 Dobre vsem. Mamo se na tudi, ki se vzaj. Vprašno, da sem se na tudi vzal. Vse vidje, da je vse vzal, kot da je vzal. Vzal se vzal glubalizacij, da je nekaj zelo, da sem počas na vzal glubalizacij. that started eight years ago when actually I joined Soyuz because I had been convening the cycle from the beginning, we've had a whole range of speakers, very prestigious speakers. White holders. Even including 1 Nobel Prize, Shirinabadi, including Noam Shomski, Sameera Meen and a lot of famous academics. So bringing the cycle to an end today and I would say it's a great end, although I of course would like us to be More than that, because the occasion is indeed a rare one, which is, I would even say that, as far as I can remember, I don't think that's from the beginning of the Arab uprising, we have here had anyone who's played such a prominent role in the uprising in her country as our speaker for this. So let me just remind you quite quickly about Dr. Ahlam Belhaj, in the sense of the medical doctor. She's a specialist in child psychiatry, which she practices and teaches as a professor in Tunisia, her country. She's a unionist, she's the deputy general secretary of the National Union of University Hospital physicians. And she's a co-founder and advisory committee member of the Coalition for Sexual and Corporate Rights in Muslim Societies. And I would say more outstandingly, or she has been the chairwoman of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women at the very moment when the uprising took place, and in this capacity, she was in this position between 2011 and 2013, so that is during the whole crucial years of the uprising. She has played a very prominent role in that regard. She's been one of the prominent figures, very well-known figure in Tunisia, in her country. For this prominent activity, she's been awarded the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for 2012. Ahlam Belhaj is also an author of several books, reports, pamphlets on issues of her professional interest, dealing with childhood, womanhood and the rest, and on issues of her democratic, feminist and political interests. And, I mean, she's been very much solicited by the press. I mean, you've got a few examples from the English-speaking press, but there's, of course, much more in the French-speaking press due to the closer cultural ties between Tunisia and France for historical reasons. And it is for the same reasons, actually, that Ahlam wanted me to apologize for her English. And I told her the Londoners are the most tolerant people on Earth when it comes to speaking their language, since it's such a cosmopolitan city. And actually, unlike some other peoples I won't name, if you speak English badly, people will tell you, well, at least you know another language, which is very kind, very nice and very internationalist. So I told her you should feel at ease, don't worry. The key point, the message, I'm sure, will go through. And after listening to her talk, we'll be able to have a discussion, which I'm sure also will be very interesting. So please join me in welcoming Dr. Ahlam Belhaj. Thank you. Thank you, Professor Gilbert Askar. It is a pleasure to be with you this time. As Gilbert said, I apologize for my English, but I try to do my best to explain my talk. So we can say there is five years, exactly five years. It was the 17th of December 2010, when the process began. So five years of intense political change in the region. Five years filled with a lot of hopes, struggles, but also with a lot of fears and insecurities, as you imagine. And the main thing I want to speak about is the five years with an amazing engagement of Arab women in the call for liberty, dignity, quality, social justice for a better world free from discrimination and violence. So after five years, the assessment of this process is essential and important. Is it still possible to talk about a revolutionary process? We speak a lot about this process. Or the national and international resistance has already won the fight. Social and gender relations should be at the center of any appraisal of the ongoing process. What role did the women's movement play? And what role can it play in this social and political change? What balance sheet can be drawn with regard to gender relations? Are women the principal losers of the Arab pricing as many pretend? All this question I'll try, but I have to say already that it will be very difficult. And it will be not possible to really answer all this question because there is two main challenges for me. By these days it may seem inappropriate to speak about gender equality when we have armed conflict, violence, terrorism. Charge the daily preoccupation of all citizens in the region. In Tunisia last week we have many deaths secondary to terrorism. But experience shows that the moment while a new reality is drawn is the better moment for new rights and for new rights for women. And now there is a new reality in the Middle East and North Africa which is ongoing. The second challenge is the situation of women's rights are so different from an Arab country to another because of history, political, social and cultural particularity even if we share a lot of them. So speak about women's rights is really a challenge because it differs from a country to another. I will try to analyze achievements on women's rights in the region by focusing on Tunisian experience. Of course I know better, but also where there is some democratic achievement also. And list examples from other Arab countries that went through political change. I think we no longer need to reaffirm the importance of Arab women's participation in all distinctive action to drop Arab dictatorial regimes. On January 2011, this participation surprised the international community, but no longer now. The question now is, did Arab women manage to transform their political implication to political leadership and to improve women's rights? Lot of feminists in the region affirmed early that no democratic transition without women's rights. And that gender equality is the core of all process of change and reform track currently taking place in the region. The Tunisian experience is commonly considered as the more successful transition in the region. It has some signs of success, democratic and free election. We had one in 2011 and we had another election in 2014. Press