Women’s rights

Woman tapped as head of Presidential Diwan in Tunisia

A woman has been appointed as head of the Presidential Diwan for the first time since Tunisia’s 1956 independence.

Tunisia

Why this film has Iranian hard-liners breaking out in cold sweat

More than 100 cinema halls across Iran, which belong to hard-line Hozeh Honari, have boycotted "Cold Sweat,” an award-winning film that tells the story of an Iranian futsal player who is banned from taking part in an international competition by her husband.

Iran

Woman's daring face-off with police van reignites Iran hijab debate

Footage of a police van almost running over a woman has gone viral as Iranians speak out in in support of hijab protesters and against the controversial morality police.

Iran

Women at heart of Dahuk film festival

From Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad to the film "Girls of the Sun" at the Cannes Film Festival, 2018 has been a year of Kurdish women.

Iraq

Big score for Iranian women as doors open to men's soccer games

For the first time since 1979, Iranian women are allowed to watch men's soccer matches in Tehran despite stubborn and stiff opposition from hard-liners.

Iran

Iraqi women push for cafes of their own

Iraqi women have started opening women-only cafes and restaurants where they can just avoid harassment.

Iraq

Can Israeli women challenge Chief Rabbinate?

Israelis, including many from the national-religious stream, support women who study Jewish law and make Jewish-law decisions.

Israel

Israeli women can now command IAF squadrons, but are they equal?

It was only in 2001 that a woman reached the pilot’s seat itself in the Israel air force, meaning it took less than two decades to leapfrog from that achievement to the position of squadron commander.

Israel

Bumpy road ahead for Egypt's first female Coptic governor

Women's rights activists and Christian figures rejoiced as Egypt appointed its first Coptic Christian woman as governor, but not everyone in the city of Damietta was delighted with the appointment.

Egypt

False rumor reignites row over Egypt’s mixed-gender classes

The Egyptian government once again has managed to quash a recurring false claim that men and women will be banned from attending university classes together.

Egypt

Tunisia’s next political battle: equal inheritance rights

President Beiji Cai Essebsi’s call for a law establishing equal inheritance rights for men and women has sparked debate in Tunisia, a pioneer in women's rights in the Middle East but also a largely conservative society where most people reject contradicting Sharia.

Tunisia

Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt to employ women for first time

As Egyptian women struggle to fight for their professional rights in the banking sector, the Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt announced for the first time in 38 years that it was willing to employ women.

Egypt