdom-robert-lacey-book-review">Khalid agreed</a> to elevate religious officials who affirmed the Islamic credentials of the monarchy.</p>
<p>Also in 1979, other Saudi youth traveled to join the resistance against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. One such Saudi who answered the call that year was Osama bin Laden, who would establish al-Qaida in 1988. </p>
<p>Bin Laden’s and al-Qaida’s grievances against the monarchy emerged following King Fahd’s acceptance of an increased deployment of U.S. soldiers to Saudi soil following Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/products/1952-messages-to-the-world">Bin Ladin proclaimed</a> the presence of American infidels in Saudi Arabia to be a defilement of Islamic holy lands, an “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511809439.003">affront</a>” to Islamic sensibilities, and demanded the destruction of the monarchy. Al-Qaida launched anti-Saudi insurgent campaigns lasting through 2010.</p>
<p>Not all conservative Islamist leaders called for violence. As historian <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/people/madawi-al-rasheed">Madawi Al-Rasheed</a> notes, many Saudi scholars <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/muted-modernists/">framed themselves as reformers</a> who sought to correct Fahd’s departures from “authentic” Islam and restore Faisal’s vision.</p>
<p>When MBS speaks of a “moderate Islam” he is not just condemning the violence of al-Qaida. He’s abandoning the monarchy’s accommodations of the Wahhabi establishment. He <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/saudi-crown-prince-lambasts-his-kingdoms-wahhabi-establishment">blames some Wahhabi scholars</a> for the violence that the monarchy faced in 1979 and again in the the 1990s and 2000s. </p>
<p>He has worked quickly to erase those accommodations and, like his grandfather, affirm the supremacy of the monarchy.</p>
<h2>A ‘moderate Wahhabism’ for Saudi society?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man, wearing a headdress, walking past a display sign of 'Vision 2030.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545383/original/file-20230829-21-zqby2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Saudi Vision 2030’ aims to bring a complete Saudi political, economic, educational and cultural transformation.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many of these revolutionary changes occurred amid the 2016 unveiling of “Saudi Vision 2030,” a plan for complete Saudi political, economic, educational and cultural transformation. MBS believes that this will meet the demands of Saudis under the age of 30 – who <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/fuller20030601.pdf">number more than 60%</a> of the kingdom’s population.</p>
<p>The religious curriculum shaped by King Faisal is gone, replaced with a “Saudi first” education, which <a href="https://agsiw.org/the-saudi-founding-day-and-the-death-of-wahhabism/">removes Ibn abd al-Wahhab</a>, the founder of Wahhabism, from textbooks and emphasizes Saudi patriotism over a Wahhabi Islamic religious identity. Saudi Arabia <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200125-saudi-arabia-to-stop-funding-mosques-in-foreign-countries/">has announced it will no longer fund</a> mosques and Wahhabi educational institutions in other countries.</p>
<p>Saudi religious police, once tasked with upholding public morality, saw their <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/64501">powers curtailed</a>. They no longer have powers of investigation or arrest. They cannot punish behaviors deemed morally inappropriate.</p>
<p>Critics remain unimpressed, noting that demoting religious officials does not diminish the violence of the Saudi state. Religious police continue their online surveillance of social media. In 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, was killed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/10/06/read-jamal-khashoggis-columns-for-the-washington-post/">following his calls</a> for a continued voice for Islamist reformers in Saudi Arabia. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/women-saudi-arabia-make-gains-overall-rights-remain-issue-n838296">Al-Rasheed argues</a> that the images of a new Saudi society conceal suppression of Saudi reformers. Some observers note that a growing Saudi “<a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/01/08/many-saudis-are-seething-at-muhammad-bin-salmans-reforms">surveillance state</a>,” with capacities to peek into the private lives of Saudis, underwrites these reforms. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://schar.gmu.edu/profiles/pmandavi">Peter Mandaville</a>, a scholar of international affairs, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/BbxJAWvM1tc">observes, the “moderate Islam” offered by MBS is complicated</a>. On the one hand, it characterizes a new tolerant Saudi Arabian Islam. Yet, inside the kingdom, Mandaville argues that the “moderate Islam” of MBS demands that Saudi youth – as good Muslims – will submit to the authority of the monarchy over the kingdom’s affairs.</p>
<p>Some observers believe this might not be enough. <a href="https://www.law.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/full-time-faculty/mohammad-fadel">Mohammad Fadel</a>, a professor of Islamic legal history, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/saudi-arabia-mbs-religious-reform-incoherent-modernism">argues that the current configuration of the Saudi monarchy is incompatible</a> with “the kind of independent thought the crown prince is calling for in matters of religion.” Saudi society will flourish, he adds, “when Prince Mohammed recognizes the right of Muslims to rule themselves politically.”</p>
<p>With these reforms to Wahhabism, MBS hopes to secure the loyalty of a generation of young Saudis. As Saudi history would indicate, however, such a bargain requires constant renegotiation and renewal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan French does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar who has closely followed reforms that MBS has made to Wahhabism, an austere form of Islam, explains the changes taking place in the Saudi kingdom and their impact.Nathan French, Associate Professor of Religion, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2117152023-08-21T20:26:16Z2023-08-21T20:26:16ZFIFA Women’s World Cup successes reflect gender gap differences between countries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543811/original/file-20230821-29-pfq61q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C10%2C6968%2C4642&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Spain's Esther González holds the trophy celebrating at the end of the Women's World Cup soccer final between Spain and England at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 20, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/fifa-womens-world-cup-successes-reflect-gender-gap-differences-between-countries" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The recent FIFA Women’s World Cup was nothing short of exhilarating, with the final match between Spain’s victorious La Roja team versus England’s Lionesses leaving fans on the edge of their seats.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66517612">record-breaking two million fans attended the games</a> in Australia and New Zealand, serving as a testament to the heights women can reach with the right opportunities and support.</p>
<p>But this year’s Women’s World Cup also signified a broader shift beyond the boundaries of the playing field. The games were accompanied by cries for <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/25/womens-world-cup-shows-equality-still-has-long-way-go">equal treatment of women in sports</a> <a href="https://www.iadb.org/en/improvinglives/what-womens-world-cup-says-about-gender-equality">and far beyond</a>.</p>
<p>By examining the performances of countries that participated in the Women’s World Cup, we can gain insights into the efforts countries are making to address gender inequality beyond sports.</p>
<h2>Gender equality policies</h2>
<p>Countries ranking highest in the Women’s World Cup, such as Sweden, England, Spain and Australia, have <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/gender-equal-countries-gender-gap/">devised policies and made investments in women and girls</a> that go beyond women’s sports. </p>
<p>Scandinavian countries are known for their improved conditions for women, such as more equal sharing of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2021.1872759">unpaid</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200303-how-sweden-is-fixing-the-housework-gender-gap">domestic</a> work, although the problem is still not solved. Sweden has a <a href="https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/countries/sweden">National Gender Equality Policy</a> that also includes a statement that men’s violence against women must stop. </p>
<p>Ensuring that access to education translates to workforce opportunities, political power-sharing and equal economic benefits is also critical. England requires employers with 250 employees or more to report on their <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gender-pay-gap-reporting-guidance-for-employers/who-needs-to-report">gender pay gap</a> — an important policy that supports economic parity.</p>
<p>Spain has been <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/spain-un-experts-hail-new-feminist-legislation">praised for its feminist policies</a> facilitating access to sexual and reproductive rights. Spain’s <a href="https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/countries/spain?language_content_entity=en">Equality Law</a> includes paternity leave, gender-balanced political representation, and equality plans to eliminate gender <a href="https://bovemontero.com/en/2023/02/27/what-is-an-equality-plan-and-what-are-its-new-features-in-2023/">discrimination</a> are required by all public and private organizations with more than 250 employees. </p>
<p>Australia also has a <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/national-strategy-achieve-gender-equality">National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality</a>, including a <a href="https://www.directory.gov.au/portfolios/prime-minister-and-cabinet/department-prime-minister-and-cabinet/womens-economic-equality-taskforce">Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(98)00156-9">Research has recommended many of the same policies</a> these countries have embarked upon for mainstreaming gender equality elsewhere around the world.</p>
<h2>Sustainable development</h2>
<p>The countries that excelled in the Women’s World Cup were also those that rank higher in <a href="https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/rankings">sustainable development</a>. This link between higher sports achievement and sustainable development makes sense, since recent research has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-022-01017-9">connected higher UN Human Development Index rankings with achievement in Olympic sports</a> and vice versa. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI">Human Development Index</a> measures things like life expectancy, education and gross national income per capita.</p>
<p>Women’s soccer scores appear to be even more strongly related to another type of development index — the <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/planetary-pressures-adjusted-human-development-index#/indicies/PHDI">Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index</a>. This index takes into account the human impact of activities, like the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per person, on the planet. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line graph of data from numerous countries with total soccer points on the Y-axis and Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI on the X-axis" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Several Women’s World Cup finalists are seen in the top-right region of this graph, illustrating that a lower environmental footprint is associated with higher team success.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Deborah de Lange)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My analysis found that a lower environmental footprint was associated with higher team success. This implies that our environmental activities affect women’s capabilities to succeed — at least when national soccer scores are used as outcomes.</p>
<h2>Gender development</h2>
<p>My analysis found that women’s soccer scores were also related to the <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/gender-development-index#/indicies/GDI">Gender Development Index</a>, which differs from the Human Development Index. </p>
