The report on this research, The Status of the Palestinian Girl Child is available from DCI (Palestine Section), PO Box 55201, East Jerusalem via Israel.
On 8 June the Palestinian Section of Defense for Children International (DCI/PS) organized a workshop in the Friends Girls School in Ramallah to initiate a discussion on the status of female children in Palestinian society. In the workshop, DCI/PS presented the results of the pilot study it conducted on the status and self-image of Palestinian teenage girls. Here Mirjam van Dorssen, one of the researchers, discusses the results of the study (1).
The research involved in-depth interviews with 38 girls between the ages of 13 and 17 living in villages, camps, and towns in the Jerusalem/Ramallah region. The girls attend a variety of schools; some of them had left school. The aim of the interviews was to get an impression about the girls' daily activities, their ideas about their lives, their view on society and their expectations for the future. In addition to the interviews, a total of 75 girls from the three school sectors (government, UNRWA and private) were asked to write an essay entitled 'What are my rights as a Palestinian girl at my age?' In writing these essays, the girls were given complete freedom, and not asked to indicate their names.
Interesting results of the research are the great potential girls see in themselves to participate in their society and help solve its problems, and their firm belief in education as a way to improve their situation. Yet almost all of the girls, either through the interviews or their essays, expressed the view that the Israeli occupation was the main reason -- for some, the only reason -- for the denial of their rights. Although they accepted the influence of societal factors, they felt that these were influenced and distorted by the occupation, particularly in the issues of health, housing, education and recreation, and family reunification and the freedom of movement both within and outside of Palestine.
One 14-year old girl wrote: 'Whenever we asked the teachers to take us on an outing, the first words we would hear would be, "Sorry girls, the situation under the occupation ..." -- until when must we be at the mercy of the occupation?' Another talks about the sense of pride: 'The occupation prevents anyone from feeling pride; young and old, they have all lost the feeling of pride.'
Adolescence is a difficult and decisive period in the child's life. Many physical and psychological changes occur and important decisions are made about the role the teenager is going to play in the adult world he or she is about to enter. Gender plays an important role in this development process. As a result of physical changes and through changes in society's attitudes towards the teenager, adolescents are pressured to conform to the norms of identity that are associated with one's gender. In the Palestinian context Arab and Islamic social patterns and religious values have a strong influence on what are considered the appropriate roles for young women. Some of the girls acknowledged that some of the unfair treatment resulting from Islamic values came more as a result of misinterpretation of the religion, rather from Islam's original tenets. Others questioned the very definition of freedom.
Many of our interviewees experienced their entrance into adolescence by a sharp change in the attitudes of their family and society around them. The girls spoke about limitations in their freedom to be outside the house and acknowledged the confusion adolescence can bring. A girl of fifteen described this as follows: 'This time is difficult because we are not young and we are not old . . . It is like I am on a journey. I am discovering what my rights are; everyday when I experience something, I know that I am losing many of my rights. I discovered that I shouldn't play outside when my father told me so. Everyday they take something from you and they give something to you, but the rights they take away are more interesting than the rights they give you. The responsibility they give you is more difficult . . .'
The differentiation between gender roles which become more defined during adolescence were identified by all of the interviewees. They gave examples of their own family situation, where brothers often enjoyed a greater degree of freedom, or expressed their concern about the position of women in society. A majority interpreted this situation as unjust and were not satisfied with their own limited opportunities in society. To the question what she would like to change in her life or her society, a girl of sixteen answered: 'Society's view on women. Women have to follow rules and abide by regulations. Whatever men say should be done by women. If she says something they don't even listen. There are all these things that men can do and women cannot do. This should change; there should be total equality between men and women'.
Regardless of their background, the girls placed great emphasis on education. Even though the formal education process might not always be enjoyable -- many girls had serious complaints about school -- the girls stressed the importance of education as a way to achieve something in life. This might be a career as a doctor or a lawyer, or being a well-educated mother for their children, or to 'have a weapon' -- as they called it -- in case something happens in life that forces them to be self-dependent. In the words of a thirteen year old girl: 'When you go to school and study, you are making a future, a life and money for yourself. If you finish high school you have the opportunity to do what you want. If you choose to go to university you can. If you choose to get married, you can, but you will still have this choice whenever you need it. You are able to make your dreams come true, to be a doctor, an engineer or anything. The only way to be able to make your dreams come true is through education.'
Bearing this in mind it is not surprising that the subject of girls leaving school at an early age aroused strong reactions among girls still at school. Many saw it as a societal problem that affects girls in particular because their education is valued less than the education of boys. Another problem identified by many interviewees was early marriage, which especially affects girls in less privileged circumstances in refugee camps and villages.
With regards to the future, education played a major role for all the girls. They all articulated the wish to continue their education for as long as possible. For some this meant finishing their tawjihi, for others getting a university degree, and for girls out of school it meant to go back or to follow some kind of vocational training. Most of the girls expressed the desire to put their education to good use, to participate in their community and work outside the house in combination with responsibilities for children and their household.
However, in the current situation, the control girls have over important decisions in their life is limited. Defining factors for future plans are grades achieved in school, the family background and the support a girl gets from her family. A 9th grade girl in a private school described the limitations to her future as follows: 'I can imagine what I would like to happen, but what will really happen I don't like. My father might say: 'No, don't go abroad, study here.' If I go abroad people will say: 'Look, she is going to the States on her own.' I dream of a life full of adventure, full of things which I like and want, -- not full of things that people tell me to do.'
Elaine Clark
Educational Network, POB 66, Ramallah, West Bank
tel: 02 995 6230/fax: 02 995 6231 e-mail: eclark@ednet.birzeit.edu