What is it about?
We tried to find out whether frequency of prayer by Muslims (as proxy for religiosity) and conservative cultural believes were determinants of wife beating in Egypt. In other words, what is more important: religion (Islamic teaching) or culture (which may not have anything to do with religion, but may be used as a cloak.
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Why is it important?
A lot has been assumed about Arab men abusing women, including their spouses in Arab countries. Yet few studies have tried to examine whether this tendency for Arab men to maltreat their spouses was due to religious dogma and beliefs (primarily Islamic/Koranic teaching) or whether it was largely a cultural phenomenon in a country that tends to treat women as unequal partners in marriage. We found that highly religious people were less likely to approve of beating women, but highly conservative persons were far likely to advocate that women (wives) be beaten.
Perspectives
It is a mistake for individuals to equate Islam with Arab culture. It should not be automatically assumed that poor treatment of women, even in Arab countries is due to religion. Rather, our analysis finds that cultural beliefs handed down through generations are largely responsible for the low status of women in Egypt. Men tend to use religion as an excuse because it benefits them. There is a double standard wherein a man can do almost anything he wants, but a woman is not permitted to do the same. We advocate for equality in marriage and other relationships, not only in Egypt, but all other countries, Arab and non Arab. We also call on Egyptian men to allow women to have full equal rights. This is not a Western value, but a human right.
Dr. Augustine J Kposowa
University of California Riverside
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Religiosity,Conservatism, and Acceptability of Anti-Female Spousal Violence in Egypt, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, July 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0886260516660976.
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