freedom, public liberty and the new constitution. Mainly new constitution that they will speak about. After last election on 20, but let's remember the actual situation in Tunisia. For those who don't really know political situation in Tunisia. After last election on October 2014, we have a parliament with the majority of liberal party, Nide Tunis. This is the first time I think in Arab country in the region. We have free election, free and democratic election and the winner are not Islamist party. So it is the electoral mass of this party were mainly women. More than 60% of electoral mass were women. The government is lead by coalition between four parties. Mainly with this party, Nide Tunis, the liberal party and the Islamist party Nada. Parts of Tunisia's relatively strong civil society, including Eugiti. Eugiti is the trade union, Tunisian trade union. Eugiti is a strong trade union, historical trade union. And business trade union, the Tunisian League for Human Rights and Lawyers. Intervenant to force politician into compromise in 2014. For that they had the Nobel prize for peace. I think tomorrow they will get the prize. The ongoing process is very complex. The old system remains strong. Social revolutionary forces, mainly popular front, is unable to draw political and economic alternatives. Tunisia leaves a deep economic crisis. And fundamentalist Islamist terrorism is really threatening security in all the region. And structural reforms of police or justice are very low. At the same time, I had to say that the social movement remains strong. And that citizen mobilization for what they move on 2011 are still ongoing. Tunisia is called that the loan Arab success story. Tomorrow I see an article from foreign policy to speak about the loan Arab success story. Is it really as success as that after? But when you compare it with the rest of the region, it seems as the success story even if there is a lot of problems. Did women's movement contribute to the protection of the transitional path? Did the Tunisian feminist movement as a social movement confirm that women's rights are a condition of success of any process of change? That's what I'll try to explain by speaking about the history of the feminist movement in Tunisia. So I can say that it is possible to say that the history of feminist thought in Tunisia find its roots in the early 20th, last century through the emergence of progressive readings of cultural and religious texts by many intellectuals, most prominently, Tahir Hadid. In his book issued in 1930, Woman in Sharia in Society, is still used as a reference. I just mentioned that in this book Tahir Hadid asked for ending polygamy and asked for equality in inheritance. And now there is no equality in inheritance in any country, Arab country. But it was in 1930 that Tahir Hadid wrote that. But I have to mention that the women's movement began with the battle of national liberation and the political consciousness of the militants contributed to the development and awareness of the discriminatory practice exercised against them. In this context, I can mention many militants, women's militants. For example, Habiba Alman Sheri, who demanded lifting the veil on women and the abolition of polygamy since early 20th, last century. In 1956, immediately after the independence, the modern state was led by President Burkiba under his rule, a number of positive actions in favor of women were guaranteed by the code of personal status. In this code, we find the abolition of polygamy. And now we are the first, the lone state where there is strict abolition of polygamy in Arab world, I mean. Requiring juridical divorce and marriage bar mitual consent, the right of adoption. In addition, the state has also decided to educate girls and bet on their role in building modern Tunisia. Despite maintaining the patriarchal background in the formulation of law and despite a lot of inequality in the legislative text, the combination of these procedures made possible to raise the literacy rate among women as well as the proportion of women's labor force and ensure the right to reproductive health. I mentioned the right to abortion in Tunisia is from the end of 16th before many country, European country. It wasn't for women's right, it was for limitation of birth, but women have this change. With Burkiba and after, with Bellani, the question of women's right was used as a vitrin, I don't know, it's an English word, vitrin, in vitrin. We do dressing for democracy. When they are asked about democracy, they said, we have women's right. And they tried to use it fully, but reality was that discrimination exists in law and there is a gap between laws and reality. The other thing, a few years after the beginning of 18th, the autonomous feminist movement begin and say, we don't want this kind of feminism, state feminism because with Burkiba and with Bellani, we have a kind of state feminism when you speak about women's right, they say, we are speaking about women's right, we are protecting women's right. So we wait until the end of the 18th to see autonomous feminist movement emerging to say there is no possibility to distinguish between women's right and political rights. If we are asking for women's human rights, we are asking for freedom and for democracy and there is no way to speak about democracy in private space if there isn't democracy in public space. And it was the beginning of the autonomous feminist movement. This autonomous feminist movement had a leading role in the development of feminist discourse and radical calls for full equality and effective citizenship that does not exclude any right in economic, social, cultural and political sphere. This speech calls for women's human rights in accordance with the International Convention and mainly in CEDO Convention, International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination and the separation of religion from the state and the religion and political practice. This speech connects public space with private space and rejects violence against women and calls for action to eliminate it. It also considers the feminization of poverty as a result of economical choices that do not take into account the social justice and discrimination against women. This speech considers sexual and reproductive rights as human rights also. The particularity of women's movement in Tunisia