Women’s rights

A woman walks past a wall painting in the colours of the Iranian flag in Tehran on February 25, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How hijab dispute is opening new front in Iran-Azerbaijan tensions

Iran's longstanding unease over Azerbaijan's strategic ties with Israel is spilling into a dispute over religious freedoms and Baku's position in the Islamic world, testing already fragile relations between the two neighbors.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

A shop owner assists one of his customers at Malta bazaar in the Fatih district in Istanbul, on Dec. 6, 2024.

Iran mum as Azerbaijan’s school hijab ban, Israel ties test alliance with Turkey

Azerbaijan’s restrictions on Islamic dress in schools have sparked an unusual public spat with Turkey, exposing tensions beneath the allies’ close political and security ties.

Protesters hold banners calling for child protection and justice

Culture

Rape of teenage girl shocks Tunisia: What to know

Violence against children and women remains a problem in Tunisia, despite a 2017 law aimed at helping the situation.

Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, Morocco's newly appointed head of government

Culture

Who is Fatima El Mansouri, Morocco’s first woman prime minister?

Her appointment marks the first time a woman has served as Morocco’s head of government and the second time a woman has held the position in the Arab world.

Latest News

Meet Khalida Boufedech, the first woman to lead Algeria’s parliament

Speaker of the National People's Assembly, Dr. Khalida Boufedech, is pictured in this undated image.

Culture

Lebanon arrests man after video of public assault on wife goes viral

An activist takes part in a demonstration against sexual harassment, rape and domestic violence in the Lebanese capital Beirut on December 7, 2019. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

How ‘dog mom’ vacuum cleaner ad sparked culture war in Turkey

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Is Syria’s Sharaa poised to outdo Turkey in formalizing gains for Kurds?

Kurdish people waving Kurdistan flags gather to celebrate Nowruz on the hill of Urkesh in the countryside of Amuda in northeastern Syria on March 18, 2026. Nowruz, meaning "new day," is an ancient festival that marks the start of spring and the new year on the vernal equinox, which usually falls on March 20 or 21. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide and has been observed for over 3,000 years across regions including the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Eastern Euro

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Egyptian doctor advises about female genital mutilation

Egyptian parliament approves tougher penalties for female genital mutilation

Egypt's parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill stipulating tougher penalties for female genital mutilation, which remains widespread despite an official ban on the practice. The move coincided with the death of feminist author Nawal El Saadawi, who fought long and hard for an end to the procedure from which she herself suffered as a child.

Tunisian Egyptian feminist writer Nawal el Saadawi speaks during a radio show hosted by France Inter and daily newspaper Le Monde "8 mars, 8 femmes" (March 8, 8 women) on March 8, 2012 in Paris. AFP PHOTO / MARINA HELLI

Nawal el-Saadawi, renowned Egyptian writer, dies at 89

As a prominent Egyptian feminist, doctor and novelist who wrote more than 50 books on taboo social issues in a deeply conservative country, Saadawi fiercely campaigned for the end to the practice of female genital mutilation.

Women wearing face masks hold signs in Ankara, on August 5, 2020, during a demonstration to demand the government not withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, a landmark treaty on preventing domestic violence. The protests were the biggest in recent weeks as anger grows over the rising number of women killed by men in the past decade since the Istanbul Convention. The treaty's official title is the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, agreed up

Biden calls Turkish exit from women’s treaty 'disheartening step backward'

The Biden administration has rebuked Turkey's "unwarranted" withdrawal from the landmark Istanbul Convention.

Washington Pulse

Female voters, some mask-clad due to the coronavirus pandemic, wait before entering a polling station in El-Ayyat, during the first stage of the lower house elections, south of Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 24, 2020.

Egyptian women’s access to judiciary still limited

The Egyptian State Council approved the appointment of women as members to the council and the Public Prosecution office, in tandem with the launch of a social media campaign against a personal status draft law that activists say denies women’s rights to take control of their own decisions.

Palestinian Minister of Women's affairs Haifa al-Agha (L) sits next to her predecessor in Gaza Jamila al-Shanti as she attends her first meeting with the new Palestinian government on June 8, 2014 in Gaza city. A unity government sworn in on last week under a reconciliation deal between Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership to end seven years of rival administrations in the two territories. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas appoints first woman to political bureau

Hamas announced March 14 appointing a woman as a member in its political bureau for the first time since its establishment in 1987, in an attempt to improve its image to the world and deny the patriarchal aspect of its leadership structure.

Tunisian LGBT activist imprisoned after reporting police harassment

The concerns of civil society organizations and the international community have grown stronger regarding restrictions on personal freedoms after a Tunisian court ruled against LGBT rights activist Rania Amdouni.

Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul's sentence upheld in Riyadh court

The women's rights activist had appealed her probation, which reportedly includes a five-year travel ban.

Barred from traveling by their husbands, Iranian women suffer under unjust laws

While a new bill awaiting parliament’s approval aims to address gender discrimination and stop violence against women, it falls short in guaranteeing Iranian women equal rights.

Yazidis refugees carry their belongings on January 3, 2017 in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey as they change their refugee camp and move to Midyat, further south.
The population of Yazidis reaches 700,000, the majority residing in northern Iraq where persecution from Islamic State jihadists led to as many as 40,000 Yazidis fleeing their ancestral homes to the Sinjar Mountains in northwestern Iraq, where they were trapped without food or water. / AFP / ILYAS AKENGIN (Photo credit should read ILYAS AKE

Online ‘auctions’ of Yazidi captives speak of ongoing Islamic State activity in Turkey

The rescue of a 7-year-old Yazidi captive in Ankara raises questions about how hard Turkey is trying to tackle Islamic State militants in the country.

Belgian children and some women to be repatriated from IS camp in Syria.

The Belgian prime minister said the children in the notorious al-Hol camp could become “the terrorists of tomorrow.” Women will be repatriated on a case-by-case basis.

Civil society in northeast Syria promotes women’s role to fight extremism

A civil society organization in northern and eastern Syria has launched a project to eradicate violent extremism by promoting the role of women on the educational and economic levels.

Houthi security official in Yemen sanctioned by UN for crimes against women

Sultan Saleh Aida Aida Zabin, who heads criminal investigations in Houthi rebel territory, has allegedly played a role in arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual crimes against women involved in politics.