‘The Dignity of Women’ brings us the voices and views of women working to end violence against women in the Arab region. In collaboration with Karama organisations, the 5050 section of openDemocracy is providing a platform for their knowledge and experiences, increasing Arab women’s participation in global debate through articles, podcasts and blogs. We are grateful to Hivos for funding this editorial project.

Empowering women in the middle east

Hibaaq Osman on dignity and violence in the middle east. Listen Now

Karama: Uniting to be each other’s voice

After three years of constant debate, the Karama movement is finding a common language with which to speak and a ‘voice’ on international platforms. Working to end violence against women across the Arab region, Karama is based in nine countries and has grown to collaborate with more than ninety different women’s groups. Finding a way to make grassroots issues and priorities link to the agendas set by international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank remains a key challenge.

Jane Gabriel met up with Karama’s founder, Hibaaq Osman, at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York where Hibaaq told her, “We’ve almost arrived, at least we know the way….our business now is making as many friends as we can”. Listen now

Working for women’s rights in Jordan

Afaf Jabiri talks about taking on the Jordanian government over women’s rights. Listen Now

It all began on March 8th: feminism and fatwas…

Twenty one years after the publication of Morocco’s first feminist magazine called ‘March 8^th‘ Moroccan women won profound changes in their status when the Family law (Mudawana). was reformed in 2004. Jane Gabriel has been in Rabat speaking to Latifa Jbabdi and Fatima Outaleb, two of the women behind the reform, about the strategies the women’s movement has adopted over the years to deal with their main opponent, the conservative Islamic authorities. Listen Now

Syrian Women’s Rights: “the fight does not stop here”

Syrian Women’s Rights: “The fight does not stop here, this is not the end of the story”. Listen now

Iraqi women refugees: surviving in Syria

Iraqi women refugees: surviving in Syria. As the months turn into years, more and more women refugees in Damascus are becoming vulnerable to the human trafficking networks. Listen Now

Enough: ending private justice and violence against women

The Lebanese government is about to decide whether to introduce the first ever piece of legislation to protect women from violence in their extended families. Jane Gabriel met the women’s organisations and activists who have been campaigning for this law for more than fifteen years. Listen now

Living the other side of existence

Afaf El Sayyad tells Jane Gabriel about living within a Muslim movement in Egypt, what drove her to leave, and how it felt to take off her veil. Listen now

Femicide and Patriarchy in Lebanon

Femicide and Patriarchy in Lebanon: The Lebanese judiciary has tried sixty six cases of ‘honour killing’ since 1999 and rejected all of them. Dr Azza Baydoun told Jane Gabriel the story behind the trials. Listen now

‘Deviant victims’ and ‘deficient men’

Dr Azza Baydoun has analysed every ‘honour killing’ in Lebanon that has gone before the courts since 1999 and found that behind the plea of offended honour lies the crime of femicide. She describes the patriarchal concepts of ‘deviant women’ and ‘deficient men’ in her research. Here she outlines some of her findings. Read More