before 2010 that he led a lot of struggles before and those struggles prepare this movement to have this role in the revolution. I will speak briefly about three areas of women's struggle. The first area about women's struggle before 2010 was the struggle of workers and trade unions. On the beginning of this century, thousands of women working on textile factories did a lot of strikes in the beginning of 2000. And those struggles for two, three years, we have many, many, really thousands of women in the trade union or without the solidarity of trade unions inventing a lot of kinds of struggles. They were sitting in their factory, they have been on hunger strike, on strikes and the first, for example, the world social forum, Tunisian social forum begin with strike of this woman. It was an important national movement who marked people. The second area of women's struggle I will speak about the mining area. All body now know that the Tunisian revolution has their first steps in 2008 with the strikes in the south of Tunisia, there is mining region and where situation is really bad and all the region in 2008 applies to ask for the right of work, for the right of environment, to respect environment and to social justice. And all this struggle, 30 women began in 2008 for 200, they were on the street to ask for the right of her children to be employed. And after that hundreds of young people and trade unions come to the struggle. But the beginning was with those women and after when many people were arrested women continue the work and they really marked this period and with Ben Ali it was the first time he was obliged to go back. There is an agreement also, the third area of work were all the democratic struggle of women. In last decade of Ben Ali were very strong to speak about dictatorship and to speak about repression and women take a lot of importance in this struggle, women feminist movement and association and what is done in this period is that the human rights association, professional association in contact with feminist movement were obliged not to fight together only for freedom or for democracy but the specific feminist revendication were adopted by some of them. For example, fighting against violence were possible. I remember at the beginning when we are together for all things about democracy but when we speak about violence we are alone, we are alone as a feminist and after few years of work it was possible to bring them to speak about women's rights and all this area of struggles I think permit to the feminist movement to have a speech, to have a discourse about women's rights. This speech was ready when revolution began. I think I take more than 10 minutes in history and 50 minutes on history. I'll try to go... So I will speak after this historical about two important things in the region. I will speak about the fight on constitutional reforms and I will speak after about violence against women. And why I speak a lot about the feminist movement in Tunisia is to explain the role that feminist movement in Tunisia play on the first step of transition if for someone or in this revolutionary process for others. And why Tunisia managed to have this kind of success. I think that women's rights were very important. And I try to explain that. So few days after the fall of Ben Ali Tunisian women were on the street to say no democracy without women's rights. It was the first women's march under the banner of citizenship equality dignity to ensure that gender equality is an important task of the revolution. No citizenship, no dignity without ending discrimination. This march of course women were present, women were present in the street before but this time it was to speak about women's rights. And this march was also the first occasion to confirm some of the concerns. Voices calling women to go back to kitchens and some demonstrators were victims of sexual harassment. It was the first signal that the fight will be difficult. It was on 29 of January, just 15 days after the fall of Ben Ali. In this context the matter was how to reinforce women's political participation. The first struggle we chose to do was the struggle for women's political participation. And the struggle was about parity. I was a member on the high instance for who prepared the electoral law in 2011 and the fight about parity in election was our first fight and was a very important fight because not only it can permit participation of women in political structure but also it is a message of equality to all society. It was important to say we are equal and parity is a very symbolic message. And we managed to have this law in April 2011 with a big majority in this instance we have been 80% even Islamic party. Another party was in four this, not in the beginning but after many rounds majority of people were even left party were against parity at the beginning because they say we didn't have enough women to put on the list and they say are they competent of course question of are they qualified to be in our list. So it was the first fight and I think the fact that we win this fight at the beginning of the process was very important and marked the other fights. The second challenge was to subscribe women's right on the new constitution. The election of 2011 brought a big majority of another party. This period of the drafting of the constitution and the founding of the second republic so considerable political volatility and crisis. The last three governments and the assassination of two of the leaders of the popular front Shukri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi. Crisis translated the death of differences about social and political models of society we have to choose. A large social debate on the constitution was engaged about forms of government ensuring individual and collective freedom, economic and social right where an important aspect of this social debate. In this debate there were many proposals and civil society feminist movement propose their own constitution and they propose and they are not in this situation of demands but they are proposal actors, political actor and many others human rights and Jews also propose trade union propose a constitution but in all this constitution we find the fact that we ask for equality between men and women. And the first point in the balance sheet at this time was do we refer