Progress Amid Resistance

syria★•POPULATION: 21,906,000GNI PER CAPITA: US$1,730COUNTRY RATINGS 2004 2009NONDISCRIMINATION AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE: 2.7 2.7AUTONOMY, SECURITY, AND FREEDOM OF THE PERSON: 2.2 2.3ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: 2.8 2.9POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIC VOICE: 2.2 2.2SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS: 2.3 2.5(COUNTRY RATINGS ARE BASED ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, WITH 1 REPRESENTING THE LOWEST AND 5 THEHIGHEST LEVEL OF FREEDOM WOMEN HAVE TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS)INTRODUCTIONWomen in Syria have a relatively long history of emancipation, and thecountry is one of the more advanced in the Arab world when it comesto women’s rights. Women obtained the right to vote in 1949, and theirin volvement in politics dates to the struggle for independence from theOttoman Empire at the beginning of the last century. However, the effectsof their participation have been stifled by the realities of the repressivepolitical climate. The Ba’ath Party, a pan-Arab nationalist group, seizedpower in a 1963 coup and imposed a state of emergency that indefinitelysuspended many provisions and protections of the legal system. 1 In particular,freedoms of expression and association have been severely curtailed.Over the years, the Ba’ath regime has invested some efforts to improvethe rights of women. The 1973 constitution, for example, calls for equalityamong all citizens and includes an article that obliges the state toremove all obstacles to women’s advancement. Government policies havealso encouraged women’s education and participation in the workforce.Reflecting these measures, women’s literacy increased from 37 percent in1981 to 76 percent in 2007, while women’s labor participation rates grewfrom 12 percent to 31 percent during the same period. 2459