Where’s Hillary on gender apartheid?

Gender apartheid against women is the human rights tragedy of our time.   

Women are kidnapped and forced into marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) is rampant and has spread to America, and in some countries women are still not allowed to drive.  Or vote.  Or run for public office. 

{mosads}In the midst of all this, one of my feminist heroes – Hillary Clinton – is running for president of the United States.

Clinton came into my consciousness when I was ten years old.  Yes, she was the president’s wife, but I saw her as an independent entity: smart and sophisticated.  It struck me that she was a lawyer, incredibly articulate, and that the press used her maiden name as well.  Feminist, well-educated, and Southern: she was worthy of my admiration. 

Hillary – and other women like her – inspired me to work hard, dream big, call myself a feminist, and go to law school.  Beyond the actual person, she represented a greater truth I internalized: women can become lawyers, join the public debate, and use their position to help women (and others) advance.  That equation propelled me through college and law school, and inspired me to become a human rights attorney and produce a documentary film on women’s rights.   

Though women in power used to inspire me, I have become disillusioned. I can’t help but notice their silence when it comes to the human rights tragedy of our time: gender apartheid. 

The anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and around the world galvanized a global movement against racism, leaving an indelible mark on social justice movements, inspiring social change around the world, and ending apartheid in South Africa. 

By contrast, gender apartheid against women has not ended.  In fact, it’s growing.  And it affects more women today than the entire population of South Africa. 

“Gender apartheid,” though not a legal term of art, accurately describes the experience of millions of women living in the Middle East and Muslim-majority countries.  In Saudi Arabia, women are prohibited from driving; in Qatar, a woman’s testimony in court is worth half of a man’s.  In Oman, women can be married off without their consent.  In Afghanistan and Iran women are second class citizens.  A rigid and systematic honor system is the law in much of the Middle East ensuring that women are abused, diminished, and eliminated from the public debate. 

Recently, I produced a documentary film, Honor Diaries, to highlight these abuses of women and give a platform to women from Muslim-majority countries to speak out against so-called “honor violence,” a consequence of systematic gender apartheid.  Honor Diaries has been shown on six continents, on over 200 college campuses, and to lawmakers in the UK House of Commons and on Capitol Hill.  The Arabic translation of the film has been screened in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, and our Arabic Facebook page has over 500,000 “likes,” a testament to the intense desire for debate about the subject, among the women who still suffer under gender apartheid. 

Yet there are groups that try to suppress the discussion of these issues.  More disturbing to me is the reticence of the global feminist movement to engage in the conversation. 

Hillary – and her generation – pushed the country to adopt meaningful and necessary change to advance the rights of women.  Their efforts were part of a domino effect of global women’s empowerment in which women were included in academic life, influenced professional spheres, and elected as Prime ministers (e.g. Israel, Pakistan). 

But now, only 40 years later, women’s rights are faltering in the places they used to thrive, and our feminist icons are silent.   

Clinton has just begun her presidential run.  Given her own struggles for equality and women’s rights in the USA, she is well placed to empathize and advocate for women.  So, if she is elected as president, will she stand up against gender apartheid? Will she engage and do business with countries that treat their women as slaves and second class citizens? 

Mrs. Clinton, I urge you to wholeheartedly reject gender apartheid and the countries in which it is practiced.  Please ensure that the 21^st century feminist agenda includes the tough questions about culture, religion, and gender.  Encourage American women to support the continuing struggles of our sisters overseas. 

Please remain my feminist hero, and take a stand against gender apartheid.

Kweskin is an attorney specializing in International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law.  She is the producer of Honor Diaries (www.honordiaries.com), an award-winning documentary film focused on women’s rights and gender empowerment.