| dc.description.abstract | This research focuses on changes in women's empowerment and gender parity during the reigns of Mohammed VI in Morocco (1999-present) and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt (1981-11 February 2011). Despite the absence of regime change in Morocco, the social and political reforms taking place under King Mohammed VI are nothing short of revolutionary. Likewise, despite the regime change in Egypt, events are proving that the celebrated Egyptian revolution was aborted or at best premature. With regard to Morocco, I specifically analyze liberating changes to the concept of family in Morocco promoted by King Mohammed VI and his wife's personas and personal choices. In addition, I look at legal changes in Moroccan family law, human rights legislation, and the first of its kind 2004 Equity and Reconciliation (IER) Commission. Finally, I turn to Morocco's embrace of international human rights standards, such as the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in terms of the Penal, Nationality, Labor, and Electoral Codes. Notably, the U.S. has never signed CEDAW, which is known internationally as the women's bill of rights, while Morocco has signed the treaty and more recently removed the remaining reservations it had with the treaty. Within the Egyptian context, progressive women's legislation, charted over an extended period of time will make up part of my study, with primary focus on legislation during Mubarak's era. Among the laws addressed are innovations in alimony rights in Egypt, predominantly in Law 100 in 1985. In addition, I look at the changes in Egypt's Personal Status Procedural Law, updated in Law 1 in 2000 and Law 4 2005, which advance women's position in society vis-à-vis men concerning marriage, divorce, and child custody. Specifically, the paper addresses guardianship of children in the event of a divorce, a woman's ability to seek a divorce (known as the kuhl' law), and regulations governing unregistered marriages (known as urfi marriage). Finally, Egypt's progressive electoral legislation, in particular the 2009 amendments, which guaranteed a 12% women's quota in parliament, will be scrutinized. In addition to analyzing individual pieces of legislation impacting women, I also assess human development factors, such as literacy, educational advancement, and employment opportunities that affect Moroccan and Egyptian women's empowerment. Other elements that impact women are global changes such as increased urbanization and middle class development. In contrast to family law, which is largely governed by Shariah law in these countries, these five elements are notably not linked to Islam and vary greatly based on the particular cleavages, leaderships, and political leanings of the societies themselves. In the conclusion of this study, I will assess the future of these revolutionary advances through my analysis of the political and legal agendas and press statements of Morocco's PJD and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's FJP and the Salafi Nour Party. Any marginalization women may have experienced during and immediately after recent parliamentary elections will also be analyzed. Also targeted for analysis are: changes made by these parties to their political platforms over time to determine the hardening or softening of positions within each party; women's quantitative success in the recent parliamentary elections; and post-election cabinet appointments of women to determine any impact of this Islamic occupation of political space on women's empowerment. In the case of Egypt, attention will also be focused on secondary threats to women's empowerment coming from the transitional military leadership and backlash to Mubarak's reforms. | |