<p>The Gender Development Index measures inequality between males and females across three measures: life expectancy, education and earned income. Since men and women live under different circumstances, women’s issues must be specifically paid attention to. The cries for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/mar/01/moving-the-goalposts-canada-women-fight-equal-pay">pay equity in women’s soccer</a> attest to this.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line graph of data from numerous countries with total soccer points on the Y-axis and GDI on the X-axis" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A higher Gender Development Index is associated with women’s soccer team success.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Deborah de Lange)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My analysis found that a higher Gender Development Index was associated with women’s soccer team success. Countries that had higher Gender Development Index scores were more likely to have higher scores in soccer.</p>
<h2>Women are half the population</h2>
<p>The world needs to be reminded that women comprise <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/gender-ratio">roughly 50 per cent</a> of the world’s population. Countries with more women tend to do better on soccer scores. </p>
<p>Developing the largest possible talent pool for women’s sports would benefit from increasing numbers and the quality of those numbers. Give every girl a better chance from the beginning. Cutting down the available talent pool <a href="https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA11427">will not lead to positive outcomes</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bar graph that peaks in the centre and slopes downwards on both sides" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gender ratio variation across countries competing in women’s soccer. Countries with a higher percentage of women do better on the Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index, the Gender Development Index and in the Women’s World Cup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Deborah de Lange)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, there is still evidence of <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/gender-biased-sex-selection">sex-selective abortions</a> and <a href="https://www.unicef.org/gender-equality">discrimination against girls</a> in many countries. This not only hurts the soccer scores of these countries, according to my analysis, but also extends to other areas, like government and politics.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/gender-race-identity/autocracy-and-patriarchy-are-surging-worldwide">autocracies like Russia</a> — governments where absolute power is held by one person — <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203822302-17/reconstructing-gender-iraqi-women-dictatorship-war-sanctions-occupation-nadje-al-ali">often rely on the consolidation of male power</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqw021">to the detriment of women</a>. Democracies, on the other hand, hinge on human rights, which include women’s rights. In fact, the top-ranking women’s soccer teams all come from democracies. </p>
<h2>Continuing the fight</h2>
<p>The story of women’s soccer is one of perseverance. Although the first international soccer match between Scotland and England was in 1881, a disheartening turn of events unfolded in 1921 when the English Football Association <a href="https://girlssoccernetwork.com/europe-womens-soccer-ban/">banned women from playing</a>. This held back women in soccer for 50 years.</p>
<p>It has been an uphill battle for women since then. There has been <a href="https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/women-barred-banned-illegal/">a long history of women being banned</a> from many types of activities and realms, all of which has damaged women’s development globally.</p>
<p>History tells us that we must be forever vigilant and continue to fight for women’s rights and equality. In fact, <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/agenda/briefing/2021-02-08/12/women-s-rights-still-a-long-way-to-go-to-achieve-gender-equality">we still have a long way to go</a>, especially considering the way <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemic-deepened-gender-inequality-in-dual-career-households-203818">the pandemic set women back</a>.</p>
<p>Improving women’s circumstances requires a variety of interventions. These include enforcing equal pay and employment opportunities through legislation and changing tax laws and benefits to reinforce women as equal household partners. </p>
<p>Adding a “women in sports inequality” variable to the Gender Development Index may enhance our ability to measure the impacts of these changes for the progress we so desperately need to make.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah de Lange receives funding from SSHRC and ESRC.</span></em></p>By examining the FIFA Women’s World Cup performances, we can gain insights into the efforts countries are making to address gender inequality beyond sports.Deborah de Lange, Associate Professor, Global Management Studies, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106882023-08-08T18:31:40Z2023-08-08T18:31:40ZThe Taliban’s war on women in Afghanistan must be formally recognized as gender apartheid<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541516/original/file-20230807-23-aa6m4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4992%2C3300&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, in May 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-talibans-war-on-women-in-afghanistan-must-be-formally-recognized-as-gender-apartheid" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/afghanistan-marks-1-year-anniversary-of-taliban-takeover">second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan</a> is fast approaching. Since then, Afghan women have been <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/18/afghanistan-taliban-deprive-women-livelihoods-identity">denied the most basic human rights</a> in what can only be described as gender apartheid. </p>
<p>Only by labelling it as such and making clear the situation in Afghanistan is a crime against humanity can the international community legally fight the systematic discrimination against the country’s women and girls.</p>
<p>Erasing women from the public sphere is central to Taliban ideology. Women’s rights institutions in Afghanistan, notably the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, have been dismantled while the dreaded <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58600231">Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice</a> has been resurrected. </p>
<p>The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission has been dissolved and the country’s 2004 constitution repealed, while legislation guaranteeing gender equality <a href="https://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/files/2022/12/Bennoune-Finalized-12.09.22.pdf#page=9">has been invalidated</a>. </p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2022/07/women-and-girls-under-taliban-rule-afghanistan/">Afghan women are denied a post-secondary education, they cannot leave the house without a male chaperone, they cannot work, except in health care and some private businesses</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/25/taliban-beauty-salon-ban-women-rights/24823d78-2aca-11ee-a948-a5b8a9b62d84_story.html">they are barred</a> from parks, gyms and beauty salons.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A closed beauty salon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541722/original/file-20230808-17-u58pge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541722/original/file-20230808-17-u58pge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541722/original/file-20230808-17-u58pge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541722/original/file-20230808-17-u58pge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541722/original/file-20230808-17-u58pge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541722/original/file-20230808-17-u58pge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541722/original/file-20230808-17-u58pge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A general view of a closed beauty salon in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, in July 2023. The Taliban has closed all beauty salons in Afghanistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Siddiqullah Khan)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Women targeted</h2>
<p>Of the approximately 80 edicts issued by the Taliban, 54 specifically <a href="https://feminist.org/our-work/afghan-women-and-girls/taliban-edicts/">target women</a>, severely restricting their rights <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/events/2023/afghanistan-under-taliban-state-gender-apartheid">and violating</a> Afghanistan’s international obligations and its previous constitutional and domestic laws. </p>
<p>The Taliban <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/19/afghan-women-suffer-under-taliban/">appear undeterred</a>, continuing where they left off 20 years ago when they first held power. The results of their ambitions are nearly apocalyptic. </p>
<p>Afghanistan is facing one of the world’s <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/15/hard-choices-afghanistans-humanitarian-crisis#:%7E:text=Afghanistan%20has%20largely%20disappeared%20from,girls%20remain%20most%20at%20risk.">worst humanitarian crises</a>. About <a href="https://www.rescue.org/article/afghanistan-entire-population-pushed-poverty">19 million</a> people are suffering from acute food insecurity, while more than <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/04/afghanistan-economic-crisis-underlies-mass-hunger">90 per cent</a> of Afghans are experiencing some form of food insecurity, with <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/wfp-afghanistan-situation-report-18-january-2023">female-headed households and children</a> most impacted. </p>
<p>Gender-based violence has increased exponentially with corresponding impunity for the perpetrators and lack of support for the victims, while ethnic, religious and sexual minorities are suffering <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/situation-human-rights-afghanistan-report-special-rapporteur-situation-human-rights-afghanistan-richard-bennett-ahrc5284-advance-edited-version">intense persecution</a>. </p>
<p>This grim reality underscores the urgent need to address <a href="https://spia.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-02/SPIA_NaheedRangita_PolicyBrief_07.pdf#page=3">how civil, political, socioeconomic and gender-based harms</a> are interconnected.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a blue niqab bottle-feeds a baby. Another fussing baby is in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541521/original/file-20230807-25161-ue4ret.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541521/original/file-20230807-25161-ue4ret.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541521/original/file-20230807-25161-ue4ret.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541521/original/file-20230807-25161-ue4ret.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541521/original/file-20230807-25161-ue4ret.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541521/original/file-20230807-25161-ue4ret.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541521/original/file-20230807-25161-ue4ret.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mothers and babies suffering from malnutrition wait to receive help and check-ups at an international humanitarian clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan, in January 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>International crime</h2>
<p>Karima Bennoune, an Algerian-American international law scholar, has advocated recognizing gender apartheid as a <a href="https://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/hrlr/the-international-obligation-to-counter-gender-apartheid-in-afghanistan/">crime under international law</a>. Such recognition would stem from states’ international legal commitments to gender equality and the United Nations’ <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/">Sustainable Development Goal 5</a> aimed at achieving global gender equality by 2030. </p>
<p>Criminalizing gender apartheid would provide the international community with a powerful legal framework to effectively respond to Taliban abuses. While the <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2023-01-12/the-secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-promotion-and-strengthening-of-the-rule-of-law-the-maintenance-of-international-peace-and-security-the-rule-of">UN has already labelled the situation in Afghanistan gender apartheid,</a> the term is not currently recognized under the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/rome-statute-international-criminal-court">Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court</a> as being among the worst international crimes.</p>
