Event Date: February 14, 2012 - 11:30 am
Location: FSS4004, 120 Université Private

Videoconference featuring:
SOPHIE BESSIS, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Presented by the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) and the World Legal Systems Research Group, in collaboration with CIPS.
Free. This event will be bilingual. Registration is not required.

In the political changes that are shaking the Arab world, there are certainly reasons for defenders of human rights to rejoice, especially those who fight for women’s rights.  Often accused of pusillanimity and of submissiveness, Arab women have shown their capacity for revolution and the power of their political and social engagement. No one will say that the Tunisian, Egyptian, Yemeni and Libyan women were absent from the budding of this Arab spring.  At Tahir Square in Cairo as well as at Bourguiba Avenue in Tunisia, the massive presence of women was one of the distinctive aspects of this spring. However happy this revolutionary event (if we may so call it) might be, it requires a special vigilance by women in order to avoid that the so-called revolutions become a threat for their rights. How can Arab and Muslim women take advantage of these political changes to improve their rights as well as their political, economical and social status?  Which roles are open to women in the new political landscape of the Arab world?  Can these political changes become a «risk» or a source of threat to women’s rights?  This is a series of questions that the participants will aim to answer.

This event is part of the Videoconference Series on Women’s Rights and Political
Changes in the Arab World: A Spring to Celebrate?