Neda Soltani was a young Iranian philosophy student. On the morning of June 20, Neda was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Standing in the middle of Kargar Avenue in the middle of Tehran, Neda was brutally murdered, suffering a shot to the chest. At that moment, protests were being held all around the city by supporters of Presidential candidate Hossein Mousavi. It is unclear whether Neda was attending the protest. What is sure is that she died a horrible death witnessed by millions as her shooting was relayed across the world via internet. The sad videos record the agony and violent, futile death of a young person deprived of a full and long life.
Predictably, her death has been transformed into a political symbol and a rallying cry for the opposition. Worse still, the authorities have strictly forbidden her mourning and Neda had to be hastily and unceremoniously buried. I will shy away from the political aspect of this murder and will focus particularly on female participation in civil society and the burning issue of gender inequality that has plagued Middle Eastern women for centuries.
We have unfortunately become accustomed to the stereotypical depiction that Middle Eastern women are passive, weak and always veiled. This had distorted the general issues facing women in this vast region, obscuring the diversity of female lifestyles.
Going back to the Tehran manifestations it is clear that women are being active and present on the streets and, hence, the previous assumption is clearly incorrect. Likewise, it is also incorrect to generalise and assume that all women are treated badly all over the Middle East.
While the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia is extreme, where women are not even allowed to drive a car, in other countries the situation is diametrically different. Women have even served as ministers in the Syrian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Iraqi and Tunisian governments. Ironically, a woman in Iran is also vice president. Conversely, Kuwait only conceded the right for women to vote a mere three years ago.
Optimistically, after several attempts, women have today won seats in the Kuwaiti Legislature and only as recently as last May four women sit in the 50-seat legislature.(Incidentally, this represents a higher percentage of female representation than in Malta!)
Yet, the problems of Middle Eastern women remain acute. Exclusivist and conservative interpretations have and are burdening women in the family, the society and the state. Although religion bears a significant responsibility on the status of women, history, dubious interpretation and perpetuated cultural practices have significantly frustrated the efforts for female emancipation. By and large, many of these practices have at one point or another been part of Western practices and culture.
Lack of political and social freedom for Middle Eastern women has added to their suffering in many ways. From restrictive clothing practices, to the more horrible and bizarre practice of genital mutilation and to what is known as "honour killings". The latter practice reduces women to the status of slaves, commanded to marry and denied the choice of a partner on the very pain of death. This murder is perpetrated by none other than family members, such as the father or brother. Although strictly illegal, there is a feeling that, in many places, honour killing is largely justified.
It would be easy to blame religion for all this, yet, I believe that would be a shallow interpretation. The situation is far more complex and complicated. The position of women in the region cannot be understood without the thorough appreciation of the economic and political contexts in which they live and, in addition, to Islam's long-standing influence. Ironically, although no two Middle Eastern countries have identical legal-religious systems, women remain effectively second-class citizens in all of them. This resistance to change has hampered women's rights and, in some cases, modernisation and secularism.
At present, women throughout the region are being denied the rights, privileges and security usually enjoyed by all the citizens of a country. Unlike the west, where the individual is the basic unit of the state, it is the family that is the basis of Arab states. This inequality not only denies women their rights as citizens but diminishes immensely the effective role of women in society.
What catalysts can stimulate change? At a theoretical level, the answer must be the unwinding of the strict ties between politics and religion. A more secular approach would lead to a fairer deal for the fair sex. At a more practical level, more aid offered by the EU to many Middle Eastern NGOs should be directed towards women's organisations to enhance the educational and vocational prospects for women. Education remains the vital key to an improved status for women.
Ironically, it was in Iran where women presented the most effective challenge by courageously questioning the right of authority to define the conditions of their lives. The latest events clearly overshadow the actual prospects. One hopes that Neda has not died in vain!
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