<p>Presenting his report at the UN Human Rights Council, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/06/1137847">Richard Bennett</a> — the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan — stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“A grave, systematic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of Taliban ideology and rule, which also gives rise to concerns that they may be responsible for gender apartheid.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Criminalizing gender apartheid globally would allow the international community to fulfil its obligation to respond effectively and try to eradicate it permanently. It would provide the necessary legal tools to ensure that international commitments to women’s rights in all aspects of life are upheld.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2324266/world">Shaharzad Akbar</a>, head of the <a href="https://rawadari.org/">Rawadari human rights group</a> and former chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, has urged the Human Rights Council to acknowledge the situation in Afghanistan as gender apartheid.</p>
<p>She’s noted that the “Taliban have turned Afghanistan to a mass graveyard of Afghan women and girls’ ambitions, dreams and potential.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1411815986798473222"}"></div></p>
<h2>South African support</h2>
<p>A number of Afghan women’s rights defenders have also called for the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/06/human-rights-council-opens-fifty-third-session-hears-presentation-annual-report-high">inclusion of gender apartheid in the UN’s Draft Convention on Crimes Against Humanity</a>. </p>
<p>Most remarkably, <a href="https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/hrc53-un-experts-open-council-session-with-dedicated-discussion-on-the-situation-of-women-girls-in-afghanistan/">Bronwen Levy</a>, South Africa’s representative at the Security Council, has urged the international community to “take action against what (Bennett’s) report describes as gender apartheid, much like it did in support of South Africa’s struggle against racial apartheid.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1671121452731359232"}"></div></p>
<p>Elsewhere, the <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/delegations/en/joint-statement-of-2-february-2023-women/product-details/20230203DPU35201">chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, as well as the head of its Delegation for Relations with Afghanistan</a>, have described the “unacceptable” situation in Afghanistan as one of gender apartheid.</p>
<p>Whenever and wherever apartheid systems emerge, it represents a failure of the international community. The situation in Afghanistan must compel it to respond effectively to the persecution of women. </p>
<p>Recognizing Taliban rule as gender apartheid is not only critical for Afghans, it is equally critical for the <a href="https://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/files/2022/12/Bennoune-Finalized-12.09.22.pdf#page=11">credibility of the entire UN system</a>. As Afghan human rights activist <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15222.doc.htm">Zubaida Akbar</a> told the Security Council:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If you do not defend women’s rights here, you have no credibility to do so anywhere else.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Taliban’s brutal two years in power in Afghanistan have taught us that ordinary human rights initiatives, while important, are insufficient for addressing gender apartheid. The world needs resolute collective international action to end the war on women. Not in two months. Not in two years. But now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210688/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vrinda Narain is affiliated with Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), a transnational research and solidarity network, as a Board Director. </span></em></p>The Taliban’s two years ruling Afghanistan have taught us ordinary human rights initiatives are insufficient to address gender apartheid. We need resolute collective international action.Vrinda Narain, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2093702023-07-18T12:30:37Z2023-07-18T12:30:37Z175 years ago, the Seneca Falls Convention kicked off the fight for women’s suffrage – an iconic moment deeply shaped by Quaker beliefs on gender and equality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537892/original/file-20230717-184356-6a2tmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C1024%2C676&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, N.Y., where on July 19 and 20, 1848, the first women's rights conventions in the U.S. were held.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/general-view-of-the-wesleyan-chapel-in-seneca-falls-new-news-photo/827407736?adppopup=true">Epics/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On July 19, 1848, nearly 300 men and women gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, to begin the United States’ first public political meeting regarding women’s rights. The Seneca Falls Convention resulted in the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/declaration-of-sentiments.htm">Declaration of Sentiments</a>, a document modeled on the U.S. Declaration of Independence that asserted “all men and women are created equal.” </p>
<p>The two-day conference marked the beginning of the movement for women’s suffrage, which would be granted 70 years later by the ratification of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution. And it likely wouldn’t have happened without Quakers.</p>
<p>Four of the convention’s five leaders belonged to this Protestant Christian group, also known as the Religious Society of Friends, whose ideas and community deeply shaped the meeting. One of Quakers’ core beliefs is that all men and women possess <a href="https://quaker.org/the-inner-light/">the “inward light</a>” – the light of Christ – and are therefore equal in the eyes of God. This belief led Quakers to recognize women as spiritual leaders, distinguishing them from many other religious groups at the time. </p>
<p>The Quaker women who participated in the gathering at Seneca Falls had been nurtured in a religious community that <a href="https://history.rutgers.edu/people/details/60-faculty-emeriti/162-hewitt-nancy">historian Nancy Hewitt</a> describes as a “<a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469668727/radical-friend/">rich female world of faith, family, and friendship</a>” – one that led many of them to step into the public sphere and work for social reforms. </p>
<p>As a scholar of <a href="https://museumstudies.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/dr-julie-holcomb">19th century Quaker history</a>, I have found the faith’s women at the forefront of efforts <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501748493/moral-commerce/">to abolish slavery</a>, promote the temperance movement and grant rights to women.</p>
<h2>Women’s souls and service</h2>
<p>Quakerism developed in the 1640s, amid the English Civil War – a time of political and religious turmoil. George Fox, <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/walvin-quakers.html">one of the faith’s founders</a>, spent much of the decade in spiritual wanderings, which led him to conclude the answers he sought came from his direct experience of God. As Quaker historian and theologian <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tr/dandelion-ben.aspx">Ben Pink Dandelion</a> notes, “This intimacy with Christ, this relationship of direct revelation,” <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/an-introduction-to-quakerism-pink-dandelion/3952779?ean=9780521600880">has defined Quakerism</a> ever since.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white drawing inside a pub shows a man in early modern dress standing on a bench and speaking as if in a trance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A painting by E.H. Wehnert depicts George Fox preaching in a tavern.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/george-fox-founder-of-the-society-of-friends-preaching-in-a-news-photo/2666182?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The belief in the “inward light” led Fox and others to encourage women’s spiritual leadership. In <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/fox_g/autobio.vi.html#fna_vi-p56.1">Fox’s later writings</a>, he recalled encountering a religious group who believed women had no souls, “no more than a goose.” Fox objected, reminding them of <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201%3A46-55&version=KJV">Mary’s words in the Bible</a> after an angel tells her that she will give birth to God’s son: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” </p>
<p><a href="http://www.qhpress.org/texts/fell.html">Margaret Fell</a>, the wife of a wealthy and prominent judge, helped Fox organize his followers into the Society of Friends. Worship meetings took inspiration from the Bible’s <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2018%3A20&version=KJV">Book of Matthew</a>: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Quakers worshipped in silence. On occasion, when a worshipper felt moved by the spirit of Christ, they would break the silence to share something with the rest.</p>
<p>Quakers also established <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/an-introduction-to-quakerism-pink-dandelion/3952779?ean=9780521600880">meetings to oversee church business</a>, such as approving marriages, recording births and deaths, and enforcing the faith’s discipline.</p>
<h2>Spreading the faith</h2>
<p>Quaker men and women sometimes met together, and sometimes in separate meetings. Fox believed women might be reluctant to speak up in the company of men, even though they were men’s spiritual equals. </p>
<p><a href="https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/nantucket-women-how-the-quakers-womens-meetings-established-the-foundation-for-the-national-womens-rights-movement/">In their business meetings</a>, Quaker women oversaw relief for the poor, appointed committees to visit women who had strayed from church teachings, and testified on spiritual and social concerns. One woman was selected to serve as a clerk, taking notes on members’ concerns and decisions.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An early modern printed pamphlet's title page, which says 'Womens Speaking' at the top." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The title page for a 1666 edition of Margaret Fell’s ‘Womens Speaking Justified.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1666_Fell_Womens_Speaking_Justified.jpg">Folger Shakespeare Library/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Quakerism attracted a significant number of female converts, some of whom took an active role in spreading the faith. Eleven of the so-called “<a href="https://pendlehill.org/product/george-fox-and-the-valiant-sixty/">valiant sixty</a>” – itinerant ministers who preached Quaker principles in several countries – were women. <a href="https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/223/Elizabeth-Hooton">Elizabeth Hooton</a>, long reputed to be Fox’s first convert, traveled widely in Britain, North America and the Caribbean, preaching and proselytizing. <a href="https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/187/Mary-Fisher">Mary Fisher</a> joined six other Quakers on a spiritual visit to the Ottoman Empire in 1658, where she reported meeting with Sultan Mehmed IV. </p>
<p>Women also produced some of the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/new-critical-studies-on-early-quaker-women-1650-1800-9780198814221?cc=us&lang=en&#:%7E:text=and%20Catie%20Gill-,Description,as%20a%20transatlantic%20religious%20body.">earliest texts of Quaker witness</a>, writing about their relationship to God. In 1666, Fell penned <a href="http://www.qhpress.org/texts/fell.html">the pamphlet “Women’s Speaking Justified</a>,” a scripture-based argument for the spiritual equality of the sexes. Her text is now recognized as a major 17th century document on women’s religious leadership.</p>
<h2>Acting on faith</h2>
<p>The Quaker women who organized the Seneca Falls Convention were born into this world of female ministry. For women like Philadelphia Quaker <a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">Lucretia Mott</a>, one of the Seneca Falls Convention’s organizers, Quaker practice normalized the idea that women, too, should have education, religious authority and the right to speak freely. Mott was also active in the antislavery movement, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-18th-century-quakers-led-a-boycott-of-sugar-to-protest-against-slavery-174114">boycotting slave-labor goods</a> such as cotton and sugar and organizing women in associations like the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. </p>
<p>Indeed, Quakers’ commitment to equality and community led many men and women to become social activists – but not without controversy. In the 1820s and again in the 1840s, the Society of Friends experienced a series of divisions over Quakers’ involvement in the antislavery movement and other reforms. Some saw activism as a natural manifestation of Quaker beliefs, but others feared that it threatened the group’s spiritual unity.</p>
