The Arab World for Research and Development, (AWRAD) has conducted a specialized opinion poll dated 2-5 February 2008 on the status of Palestinian women and gender relations. A representative sample, of 2400 Palestinians representing all districts in the West Bank and Gaza was interviewed. This poll is part of a study that AWRAD has launched to address gender-based relations and the status of Palestinian women and men. The results of this poll will be incorporated in the study that seeks to understand the internal and external factors that affect women's participation in social, economic and political life. It also seeks to assess the status of women's rights and the relationship structures among women and men. More importantly, the study will provide women's and human rights organizations with an opportunity to reassess their approaches and tools in serving Palestinian women and society.
Ms. Reem Ziad–Ghattas, a principal researcher, argues that the data reveals the need to empower women’s organizations and to make fundamental improvements to their current approaches. Ms. Ghattas also argues that the data provides a mixed evaluation of the outreach programs of Palestinian women’s organizations. Most women and men say that they did not benefit from the services provided by these organizations. Dr. Nader Said, AWRAD's Director, asserts that the current poll reveals stunning results. On the one hand, support for social and economic rights for women has increased compared with a decade ago, but, on the other hand, support for women’s political rights has significantly declined. Dr. Said says that this reflects a growing disappointment with politics and political institutions and parties in general. The most important finding, in Dr. Said's assessment, is the widespread support for amending the existing family and penalties laws that pervasively discriminate against women. The majority of the respondents support amending the laws that allow arbitrary divorce, polygamy and honor killings. Dr. Said says that these findings give important ammunition to the women’s movement and legislators to have the courage to stand up for fundamental changes in the law with the backing of the majority of Palestinians. It was also noticeable that women are generally more supportive of women rights than men, refuting a common belief that women are the enemies of their own rights.
The following are the main results of the poll
1- The status of men and women in society
- 80% of Palestinian respondents recognize that women are oppressed to a large extent or to some extent in society.
- In contrast, 42% recognize that men are oppressed to a large extent or to some extent in society.
- 18% consider the relationships between men and women in their communities as based on equal rights and duties. Another 47% believe that these relations are based on division of labor between men and women. In contrast, 30% say that the relationship between men and women is based on discrimination against women.
- 80% believe that economic conditions constitute a very important obstacle in the face of women's rights. Another 79% believe that violence against women stands in the way of women attaining their rights.
- 78% consider the emotional and psychological impact of the Occupation as an important factor affecting the status of Palestinian women.
- 76% believe that internal conditions, especially factional fighting, have an important negative impact on the status of women.
2- Priorities:
- Education, health, employment and combating early marriage are among the most important priorities for Palestinian women.
- 96% said that ensuring access of education for women is important.
- 94% said that the provision of proper social security and health services is important to Palestinian women.
- Over 82% believe that enacting laws that prevent violence against women and reduce arbitrary divorce is important.
- 78% said that securing job opportunities for women is important.
- When respondents were asked to rank priorities, education came at number one, followed by increasing the age of marriage, provision of social and health security, provision of job opportunities and enacting laws that protect women from violence.
3- Economic Participation
- The majority of respondents (94%) believe that women play an important role in economic life. This realization does not always translate to recognition of women's rights.
- A quarter of the respondents support the right of women to work outside of the home, as a natural right. About 28% support women's work under specific conditions, and 33% support it if it does not interfere in her household duties. Only 13% announce their opposition for the work of women outside of the home.
- In relation to the division of household duties, 40% of the families said that the household duties are the responsibility of women only. Another 48% said that women do all of the household work, but men help sometimes. Only 11% said that household's work is divided equally between the men and the women in the family. Les than 1% said that it is mainly men who do the household work and women occasionally help.
4- Violence against women
- Respondents were asked if a man has the right to hit his wife if he believes that is appropriate. A majority of 77% opposed that the husband has such a right.
- In contrast, 22% of the respondents support that a man has the right to hit his wife if he believes it is appropriate.
- Support for this right declines if it is applied by a husband against a close relative. Still, 17% feel that is the right of a sister's husband to hit his wife if he believes it is appropriate.
- If a woman has the right to hit her husband, is another question as the data reveal. Less than 4% support that the wife has the right to hit her husband if she believes it is appropriate. In contrast, 96% opposed such a position. It was interesting to note that men were slightly more supportive.
5- Political participation
- The present poll shows significant decline in support for the political participation of women. For example, during the period of 1996-2006, the level of willingness to elect a woman for the parliament was about 72%. This poll shows a 20 point decline.
- At the present time, about 53% of the respondents would be willing to vote for a woman candidate for the parliament, while one third are not willing to do that.
- During the parliamentary elections of 2006, 22% of the general population reported that they had voted for a woman in their district. This is about 30% of those who actually voted during that election.
- Support for a competent woman to be a president does not exceed 24% among the respondents. About 60% oppose the appointment of a competent woman for the position of the president.
- For the prime minister position, 36% support the appointment of a competent woman, while 60% oppose.
- About 49% support the appointment of a woman to the position of party leader, while 48% oppose.
- A majority (53%) support the appointment of a competent woman to the position of mayors, while 44% oppose.
