Gender
All topics-
Marriage, divorce and inheritance
Who should reform Egypt's personal status law, and how?
"Personal status" is a modern category of Middle Eastern law grounded in Islamic religious teaching. Legislative authorities dip into centuries of religious scholarship to decide which interpretations of Sharia will be enforced by the state. Understandably, how it is done is as important as who does it. By Nathan J. Brown
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Patriarchy and governance
Iraq's token females
Since 2003, Iraq has achieved little in the way of gender equality within the political establishment. Not one woman has held an important executive or leadership position and to date all three presidential administrations and their representatives have comprised men. By Manar Alzubaidi
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Social unrest in Southeast Asia
Indonesian women demand their rights
In Indonesia, social resistance is mounting against a law banning sex before marriage and the government's weakening of the anti-corruption authorities. A report by Zora Rahman from Yogyakarta
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Women's liberation in the Gulf
Arab women – fighting for their rights for 60 years
Over the years, Arab women demanding change to the status quo have faced fierce resistance from legislators and decision-makers alike. This merely reflects the fear felt by men faced with losing control of the current gender imbalance. By Hana Bu Hejji
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An enduring stereotype
The West's gleeful obsession with the 'oppressed Arab woman'
The stereotype of the oppressed Arab woman continues to dominate public discourse throughout Europe. Not only is this skewed image altering the perception of changing notions of family and roles within the Arab world, it is also an expression of our own cultural insecurity, writes Claudia Mende
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Religions for Peace World Assembly
Women push for gender equality in Lindau
At this year's global religion summit on Lake Constance, female delegates from Africa, Asia and the Middle East made clear women must have a greater say. By Christoph Strack
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Book review: Raja Alem's "Sarab"
Gender under siege in Mecca
On 20 November 1979, Islamic militants took over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. Hundreds were killed in the ensuing two-week siege. This pivotal event in modern Islamic history changed Saudi Arabia. It provides the backdrop for Raja Alem's new novel "Sarab", an extraordinary story of love, faith, violence and gender. By Marcia Lynx Qualey
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Book review: Bina Shah's "Before She Sleeps"
A bleak future scenario
In "Before She Sleeps", which is set in the Muslim world of the twenty-second century, the Pakistani writer Bina Shah takes us on a dystopian journey into a future that may not be all that distant, where women attempt to take a stand against male domination. By Claudia Kramatschek
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Women's rights in Lebanon
Campaign exposes "victim-blaming" attitudes to rape
Most abusive and discriminatory acts against women and girls in Lebanon are the direct result of unequal treatment of men and women within the Lebanese law and the influence of a patriarchal society that thrives on the control and oppression of women. By Narod Haroutunian
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Womenʹs rights in Sudan
Motivated by hope
Political Islam posed an unprecedented challenge to womenʹs emancipation in Sudan. Despite worsening circumstances, numerous womenʹs rights organisations, associations and centres continued to lead courageous campaigns all over the country to address the many pressing issues women were and are still facing. By Wini Omer
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Kurdish Art Rock band Adir Jan
Rainbow's hope in hell
The music of Adir Jan, a Kurdish singer-songwriter and saz player born in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin successfully brings together the diverse worlds of queer poetry, Kurdish folk, Sufi mysticism and psychedelic art rock in a music whose hypnotic rhythms bring together many different communities. By David Siebert
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Isabelle Eberhardt
Writer, nomad and feminist
Rather than perpetuate the romanticised image of the Orient commonplace in 19th century literature, writer and nomad Isabelle Eberhardt traversed and explored the Maghreb with a critical eye. She not only condemned French colonialism, but also the established gender roles of her era. By Melanie Christina Mohr