Women in the Arab Spring
Meanwhile, in Libya, ragtag groups of armed rebels in the eastern regions touched off the challenges, uncovering the tribal and territorial differences that have affected the nation for a considerable length of time.
In spite of the fact that they shared a joint call for personal dignity and responsive government, the upsets over these three nations reflected economic grievances and social progression.
"Syrian women have been active in the fight against Bashar al-Assad's regime from the start, dating back to the peaceful demonstrations in early 2011 in the southern city of Dara'a.
Despite these high levels of educational achievement, female participation in the workforce remains low due to cultural norms.
Birth rates are higher than in the developed world, but have been dropping as women stay in school longer and delay marriage.
[16] so the impact of Sharia law on women's rights varies depending on a country's interpretation of it and how it connects to local traditions.
[17] Many countries have religiously-justified "guardianship laws" that give women the status of minors and make them dependent on spouses or male relatives.
[18] Tunisia's pre-Spring constitution named Islam as the state religion, but since the 1950s and 1960s its laws have been more secular and have supported some women's rights.
[17] In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak gave women the right to sue for divorce from their husbands and implemented a female-friendly quota system for elections.
[19] Syria's Bashar al-Assad made it legal for news outlets to report on honor killings, although judges could still reduce penalties if murder was justified that way.
[15] Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi made it illegal for men to marry additional women without their current wives' consent.
On 17 December 2010, Tunisian policewoman Fedia Hamdi's confiscation of Mohamed Bouazizi's street vending wares led him to set himself on fire in protest.
His family members and outside observers have hypothesized that Hamdi's gender compounded his embarrassment and frustration and drove him to the point of immolating himself.
[26] In Egypt, activist Asmaa Mahfouz posted a video urging Egyptians to protest the regime of Hosni Mubarak in Tahrir Square on 25 January 2011, which is National Police Day.
Libyan human rights lawyer Salwa Bugaighis helped organize the "Day of Rage" protests on 17 February 2011.
[28] Women were instrumental in every facet of the movement ascribing to a post-colonial feminism that rejected their powerlessness and gave them unique, thoughtful roles.
[29] While women joined men with a similar cause, to fight for regime change, they ultimately were pursuing different goals unique to their gendered status in society.
Women in Libya smuggled medicine and weapons and gathered intelligence for the rebels as the protests turned into civil war.
[33][34] The women were subject to the same or worse treatment as the male protesters, including being "harassed, tortured, shot by snipers, and teargassed.
"[22] Women who were imprisoned were threatened with sexual violence or subject to virginity tests, and in Libya there were reports of mass rape committed by government mercenaries.
While CNN and other major American news outlets covered muslim women more, they often gave them a passive role in the commentary of their coverage.
Most of the women were also shown wearing hijabs and more traditional muslim clothing than before, pointing to a change in coverage by US media outlets.
[36] Since older males dominate most conventional media networks in the Arab Spring countries, cyber-activism gave women their own voice, both domestically and abroad.
[36] While internet access remains relatively low in most of the Spring countries, the people whom online activities reached included key groups like power brokers, journalists, the intelligentsia, and Western governments and media.
Even though the country is heavy on internet filtering and press censorship, information and communications technology and social networks have help mobilize the push for political change.
A prime example is the fall of Ben Ali's regime, even though the battle was won in the streets a big part of the Tunisian revolution was due to the support of information and communications technology.
Tunisian women took part of the fall of Ben Ali's on January 14, 2011 by engaging in unions, marches, demonstrations, and their activism done on social networks.
However, women in Saudi Arabia "are not allowed to travel, work, study abroad, marry, get divorced or gain admittance to a public hospital without permission from a male guardian.
While these Middle Eastern countries tried to reintegrate into the global economy, uncertainty about their political future shunned investors and did little to promote economic growth.
As the economies of countries in the MENA region have suffered, slowing due to the Arab Spring, then so could the advancement of women's rights.
