Scurt istoric al statutului și drepturilor femeii în lumea arabă
Brief history of women's status and rights in the Arabian world

Summary/Abstract: It is generally accepted that the Arabian States in the Middle East and North Africa areas share a number of common values: the Islam, the Arabian language, the relatively similar customs and traditions in the context of the geographical situation. These 'unifying' elements justify that an evaluation of the status of women in these areas be made in a relatively unitary vision. On the other hand, however, each country was characterized by different historical developments and functions according to its own economic, political and, implicitly, social systems. The feminist researches at the beginning of the 20th century tried to analyze the issues if Arabian (Muslim) women in terms of the general movement for progress. Analyzing the existent situation in the present-day Muslim world on rational bases and comparatively represented the beginning of the 'contest' for women's rights. The more recent works of ethnographers – women ones – about women in the Muslim society are invaluable for correcting the rigid and formalist approach of their predecessors. The contrast between the multitude of facts and the richness of historical evidence favorable to women and their social status leads to the conclusion that the majority of the image-building factors in the Muslim world are discriminating against women. The correct use of the results of the research, corroborated with an uninterrupted education and a gradual change of mentalities, are ways to achieve noteworthy results, which nevertheless require time.

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