Women, the Islamist Moment and Us  (The Huffington Post)

“The subjugation of women is still the most important global social inequality. It sears deepest into experience, molds political cultures most decisively, and determines both individual life-chances and global development. For all the hysterical talk of a ‘clash of civilizations’ it is actually the fight for women’s equality and empowerment, across the globe, that is the world-historical struggle to be won.

And nowhere is the relationship between development, democracy and women’s equality clearer than in the Arab world.

In 2005 the respected United Nations Arab Human Development Report concluded that women’s empowerment was one of three decisive changes that are required, alongside good governance and a culture of knowledge, to encourage the development of societies across the Arab world. “In public life, cultural, legal, social, economic and political factors impede women’s access to education, health, job opportunities, citizen’s rights and representation”, it reported, identifying a lack of power as the critical factor: “In all cases…real decisions in the Arab world are, at all levels, in the hands of men.”

We need to face some depressing facts about the Arab Spring and develop a robust policy response. While the Arab Spring has opened up opportunities for women in the long-term, in the short-term the google-generation has – for now, at least – been pushed aside by the hard men of the military and the long-established Islamist parties. And as a result, women’s rights are under threat.”

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