Research Library

What is empowerment? How can women across the MENA region become empowered? Is it possible for Western-born concepts — such as female empowerment — to travel across complex contexts and patriarchal/male-dominated cultures? While agreeing on a definition for female empowerment has proved to be a challenging task among scholars and policy practitioners, working out a universal framework that is applicable to different settings has proven to be an even more daunting task.

Despite the fact that the political and social stagnation across the Middle East and North Africa region in the past few decades has led to deteriorating levels of women’s overall participation in the political process, since the Arab Awakening, women across the region are demanding greater roles in the political arena and defying decades of marginalization in the decision-making process. Nonetheless, numerous institutional, cultural and structural obstacles must be directly addressed and remedied to give women in the region the opportunity to participate actively and equitably in the political sphere. This policy report focuses on Jordan, one of the region’s leading models for women’s political representation.

The Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 ruling on the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case Monday, allowing some for-profit companies to opt out of paying for certain contraceptives for their employees. Elena Marks, president and CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation and Baker Institute nonresident fellow in health policy, offered her insights on the ruling and how it will impact implementation of the Affordable Care Act, women’s access to reproductive care and future court cases.

Women living with HIV in the Middle East face public scrutiny, stigmatization and even abandonment. It is critical not only to curb the spread of HIV in the region, but also to educate and protect women who may be less knowledgeable about the disease, writes Ariana Marnicio, research analyst for the Women and Human Rights in the Middle East Program.

A report on the Women and Human Rights in the Middle East Program conference examining women’s rights in the transitional Middle East and North Africa region.

In the second issue of the Journal of Women and Human Rights in the Middle East, students explore the various aspects of Islamic feminism. Essay topics range from Islamic thinker Gamal al-Banna's approach to Islamic feminism to differing feminist perspectives in the Moroccan women's rights movement to Western assumptions about Islamic feminism.

Fossil fuel subsidies have allowed energy exporting countries to distribute resource revenue, bolstering legitimacy for governments, many of which are not democratically elected. But subsidy benefits are dwarfed by the harmful consequences of encouraging uneconomic use of energy. Now, with consumption posing a threat to long-term exports, governments face a heightened need to raise prices that have come to be viewed as entitlements. While reforms of state benefits are notoriously politically dangerous, previous experience shows that subsidies can be rolled back without undermining government legitimacy — even in autocratic settings — given proper preparation.

What has the Arab Spring meant for women’s rights in the region? Three years after the mass social protests of January and February 2011, when and where can we expect the promises of democracy and equality, and the revolutionary spirit of unity and purpose, to be realized? This article takes stock of significant events and possible future directions, with a focus on prospects for a women-friendly democratization.

Despite mounting efforts toward achieving gender equality, the MENA region continues to rank the lowest worldwide in women’s economic participation and opportunity.

Despite mounting efforts toward achieving gender equality, the Middle East and North Africa region continues to rank the lowest worldwide when it comes to women's economic participation and opportunity.