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By Pinar
Ilkkaracan
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A
woman and her infant attend a one-day event
promoting family planning and reproductive
health among youth in Port Said, Egypt.
"The human rights of women include their
right to have control over and decide freely
and responsibly on matters related to their
sexuality, including sexual and reproductive
health, free of coercion, discrimination and
violence." Photo credit: ©
2001 William Mackie/CCP, Courtesy of Photoshare
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Introduction
Sexuality and gender equality, matters that are inextricably
linked, have been highly politicized issues in almost
all Muslim countries. Although a general consensus
on the need for modernization efforts in the technical,
administrative and financial domains has been remarkably
visible even among antagonistic political actors and
movements, reforms targeting gender relations and
the private sphere have remained notably controversial.
While the modernists have in general argued for gender
equality and, to a degree, for sexual liberation,
the traditionalists / Islamic conservatives have subsequently
and deliberately attempted to exert their control
on issues related to sexuality, struggling to preserve
their interpretation of their respective society's
"religious and moral values," and to maintain
or in some cases regain their dominance especially
in the private sphere, namely, regarding the status
of women in the family and the regulation of sexual
behavior.
Sexual Behavior
In the last decades, issues around sexuality and women's
bodies have increasingly become sites of political
contestation in Muslim societies due to the contradictory
impacts of socio-economic and political developments.
For instance in the Middle East and North Africa,
existing space for liberal reforms, including those
concerning sexuality have tightened due to factors
including the rise of the Islamic religious right,
increasing mass support for religious right ideologies
and increased militarization and new wars. On the
other hand, several other factors-such as the rise
of new feminist and civil movements, globalization,
the increasing influence of a global human rights
discourse, and changing socio-economic conditions
affecting population patterns-have led to the emergence
of new discourses, demands and patterns regarding
sexual behavior pushing for change from below.
Sexual Rights
Since the beginning of the 90's, a growing number
of NGOs in the region have started advocating for
sexual and bodily rights on issues ranging from eradication
of customary practices such as honor killings1 female
genital mutilation (FGM) or forced virginity tests
to sex education, legal recognition of women's sexual
autonomy in the penal codes and the human rights of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered (LGBT) persons.
Sexual Politics
Recently, sexual politics and customary practices
such as honor crimes, virginity testing, FGM, forced
marriages and stoning of adulterers have also become
subjects of media, academic and political attention
in the West. The post 9/11 context has contributed
significantly to the erroneous portrayal of such practices
as Islamic, or as resulting from the conservative
culture of the 'other,' i.e., Muslim. It is strikingly
paradoxical that such practices are regarded as 'Islamic'
in the West, considering that they have come to the
international agenda as a result of the successful
campaigns of Muslim feminist movements, struggling
to raise public consciousness that these practices
are not only blatant human rights violations, but
are also in contradiction with the essence of Islam.
The post 9/11 context has also increased the dilemmas
faced by activists, scholars and health professionals
advocating for human rights issues around sexuality
in Muslim societies. Many feel that international
engagement in the promotion of these rights ironically
serves to exacerbate existing stereotypes both about
Muslim-as suppressed, passive or unable to defend
their rights-and about Muslim societies-as backward,
static and having a culture that is irreconcilable
with 'Western values.'
Sexuality - Contested Domain
The notion of 'sexual rights' first appeared on the
international agenda during preparations for the 1994
United Nations International Conference on Population
and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo. Put forward
by advocates from the international women's health
movement, the term was ultimately not incorporated
into the final consensus document of the conference,
the ICPD Program of Action; as reaching a consensus
on the term "reproductive rights" proved
challenging enough, however, the document did include
several allusions to sexual rights.2 A year later,
'sexual rights' became a topic of major debate at
the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing
in 1995, where an alliance of conservative Muslim
and Catholic delegations strongly objected to its
use. Despite the fierce opposition of conservative
forces to the inclusion of 'sexual rights,' a global
alliance of women from all religious and cultural
backgrounds succeeded in the inclusion of paragraph
96 in the Beijing Platform for Action: "The human
rights of women include their right to have control
over and decide freely and responsibly on matters
related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive
health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence."
Ferocious Battles
The Vatican and conservative Muslim and Catholic states,
backed by some African and Latin American countries,
have continued to oppose inclusion of diverse sexual
rights in UN documents since the Beijing Conference.
Several subsequent UN events-the Beijing+5 conference
in 2000, the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS in 2001,
the Special Session on Children in 2002, the Fifth
Asian and Pacific Population Conference in 2002, the
59th and 60th Sessions of the UN Human Rights Commission
held in 2003 and 2004 and the 49th session of the
UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March
2005-witnessed ferocious battles over issues of sexual
rights, sex education, abortion and sexual orientation.
The leadership of conservative Muslim and Christian
states with the Vatican, opposing any references
to sexual, bodily and reproductive rights, has shifted
of late, as under the current Bush government the
U.S. has become a powerful champion of this perspective,
particularly in its stand against abortion and sex
education and its promotion of sexual abstinence as
the best form of HIV/AIDS prevention, as evidenced
by US rhetoric and policy on related international
development and national issues.3
Sexual Orientation
On the issue of sexual orientation, however, a majority
of Muslim states remain at the forefront of opposition
to any attempts to recognize sexual orientation as
a UN-protected human right. At the 1995 Beijing Conference,
the majority of the twenty states opposed to the inclusion
of references to sexual orientation in the outcome
document were Muslim, and not a single Muslim country
was among the thirty-three states expressing support
for their inclusion.4
In 2003 and 2004, a resolution introduced by Brazil
at the 59th and 60th Sessions of the UN Commission
on Human Rights in Geneva, urging states to protect
and promote the human rights of all persons regardless
of sexual orientation, created a storm. The first
attempt to introduce the resolution in 2003 was blocked
by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Malaysia, Libya, Egypt and
Bahrain, with the support of some other countries
under pressure from the Vatican. Mexico and Costa
Rica, which initially stood in favor, eventually bowed
to pressure from Vatican to oppose the resolution.