<p>In 1848 – the same year as the Seneca Falls Convention – 200 Quakers made the decision to break from their yearly meeting, their local association. Citing their “<a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">rights of conscience</a>,” these men and women later formed the Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends. Congregational Friends believed their faith required them to take steps toward abolishing slavery, and many also felt compelled to seek rights for women.</p>
<h2>‘Simply human rights’</h2>
<p>Just weeks after the Quaker split, Mott joined with four other women – her sister Martha Wright, Jane Hunt, Mary Ann M’Clintock and Elizabeth Cady Stanton – to organize a women’s rights convention. Among them, Stanton was the only non-Quaker. She and Mott had met during the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1607">World’s Anti-Slavery Convention</a> in 1848, held in London, where British organizers refused to recognize the American female delegates because of their gender.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A formal, black-and-white photo of an older woman wearing a gauzy bonnet and shawl." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1072&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1072&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1072&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo of Quaker social reformer Lucretia Mott, signed by Philadelphia photographer Frederick Gutekunst.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucretia_Mott,_signed_photo,_by_F._Gutekunst.jpg">Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the women agreed on the necessity of a women’s rights convention, they disagreed on the form and content. At their initial meeting, <a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">the five proposed to discuss the “social, civil, and religious condition of women”</a> – placing women’s oppression within a larger constellation of social evils. Stanton, however, listed the lack of suffrage as woman’s most urgent grievance. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the Seneca Falls Convention produced the Declaration of Sentiments, which celebrated women’s worthiness, criticized their subjugation and articulated the rights they deserved. Participants also passed <a href="https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/2B-HUM/Readings/Womens-Rights.pdf">12 resolutions</a> designed to provide for women’s equality, affirming their right to occupy “such a station in society” as their “conscience shall dictate,” and their “sacred right to the elective franchise.”</p>
<p>The Quaker influence on the convention is most apparent in the differing views held by its two most influential leaders, Stanton and Mott. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/elizabeth-cady-stanton.htm">Stanton rejected</a> the need to introduce other issues into the fight for women’s rights, believing that once women gained political and legal power, more reforms would follow.</p>
<p>Mott, on the other hand, saw women’s oppression as one of many threats to individual liberty, from slavery and abusive prisons to the treatment of Native Americans. Real change, she believed, would require going to the root of the problem: “<a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">mindless tradition and savage greed</a>.” As Mott <a href="https://www.wwhp.org/Resources/davis_history.html">would later note</a>, “Among Quakers there had never been any talk of woman’s rights – it was simply human rights.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie L. Holcomb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most of the convention’s core organizers were Quakers. The religious movement’s beliefs about men and women’s equality before God has shaped members’ activism for centuries.Julie L. Holcomb, Professor of Museum Studies, Baylor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2098182023-07-17T12:24:47Z2023-07-17T12:24:47ZDemocrats revive the Equal Rights Amendment from a long legal limbo – facing an unlikely uphill battle to get it enshrined into law<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537520/original/file-20230714-23-855i72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney speaks during a press conference in December 2022, calling to affirm the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1447783358/photo/rep-maloney-calls-on-the-senate-to-affirm-the-equal-rights-amendment.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=hGcNpi9mEXQibuonF4NTKVn8RnM_0m2G7RxTDeTNy50=">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Democrats in Congress are making a new push to get the long-dormant proposed Equal Rights Amendment enshrined into law. As legislation, it would guarantee sex equality in the Constitution and could serve as a potential legal antidote to the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf">Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</a>, which removed the federal right to an abortion. </p>
<p>“In light of Dobbs, we’re seeing vast discrimination across the country,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/politics/democrats-equal-rights-amendment.html">said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand</a> of New York in an interview July 13, 2023. “Women are being treated as second-class citizens. This is more timely than ever.”</p>
<p>Gillibrand, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri and other Democratic lawmakers are arguing that the Equal Rights Amendment, often referred to as the ERA, has already been ratified by the states and is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/politics/democrats-equal-rights-amendment.html">enforceable </a> as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. </p>
<p>Efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to recognize women’s rights have faced major challenges for the past century. Most recently, in April 2023 Senate Republicans <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/2023/04/27/senate-gop-blocks-resolution-nixing-equal-rights-amendment-ratification-deadline/">blocked a similar resolution</a> that would let states ratify the amendment, despite an expired deadline. </p>
<p>I’m a scholar who <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/sociology/political-sociology/abortion-politics-mass-media-and-social-movements-america?format=HB&isbn=9781107069237">studies gender</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2329496515603726?casa_token=4HXIJlECyQQAAAAA%3AY9b0XOGxgif8EinuzkdxBcW53F80hF0khTztRdnu3Kx6DxC5I0_Nou7RiY8K3KsLxdIk6QgaxWyb">politics</a>. Here’s a quick summary of how the country got to this point and the barriers that still exist to adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows women marching and holding signs that say 'Pass the equal rights amendment NOW'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537525/original/file-20230714-15-iem14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the National Organization for Women demonstrate outside the White House in 1969 for the Equal Rights Amendment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/515572176/photo/n-o-w-members-picket-the-white-house.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=RjyB65MvzHJceIHpUB_K5B6PVhAuv81ysYkW70bUuWk=">Bettmann/Contributor</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Ladies against women’</h2>
<p>Women’s rights advocates argue that sex discrimination is a pervasive problem that could be resolved by the ERA. Even though the Equal Protection Clause in the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/14thamendment.html">14th Amendment</a> prohibits states from denying any person equal protection under the law, women’s rights are not explicitly guaranteed.</p>
<p>In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which took away a woman’s right to an abortion, women’s rights advocates argue that the ERA is critical in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/politics/democrats-equal-rights-amendment.html">post-Dobbs</a> world. The amendment could help protect women’s access to reproductive health services, including abortion and contraception. </p>
<p>Proponents also believe that the ERA can be used to push back against legislation that <a href="https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2022/3/22/why-passing-era-critical-lgbtq-folks-equality-act">threatens the rights of LGBTQ+ people</a>. </p>
<p>The push for equal rights first heated up in the 1920s after women gained the right to vote. </p>
<p><a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012280242">Alice Paul</a>, a suffragist, proposed the first version of an Equal Rights Amendment in 1923. The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/women/era">language of the legislation</a>, which is very similar to the amendment Democrats are currently championing, guaranteed equal rights under the law, regardless of a person’s sex. </p>
<p>The proposal was adopted and turned into proposed legislation by two Kansas Republicans, Sen. Charles Curtis and Rep. Daniel Anthony Jr., and was brought up during every congressional session between 1923 and 1971 without success.</p>
<p>The idea of an Equal Rights Amendment, however, gained momentum among politicians and the broader public. <a href="https://bepl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:316728/ada">World War II</a> opened many doors for women, who filled gaps in the labor force while men were off fighting. During this time, women were welcomed into politics, onto juries, openly wooed by educational institutions and encouraged to take up male-dominated majors such as math, science and technology.</p>
<p>The fledgling feminist group, the <a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100290360">National Organization for Women</a>, adopted the passage of the ERA in its 1967 Bill of Rights for Women and began staging massive demonstrations and lobbying politicians in the late 1960s and early 1970s in an effort to get Congress to pass the amendment. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42979.pdf">in 1972</a>, the ERA passed both houses of Congress. The amendment had seven years to be ratified by three-fourths, or 38, of the 50 states.</p>
<p>While 30 states ratified the ERA in 1972 and 1973, the amendment ultimately came up three states short of approval by the 1979 deadline. </p>
<p>This was in large part due to the <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo5977742.html">efforts of conservative</a> women’s organizations <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/sociology/political-sociology/abortion-politics-mass-media-and-social-movements-america?format=HB&isbn=9781107069237">opposed it</a>. Conservative women <a href="https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-abstract/32/4/348/1734706">said that the ERA</a> was a <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-era-pass-in-the-metoo-era-87901">threat</a> to family and child-rearing, because it would disrupt traditional gender roles. They also believed women would lose, among other things, their exemptions from the draft and combat duty.</p>
<p>At the same time, for a number of reasons, <a href="https://history.nebraska.gov/blog/nebraskas-again-again-relationship-equal-rights-amendment">Nebraska</a>, Tennessee, Idaho, South Dakota and Kentucky rescinded their ERA ratifications between 1972 and 1982. Some state legislators argued that the amendment was <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo5977742.html">too controversial</a> given its potential to upend traditional gender roles and legalize what they called “abortion on demand.”</p>
<p>States such as Illinois and Florida became battlegrounds for liberal and conservative women fighting over the amendment. Feminists successfully lobbied Congress to extend the ERA’s ratification deadline to June 30, 1982. The ERA, however, was not ratified by the three states needed to ensure its passage. In 1982, conservative women proclaimed the Equal Rights Amendment officially dead. </p>
<p>In 2023, conservative women’s groups like the Eagle Forum and Concerned Women for America continue to make the same arguments against the ERA. Instead of focusing on the battlefield, however, the groups argue that the ERA will <a href="https://eagleforum.org/topics/era.html">eliminate restrictions on abortion</a> and erase “<a href="https://concernedwomen.org/dont-erase-women-with-an-equal-rights-amendment/">women-only safe spaces</a>” like bathrooms and locker rooms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A blond woman yells into a megaphone and has a green sticker on her cheek that says 'ERA Now'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537523/original/file-20230714-16543-hkfcq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters gather to call for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Washington, D.C., in September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1428419441/photo/house-democrats-hold-a-news-conference-to-speak-on-the-equal-rights-amendment.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=HGFwhCAjx1QQg-_0bwZEcuXghYQYVjWfgnj7Hppi9-g=">Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Another chance?</h2>
