The Obstacles of Women's Political and Social Involvement

 

Palestinian girl participating in the 8th 

of March Int'l Women Day

Social and political involvement of women is an essential factor for development in any society. In the third world, many sectors of society continue to be excluded, including women. This absence of women's involvement has a critical effect on the circumstances of women in their societies. Addressing this issue is the subject of discussion at all levels of women's organizations. In a brainstorming session organized by PalThink for Strategic Studies, Mai Nayif, professor of literature at Al-Azhar University of Gaza, discussed this issue.

Several causes represent real obstacles which prevent women from being involved effectively. From Professor Nayif's point of view, the absence of women's privacy at social and economic levels prevents them from taking the lead. Moreover, there are not sufficient policies to enhance women's involvement. Since the deterioration of the Palestinian political system began, the most affected aspect is the civil life - where the whole society became an obstacle in women's participation, and in many cases, women have contributed to this situation by their acceptance of exclusion.

Despite these obstacles, several examples of successful Palestinian women should be presented. In the brainstorming session, Asmaa' Al-Goul, a Palestinian female journalist, spoke of her own experience. She founded a social movement calling for national reconciliation. She discussed the difficulties that could face women involved in initiatives. Regardless of the challenges, she expressed her pride of being a part of founding this social group that organized some activities such as demonstrating for national reconciliation.

On the other hand, some of the discussion focused on the problem of defining general liberties in the Arab world. This problem and other social and cultural problems have resulted from the unstable political situation in Gaza. Political threats and divisions are impacting civil life and the control of Gaza by an Islamic extremist movement is deepens the problem of defining civil liberties. The escalation of religious extremism and political tensions among political parties is affecting the extent to which Palestinian women can be involved socially and politically.

There should be active, clear policies that promote the involvement of women in an effective way. Palestinian women should have a role in overcoming the ongoing political division, and this role should be promoted in all aspects of Palestinian society. The PalThink session concluded with suggestions for promoting the involvement of women through building alliances with female-based NGOs, creating bases for awareness and promotion of the role of women, launching media campaigns through social networks as well as raising awareness of men themselves about this issue.