Women's Rights in the Muslim World and the Age of Obama

• Author: Adrien K. Wing - Peter P. Nadimi
• Position: Bessie Dutton Murray Professor at the University of Iowa College of Law - J.D. University of Iowa College of Law 2010, B.A. University of Minnesota 2006.
• Pages: 431-463

Women’s Rights in the Muslim World and the Age of

Obama

Adrien K. Wing* & Peter P. Nadimi**

I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 431

II. ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD THE

MUSLIM WORLD .......................................................................................... 433

III. WOMEN‘S RIGHTS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD ........................................... 437

A. Palestine ........................................................................................... 441

B. Afghanistan ...................................................................................... 445

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ...................... 447

A. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

Against Women (“CEDAW”) ............................................................ 448

B. International Violence Against Women Act (“IVAWA”) ................. 451

C. Education ......................................................................................... 454

D. Economic Empowerment ................................................................. 455

E. Office of Global Women‟s Issues in the State Department ............. 457

F. U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative ........................................ 458

G. United Nations Observer Missions ................................................. 459

H. Supporting Women‟s Rights Activists in the Muslim World ......... 460

V. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 462

I. INTRODUCTION

Women around the world continue to face human rights abuses, condoned

in part by deeply held patriarchal customs and religious practices, as well as

insufficient resources and lack of political will.

1

The Muslim World is no

exception. Muslim women face a variety of issues, including but not limited to

* Adrien K. Wing is the Bessie Dutton Murray Professor at the University of Iowa College of

Law. Author of over 100 publications, she advised on constitutions for South Africa, Palestine,

and Rwanda. A.B. Princeton 1978, M.A. UCLA 1979, J.D. Stanford 1982.

** J.D. University of Iowa College of Law 2010, B.A. University of Minnesota 2006.

1

Adrien K. Wing & Samuel P. Nielson, An Agenda for the Obama Administration on Gender

Equality: Lessons from Abroad, 107 MICH. L. REV. FIRST IMPRESSION 124, 125 (2009), available

at http://www.michiganlawreview.org/articles/an-agenda-for-the-obama-administration-on-

gender-equality-lessons-from-abroad; see also Gila Stopler, ―A Rank U surpation of Power”—The

Role of Patriarchal Religion and Culture in the Subordination of Women, 15 DUKE J. GENDER L.

& POL‘Y 365, 367–372 (2008) (explaining that culture and religion have led to patriarchal

structures that have hindered women‘s ability to achieve equality).

432 TRANSNATIONAL LAW & CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS [Vol. 20:431

poor access to education;

2

lack of career opportunities;

3

―domestic‖ and

external violence;

4

forced marriages;

5

restricted participation in public life;

6

and unequal inheritance rights.

7

While most of the solutions to these

problems must come from within each society, there can be a role for

carefully constructed, culturally respe ctful foreign assistance. Throug h the

Obama Adminis tration‘s n ew approach tow ards international law and

engagement with the Muslim World, the United States may be in a cri tical

position to make a lasting impact on women‘s human rights issues.

This Article will first present suggestions on how the Obama

Administration can improve women‘s rights in the Muslim World.

Specifically, it will provide foreign policy recommendations that will socially,

economically, and politically empower women. The Article will place special

emphasis on the need to provide financial support and other reso urces for

programs in the Muslim World that will counteract violence against women.

Second, it will recommend increasing access to, and improving the quality of,

education fo r women in Muslim-majority countries. Third, it will emphasize

the need to empower women economically by integrating them into the

workforce. Finally, it will discuss the importance of women‘s participation in

the political process and its role in impro ving women‘s rights in the Muslim

World. In implementing this agenda, the United States must be very careful

not to appear as an imperialist nation attempting to implement Western

―feminist‖ ideals or as favoring women over men.

Part II of this Article will begin by briefly addressing the Obama

Administration‘s approach to the ro le of international law in U.S. foreign

policy and co ntrasting it to the Bush Administration‘s approach. An

administration‘s general view toward international law is important to its

foreign policy because it has considerable bearing on its engagement tactics

2

See infra Part III (discussing issues regarding women's access to education in the Mus lim

World).