<p>Since 2017, three more states – <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/15/796754345/virginia-ratifies-the-equal-rights-amendment-decades-after-deadline">Nevada, Illinois and Virginia</a> – have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, bringing the total to 38 states, which is the number required to ratify the ERA and officially make it the 28th Amendment. That is why Democrats believe they have legal standing. </p>
<p>Some constitutional experts see Democrats’ latest attempt to codify the ERA as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/politics/democrats-equal-rights-amendment.html">political stunt</a> rather than a legitimate legal move. To some extent, I think this may be true.</p>
<p>More than a dozen states have <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-level-equal-rights-amendments">ERA equivalents</a> that protect women’s equal rights in their constitutions. And four states, including <a href="https://www.wxxinews.org/capitol-bureau/2023-01-24/new-york-legislature-moves-on-equal-rights-amendment-that-includes-abortion-rights-protections">New York</a>, have active ERA initiatives.</p>
<p>The current push for Democrats to pass the ERA seems to be largely about advocating for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/11/abortion-choice-roe-dodds-confrontation/">abortion access</a> and <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4052425-supeme-court-abortion-democrats-political-gift-elections/">mobilizing abortion rights supporters</a> ahead of the 2024 presidential election. </p>
<p>About half of the states across the U.S. have enacted restrictive abortion laws over the last year, with some <a href="https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/texas/abortion-policies">states</a> banning the procedure altogether. State ERA efforts, like the one in New York, are <a href="https://www.wxxinews.org/capitol-bureau/2023-01-24/new-york-legislature-moves-on-equal-rights-amendment-that-includes-abortion-rights-protections">a response</a> to these bans. </p>
<p>The renewed push for the ERA makes the fight over abortion access, once again, a national battle. In the current polarized political environment, abortion access promises to serve as a political lightening rod in coming years. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-2019-womens-rights-are-still-not-explicitly-recognized-in-us-constitution-108150">article originally published on Dec. 13, 2018</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209818/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deana Rohlinger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Women’s rights groups and politicians have pushed, ultimately unsuccessfully, for the Equal Rights Amendment to become part of the Constitution for the past several decades.Deana Rohlinger, Professor of Sociology, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2096072023-07-16T09:56:52Z2023-07-16T09:56:52ZAfrica’s groundbreaking women’s rights treaty turns 20 - the hits and misses of the Maputo protocol<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537007/original/file-20230712-25-tmsax3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's been improvements in sexual and reproductive health outcomes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lucian Coman/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>2023 marks two decades since the adoption of the Maputo Protocol. The <a href="https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-rights-women-africa">Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa</a> (the Maputo Protocol) is <a href="https://au.int/en/newsevents/20230217/african-union-gender-pre-summit-20-years-maputo-protocol">arguably</a> the most progressive legally binding instrument on women’s and human rights instruments globally. A total of 44 African countries have signed and <a href="https://www.sfcg.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Maputo-Protocol-Baseline-Report.pdf">ratified</a> it. The <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/37077-treaty-charter_on_rights_of_women_in_africa.pdf">Maputo Protocol</a> provides for extensive and progressive women’s rights. These include the right to health and reproduction, inheritance, economic and social welfare, education and training, access to justice and equal protection before the law, and elimination of harmful practices. Reproductive health researcher Anthony Ajayi unpacks the significance of the document in women’s lives over the years.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>What does it mean for sexual and reproductive rights?</h2>
<p>Articles 2 and 14 made specific provisions to protect the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls.</p>
<p>Article 2 mandates member countries to enact and implement laws and other measures to curb all forms of discrimination, especially harmful practices that endanger health and general well-being. </p>
<p>Advocacy efforts to end child marriage and female genital cutting are anchored on this specific provision. Such efforts have resulted in 43 African countries now having laws that put the minimum age of marriage at 18 years old or above for both girls and boys. While some of these countries have parental consent exceptions and parallel customary marriage laws, the past ten years have seen more countries remove these exceptions. Also, <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/42276-doc-GettingtozeroFGM-FinalWebPages-small.pdf">22 out of 29 African countries</a> practising female genital cutting now have national laws in place banning the practice.</p>
<p>Article 14 mandates member countries to ensure the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health. This includes the right to control fertility, decide whether to have children, the number of children and the spacing of children, and choose any method of contraception. </p>
<h2>Has it been effective?</h2>
<p>Since the inception of the Maputo Protocol, most African countries have removed <a href="https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article/30/4/432/558465">user fees</a> for maternal health services in government-owned health facilities. This has increased access to quality maternal healthcare services for marginalised women and girls. As a result, <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240068759">maternal deaths</a> have declined markedly. </p>
<p>More countries have <a href="https://reproductiverights.org/sites/default/files/documents/World-Abortion-Map.pdf">broadened</a> their laws to allow access to safe abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, life-threatening fetal anomalies, and when a pregnancy endangers the woman’s mental and physical health or her life. Between 2000 and 2021, 22 African countries expanded their legal grounds for abortion. Six – Cape Verde, South Africa, Tunisia, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe (up to 10 weeks of gestation in Angola) – permit abortion at the woman’s request during the first trimester of pregnancy. More countries have developed and launched post-abortion care guidelines to expand access for women and girls.</p>
<p>The success of the Maputo Protocol in protecting and guaranteeing the rights of women and eliminating discrimination is quite remarkable. Where the rights of women and girls are violated, the Maputo Protocol has become an instrument for seeking legal redress and a tool for seeking accountability. It was referenced in these examples:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>A court ruling in December 2020 found that the Kenya government <a href="https://www.equalitynow.org/news_and_insights/9_ways_maputo_protocol/">violated</a> several human rights instruments, including the Maputo Protocol, for failing to investigate and prosecute cases of sexual and gender-based violence that happened during the post-election violence of 2007. The government was ordered to pay compensation to four of the survivors, amounting to KSh 4 million (about US$40,000) each.</p></li>
<li><p>In December 2019, the ECOWAS Court of Justice found that the ban on pregnant schoolgirls going to school in Sierra Leone was discriminatory and in violation of girls’ right to education, in breach of Articles 2 and 12 of the Maputo Protocol. Since the ruling, the government of Sierra Leone has lifted the ban.</p></li>
<li><p>Article 13 and 17 of Tanzania’s Marriage Act, which set the minimum age of marriage for girls at 15 years and 18 years for boys, was challenged at the appeal court in 2019. Citing the Maputo Protocol, the court upheld the earlier ruling that marriage under the age of 18 was illegal.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What have its shortcomings been?</h2>
<p>Progress in realising women’s and girls’ rights remains uneven within and between countries. Eleven countries haven’t ratified the protocol. Twenty-four haven’t fulfilled their reporting obligation to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Consequently, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/gender/data/ensuring-strong-equitable-legal-frameworks-as-an-accelerator-for-gender-equality-in-africa.htm">discriminatory laws</a> persist. And customary, common and civil laws remain in parallel with constitutional provisions. This creates loopholes for the violation of women’s and girls’ rights. </p>
<p>For example, 11 countries (Cameroon, Seychelles, Sudan, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Tanzania) permit girls below 18 years to marry. One member state has no minimum age for marriage. But legal reforms are happening in five of these countries.</p>
<p>There’s been improvement in sexual and reproductive health outcomes. But sexual and gender-based violence, child marriage and female genital cutting remain high in <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/5/1/e002231.full.pdf">most African</a> countries. <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240068759">Maternal deaths</a> and <a href="https://unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/data-book-2022_en.pdf">new HIV transmission</a> have declined. But incidences remain relatively high in several countries. </p>
<p>Young people, particularly girls, bear a <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/6/2/e004129.full.pdf">disproportionate</a> burden of poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes. This hinders their smooth transition into adulthood and affects their immediate and lifelong health (physical and mental) and socioeconomic wellbeing and empowerment.</p>
<h2>What more needs to be done?</h2>
<p>More advocacy is needed to ensure: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>the remaining 11 countries ratify the protocol</p></li>
<li><p>countries with reservations about some of the articles in the protocol need to address them </p></li>
<li><p>those who have ratified it fully domesticate and implement its provisions. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Such advocacy should be informed by contextually relevant evidence on sexual and reproductive health, including what works in addressing harmful practices, increasing young people’s access to information and services, and reducing new HIV infections and maternal deaths. </p>
<p>The partnership between all actors working to ensure women’s health and reproductive rights are realised should be reinvigorated and sustained to make certain that gains are consolidated and not reversed. </p>
<p>Entrenching a culture of equity around sexual and reproductive rights will also require tailored engagement with community and religious leaders to build their capacity on matters of sexual and reproductive health. Sustained funding of civil society organisations working to ensure women’s rights is also key, and so is the need to bolster the women’s movement on the continent.</p>
