Publications

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  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonWomen & Gender Issues

    Violence Against Women in Lebanon: The Challenge of Legislative Action

    Jun 6, 2024Rola El-Husseini

    In March 2024, Lebanon’s “reform MPs,” a group of legislators who were elected in 2022 from outside the country’s traditional sectarian system, proposed a new …

  • Policy Analysis
    Women & Gender Issues

    Women’s Rights and “State Feminism” in the Arab World

    Jun 16, 2023Rola El-Husseini

    Women’s political participation is often seen as a benchmark for democracy, especially since the passing of Resolution 1990/15 of the UN Economic and Social Co…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonWomen & Gender Issues

    The Harrowing State of Women’s Rights in Lebanon

    May 1, 2023Rola El-Husseini

    The problems facing women in Lebanon today have been further complicated by the financial, economic, and social crises that have been affecting the country sin…

  • Policy Analysis
    OmanWomen & Gender Issues

    The Role of Women in Oman’s Social and Economic Progress

    Nov 22, 2022Alainna Liloia

    Oman is making gradual progress in the area of women’s rights. Women in Oman are voting, running for office, and serving in ministerial positions. Opportunitie…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Horn of AfricaGlobal Health and Health Policy

    Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation in the MENA Region

    Jul 1, 2022Yara M. Asi

    On June 20, 2022, Egyptian college student Naira Ashraf was beaten and murdered by a man who had harassed and stalked her for years, despite her repeated rejec…

  • Policy Analysis
    Women & Gender Issues

    Women at Work in the Arab World: Trends, Gaps, and Effects on the Region

    Apr 27, 2022Yara M. Asi

    For centuries, women have fought uphill and often overlooked battles to attain rights equal to those afforded to men—through books, songs and poetry, artwork, …

  • Policy Analysis
    Women & Gender Issues

    Going Backward Is Not an Option: The Challenge of Equality for Arab Women

    Apr 22, 2022 Lina AbiRafeh

    No country in the world has achieved gender equality. The reality is that women are still not able to equally participate in all aspects of social, economic, a…

  • Policy Analysis
    EgyptJustice, Equality, and Human Rights

    Arab Women Political Prisoners Jailed by US Middle East Allies

    Sep 9, 2021Sahar Khamis

    When President Joe Biden was sworn in on January 20th as the 46th president of the United States, America’s friends in particular hoped that his administration…

  • Intern Corner
    Women & Gender Issues

    Gender and US Foreign Policy in the Middle East

    May 19, 2021Andrea Sakleh

    On November 17, 2001, then First Lady Laura Bush gave a radio address to the nation that lamented Afghan women as victims of an oppressive terrorist regime. Sh…

  • Policy Analysis
    Women & Gender Issues

    The (Slowly) Changing Gender Dynamics in Arab Countries

    May 11, 2021Yara M. Asi

    A now infamous image from 2014 captured the moment Loujain al-Hathloul’s life changed: it shows her sitting behind the wheel of a car, a small smile on her fac…

  • Intern Corner
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfWomen & Gender Issues

    Barriers to Women’s Workforce Participation in the Gulf Arab States

    Aug 11, 2020Alainna Liloia

    Alainna Liloia argues that a societal shift in the Gulf states is needed for greater support to working women so they can make their own personal and professio…

  • Policy Analysis
    Global Health and Health Policy

    Do Arab Women Need Saving? The Health of Women in the Arab World

    Jun 8, 2020Yara M. Asi

    Yara M. Asi argues that the complexity of Arab women's lives necessitates powerful ways to protect their health and well-being that should be grounded in gende…

  • Policy Analysis
    North AfricaJustice, Equality, and Human Rights

    A New Tunisian Law Tackles Violence Against Women

    Sep 12, 2017Sahar Khamis

    The new Tunisian law against violence against women sets a new model for the Arab world to emulate and raises the bar in the struggle for women’s rights and ge…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantDemocracy and Governance

    Human Rights in the Constitution: A Survey of the Arab Uprisings

    May 24, 2017Mai El-Sadany

    When Arab citizens took to the streets in peaceful uprisings throughout 2011, their demands included “freedom,” “justice,” and “dignity.” Their governments rea…

  • Research Paper
    EgyptDemocracy and Governance

    The Gender Paradox of Arab Democracy

    Jun 22, 2016Tamara Kharroub

    On 17 December 2010, 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi was slapped across the face in front of a crowd and insulted by a munic…

  • Research Paper
    Religion and Politics

    Five things you need to know about women in Islam: Implications for advancing women’s rights in the Middle East

    Oct 4, 2015Tamara Kharroub

    The issue of women’s rights in Islam has been a contentious area of discussions and intense debates both in the Muslim world and in the West. The two dominant …