Our guest blogger is Elizabeth Marcus, an intern with the National Security team at the Center for American Progress.

The Middle East is undergoing dramatic political transformation. Despite the prominent role women have played in organizing these popular movements, the treatment of women in Egypt, Yemen, and Libya, raises serious concern about the future of democracy and human rights in the region. A central issue is the use of rape by both government and non-state forces as an attempt to silence opposition forces. In the context of patriarchal religious societies, rape and sexual violence holds unique potential as a horrific tool of political repression, and its use has been widespread as an attempt to stunt the growth of the Arab Spring.

Women agitating for political change in these countries face the ever-present threat of sexual abuse and the societal stigma that results from sexual violence in highly patriarchal societies. Unlike physical violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence can permanently damage a woman’s reputation and status within her community. Not only is she considered unfit for marriage but rape causes profound humiliation to the male members of her family and, potentially, her community.

Rape was used excessively during Moammar Qaddafi’s attempt to remain in power in Libya. Towards the end of his struggle, his regime ordered soldiers to go into villages and rape the female adults and children, some as young as 8 years old, in front of family members. Condoms and Viagra were found in pockets of dead Qaddafi soldiers. Benghazi journalists reported seeing the ground littered with Viagra after troops had been through.

Rhetoric related to women and sexual violence always comes back to ideas of honor, which is held in the highest regard within Islamic societies. Raping a woman strips the woman, her family, and her community of “honor.” Qaddafi understood this dynamic and used it as a tool to prevent women from organizing opposition to his regime.

Despite Egypt’s notorious reputation for sexual harassment and violence against women, female activists have been at the forefront of efforts to change Egypt’s political system from the very beginning. Perhaps predictably, Egyptian women have also faced sexual violence as they seek to effect political change.

On March 9, 2011, just under a month after President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, protesters returned to Tahrir Square to express frustration with the slow pace of reforms. The Egyptian military broke up the demonstration and arrested demonstrators, including at least 18 women. These women were beaten, charged with prostitution, and forced to submit to “virginity checks.” When confronted, a senior general said, “The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine… these were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square.” In a patriarchal religious society in which female sexuality is heavily policed, accusations of promiscuity serve to damage the reputations of female protesters.
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As clashes between security forces and demonstrators at Cairo’s Tahrir Square that have left at least 10 dead and hundreds injured entered a fourth day, the country’s military rulers face a new round of scrutiny and criticism both from within and without. After this weekend’s clashes, which produced shocking photographs and videos of demonstrators being beaten by security forces, even the Muslim Brotherhood — usually a cautious ally of the military government with, as the most popular political organization, a stake in peaceful elections — had strong words about the government’s inability to contain violence.

Now, questions are being raised outside Egypt, too. Both the U.S. and the United Nations weighed in on the clashes in statements. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released as statement yesterday expressing “concern,” urging protesters to remain peaceful and accountability for government violence:

I am deeply concerned about the continuing reports of violence in Egypt. I urge Egyptian security forces to respect and protect the universal rights of all Egyptians, including the rights to peaceful free expression and assembly. We call upon the Egyptian authorities to hold accountable those, including security forces, who violate these standards. Those who are protesting should do so peacefully and refrain from acts of violence.

Also on Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a statement of “alarm” at the “excessive use of force” deployed by the authorities:

The Secretary-General is highly alarmed by the excessive use of force employed by the security forces against protesters and calls for the transitional authorities to act with restraint and uphold human rights, including the right to peaceful protest.

The Secretary-General underlines the importance of an atmosphere of calm to support Egypt”s electoral process as part of its transition to democracy and the early establishment of civilian rule.

Over the weekend, the government denied that security forces were using violence, even as a first-hand report from the New York Times spoke of people both with and without uniforms chucking pieces of concrete down on protesters outside the Interior Ministry. Now, an officer from Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces says the protests are a “systematic” attempt to, as the BBC put it, “sabotage the country’s security and provoke the army.”

The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il over the weekend marked a pretty difficult year for the world’s dictators. State television said Kim Jong-Il died on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. As it turns out, exactly one year earlier, a young Tunisian named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after he was banned from selling fruit to earn a living. Bouazizi’s brave move set off a wave of protests throughout Tunisia and the region, now known as the Arab Spring. Here’s a run-down of deposed dictators and autocrats since January:

January 14: Tunisia’s president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia after weeks of mass protests. On June 20, Ben Ali and his wife were tried and convicted in absentia on theft charges and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Saudi Arabia has refused to extradite. Tunisians went to the polls in October to elect a new government in voting that international observers are calling remarkably free and fair.

February 11: Egyptian pro-democracy demonstrations ousted President Hosni Mubarak after weeks of protests inspired by the events in Tunisia. While Egypt faces new rounds of violent turmoil after recent parliamentary elections, the next session of Mubarak’s trial is set for this month.

April 11: Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo was forced from power after refusing to relinquish the presidency after losing an election in November 2010. Gbagbo has been transferred to the International Criminal court where he faces four charges of crimes against humanity.

October 20: Libyans joined the Arab Spring fervor in mid-February. NATO-assisted rebels took the capital Tripoli in August, and the forces of Libya’s new government captured and killed former leader Muammar Qaddafi in what the ICC recently said could be considered a war crime. Elections are expected to be conducted next year.

November 23: After months of Arab Spring inspired protests, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a deal in which he would step down and “transfer his powers to his deputy ahead of an early election and in return will get immunity from prosecution.”

December 17: Exactly one year after a Tunisian vendor set himself on fire, sparking a wave of fallen autocracies throughout the region, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il dies. However, there are currently no hopes for transfer to a democratic system in the communist country as Kim Jong-Il’s son, Kim Jong Un is expected to take over leadership.

Of course, while not technically considered a “dictator” or the leader of any particular country, it wasn’t a great year for al Qaeda No. 1 Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a Navy SEAL raid on May 1.

So if 2011 wasn’t exactly the year of the despot, will the trend continue in 2012? A near civil war in Syria threatens President Bashar al-Assad’s rule there; mass backlash against rigged elections in Russia is getting larger; and in Iran, the Green Movement hasn’t entirely disappeared.