<p><em>Juliet Kimotho, senior advocacy officer at the African Population and Health Research Center, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209607/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Idowu Ajayi is affiliated with the African Population and Health Research Center. </span></em></p>The success of the Maputo Protocol in protecting the rights of women and eliminating discrimination is remarkable.Anthony Idowu Ajayi, Associate research scientist, African Population and Health Research CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2070652023-07-04T13:27:41Z2023-07-04T13:27:41ZPaulina Chiziane, Mozambique’s grand novelist, finally receives her prestigious award<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534576/original/file-20230628-29-rv1e03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Paulina Chiziane in Portugal after being awarded the Camões Prize for writers from Portuguese-speaking countries.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://ilcs.sas.ac.uk/research-centres/centre-study-contemporary-womens-writing-ccww/ccww-author-pages/portuguese/paulina">Paulina Chiziane</a>, the first woman to publish a <a href="https://www.google.co.za/books/edition/Balada_de_amor_ao_vento/0ccvAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Balada%20de%20Amor%20ao%20Vento">novel</a> in Mozambique, has become the first African woman to <a href="https://www.portugal.gov.pt/en/gc23/communication/news-item?i=prize-giving-ceremony-for-the-camoes-prize-to-paulina-chiziane#:%7E:text=Set%20up%20by%20Portugal%20and,heritage%20of%20the%20Portuguese%20language.">receive</a> the most important award for Portuguese literature, the Camões Prize. She’s also the first to break all the rules about what a writer may reveal about Mozambique’s patriarchal culture and social taboos. </p>
<p>Born in Manjacaze in 1955 and raised in the capital, Maputo, Chiziane’s mother tongue is <a href="https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/11368/MZ">Chopi</a>, a Bantu language spoken along the southern coast of Mozambique, which she practised along with Portuguese, the language imposed during the colonial period. Today Chiziane has a degree in linguistics and is a leading global figure in Portuguese literature.</p>
<p>Speaking in a TV interview from the yard of her house in Zambezia province about winning the 2021 Camões Prize, she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jG4BGhYpcQ">said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This prize is for all the people of my country, because I always wrote from a collective experience, transmitting a collective voice … even if my novels are written in the first person.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She finally received the award in person at a ceremony in Lisbon in May 2023 – the annual event had been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Named after the famed 16th century Portuguese poet <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luis-de-Camoes">Luís de Camões</a>, the <a href="https://antigo.bn.gov.br/en/explore/literary-prizes/camoes-prize-literature">Camões Prize</a> was first awarded in 1988 to recognise great literature in Portuguese. In her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCCzfdQJ09Q">speech</a> in Lisbon, Chiziane said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was walking without knowing my direction, and yet I arrived somewhere. I come from Africa. I am black, and I am here, being the first black woman to receive this high recognition … I am black. Yes, and so what? If you want to be someone in life, in this world, you need to affirm your space. Leave traces of your feet on the ground, indelibly engraved, for other people to say: here someone has passed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As a <a href="https://cec.letras.ulisboa.pt/en/research-team/francesca-negro/">scholar</a> of comparative literature who has <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6102-3730">researched</a> African writing in Portuguese, I have followed Chiziane’s career and wish to shed some light on the work of this important writer and activist. Her groundbreaking novels and short stories have not all been translated into English and French, limiting her recognition in Africa.</p>
<h2>Her protagonists</h2>
<p>Chiziane’s first novel <a href="https://www.google.co.za/books/edition/Balada_de_amor_ao_vento/0ccvAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Balada%20de%20Amor%20ao%20Vento">Balada de Amor ao Vento</a> (Ballad of Love in the Wind) (1990) is a powerful story about a rural woman trapped in a patriarchal system. It anticipates her most famous novel, the 2002 <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Niketche.html?id=3slfPgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Niketche: A Story of Polygamy</a>, awarded the José Craveirinha Prize. Set in the south of Mozambique, it exposes the trials that Niketche must endure in a polygamous household. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A book cover with illustrations of green leaves, the title of the book in a red heart in the centre of them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534747/original/file-20230629-17-6bmvvo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caminho</span></span>
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<p>Chiziane’s protagonists are characterised by a profound loneliness and sadness. They are victims of the painful subjugation of women that is still normalised – and seldom publicly discussed – in some regions of the country. She writes in absolute terms, revealing the good and the bad in society, and the emotions she evokes are extreme. And yet these women face their burdens and bear them bravely, discreetly and with dignity.</p>
<h2>A life in service</h2>
<p>Chiziane’s stories often reflect the social instability of a country oppressed by a war of liberation that was followed by civil conflicts after <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique/Mozambique-under-the-New-State-regime">independence</a> from Portugal in 1975. They reflect her commitment to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frelimo">Frelimo</a> liberation movement. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A book cover with illustrations of two women wearing traditional African headgear." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1167&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1167&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534771/original/file-20230629-21-hgr84q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1167&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aflame Books</span></span>
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<p>During the civil war of 1977 to 1992, she joined the <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/movement">Red Cross</a> humanitarian organisation as a volunteer. This allowed her to observe the suffering of her people up close. Some of the most painful memories of that period converged in her second novel, the 1993 romance <a href="https://www.academia.edu/29416691/Ventos_do_Apocalipse_Paulina_Chiziane">Ventos do Apocalipse</a> (Winds of the Apocalypse). </p>
<p>As a volunteer, she encountered a woman who at first confused her with her dead daughter, establishing a profound bond with her. The painful memory of that mother <a href="https://www.publico.pt/1999/11/13/jornal/nunca-houve-arma-mais-fulminante-que-a-mulher-126390">inspired</a> her to write the book:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The two original names of the mother and the daughter, Minosse and Wusheni, are maintained in the novel as homage to that woman that has shaken my soul forever. I wish I could sit at her side now and tell her: of your tears I did this.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Chiziane went on to join the Nucleus of Feminine Association of Zambezia or <a href="https://nafezamoz.wordpress.com/apresentacao">Nafeza</a>, a non-governmental organisation created in 1997. She was now fighting oppression through her literary works, as well as through political actions. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A book cover with a figurative illustration of a person with a mouth at the top of their head and an animal listening to them speak." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534786/original/file-20230629-21-uias31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caminho</span></span>
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<p>Nafeza works at strengthening and coordinating the efforts of the country’s female associations and community-based organisations to improve women’s lives on all levels. </p>
<p>Currently, Chiziane advises on the development of international aid projects focused on conflict and the defence of women’s rights and dignity.</p>
<h2>Social realities and taboos</h2>
<p>Her third novel, <a href="https://www.google.co.za/books/edition/O_S%C3%A9timo_Juramento/3cJKEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">O Setimo Juramento</a> (The Seventh Pledge) in 2000, is again focused on daily life and the female condition. This time the context is the city. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A book cover with an illustration of a woman who appears to be floating underwater, with various animals swimming past her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1162&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1162&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534790/original/file-20230629-23-woykhe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1162&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caminho</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The work explores the strategies women have developed to cope with the social inferiority they face. In a context of political and economic corruption, a group of women who were meant to be rivals band together to improve their lives.</p>
<p>Through tapping into a geography of the country’s imagination – with its legends and myths that crash against the concrete realities of urban life – Chiziane constructs a powerful allegory about Mozambique’s socio-cultural conditions, especially for women. </p>
<p>Here actual development is destined only for the elite few, while the rest wander through a forest of symbols that make them question what is real and what is not.</p>
<h2>Outspoken voice</h2>
<p>Chiziane is prolific. She is also the author of numerous other novels and short stories. Her 2015 novel <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340157964_Ngoma_Yethu_o_curandeiro_e_o_Novo_Testamento">Ngoma Yethu</a>: O Curandeiro e o Novo Testamento (Ngoma Yethu: the Healer and the Old Testament) is also notable.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/womens-memories-of-food-offer-insights-into-mozambiques-liberation-struggle-149003">Women's memories of food offer insights into Mozambique's liberation struggle</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Ngoma Yethu created quite a scandal in Mozambique, especially because it was written by a woman (women are not supposed to talk about the rituals or the role of the nyanga or traditional healer) and for firmly denouncing the demonisation of traditional African spiritual beliefs by the Catholic church.</p>
<p>But apart from Niketche: A Story of Polygamy, none of her books are available in English. Her novel The Joyful Cry of the Partridge is, however, due to be published in English in 2024.</p>
<p>Chiziane has remained unwavering in amplifying women’s voices in her country. Her literary path has already made history and the Camões Prize, now officially celebrated, is a testament to the enormous importance of her role in representing African culture in the context of Portuguese-speaking countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207065/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francesca Negro does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Camões Prize is the most important award for Portuguese literature, and Paulina Chiziane is the first African woman to receive it.Francesca Negro, Associate research scientist, Universidade de Lisboa Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2083542023-06-30T19:18:54Z2023-06-30T19:18:54Z‘We the People’ includes all Americans – but July 4 is a reminder that democracy remains a work in progress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535045/original/file-20230630-19-9rx4tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When the Constitution was written, the term 'We the People' had a very limited application for voting rights.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/108914576/photo/a-protestor-holding-a-placard-in-front-of-the-us-capitol-building.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=On4svGb-O5Cv9XvMXuS4wV-FzqfSsO0ZdpW4o5yzjNM=">Antenna/Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United States’ founders firmly rejected King George III and the entire idea of monarchy 247 years ago, on July 4, 1776. </p>
<p>Political power does not come from some absolute authority of a king over people, the founders argued. Rather, political power comes from the <a href="https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/federalist-no-39">people themselves</a>. And these people must <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript">agree to any authority</a> <a href="https://academy4sc.org/video/representative-vs-direct-democracy-power-of-the-people/">governing their society</a>. </p>
<p>This is why the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript">U.S. Constitution</a> starts with the words “We the People,” and not “I, the ruler.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph-Jones-8">I am</a> a historian, ethicist and media scholar <a href="https://www.psu.edu/news/bellisario-college-communications/story/dissertation-focused-food-journalism-earns-annual-davis/">and have studied</a> how people build communities.</p>
