MAGHREB-MACHREK

INTRODUCTION

Nouzha GUESSOUS — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Ce numéro spécial de MM aborde la thématique générale de la Sexualité et la procréation au prisme de la bioéthique et du droit des femmes musulmanes, tenant compte de l’évolution des pratiques et des régulations sociale et juridique, et particulièrement depuis la mondialisation de la contraception et des technologies de procréation médicale assistée (PMA)....

WOMEN’S RIGHTS, BIOETHICS AND REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES: ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

Nouzha GUESSOUS — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The dissociation of sexuality and reproduction, and their increasing technification and externalization by contemporary reproductive medicine, is disrupting procreation, filiation, and parenthood. This raises ethical, social, and legal issues that individuals and societies address according to their social and cultural contexts. In addition, these new possibilities upset the patriarchal norms underlying gender relations, and put women’s sexuality and bodies at the center of the issue. Cultural and religious beliefs may prevent access to certain possibilities for assisted reproduction, while some uses of these technologies may lead to new forms of coercion and discrimination against women. What situations emerge in Muslim societies, where legal and traditional social norms that are essentially religious may come into conflict with these newly accessible practices? How are these new possibilities of parenthood understood in Muslim societies, in which social organization, culture, and patriarchal laws remain predominant? What impact can they have on the rights of women and children? This article addresses these questions from historical Islamic perspectives and in light of the needs expressed today by Muslims in search of human rights-respecting alternatives.

BIOÉTHIQUE ET DROITS DES FEMMES EN TUNISIE : SEXUALITÉ, PROCRÉATION ET LIBERTÉ

Salwa HAMROUNI — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Les acquis juridiques en matière de libertés individuelles et d’égalité entre les hommes et les femmes sont loin de clore le débat sur la sexualité, l’enfantement, les rapports familiaux et la santé physique et mentale de la femme. Le corps des femmes reste au cœur des préoccupations sociales, notamment sur la sexualité et la reproduction. Il est parfois objet de la science mais il est surtout le symbole de toutes les transgressions sociales. La légalisation de la contraception et de l’avortement dans la Tunisie post-indépendante est aussi liée à une politique démographique et à un certain féminisme d’État. Cependant, les défis rencontrés par ces acquis expriment cette quête identitaire et cette volonté de donner à la société un droit de regard sur la décision de donner la vie. D’un autre côté et devant le désir de l’enfantement, la médecine tunisienne a précédé le droit pour aider les couples à procréer. C’est alors l’intervention du législateur avec la loi relative à la médecine de la reproduction. Les conditions d’accès à la procréation, restent totalement déterminées par les interdits sociaux culturels : la condition du mariage, l’interdiction des donneurs et des mères porteuses en sont des exemples. La filiation reste enfin un moyen de pression sur les femmes/mères victimes avec leurs enfants de perceptions sociales les réduisant à leurs généalogies. Il s’agit ici de questionner la cohérence d’abord entre les différents textes juridiques mais aussi entre les choix législatifs et la perception sociale du corps en général et du corps féminin en particulier.

BODY AND SEXUALITY OF WOMEN IN MOROCCO BETWEEN LAWS, CULTURE AND SOCIAL PRACTICES

Leila TAUIL — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

For decades, influential Moroccan feminists have been calling for gender equality at all levels of society by systematically denouncing the Family Code and the Penal Code that deprive them of full and complete equality in both the private and public spheres. However, until the “Arab Spring,” issues related to women’s bodies and sexuality were still taboo subjects. Yet these are central issues in Morocco and the majority of Muslim societies, where “the honor of men depends on the bodies of women.” Nevertheless, since the uprisings in Morocco and across the Arab world, young subversive feminists are no longer hesitating to publicly address the issue of the body and sexuality, and are advocating the right of women to use their bodies as they wish. The historic manifesto of the Collectif 490 “Hors-la-loi,” published in Morocco in September 2019—equivalent to the “Manifeste des 343 salopes” in France in 1971—perfectly illustrates this on-going revolution. Supported by a wide section of civil society, the authors of this manifesto denounce the obsolete nature of the repressive laws penalizing abortion and sexual relations outside marriage, laws that push Moroccan society, divided between a conservative and a modern social project, into social hypocrisy and clandestine practices deemed illegal. Can this historic moment become the foundation for a veritable egalitarian and democratic revolution in Morocco?

CAREGIVERS’ PERCEPTION OF SOME REQUESTS FROM MUSLIM FEMALE PATIENTS IN BELGIAN HOSPITALS

Marie-Geneviève PINSART — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We start from a situation in which the patient is a woman, and the discriminatory demand is based on precepts of the Muslim religion. We analyze two situations in Belgian hospitals where the female caregiver disagrees with a pregnant Muslim patient’s refusal of treatment. We then consider the caregiver’s perception of the discrimination against them by the Muslim female patient. First, we show that the patient’s claim to autonomy cannot justify a discriminatory demand against the caregiver. Second, the gender identity of the patient and caregiver is mentioned to ensure that the parameters of the situation are understood, but it is not possible to generalize on the basis of these facts. Third, the submission of women to men advocated by a religion supposedly justifies the man making decisions on behalf of the woman and ordains that she be treated only by another woman. Accepting this discrimination against male caregivers reinforces the discrimination that women generally suffer. No “reasonable accommodation” can justify such a dynamic, which is contrary to human rights. Fourth, the caregiver must nevertheless cultivate cultural and religious sensitivity. This does not mean that they must disclose their convictions or place, a priori, a patient in a given category. In conclusion, the caregiver’s perception is a good indicator of how well a cultural or religious practice respects human rights in a pluralistic and democratic context.

HEALTH, ART AND SPIRITUALITY: THE INSTALLATION OF THE ‘CUBIC METER OF INFINITY’ BY MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO AT THE CANCER RESEARCH CENTER OF MARSEILLE

Dominique MARANINCHI — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Periods of hospitalization lead to intense questioning about the future, life, and death. During these moments, the hospital, a place of care and hospitality, can and should offer patients and their loved ones spaces for peace and meditation, where emotions and spirituality can be expressed naturally and discretely. This is what guided the installation of the metrocubo d’infinito (Cubic Meter of Infinity) by the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Institut Paoli Calmettes, the Centre Régional de Lutte contre le Cancer de Marseille-France. Inaugurated in 2000, this meeting place of spirituality and health, revolving around the work of Pistoletto, is a multi-faith space for meditation and prayer. Arranged in open and contiguous alcoves, it welcomes patients of all faiths and agnostics, allowing them to meditate on the painful questions raised by the encounter with illness in a radically new environment, the beauty of which invites spiritual reflection beyond the strict practice of religious cults.