UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE MADRID Facultad De Filosofía Y Letras Instituto Universitario De Estudios De La Mujer Programa de Doctorado en Estudios Interdisciplinares de Género Tesis Doctoral Presentada Por Amira Salah Elsharkawy Bajo La dirección De Prof. Dra. Dª. Elena Beltran 2020 i « The woman'' was perceived as essentially, or exclusively, a sexual being, unlike ''the man'' who was only partly understood in terms of his sexuality. Women were held to possess a more powerful sexual drive than men, posing a threat to society because of the chaos or fitna they could unleash. It was popularly believed that the mere proximity of a woman to a man would lead to sexual relations. To make matters still more fraught, women's sexual purity was linked to the honor of men and the family, while men's sexual purity was not linked to their own honor nor to that of their women and family. » Margot Badran Badran, M. (1996). p5 iii FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: BETWEEN RELIGION AND TRADITION Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………. vi Abstract (In Spanish) …………………………………….……………………. vii Acknowledgments…………………………………………………….………… viii Abbreviations and Acronyms………….………….…………………………… ix Religious Terms in the Thesis ……………………………….…...……………. x Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 11 CHapter 1: Roots of Egyptian feminism of the 19th and 20th century...……… 20 1.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 20 1.2 Modernization and intellectual enhancement during the 19th century………. 24 1.3 Egyptian Male reformers and the emancipation of women…………………... 33 1.4 The Emergence of the Egyptian feminist conscience………………………... 44 1.5 The 1919 Revolution and Women’s Participation in the Political Life. …….. 53 1.6 The Creation of the Egyptian Feminist Union in 1923………………………. 58 CHapter 2: Women’s Status starting from 1952 till now………………….……. 64 2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………. 63 2.2. Egyptian feminism between two revolutions………………….…………… 66 2.2.1. A turning point for feminism …………………………………………. 65 2.2.2. Legal attempts to improve the situation of women since the 1970…… 70 iv 2.2.3. A period of setbacks in Women’s historical gains……………………. 80 2.3. Towards addressing violence in the new era of the state……………………. 86 2.3.1. Violence as a broad term ……………………………………………. 86 2.3.2. Violence in the Egyptian Society……………………………………. 92 2.3.3. The role of the media ………………………………………………. 96 2.3.4. International recognition of violence against women as a problem…. 99 CHapter 3: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). 107 3.1. Introduction…………………………………….............................................. 107 3.2.FGM: Terminology and Classification ………………………………………. 109 3.3.Negative Physical, Psychological and Sexual Effects of FGM …………........ 117 3.4. Women suffering FGM on Gender basis……………………………………. 121 3.5.International and National Recognition of FGM as Violence……………....... 131 3.6.Legislation on FGM in Egypt………………………………………………. 134 CHapter 4: Is FGM an Outcome of Islam? 145 4.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………... 145 4.2. Islam a guidance for Muslima: An overview…………………………………. 149 4.2.1 Body, Marriage and Family in Islam. …………………………...……....... 152 2.2.2 Equality in Islam: Each responsible for own deeds……………………. 158 4.3. Female genital mutilation a mandatory religious act or imposed on religion 163 4.3.1 A mandatory practice in the name of religion……………………………. 165 4.3.2 A custom with no religious basis…………………………………………. 167 Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………... 175 References…………………………………………………………………………. 185 v ABSTRACT The problem of female genital mutilation by which the external genitalia of girls are cut has always been an endemic problem in Egypt despite the lack of data. Existing studies reveal that such practice existed in Egypt since ancient times. However, feminist calls to combat it began since the 1990s. This fact led to a public debate until its abolition in 2008. With the January 2011 Revolution, Egyptian society went into shock, when calls were made to revive the illegal practice of female genital mutilation. With the rise of patriarchal Islamists to power, efforts were made to revive the practice of female circumcision that had been outlawed in Egypt since 2008. Female genital mutilation has always been painted as a religious act, the fact that helped to increase the sense against Islam on the issue of women's rights. Therefore, in this thesis I advance through a hypothesis: female genital mutilation is not related to Islam, but the misinterpretation of religion by patriarchal societies is responsible for women being exposed to such practice. Therefore, the objective of investigating FGM is primarily to address fundamental