<p>America’s founders did not trust everyone’s ability to equally participate in the <a href="https://www.ushistory.org/gov/1c.asp">new democracy</a>, as laws at the time showed. </p>
<p>But, because of policy changes on issues like voting, the idea of who actually is represented in the phrase “We the People” has <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/we-people-united-states">changed over time</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting depicts men dressed in old fashioned clothing in a large room crowded around some men on a raised platform." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and other founders prepare to sign the Constitution in 1787.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/525372757/photo/signing-the-us-constitution.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=fUS2e0GJevIjoW2km_VDY6Y7syikiU8nt-86W9eXopM=">GraphicaArtis/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>First steps</h2>
<p>In 1776, only <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/the-founders-and-the-vote/">white men who owned property</a> had the right to vote.</p>
<p>“Few men, who have no property, have any judgment of their own,” as former President John Adams <a href="https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1645">wrote in 1776</a>.</p>
<p>As activists – including <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/women-who-fought-for-the-vote-1">some women</a> and <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote/people">Black Americans</a> – proclaimed their equality, <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606970.pdf">public education spread</a>, and <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/voting-rights-throughout-history/">social thinking shifted</a>. </p>
<p>By about 1860, all state legislatures had lifted <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/the-founders-and-the-vote/">property requirement for voting</a>. Allowing only wealthy property owners to vote did not align with the democratic notion that “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/the-founders-and-the-vote/">all men are created equal</a>.” </p>
<p>While some states, <a href="https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-8-1-b-who-voted-in-early-america">like Vermont</a>, eliminated the property voting requirement in the 18th century, this shift became more popular in the 1820s and the 1830s. </p>
<p>Congress passed the 15th Amendment in 1870, <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/15th-amendment">giving Black men</a> and others the right to vote, regardless of race.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-native-americans/">that amendment still excluded</a> some people, chiefly Native Americans and women. </p>
<h2>An unfinished history</h2>
<p>Despite the 15th Amendment, violence and intimidation in some states still <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-african-americans/#:%7E:text=Until%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20struck,people%20whose%20ancestors%20were%20slaves.">prevented Black men from voting</a>.</p>
<p>State lawmakers also used bureaucratic measures, such as a poll tax, renewed attempts at a property requirement and literacy tests, to prevent African Americans from voting. </p>
<p>The fight over <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote">African American suffrage</a> continued for decades, and many courageous Americans protested and were arrested or killed in the struggle to exercise their voting rights. </p>
<p>Thanks to the work of <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/voting-rights/">civil rights activists</a> – including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Lewis-American-civil-rights-leader-and-politician">John Lewis</a>, <a href="https://time.com/5692775/fannie-lou-hamer/">Fannie Lou Hamer</a> and <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/mlk-topic/voter-registration">Marting Luther King Jr.</a> – public opinion shifted. </p>
<p>In the 1960s, Congress passed additional legal measures to protect the voting rights of Black Americans. This included the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-24/">24th Amendment</a>, which outlawed the use of poll taxes, and the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act">1965 Voting Rights Act</a>, which prohibited any racial discrimination in voting. </p>
<h2>Women’s turn</h2>
<p>In 1920, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-women/">women gained</a> the right to vote with the addition of the 19th Amendment, following another decadeslong struggle.</p>
<p>Women’s rights activists made the first organized call for female suffrage at the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/july-19/">Seneca Falls Convention in 1848</a>. </p>
<p>In the following years, suffragists pushed for <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage">constitutional amendments, state laws and a change in public thinking</a> to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23001287">include women</a> in “We the People.” </p>
<h2>Native American rights</h2>
<p>Having self-governed for centuries, Native Americans were not legally recognized with voting rights until Congress approved the <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-in-1924-all-indians-made-united-states-citizens">Indian Citizenship Act</a> in 1924.</p>
<p>While that supposedly gave Native Americans the same rights as other Americans, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-native-americans/">Native Americans faced the same tactics</a>, like violence, that white racists used to prevent Black Americans from voting. </p>
<p>Like other people excluded from “We the People,” <a href="https://medium.com/indigenously/meet-the-indigenous-women-who-fought-for-the-vote-ecdc335fb29f">Native Americans</a> have continued to push for voting rights and other ways to ensure <a href="https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/history-of-native-american-voting-rights">they are included in American self-government</a>. </p>
<h2>Making democracy more democratic</h2>
<p>In 1971 “We the People” again expanded, to include younger people, with the <a href="https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/37022">lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18</a>. The ongoing <a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/winning-vote-history-voting-rights">Vietnam War shifted public opinion</a>, and there was popular support for the idea that someone old enough to die fighting for their country should also be able to vote. </p>
<p>A government once described by Abraham Lincoln as “<a href="https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm">of the people, by the people, and for the people</a>” was now going to technically include all of the people.</p>
<p>But equality for women, young people and racially marginalized groups did not change overnight. </p>
<p>Social equality remains far off for many people, including undocumented immigrants, for example, and LGBTQ+ individuals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person walks past a white sign that says 'Vote here.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While some states have it made it harder to vote in recent years, others have made it easier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1204917011/photo/voters-in-14-states-head-to-the-polls-on-super-tuesday.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=x4w0NYntBddlGQ41pzexXLAg9bTXcyG8Es8oaEbou60=">Stephen Maturen/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Current limitations to ‘We the People’</h2>
<p>The government has recognized that citizens over the age of 18 have a right to participate in self-government. But there are still political and legal attempts to <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-june-2023">restrict people’s</a> ability to vote. </p>
<p>While some states have passed new laws that make it harder to vote in recent years, other states have made it easier. </p>
<p>North Carolina passed new <a href="https://www.wbtv.com/2023/04/28/nc-supreme-court-reverses-previous-opinion-deems-voter-id-law-constitutional/">ID requirements</a> in April 2023 that make it difficult for those without current state identification to vote.</p>
<p><a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/politics/2023/04/03/bill-aims-to-purge-texas-voters-if-they-skip-elections">Texas</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ga-state-wire-georgia-election-2020-voter-registration-business-a916e90db938aa60a4eff3d00d391006">Georgia</a>, <a href="https://oklahomawatch.org/2019/04/22/nearly-90000-inactive-oklahomans-removed-from-voter-rolls/">Oklahoma</a> and Idaho are also <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790319853/are-states-purging-or-cleaning-voter-registration-rolls">among the states</a> that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790319853/are-states-purging-or-cleaning-voter-registration-rolls">are deleting some voters</a> from their rolls – if people do not regularly vote, for example.</p>
<p>Arizona has <a href="https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2019/09/12/arizona-has-closed-hundreds-polling-places-2013-voting-rights-act-">closed multiple polling sites</a>, making it more difficult for some people to vote. </p>
<p>Twenty-five states, meanwhile, including Hawaii and Delaware, have passed laws over the last few years that <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-states-are-making-it-harder-to-vote-some-are-making-it-easier-but-its-too-soon-to-say-if-this-will-affect-voter-turnout-in-2022-176102">make it easier to vote</a>. One of these measures automatically registers people to vote when they turn 18. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/25/voting-rights-act-voter-map-registration-id-racism-supreme-court-georgia">more examples</a>. The bottom line is, voters have fewer protections when it becomes harder to vote, and American democracy is not as democratic as it could be. </p>
<h2>The big picture</h2>
<p>Voting is not the only form of <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/daed/article/152/1/52/115008/Power-to-Pursue-Happiness">recognition and participation</a> in a democracy. People can be respected at work, paid what they are worth and treated with dignity. Community members can be treated fairly by police, school officials and other authorities, given an equal opportunity for justice and education to improve their lives. </p>
<p>People <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/civic-virtue-and-why-it-matters#:%7E:text=Civic%20virtue%20describes%20the%20character,of%20its%20values%20and%20principles">can also contribute</a> to the social and economic well-being of a democracy in ways other than voting, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-bucket-list-for-involved-citizens-76-things-you-can-do-to-boost-civic-engagement/">doing everything</a> from planting a tree in a public park to attending a political rally. </p>
<p>But the overall expansion of voting rights and a historical understanding of “We the People” shows that everyone belongs in a democratic society, regardless of wealth, achievement or other differences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The meaning of the Constitution’s preamble, which begins with the words ‘We the People,’ has evolved over time as voting rights have expanded.Joseph Jones, Assistant Professor of Media Ethics and Law at Reed College of Media, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2077972023-06-15T17:37:26Z2023-06-15T17:37:26ZCrowdsourcing new constitutions: How 2 Latin American countries increased participation and empowered groups excluded from politics – podcast<p>Over the past few decades, countries across Latin America have witnessed a surge in demands by its people for increased political participation and representation. Colombia and Chile stand out as notable examples of countries responding to these calls with constitutional reform. </p>
<p>Colombia’s 1991 constitution emerged from <a href="http://ips-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/The-1991-Colombian-National-Constituent-Assembly.pdf">a backdrop of armed conflict and social unrest</a>. It represented a turning point in the country’s history by acknowledging the multicultural fabric of Colombian society, including Indigenous communities and Afro-Colombian populations.</p>
<p>Likewise in Chile, the government has embarked on a journey of constitutional reform in response to the widespread discontent and social unrest that erupted in 2019. The protests reflected grievances related to inequality, education, health care and pension systems, and a desire to replace the constitution imposed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. </p>
