Women's Social and Economic Rights in Light of Political Changes in the Arab Region, CSW56

This seminar, given by CRTD-A as a parallel event at the 56th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), reviews efforts of Arab feminist organizations to change laws and social conditions that discriminate against women's social and economic rights. Progress towards equality, in accordance with international treaties, particularly the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, is discussed.

There are many political changes taking place in the Arab Region, during which Arab popular revolutions raise the slogan of social justice. This strongly indicates gaps between classes and increase of poverty rates, especially among women who suffer from economic discrimination and exclusion from labor laws in most Arab countries, including Egypt. Discrimination in inheritance rights increases this situation of poverty as women are deprived of inheritance, especially if it consists of cultivation lands. This is the case in Egypt, Syria, Morocco, and Jordan. 

Women also suffer from fundamentalist calls to return to staying at home, and from being deprived from their right to work. Furthermore, working conditions often consist of environments in which women are subject to different forms of violence and sexual harassment, wages largely vary between women and men for the same type of work, and labor laws can hinder women's advancement and promotion to leading higher-ranking positions.