- A majority (57%) support the appointment of a competent woman to the position of minister, while 40% oppose.
- A majority (66%) support the appointment of a competent woman to the position of union leader, while 44% oppose.
- The respondents were asked to answer one of the most important questions that measure gender bias (If two equally competent persons, a man and a woman, were considered for the position of a minister, who would you choose?). The vast majority of 73% said that they would choose a man, while 18% said that they would choose a woman.
- As for the role of female members in local councils, 48% of respondents evaluated their role as good or average. This is compared to 71% positive evaluation for the performance of male members.
- The majority (69%) support the allocation of a quota for women in the electoral law, compared to 27% who oppose it.
- Among those who support, 48% support a quota that is 30% or more. Approximately 27% support a quota of 20% and 26% support a quota of 10%. The current quota for parliament is 10% and for local councils is 20%.
6- Legal reform
Various initiatives were led by women and human rights organizations to change the current Palestinian laws, especially the family and penalties laws. The results of this poll lend a great deal of support for the calls to amend the laws to further protect women.
- This poll shows that 45% of respondents think that the current laws are not fair for women. In contrast, 38% feel that they are fair.
- In the case that laws that protect women exist, 40% think that they are not applied, while 40% feel that they are applied.
- 77% of the respondents believe that laws must be enacted to protect women from domestic violence. Only 17% said that this was not necessary.
- In addition, 86% support that the penalties law be amended to include clauses that protect women.
- A majority of 74% support the amendment of the current law that allows honor killings, where the new law should prevent men from taking the law in their own hands.
- An overwhelming majority of 89% supports the amendment of the law that allows arbitrary divorce, and calls for a law that allows divorce only before a judge in a court.
- Only 23% support the preservation of the current law that allows polygamy as is. The majority is willing to accept a conditional approach to polygamy and opposes the arbitrary nature of the current practices. About 56% support the amendment of the current law to allow for a proper verification of the reasons behind an additional marriage, and if any legitimate reasons exist. Another 12% say that the law should be amended to where the first wife is informed beforehand of the new marriage. About 7% want to see polygamy completely prohibited.
- 28% say that the current inheritance law is not applied, meaning that women get no inheritance according to the law. Another 41% say that the law is partially applied. Only 30% say that the inheritance law is applied.
- Over 92% call upon the executive authorities and courts to apply the inheritance laws to ensure that women get their share.
- At the same time, 79% support keeping the law of inheritance as is, where a woman gets half of the man's share (in accordance with Sharia' Law). Over 10% want a law that guarantees equality between men and women in inheritance. At the same time, 8% want a law that gives men and women according to their needs.
7- The role of women’s and human rights organizations
Despite the fact that women and human rights groups have a long history in Palestine, where they made significant contributions, the results of this poll show a mixed) evaluation by Palestinian respondents. The results call upon these organizations to reassess their vision, methods and field of interest. The results show the following:
- 74% of respondents say that they do not know about any women’s or human rights organizations that defend women's rights.
- 8% of the female respondents and 4% of the male respondents say that they had sought the services of women rights organizations.
- In total, 4% said that they had frequently participated in activities organized by women’s rights organizations during the last two years. Another 9% reported that they had participated occasionally. In addition, 3% reported that they had participated only once during the last two years. The rest (84%) reported that they did not participate in any activity by women rights groups.
- 41% of the respondents stated that they have watched or heard a radio or a TV show that promoted women’s rights during the last 2 years. Furthermore, 44% of the women and 39% of the men stated that they did.
- In contrast, 45% believe that women’s right organizations play a positive role in the development of society. In addition, 36% say that they play a positive role to an extent.
- Again, 58% of the respondents believe that women organizations play a positive role in promoting awareness within society. Another 29% believe that they play a positive role to an extent.
8- Gender gaps
The views of women and men were somewhat different on most issues. Women tend to be more supportive of women rights than men. The following are some examples:
- 15% of the women and 25% of the men feel that women are not oppressed in society.
- 8% of the women and 18% of the men are against women working outside of the home.
- 32% of the women and 28% of the men say that they had voted for a woman during the 2006 parliamentary election in their districts.
- 42% of the women and 31% of the men support the appointment of a woman as a prime minister.
- 83% of the men would pick a man over an equally qualified woman for the ministerial posts, while 63% of the women would do the same (20 points difference).
- 48% of the women and 32% of the men support increasing the number of seats allocated for women in local councils.
- 57% of the women support a quota that exceeds 30% of the seats, while only 39% of the men share that view.
- 83% of the women and 71% of the men support enacting laws that protect women from domestic violence.
- 28% of the men support keeping the laws that allow honor killing; 18% of the woman share their view.
- 34% of the men support keeping the law that permits polygamy as is, compared with 12% of the women (22 point difference).
- 31% of the men believe that a man has the right to hit his wife, compared with 13% of the women who feel the same way (18 point difference).
- 5% of the men and 3% of the women believe that a woman has the right to hit her husband if she feels it is appropriate.
- 18% of the women and 14% of the men attended activities organized by women’s groups during the last two years.
- 91% of the women and 84% of the men believe that women’s groups play a positive role in development.
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