[1]
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
in a letter urged all delegates to vote against the
resolution, claiming it was politically incorrect
and "a direct insult to the 1.2 billion Muslims
in the world." [2] A year later in 2004, the
resolution was postponed yet another year, in the
face of pressure from the OIC, Arab states and the
Vatican. Among Muslim countries, Middle Eastern states,
particularly Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq and
Sudan have taken the lead in opposing any rights related
to sexual orientation.
Taboos
The taboos around sexual orientation in Middle Eastern
states constitute a profound example of hypocrisy
regarding sexual morale in the region, as there is
widespread evidence and a collective knowledge that
homosexuality has been widely practiced in the region
for centuries. Despite the relative visibility of
male transvestite popular singers and artists, the
'public' silence shrouding non-heterosexual behavior
remains exceptionally strong. However, whether the
picture drawn by the voting patterns of Middle Eastern
governments at the UN meetings is representative of
the region in general is questionable. Over the last
decade, despite a threatening environment and laws
criminalizing homosexuality except in Turkey, Tunisia
and Iraq, sexual minorities have become more and more
visible. In Turkey and Lebanon, there are
several NGOs and initiatives with the publicly declared
aim of working for the recognition of human rights
of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.5
The effective use of the Internet by sexual minorities
has contributed significantly to the creation of new
informal and formal networks, information channels
and opportunities for gays, lesbians and trans-gender
people on both the national and regional levels, even
in countries where homosexuality is criminalized.
Yet, the strong threat of legal prohibitions, as well
as social stigmas associated with homosexuality, continue
to severely constrain advocacy in the public arena
by members of the LGBT communities.
Challenges
Taboos around sexuality; women's limited ownership
of their bodies; diverse customary practices that
constitute major human rights violations; the discriminatory
nature of laws related to sexuality which lead to
severe human rights violations; the discrepancies
between law and practice; the conceptualization of
women's bodies and sexuality as belonging to men,
their families and society, and insufficient sexual
and reproductive health services remain significant
challenges in Muslim societies.6 Laws,
policies and practices that aim to control women's
sexual autonomy and to confine sexuality within the
framework of marriage lead to several human rights
violations of women, young people and sexual
minorities.
Despite changing socio-economic factors and demographic
and epidemiological patterns–
including increased premarital sex among young people
and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
and HIV/AIDS–
necessitating programs addressing sexual health and
sex education, reforms addressing sexuality are met
with various obstacles: social taboos, particularly
concerning any sexual behavior outside of marriage
including adolescent sexuality, non- and extra-marital
or same-sex relationships; alliances between political
systems and conservative religious groups; male attitudes
and traditional gender constructs; legal and policy
restrictions and finally the threat of stigmatization
for anyone working on issues related to sexuality.
Changing Context
Nonetheless, the '90s witnessed the emergence of new
feminist and human rights movements increasingly questioning
the control of women's sexuality by men and society.
A solidarity network of NGOs and academicians, actively
working toward promotion of sexual and bodily rights
in the Middle East and North Africa, was initiated
in 2001. Since then, it has expanded to include more
member organizations both in the Middle East and South/Southeast
Asia.7
Notes
1 Honor killing is a term used for the
murder of a woman suspected of having transgressed
the limits on sexual behavior as imposed by traditions,
specifically engaging in a pre-marital relationship
with the opposite sex or suspected extra-marital affairs.
2 See Barbara Klugman, (2000) "Sexual
Rights in Southern Africa: A Beijing Discourse or
a Strategic Necessity?" Health and Human Rights
4, no. 2: 145-173; Sonia Correa (1997) "From
Reproductive Health to Sexual Rights: Achievements
and Future Challenges," Reproductive Health
Matters, 5, no. 10: 107-116.
3 For a detailed study of Bush government's
policies on sexuality, see Francoise Girard (2004)
Global Implications of U.S. Domestic and International
Policies on Sexuality, (New York: International
Working Group on Sexuality and Social Policy,).
4 The twenty states opposed were Algeria, Bangladesh,
Belize, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala,
Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan,
Syria, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and
Yemen. See Douglas Sanders (2003) "Human Rights
and Sexual Orientation in International Law,"
http://www.ai-lgbt.org/resources_other.htm,
24.
5 For example, Lambda and Kaos GL in Turkey
and Helem in Lebanon.
6 See Liz Er‡evik Amado (2004) Sexual
and Bodily Rights as Human Rights in the Middle East
and North Africa: A Workshop Report (Istanbul:
WWHR - NEW WAYS).
7 The network is coordinated by Women for Women's
Human Rights - NEW WAYS. For more information on the
activities of the network, see http://www.wwhr.org.
References
1. Lee D. J. ( 2003) "Human Rights and Sexual
Orientation," Combat Law, vol. 2, no: 4 (October-November),
http://www.combatlaw.org/information.php?article_id=330&issue_id=13
(accessed June 25, 2005).
2. Senders, D. (2003) "Human Rights. and Sexual
Orientation in International Law" http://www.ai-lgbt.org/resources_other.htm,
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*Pinar Ilkkaracan, a psychotherapist and
researcher, is in private practice in Istanbul, Turkey.
She is also the founder and coordinator of Women
for Women’s Human Rights.
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