What is behind the political violence against women in the world? - Hevidar Khalid
We often talk about political violence against human societies, especially in the Middle East. Political violence is the use of politics in a way that leads to unlawful harm to a large group of people. For hundreds of years, women have been exposed to this type of violence at the hands of governments and rulers in various societies, especially Arab societies.
Political violence against women is represented by the absence of their participation in political life and in political decision-making at all levels from below to above. The deliberate exclusion of women and their final exclusion from practicing politics has become a global phenomenon. The percentage of women’s participation in politics in the world at the parliamentary or presidential level is approximately 27 percent, but in the Middle East and the region surrounding us, the situation is darker and more miserable.
There are many causes of political violence against women in society, including economic and social, and all of these causes create more backwardness in the region. The environment that governs society in the Middle East is a purely masculine environment in every sense of the word. Women are excluded from decision-making positions, specifically in the political field. Women are still subordinate to men, even in parliamentary elections in which they participate in a specific and limited number. Most of the time, a percentage of women’s participation is set, and this is unfair to them, because if women run freely, their numbers may exceed the number of male candidates, but because our entire society is a patriarchal society, they remain women in the back rows.
An example of this is the state of Lebanon, which is the first Arab country in which women gained the right to vote and run for office in 1952, and was able to enter the Parliament in 1993. That is, for forty years it achieved this gain, but it was only able to participate formally and symbolically in the political field, and even this time cannot play her role in this field in a real way, and therefore this means that it is exposed to unprecedented political violence in the country. This is despite the fact that Lebanese women are characterized by a high level of education and thought, and cultural, linguistic, social and religious diversity.
In many other Arab countries, women also gained the right to vote and run for office, such as Syria in 1953. However, the issue of the exclusion of women is a historical issue that still dominates the public scene until now, and there are still dozens of laws that legitimize the inferiority of women, and constitutions that impose discrimination between women and men. It reduces women's basic rights, keeps women marginalized most of the time, and keeping them in some positions is only a formal matter that has nothing to do with empowering women's political role in society. The Syrian law, which deprives a woman of the right to transfer her nationality to a foreign husband or her children from him, is nothing but a clear and frank example of the extent of political and social violence practiced against women in the country.
Reducing political, economic and social violence against women begins with combating the populist ideology that is destroying society, completely controlling the region, and creating a state of tyranny by depriving women of participation in political decision-making mechanisms, preventing them from occupying leadership positions, whether small or large, and preventing them from even... Access to parliamentary committees.
The current regimes are based on the existence of an intellectual, political, and economic dictatorship that controls all major centers, controls influence, money, and the media, and works to spread ignorance among all individuals. It appoints men who do not have competencies, or in other words, they are devoid of political ability, and they are appointed only because they are loyal to it or affiliated with its party. On the other hand, to its areas of influence, or affiliated with a specific party in which it is interested.
The media, which is subject to authoritarian regimes in the region, also has a role in encouraging the practice of political violence against women at the present time, by conveying a misleading image of them, belittling their status and role, after which they are exposed to cases of bullying in the public sphere. Therefore, women must escalate their struggle to convey the correct image of their historical feminist struggle in this field.
On the other hand, the opinions of most women defending the cause of women and their rights are that countries must be pushed to implement a mandatory quota system in order to compensate women for thousands of years of exclusion and marginalization, by encouraging them to participate in politics and by requiring the presence of women as a fundamental participant in its making.
There are many social, political and economic studies in different countries of the world, especially in India and East Africa, which have proven that women’s political participation curbs corruption in societies, increases production, and maintains peace and stability. Because women are the foundation of society; Therefore, she must be present in all fields, and be able to impose herself through her role and never exclude herself. Sometimes a woman excludes herself because she was raised on outdated customs and traditions. Here we say that women must play the role of biological mothers in life, and are committed to caring for their children, but it is also necessary for them to be widely present in all fields of work, without discrimination.
It is difficult for any society to flourish in which women are absent from political participation and deprived of all their rights, especially since we know that women constitute the largest category of victims of violent crimes, such as crimes of armed conflict, crimes of domestic violence, and violations related to long working hours and wages. Women are paid less than men in most societies, and they choose men for senior positions and set the highest salaries for them. All of these violent manifestations against women are derived from a political approach or laws that cannot be corrected except by correcting the root of the imbalance. It is not possible to rely on rulers who pursue policies that are gender-discriminatory and violent. Against all segments of society, and we cannot expect these systems to reform themselves and improve decisions that affect women in particular. All of these oppressive and corrupt policies require improving legislation that protects women, and enacting laws that guarantee women’s participation in elected councils and even in committees and executive bodies.
All women must struggle to reach their goals and change the current political systems, correct the state of imbalance in global politics, which lacks women, who constitute more than half of the world’s population, and work for the presence of women in all governments around the world, as women have great political competence and capacity, However, the presence of some social customs and traditions prevents it from engaging in this field, so it must immediately overcome them, impose itself and thus represent itself wherever it is.
Although, during the last fifty years, some countries have enacted laws that allow women to vote, participate in choosing presidents, and even run for president and hold this position, most of these legislations and laws remain on paper most of the time.
Therefore, all women must educate themselves about an important and sensitive aspect for them at the present time, which is obtaining full political rights. And protect themselves from the violations and crimes to which they are exposed, and therefore women must take their pioneer role in society, and demand the system of co-chairmanship that is applied today on the ground within the Autonomous Administration system in North and East Syria, through which women and all components have achieved real gains after She fought a hard struggle for this.
T/ Satt.
ANHA
