Feminism Against Fundamentalism

Lidia Falcon is a lawyer, a writer and President of the Spanish Feminist party.

THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON POPULATION GROWTH convened in Cairo in September 1994 resolved for the first time in the history of these conferences (Bucharest in 1974 and Mexico in 1984) that women should be taken into account when formulating the politics of population. This can undoubtedly be attributed to the pressure on governments and societies by feminist movements over the past few decades. Of course, one could sarcastically describe this outcome as a victory for elementary common sense. But every gain made by women and every act of justice on the part of men, are the result of a long battle against the hostility that men have historically harbored against women.

The Cairo conference approved another resolution no less important than the first: the category of human rights "also" applies to women. One might infer from this action that up until now, women were not considered human. We must define them as such and insist upon this in the face of countries whose legislation scarcely recognizes women as the subjects of social or political rights, and where women are treated worse than animals. Countries where women can inherit only half of the goods stipulated to their male counterparts, where they cannot request a divorce, where they are never granted child custody, and where, in the ultimate horror, the male members of the family can kill them for any reason without ever being brought to justice.

As we all know, these are countries governed by Islamic law where millions of women are compelled to live imprisoned in their own homes, subjected to polygamy, sexual mutilation, torture -- disgraceful and inhuman treatment. But it is only now that the United Nations -- which in 1948 approved the Declaration of Human Rights ratified by the majority of member states -- has passed some sort of declaration of condemnation against governments, parliaments, and states which allow and encourage slavery, torture, and the killing of women.

We must make it very clear that this behavior is not taking place in small isolated communities. Neither is it defended solely by Islamic fundamentalist groups nor practiced only in Iran, governed by a theocracy, or under military dictatorships like Iraq. In Saudi Arabia, women are treated as worthless objects. After declaring his daughter defiled, a father has the right to strangle her in front of the family as an exemplary punishment. In the United Arab Emirates, adulterers are publicly stoned to death. In supposedly democratic Egypt, polygamy was legalized and clitoridectomies are performed on thousands of young girls every year. From Mauritania to Bangladesh, 80 million infant girls are sexually mutilated annually. But the United Nations has never made any declaration of condemnation against these countries.

The international community subjected South Africa to an economic embargo for its notorious policy of apartheid. But it is unthinkable that similar action would be taken against Islamic countries which treat women no better or worse than whites treated blacks in South Africa. Because of its racist laws, South Africa was banned by the International Olympic Committee from participating in its games but the same sanctions are not applied to countries which bar women from taking part in sports or send exclusively male delegations to the Olympics. Military regimes are routinely criticized for repression of their citizenry but the Spanish government does not apply the same treatment to Morocco and King Hassan II who is welcomed as a friend and a governing democrat. This double standard also holds true for Algeria, Mauritania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait which are all considered democratic countries.

In the words of the famous 19th century Spanish lawyer and penal theorist, Conception Arenal, men can commit a thousand despicable acts but if they are perpetrated against women, they will continue to be considered gentlemen.

The danger posed by Islamic fundamentalism has only recently become the object of public denunciations, especially after extremist groups in Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia began targeting writers, journalists and professors. From the moment that civil war between men breaks out, Islamic fundamentalism is transformed into a problem with open bloodletting and state bankruptcy. While the dead were only women, no mention was made of it. Despite equality before the law and provisions barring discrimination against women written into the constitutions of democratic countries, the fate of women is a matter of no consequence for its governments.

THE CASE OF IRAN PROVIDES AN EXAMPLE of how men subscribing to a progressive ideology are capable of giving their approval to a revolutionary movement although it is obvious that the regime will uphold the most reactionary projects with respect to women. In the initial period of the revolution, it was extremely surprising to see that among journalists, politicians, theorists, trade unionists, and other individuals concerned for the welfare of ordinary people, there should be such enthusiasm throughout Europe for the prospect of Iran being transformed into an Islamic fundamentalist country. Of course, all people of good will should have been opposed to the despotic dictatorship of the Shah. But the defenders of the regime of the "Ayatollah" Khomeini felt much more enthusiasm for the rupture that this portended for relations with the United States, and Western forms and manners, than for the assurance that the new regime respected human rights, much less those of women.

