Women In The Arab Spring<\/p>\n
By William Fisher
\nThe Public Record
\nJun 5th, 2011<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of the Arab Spring \u2013 starting with the unrest in Tunisia in early January \u2013 questions have been raised about the role of women in the uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Photography of demonstrations in Egypt\u2019s Tahrir Square reveals the presence of women of all ages. The same appears to be true in other parts of Egypt, and in Tunisia, Syria, and Bahrain.<\/p>\n
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights has cataloged the role of women in the demonstrations in that country and the often brutal actions taken by security forces to force them from the streets.<\/p>\n
The Center says, \u201cBahraini women are paying dearly for expressing their views.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization says that dozens of Bahraini women \u201care being detained in prison facing torture and humiliation for participating in peaceful protests. The government is killing, detaining, physically and verbally abusing and dismissing women from work and education.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Center says it \u201cstrongly condemns the ongoing crackdown against the peaceful protesters in Bahrain, specially the repression and detention of a great number of Bahraini women such as political and social activists, doctors, teachers, housewives as well as school and university students. These women are facing torture as well as physical and verbal abuses that leads to death in some cases; in addition to the dismissal from work and education.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Center says it believes the3se actions are \u201ca vengeance against Bahraini women for the key role they played since the beginning of the protests; a way to force them giving up that role and retreat any activity they had in the protesting movement since last February. It is also a way to add pressure on the opposition to retreat their legitimate demands.\u201d …more<\/a><\/p>\n