to universal human rights or it will be the specific and cultural reference? Reference? Reference. Reference. So this struggle was, this issue was a very important thing. Does the new constitution will speak about human rights in their universal dimension? And consensus was difficult to found at the beginning but it was possible. About women's rights the fact was more difficult because of many people accept the equality in public sphere but not in private sphere. We are with parity, no problem with parity but when we speak about family it is no longer possible. We have more difficulty with private sphere than public sphere. For example when we have been at the assembly constituent assembly to convince them with our proposal, with the proposal of feminist movement and the main point of difference where equality in private sphere and the fact that the men remain the chief of family and the question of equality in inheritance were very difficult points to be. And that's why just after we have a big, big fight and I think that for feminist movement it was as important as the fight of parity it was the fight about complementarity. When we propose equality nada party propose complementarity between men and women and when you speak about complementarity you don't speak about equality. It means that many laws can come after discriminatory laws can come in the noun of complementarity and the fight about complementarity was very strong and we managed to have different kinds of people in the street now. We have really thousands of people in the street to say we don't want complementarity we want equality between men and women and I think it was an important success for women's rights. The constitution came on 26 January to devote many of the demands of the feminist movement with consideration of equality between male and female citizens one of the foundations of a democratic republican system and we have many chapters speaking about equality between men and women mainly chapter 21 and chapter 46 I won't read them but they are very important and we consider as a feminist movement that these chapters are very positive to move situation of women's rights in Tunisia but at the same time even if we had an article speaking about the fact that Tunisia is a civil state based on citizenship the will of the people and the supremacy of law we have the first article which speaks about the fact that Islam is the religion of Tunisia and so interpretations were possible Tunisia state or Tunisia people if Islam is the religion of state it means that Sharia law are the source of law if Islam is the religion of Tunisian it means that it is personal fact so this matter is important just to say that in Tunisia the term of the debate were universal reference of human rights were full equality and not other thing and where there is an importance that women's rights are in the center of the challenge and I think the fact that women were as present as that in all steps in all political change because all political change were also made by Tunisia it didn't protect a lot the political transition in Tunisia in other country the role of women's rights in political process wasn't as recognized as in Tunisia and when you have the half of population not excluded I think it is an important issue I want to say that this process was not only in Tunisia and also Egypt even if situation is so different from Tunisia political situation is very different but in the constitution they speaks about Feminist, Egyptian feminist were divided about the constitution I don't know if all people know the process of Egyptian constitution in 2014 there is the new constitution after the work of the commission with 50 persons and it was under Sisi under authoritarian regime and for feminist the debate were can we have some positive change when you have as authoritarian regime as that and some of them fight to improve the constitution and some of them consider that it is not possible to do that and even if there is some gains it will for the stay for the power and not for women but now there is an article article 11 in the Egyptian constitution which speaks about equality between men and women and the article prescribes the state's commitment to ensuring equality between men and women to implementing positive discrimination measures to achieve equality and to combating violence against women and in all constitution we will find these terms we will find them in the Tunisian constitution we will find them in the Egyptian constitution I had to say that Morocco was the first country just after the beginning of Arab uprising who begin with constitutional reforms when just people begin going to the street the king announced that there is constitutional reform and he asked to a commission to do this and in this constitution we find that the principle of equality between men and women on civil rights, political, economical, social, cultural and environmental rights and encourage political women's participation so the Yemeni committee charged to write before last event before political situation falls and even Libyan committee charged to write the constitution I saw the two drafts of Yemeni and of Libyan we found the same things about women's rights and they speak about political participation there is a quota, 30% not parity but 30% of political participation of women and there is equality, the fight against violence equality of change and all of that even in Syria, I want to speak about Syria but even in Syria on this issue even in Syria, I said when he did constitution in 2012 he put many articles about women's rights the question now is what value can this constitutional text for women's rights and for daily exercise of equality between men and women and does this text have a real impact on the women's rights in the region I think that the process to have those rights is very important to analyze and it is so different when you have regime of Assad how did this and when you have a feminist movement who struggle and who impose them after big debate in the society the debate in society when it bring modification in constitution is an important thing but the fact is that women's rights were on the agenda of all constitutional reforms and that the presence of women in this uprising impose to all of people charged by the constitutional reform to put the question of women's