When women made clear our rejection of a system which was governed by the "black book" of its leader who, like Hitler, was not shy about publicizing genocidal ideas in which his hatred for women was manifest, they were the recipients of the kind of criticism outlined above from sectors of the male left. In the end, the concerns of women are always perceived as particularistic questions pertaining only to a "minority" while those affecting men, even a small number like conscientious objectors, must be of general interest. It is certainly true that nothing now remains of the original enthusiasm demonstrated by intellectuals and politicians, but their rejection was motivated more by the anti-Westernism of the Iranian regime than by any compassion toward its women. The abduction of American hostages among which there were no fatalities, aroused criticism and provoked the hostility of democratic countries to a degree which was never afforded to the thousands of female victims of polygamy, child marriage, clitoridectomy, prison, and the killings by which any disobedience is punished.

In Saudi Arabia, women are not able to drive cars without being arrested, insulted, or having their husbands fired from their jobs. But an entire war, producing thousands of victims, was waged to protect "this" democracy and "this" freedom. From the outset of this loathsome Gulf war, the problems which affect the countries of this area have been the object of hundreds of analyses and debates. But the problems under discussion concern the economy, political organization, development, or employment -- for men. The lives of women throughout the entire region scarcely merit mention in international forums and supra-national organizations.

A new polemic has begun to muddy the debate on Islam and fundamentalism even further. The political leaders and intellectuals of the Muslim countries have repeatedly levelled the charge of ethnocentrism, an accusation which has been accepted by anthropologists and defenders of Western human rights. According to this rationale, those who defend the abolition of atrocities against women are motivated by the "racism" of assessing unique cultures by Western values. This question is deemed most important for Islamic societies and we are charged with a failure to recognize that other people have a culture different from that of Europe or America. In other words, Spanish feminists or their European or American counterparts fail to comprehend the beauty or necessity of sexually mutilating children.

At the end of the 20th century, the time has arrived to concede the need for, and the righteousness of, supra-cultural and supra-national norms which establish the most elementary rights of human beings, including women. This is precisely what has been obtained with the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and subsequently with the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Child, norms which have received the approval of a vast number of nations and which capped a phase of horror and genocide which the world had experienced immediately before. These norms which guarantee the right to life, physical integrity, and the freedom and disposition of one's own person, provide the basis and the authority for demanding that women be treated as individuals subject to the law in all the countries of the world.

Women and men of good will must be organized and mobilized to demand that governments, along with political parties and groups demonstrate respect for women, irrespective of the religion, region, or culture of the country in question. Public opinion, trade union organizations, the media, and feminist groups and parties must all be made aware of the need to adopt, as a prime objective, the defense of women subjected to the tortures of Islamic fundamentalism. We cannot be considered feminists or even democrats if we allow millions of women around the world to live like the slaves of antiquity. We also believe that all women will become victims if fundamentalism advances and pushes forward like a sea of hot lava driven by the eruptions of volcanos generated by poverty, the economic crisis, and the unequal and unjust distribution of wealth caused by the capitalist system dominating the entire world today. This widespread desperation is exacerbated by the machismo which so many men use to compensate for their own insignificance and suffering.

There also exists a Christian and Catholic fundamentalism. Papal bulls have brought about serious setbacks in the gains won by women during this century in Poland and Ireland. The American right has incited an extremely sexist popular mood. Abortion clinics have been attacked and doctors have been assassinated. This can only be the beginning of the rightist and sexist offensive organized by American conservatives. In Europe, the Thatcher era has initiated a type of persecution of immigrants and the poor in which women are the principal victims. The countries of Eastern Europe have seen women disappear from their parliaments and factories. Social welfare programs for the most disadvantaged have been abandoned. The result is an increase in the feminization of poverty with its train of illnesses, deaths in childbirth, infant mortality, and prostitution.

We are fighting now against all these horrors which are striking very close to home and may tomorrow claim us as their victims. Taslima Nasrin will not be the only object of persecution by these fundamentalist lunatics. In all countries, feminist writers will be forced to lie low along with mothers, spouses, young people, and children. Then we will have nobody to defend us. As we said in issue 17 of Power and Freedom, the journal of the Spanish Feminist Party devoted to the question of "Woman and Islam," we must struggle together to find the path to free ourselves from the "merciful and humane" law of Allah. We can only achieve this end through the solidarity of all feminists. Let's make it happen.

Madrid, November 1994

Translated from the Spanish by Patrick Flaherty.

Contents of No. 18