3

See infra Part III (discussing women‘s difficulty accessing career opportunities in the Muslim

World).

4

See infra Part III (discussing violence against women in the Muslim World).

5

See Adrien Wing & Hisham Kassim, The Future of Palestinian Women‟s Rights, 64 WASH. &

LEE L. REV. 1551, 1561 (2007) [hereinafter Tunisian Progress] (explaining that the law in

Palestine requires that a father consent to his daughter‘s marriage, regardless of his daughter‘s

age); see also Hannibal Travis, Freedom or Theocracy?: Constitutionalism in Afghanistan and

Iraq, 3 NW. J. INT‘L L. 4, 69 (2005) (explaining that the Taliban‘s strict religious traditions

continue to influence parts of Afghanistan by forcing young girls into marriage through the

threat of imprisonment).

6

See Susan Tiefenbrun, The Semiotics of Women‟s Human Rights in Iran, 23 CONN. J. INT‘L L. 1,

16 (2007) (explaining that women‘s involvement in public life is limited because they are limited

to activities in the home).

7

See Tunisian Progress, supra note 5, at 1560, n.65 (explaining that Palestine and Tunisia only

guarantee women half the inheritance amount that a man receives).

Spring 2011] WOMEN‟S RIGHTS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD 433

with the international community, in this case, specifically the Muslim

World.

After this gener al discu ssion, Part III of this Article will discuss four of

the most crucial women‘s rights issues facing the Muslim World: 1) violence

against women;

8

2) access to education; 3) eco nomic empowerment through

participation in the workforce; and 4) involvement in the political process.

This Ar ticle will then explore these topics in greater depth in two places of

particular importance to U.S. foreign policy—Pale stine and Af ghanistan.

Both are societies where the United States is investing considerable amounts

of money and effort, and it is important that women are not overlooked as

recipients of those benefits.

Part IV provides recommendations for the Obama Administration to

improve women‘s rights in the Muslim World. Part V concludes the Article.

II. ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD THE

MUSLIM WORLD

The Obama Administration‘s rhetoric and actions during its first year in

office seemed to signal an approach that embraced international law and

engagement with the international comm unity. This was a distinct shift

away from the Bush Administration‘s view s. During President Bush‘s two

terms, the United State s took a very unilateral approach toward engagement

with the international community.

9

The Bush Administration did not fully

respect the United Nations and other multilateral ins titutions.

10

Furthermore, the Bush Administration chose not to adhere to one of public

international law‘s primary authorities, the Geneva Conventions.

11

A barrage

of scho lars acknowled ged the Bush Administration‘s disregard for

international law.

12

A few of the Obama Administration's major actions dur ing its first year

in office signaled a welcoming attitude towards compliance with international

8

In terms o f the first topic, violence, while women in both Palestine and Afghanistan can face

significant violence from outside forces, this Article will focus on family or domestic violence.

9

Michael J. Kelly, Charting America‟s Return to Public International Law Under the Obama

Administration, 3 J. NAT‘L SECURITY L. & POL‘Y 239, 239 (2009).

10

Id. at 242.

11

Id. at 243.

12

See, e.g., Noam Chomsky, Dominance and its Dilemmas, BOSTON REVIEW (Nov. 2003),

http://bostonreview.net/BR28.5/chomsky.html (arguing that the Bush Administration‘s military

actions related to the Muslim World convey a disdain for international law and related

institutions); Noah Feldman, Op-Ed., A Prison of Words, N.Y. TIMES, Mar. 18, 2009, available at

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/opinion/19feldman.html (noting that the Bush

Administration would bypass international law to ―defend the country‖); Oona Hathaway, Why

We Need International Law, NATION, Nov. 1, 2007, available at

http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/27299974/Why-We-Need-International-Law

(click on ―View entire article—PDF‖) (arguing that the Bush Administration has disobeyed

international law on many occasions).