rights now the fact is that the struggle is so important to have laws conform to these constitutional rights and to have reality conform to this constitutional right and the reality is really difficult today in the region is so difficult in the region with lot, lot mainly of violence and it will be my second part my second talk, my second part in this talk all people agree today to say that the situation of violence against women in the region never was so bad than now with armed conflict and with terrorism and also with the transition with political change we see now an increasing, real increase of violence against women all kinds of violence against women sexual violence in the first trafficking of women all kinds of violence but at the same time another common finding is that this increase is not only the result of conflicts or insecurity but also it is a way to prevent and to stop the important political participation of women participation which may change deeply social relationship we know that violence against women were really present in the region it is a university, it is an important way to keep domination on women and it is in all countries but there are countries who did the strategy against this kind of discrimination and in Arab region there is very few countries who speak about and do but since 2010 we have at the same time a real presence of women on the street on the political, on public space but at the same time a lot, a lot of violence against women this violence against women as I say I think and I'm not the only one who said that a lot of people said that and it was evident in Egypt and Tunisia too it was a way to exclude women from public space and from political work at the same I want to give there is many, many, many lots of reports about violence violence in Syria, women's in Syria refugee in Syria, in Iraq situation is really terrible there is a lot of work about what Egyptian women lives with harassment, sexual harassment and there is a lot of work about sexual violence in Tunisia in other countries too so I think that I don't need to prove that but I want to speak about at the same time we see a lot of violence we see a lot of new laws against violence in the region so in Egypt authority were obliged to the civil society did a lot of pressure to have a law about sexual harassment and managed to have it in 2040 in Algeria we have a new law about violence against women and a good law protecting women good I don't know it's really, it's not enough but there is a new law about violence against women it is in March 2015 it is waiting adoption by Sena but it was adopted by the parliament in Lebanon there is a new law about domestic violence it doesn't protect women in many spheres and mainly for example it doesn't speak about marital rape but there is a new law about violence against women in Tunisia we have a proposal of antigra law to protect, prevent violence against women this antigra law is is still facing a lot of resistance but we hope have this antigra law against violence in few month it won't be complete because until now there is many special issues difficult to resolve for example also marital rape for example is not really accepted in Morocco they are working on penal codes and I think the fact that there is as new laws against violence is the result of two things of the increasing of violence against women of course because there is a real problem but also it is the pressure of women's movement and we have to see that also so situation is not is complex that's what I try about these two examples when I speak about constitution and when I speak about violence I try to speak about the social change deep social change in the region and I think that women's participate political change in the region even if this political change are until now in very very difficult situation because the political situation now is more complex than ever the geopolitical map of the region is changing and international forces are trying each one to take his part of and economical situation is very difficult in Tunisia for example the rate of unemployed people is really high more than 20% and for high graduate more than 50% and women's are the most losers in this situation even when they are high graduate they are the double of men high graduate unemployed and in this difficult situation I think we have to see what is changing and I think there is change in the region of course I cannot speak about terrorism in a few words but it is the main for example in Tunisia the main way to have the old system coming back is the fight against terrorism that's what they are using now to have all the old system in the responsibilities we have our old policeman who are coming back because they are efficient with dictatorship were efficient against all kinds of struggles and now they are coming back to fight terrorism and the situation is more complex than that I will conclude to say that the feminist movement in Tunisia through the experience of recent years effective experience has succeeded in placing the issue of equality and non-discrimination at the heart of the democratic transition and has achieved some success and that the fact to accord this place to women's right to any political change is fundamental in all changes the last thing I want to say if I found my paper is that I would emphasize the fact that women's movement is a very important actor of change able to move society not only against patriarchy but also facing economic, political and cultural shows that enhance exploitation of women and discrimination against them the second idea I would emphasize at the final is that is not enough to underwork the women's situation in all Arab region that it is really marked more than ever by discrimination and violence but it is important to say also that never women have been so present in political and social struggles that new generation qualified generation and the new tools of work are active and the new laws on women's right and equality are on the agenda in all the region even in the more repressive states women across the region are playing social roles to build more open and democratic society and I think also that it is really possible to consider from another side that violence and deep discrimination are also the result of those deep social changes on gender relationship and thank you for...