issues related to practice and try to refute misconceptions about female genital mutilation and Islam. After investigating the rights granted to women by Islam by reading the verses of the Qur'an and religious opinions on various topics, including the issue of female genital mutilation, I came up with a result that is the subordination of women and their position meant that patriarchal thoughts are socially constructed vi RESUMEN El problema de la mutilación genital femenina por la que se cortan los genitales externos de las niñas siempre ha sido un problema endémico en Egipto a pesar de la escasez de datos. Los estudios existentes revelan que tal practica existía en Egipto desde la antigüedad. Sin embargo, los llamamientos feministas para combatirla comenzaron desde los anos noventa. Este hecho originó un debate público hasta conseguir su abolición en 2008. Con la Revolución de enero de 2011, la sociedad egipcia entró en estado de shock, cuando se hicieron llamamientos para revivir la práctica ilegal de la mutilación genital femenina. Con el ascenso de los islamistas patriarcales al poder, se hicieron esfuerzos para revivir la práctica de la circuncisión femenina que había sido ilegalizada en Egipto desde 2008. La mutilación genital femenina siempre ha sido pintada como un acto religioso el hecho que ayudó a aumentar el sentido contra el islam en el tema de los derechos de las mujeres. Por eso, en esta tesis avanzo a través de una hipótesis: la mutilación genital femenina no está relacionada con el islam, sino que la interpretación errónea de la religión por parte de las sociedades patriarcales es responsable de que las mujeres estén expuestas a tal practica. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de investigar la MGF es principalmente abordar cuestiones fundamentales relacionadas con la práctica y tratar de refutar los conceptos erróneos sobre la mutilación genital femenina y el islam. Después de investigar los derechos otorgados a las mujeres por el islam al leer los versos del Corán y las opiniones religiosas sobre varios temas, incluido el tema de la mutilación genital femenina, salí con un resultado que es la subordinación de las mujeres y su posición significaba que los pensamientos patriarcales se construyen socialmente vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With the completion of this thesis the pleasurable moment has come to remember the people who encouraged me to complete this research and to offer them my gratitude. I start with the professors of the Women’s Institute of the Autonomous University of Madrid, and in particular Professor Yolanda Guerrero, for the continuous help and support provided for this study. The guidance and advice I received from my professors during my Masters’ degree and my PhD research are deeply appreciated. I am deeply grateful to Professor Elena Beltran, Professor Cristina Sanchez, and Professor Silvina Alvarez whose comments and edits greatly improved this paper. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who, directly or indirectly, have contributed to the elaboration of this thesis. To my mother and father: There is no one word that can describe how much I appreciate your continuous efforts to raise me without any type of discrimination for being a girl. You were always by my side in my own decisions and always gave me the courage to move on with my educational journeys. To Yassin: Your continuous wishes and prayers that I finish my PhD as soon as possible are truly appreciated. To my sisters and my friends: Thank you for your support, help and encouragement towards finishing my PhD thesis. I am also grateful to the Egyptian women whom I met in Cairo and allowed me to discuss with them in informal conversations their personal experiences with female genital mutilation. It is my hope that this study will uncover some of the erroneous convictions regarding women. viii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women CRC The Convention of the Rights of the Child CSW Commission on the Status of Women EDHS Egyptian Demographic and Health Survey FC Female circumcision FGM/C Female genital mutilation or cutting ICPD International Conference on Population and Development IMAGES International Men and Gender Equality Survey NGO Non-governmental organization NCW National Council for Women MB Muslim Brotherhood UNDP United Nations Development Program UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women USAID U.S. Agency for International Development WHO World Health Organization ix RELIGIOUS TERMS IN THE THESIS Ayah. Is the Arabic word “verse” which refer to one statement of various statements which make up a chapter “Surah” in the Quran. Each Ayah of the Quran is marked by a number. When there is a reference to more than one Ayah, they are referred to by Ayat Al-AzHar