<p>Under the new government of progressive president Gabriel Boric, <a href="https://theconversation.com/chiles-progressive-new-constitution-rejected-by-voters-after-campaign-marred-by-misinformation-190371">a draft constitution was presented to the people</a>. The draft included progressive elements such as gender parity, Indigenous rights and a restructuring of the parliamentary system to distribute power more evenly. </p>
<p>The draft was ultimately rejected in a referendum in September 2022, although some commentators argue that the process remains a victory for democracy.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chiles-progressive-new-constitution-rejected-by-voters-after-campaign-marred-by-misinformation-190371">Chile's progressive new constitution rejected by voters after campaign marred by misinformation</a>
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<p>In this week’s episode of <em>The Conversation Weekly</em>, we speak with two researchers about Latin America’s ongoing democratic transition, with a particular focus on the involvement of populations in democratic processes in Colombia and Chile. </p>
<p>We examine how countries are looking to empower their populations through crowdsourcing participation, what the implications of these reforms for marginalized communities are and how Chile’s rejection of a progressive constitution remains a significant step for empowering citizens.</p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/648b152cc6f9af0011f94bb1" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Crowdsourcing the constitution</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carlos-bernal-1447440">Carlos Bernal</a> is a professor of law at the University of Dayton in the United States and commissioner of the America Human Rights Commission. As part of his research, he focuses on what he calls “constitutional crowdsourcing,” a process by which governments gather the opinions, views and demands of their populations in the making of a constitution. </p>
<p>The basic idea is that in a democracy, everyone should have the chance to participate and define the institutions that preside over them. Bernal says, as societies change, so do the social and political values of that society — and this change can be a challenge to a constitution. “If a constitution becomes a stagnant in the past, that constitution is not able, is not relevant anymore.”</p>
<p>To reflect those shifts, countries can either enact legislation to supplement the constitution, or they can specify the meaning of the constitution without changing the wording. But in certain instances, simple amendments of a constitution might not be enough to reflect those social shifts. </p>
<p>“And when there is a big gap between the constitution text and the constitutional reality,” Bernal adds, “the constitution must be replaced to create a new institutional framework that is able to regulate your society.”</p>
<h2>Political inclusion</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jennifer-m-piscopo-378304">Jennifer Piscopo</a> is an associate professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, in the United States. Her work focuses on representation, gender quotas and legislative institutions in Latin America, and how countries involve underrepresented groups in political processes. </p>
<p>She says that during Latin America’s democratic transition in the 1980s, “women were very active in the human rights movements that criticized the abuses under authoritarian governments. They were very active in the peace movements that really urged for an end to the conflict in Central America.”</p>
<p>But she says when democratic systems began replacing authoritarian governments, there was a gap between women’s roles as activists and in the democratic transition, versus the kinds of opportunities they had in politics. So when, in September 2022, <a href="https://theconversation.com/chiles-progressive-new-constitution-rejected-by-voters-after-campaign-marred-by-misinformation-190371">the new draft constitution was rejected</a>, many observers were perplexed. Some analysis argued the government’s radically democratic process had been too ambitious.</p>
<p>As a result, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chile-starts-second-attempt-draft-new-constitution-2023-03-06/">the government initiated a second, more institutional process for drafting a new constitution</a>, which removed certain representational quotas for Indigenous people and women that had characterized the first constitutional process.</p>
<p>But according to Piscopo, although the first draft was rejected, “there is still an appetite for processes that are more open and more democratic. The challenge is, electorates are fickle and how do you hold someone’s attention and someone’s preferences in a stable way as everyday politics is pushing them around?”</p>
<p>Listen to the full episode of <em>The Conversation Weekly</em> to learn more about Latin America’s democratic transition, crowdsourcing constitutional processes, and what their impact means for marginalized groups. </p>
<hr>
<p>This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany, who is also the executive producer of The Conversation Weekly. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.</p>
<p>You can find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also subscribe to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>. </p>
<p>Listen to <em>The Conversation Weekly</em> via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a> or find out <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">how else to listen here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207797/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Piscopo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article. She is a Senior Advisor to the Gender Equity Policy Institute in Los Angeles, United States.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carlos Bernal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article. He is commissioner of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.</span></em></p>People across Latin America are demanding greater political participation. Some countries, including Colombia and Chile, have responded by involving citizens in the making of their constitutions.Mend Mariwany, Producer, The Conversation Weekly, The Conversation Weekly PodcastNehal El-Hadi, Science + Technology Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2036822023-06-12T12:16:23Z2023-06-12T12:16:23ZCranogwen: dadorchuddio cerflun i'r arloeswraig yn Llangrannog<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531283/original/file-20230612-248743-ohn2oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1162%2C683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cranogwen oedd enw barddol Sarah Jane Rees. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Merchant logo Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cafodd cerflun ei ddadorchuddio ym mhentref Llangrannog yng Ngheredigion dros y penwythnos i anrhydeddu aelod o’r plwyf hwnnw, <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-REES-JAN-1839#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F1124576%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=1186%2C889%2C1364%2C1100">Cranogwen</a>. Dyna oedd enw barddol Sarah Jane Rees (1839-1916), arloeswraig ym myd hawliau cyfartal i ferched yng Nghymru. Yn ferch i forwr, dilynodd amrywiol yrfaoedd, fel morwr, athrawes, bardd, darlithydd, golygydd, pregethwr ac arweinydd mudiad dirwest. </p>
<p>Daeth yn sydyn i enwogrwydd cenedlaethol ym Medi 1865, pan enillodd wobr yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn Aberystwyth, gan guro prifeirdd y dydd, gan gynnwys <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-THOM-WIL-1832#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=10&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4832868%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=587%2C588%2C1223%2C1055">Islwyn</a> a <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-HUGH-CEI-1832#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4674472%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=1077%2C1487%2C3868%2C3121">Ceiriog</a>. Syfrdanwyd y gynulleidfa: nid oedd neb yn disgwyl y byddai “geneth wledig yr olwg” yn ennill y fath gystadleuaeth. Mae hynny'n ddealladwy ddigon pan gofiwn nad oedd y mwyafrif o ferched Ceredigion yn llythrennog yr adeg honno.</p>
<p>Ond ymhell cyn 1865, nid oedd Cranogwen wedi dilyn y trywydd disgwyliedig ar gyfer merched ei hoes. Ganwyd hi ym mwthyn Dolgoy-fach, i fyny ar y bryn goruwch traeth Llangrannog. Erbyn iddi gyrraedd ei harddegau roedd yn rhaid dechrau cyfrannu at incwm y teulu. Y dewis amlwg i ferched gwerinol pryd hynny oedd naill ai gweini neu wnïo dillad. Danfonwyd Sarah ar brentisiaeth i wniadwraig yn Aberteifi, ond dychwelodd adref yn fuan, gan ymwrthod yn llwyr a’r alwedigaeth hwnnw. </p>
<p>Yn hytrach perswadiodd ei thad i’w chymryd fel aelod o’r criw ar ei fadlong, y Betsy; bu’n gweithio fel morwr am dair blynedd wedi hynny, gwaith anarferol i fenyw'r pryd hynny. Ond gyda’r fath brofiad llwyddodd yn 1860, yn 21 oed, i ennill swydd fel athrawes ysgol Llangrannog, yn dysgu eu crefft i forwyr ifanc yn ogystal â dysgu plant yr ardal.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cerflun o fenyw yn darllen llyfr." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mae cerflun Sebastien Boyesen o Cranogwen yn sefyll ym mhentref Llangrannog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Molyneux Associates</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Newidiwyd ei byd yn llwyr gan ei buddugoliaeth Eisteddfodol. Cymaint oedd y cywreinrwydd ynghylch y ferch a gurodd Islwyn a Ceiriog nes oedd y wlad i gyd am ei gweld a’i chlywed. Oes y ddarlith oedd canol y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg yng Nghymru, yn enwedig ymhlith yr enwadau Anghydffurfiol. Gallai capel a lwyddodd i ddenu darlithydd poblogaidd ennill swm go ddefnyddiol er mwyn talu dyledion adeiladu’r capel. Perswadiwyd Cranogwen i dderbyn gyrfa newydd fel darlithydd cyhoeddus, yn erbyn ei hewyllys i gychwyn gan y golygai rhoi'r gorau i'w swydd fel athrawes.</p>
<p>Dechreuodd ar ei gyrfa gyhoeddus yng ngaeaf 1865, gan ddarlithio i gapeli gorlawn ym mhob rhan o’r wlad ac i gynulleidfaoedd Cymraeg yn Lloegr hefyd; ni fyddai’r mwyafrif o’i chynulleidfaoedd erioed wedi gweld na chlywed menyw yn siarad o’r pulpud neu’r sêt fawr o’r blaen. </p>
<p>Yn 1869-71, talodd ymweliad â’r Cymry alltud yn yr Unol Daleithiau, gan roi darlith i bob sefydliad Cymreig ar draws y wlad, o Efrog Newydd i San Ffransisco. Yn anffodus ni chyhoeddwyd ei darlithiau erioed, ond ymddengys o’r nifer fawr o adroddiadau papurau newyddion arnynt mai ei phrif bwnc oedd pwysigrwydd addysg i bawb, er mwyn iddynt oll ddarganfod eu doniau, eu diwyllio, a’u defnyddio er budd eu cymdeithas yn gyffredinol. Ac yr oedd y neges hon ar gyfer merched yn ogystal â bechgyn, menywod yn ogystal â dynion.</p>
<p>Aeth ymlaen i danlinellu’r neges yn ei rôl nesaf fel y golygydd cyntaf o fenyw ar gylchgrawn Cymraeg, sef <a href="https://cylchgronau.llyfrgell.cymru/browse/2649281/">Y Frythones</a>. Ym mhob un o’i gyrfaoedd heriodd Cranogwen syniadau cul ei hoes ynghylch gwahaniaeth rhywedd, a’u pwyslais ar y credo mai lle’r fenyw oedd y cartref, a dim ond y cartref. Ei nod oedd mynd a merched eraill gyda hi, “allan o’u hogofau”, fel y dywedai, ac i’r sffêr cyhoeddus fel awduron, areithwyr ac arweinwyr eu cymdogaethau. </p>
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<p>Ystyriai syniadau patriarchaidd yr oes ynghylch galluoedd a phriodoldebau’r ddau ryw yn amhriodol a gwastraffus o’r doniau hynny a feddai menywod yn ogystal â dynion, doniau i arwain a gwella eu cymdeithas. “Nid yw gwahaniaeth rhyw yn ddim yn y byd”, meddai yn Y Frythones: os rhoddwyd i fenyw, fel i ŵr llwyddiannus, yr awydd a’r gallu i siarad yn gyhoeddus yn effeithiol, yna hynny a ddylai wneud.</p>
<p>Yr oedd ei dylanwad yn ystod ei hoes yn bellgyrhaeddol. Yn 1916, ar ôl ei marwolaeth, meddai <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-EDWA-MOR-1858">O. M. Edwards</a> amdani: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Yr oedd gan Granogwen gennad, ac amcan uchel. A llwyddodd. Ni fu yr un ferch yn ein hanes eto wnaeth fwy i gryfhau meddylgarwch, hunan-barch, a defnyddioldeb merched Cymru na Chranogwen.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mae cerflun Sebastien Boyesen yn ran o ymgyrch ehangach gan y grwp <a href="https://monumentalwelshwomen.com">Monumental Welsh Women</a> i nodi cyfraniad merched i hanes Cymru. Priodol iawn yw hi, felly, bod y cerflun yn sefyll yn y pentref lle bu Cranogwen yn byw trwy ei hoes, gyda’i rhieni i gychwyn ac wedyn, ar ôl eu marwolaeth, gyda’i chymar, Jane Thomas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203682/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Aaron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Roedd Cranogwen yn arloeswraig oherwydd iddi gyflawni gymaint yn ystod oes Fictoria, sef cyfnod lle nad oedd gan ferched lawer o hawliau.Jane Aaron, Emeritus professor of English, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.