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Begin New Search Topic Gender Issues Political Geography Middle East Content Type Special Report Publication Year within 25 Years

1. Gender Equality in Jordan: Impact Analysis of COVID-19

Author:
Center for Strategic Studies (CSS)
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Strategic Studies (CSS)
Abstract:
As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the globe, the gender gap appears to be expanding; exacerbating inequalities for women and girls and putting them at great economic, health and domestic violence risks. A nation-wide systematic cross-sectional quantitative study is conducted on the whereabouts of women and girls amidst the coronavirus pandemic and strict curfew measures in Jordan, via telephone interviews with 1,300 research participants (49%) males, 51%) females); in terms of health/ psychological, economic, psychosocial, legal/ political and educational aspects. The results show that the coronavirus pandemic impacted females more than their male counterparts, exacerbating gender-inequalities in terms of: access to healthcare services for pregnant women (51%) of pregnant women were impacted negatively); psychological wellbeing (sadness, anxiety, isolation, lack of interest in activities); household responsibilities (15%) more females); marital and domestic violence (verbal, psychological, physical and neglect); working remotely (higher rate of working from home/ higher percent of tasks given); and awareness of reporting domestic violence means (less females know how to contact authorities/ specialized institutions).
Topic:
Economics, Education, Gender Issues, Health, Women, Inequality, Psychology, Voting, COVID-19, Abuse, and Domestic Violence
Political Geography:
Middle East and Jordan

2. How to Study Gender in the Middle East

Author:
Maya Mikdashi
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
Before resolving to write about gender, sexuality, or any other practice or aspect of life, subjectivity or power in the Middle East, one must first define what exactly the object of study is. Be specific. What country, region, and time period form the background picture of your study? The terms “Middle East,” “Islamic world,” and “Arab world” do not refer to the same places, peoples, or histories, but the linkages between them are crucial. Moreover, the region has always been transnational, with the nation state being a relatively new phenomenon in much of Middle East. In order to study political economy and gender in Syria, for example, one must be aware of the regional history that has produced “Syria” to begin with, as well as phenomena such as a “national” economy or political economy.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Sexuality, Academia, and Area Studies
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

3. Women in Academia and Gender Equality

Author:
Zeynep Gülru Göker
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
A recent study published by TESEV shows that science and research is one of the areas with the lowest female participation in high level decision making.1 Among all 201 universities in Turkey, only 9% of the rectors, 10% of the vice rectors and 21% of the deans are women; and again, in Turkey, countrywide, 31% of the professors are women and 69% are men.2 This numerical inequality, as well as being a sign for a lot of other problems, is just the visible or easier-to-see tip of the iceberg. To talk about the obstacles women face in academia and the gender inequality in a wider sense, one must examine all written and non-written rules, practices and norms in every area of academic life, and establishing equality requires transformation in structural, institutional and individual levels. In this report, I will be talking about some of the obstacles women face climbing the career steps in academia and participating in high level decision making and the steps that have been taken and can be taken to ensure gender equality in academic life.
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Women, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

4. Women’s Participation in High-Level Decision Making

Author:
Itır Akdoğan
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
In this report, we enquire into the issue of gender equality by investigating different sectors at once to offer recommendations for improvement. In this project, which is supported by the Swedish Consulate General in İstanbul, we first examine, in light of data gathered and disseminated by European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the percentage of women high-level decision makers in Turkey’s politics, public administration, local government, civil society organizations, social partners, business, media, judiciary and education/science/research. We compare these rates in their historical transformation and with the rates of European Union countries, thus inspecting them in their wider quantitative context. Next, we conduct in-depth interviews with women (if not present, men) high-level decision makers in these areas to carry out a qualitative assessment of women’s participation in Turkey.
Topic:
Civil Society, Gender Issues, Politics, Women, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and European Union

5. Sexual Harassment and Domestic Violence in the Middle East and North Africa

Author:
Donia Smaali Bouhlila
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Barometer
Abstract:
Arab Barometer wave V survey aims at investigating two types of sexual harassment in public places in 12 Arab countries : verbal sexual harassment and physical sexual harassment. Public places are meant to be streets, public transportation and shopping malls. The questionnaire included a question on the frequency of the verbal sexual harassment and a question on the frequency of physical sexual harassment. The verbal sexual harassment is all the unwanted sexual remarks, whistling or gestures in public places. However, sexual harassment is the unwanted sexual advances, like being touched in public places. People were asked how often they have personally experienced this behavior in the past 12 months. Dierent responses were suggested for the respondent: never, rarely, sometimes and often. We investigate first how common is verbal and physical sexual harassment among the population surveyed. Then, we created a binary variable for sexual harassment combining both verbal and physical sexual harassment. This variable takes the value 1 if the respondent has been exposed either rarely, sometimes or often to both verbal and physical sexual harassment, and zero if not . Most of the surveyed people across the participating countries reported that they “rarely” experienced verbal and physical sexual harassment in the past 12 months. Regarding verbal sexual harassment, from 2 percent to 12 percent of the surveyed people declared being “sometimes” exposed to verbal sexual harassment. The highest proportions are observed in Egypt (10 percent), Iraq (10 percent) and Morocco (11 percent). The lowest proportion which is around 2 percent is observed in Tunisia. For the category “often”, around 2 percent of the respondents declared that they are often victims of verbal sexual harassment in Palestine against 7 percent in Morocco.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Public Opinion, Women, Gender Based Violence, Sexual Violence, and Public Policy
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

6. Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Author:
Kathrin Thomas
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Barometer
Abstract:
Many MENA publics express a preference for greater female political participation, including acceptance of a female head of state and the implementation of women’s quotas for elected office. However, the belief that men are better political leaders prevails. • Views toward women in private domain reveal a somewhat different picture: Even though more and more people accept equal rights of women in making the decision to divorce or voice a preference for equal shares of inheritance, majorities still say that husbands should be the final decision maker on family issues in most countries. • Over the longer term, we may expect women’s rights to improve. Women are becoming more prominent actors in the political sphere, women’s quotas are already established in some countries, and with the chance to take on meaningful roles within the state, women are likely to enhance their visibility and competence in dealing with political issues. At the same time, economic hardship may force more women to work outside the house, which may lead to changing views about their own position in the family and could also lead to greater acceptance of women’s new social role among men.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, Women, and Civil Rights
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

7. Women in the Middle East and North Africa: A Divide between Rights and Roles

Author:
Michael Robbins and Kathrin Thomas
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Barometer
Abstract:
Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), most publics surveyed believe women should have equal rights to men in a variety of areas including access to university education (75 percent), employment (84 percent), and political oce (62 percent). • Yet, despite widespread support for women’s rights, majorities in many Arab publics favor limiting the roles women play in society. For example, one third believe women are as effective in public leadership compared with men. Six-in-ten believe that the husband should have the final say in decision making within the family. • Unsurprisingly, men are, in general, less supportive of women’s rights and more restrictive in their desired roles for women. Additionally, citizens with lower levels of education are often more likely to hold unequal views, suggesting that as educational attainment increases across MENA, attitudes toward women may also shift. • Overall, these results from nationally representative public opinion surveys carried out by the Arab Barometer imply that exports to improve women’s equality need to move beyond ensuring equal rights to focus on attitudinal shifts about the roles women should play in society.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Politics, Public Opinion, Women, Democracy, Equality, and Political Rights
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

8. Women in Municipalities, Municipality for Women

Author:
Ulaş Bayraktar
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Regulatory reforms are not sufficient to increase the representation of women, examination of sociological causes is essential to better comprehend the reasons behind the low ratio of women representation. This report explores the relation between women representation and services provided for women in all metropolitan municipalities in Turkey. Both the gender roles and governance processes need to be analyzed together to understand this relationship. Furthermore, the quality of representation and services are examined in terms of gender awareness. While the findings of fieldwork in Aydın, Gaziantep, İstanbul, Konya and Ordu, and a detailed desk research of 11 cities identify the problems regarding gender awareness, they aim to provide concrete policy recommendations for future implementations.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Governance, Reform, Inequality, Representation, Urban, and Services
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

9. The Women in Daesh: Deconstructing Complex Gender Dynamics in Daesh Recruitment Propaganda

Author:
The Carter Center
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Since its inception, Daesh has been successfully recruiting women across national and ideological lines to assume key positions in advancing the organization’s objectives. According to recent estimates, out of 31,000 fighters within Daesh territories, almost one-fifth, roughly 6,200, are women. Yet, to date, research and policy focus on women’s involvement in Daesh has been scant. Several media accounts that have covered female participation tend to be alarmingly reductionist in their description of the roles women play in Daesh. These reports primarily categorize women as either passive victims, “Jihadi brides,” or subsidiary supporters of male guardians with negligible influence. This approach not only ignores the multiplicity of roles played by women to expand Daesh’s ideological and operational agenda, but also oversimplifies the motivations behind their decisions to join Daesh. Just like their male counterparts, women are complex human beings with conflicting aspirations, ideological leanings, and life struggles that inform the choices they make.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Gender Issues, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Middle East and Global Focus

10. Feasibility Study for a Broader Middle East and North Africa Gender Institute

Author:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
This report explores the feasibility of creating an institute to work on issues related to gender empowerment in the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA). The mandate of the implementers and authors of this study comes from the Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD). DAD was established at the G-8 Sea Island Summit in June of 2004, when G-8 leaders decided to form a joint platform with the leaders of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA). This joint platform, called the Forum for the Future, is an international effort to endorse voices of reform in the region. The Forum permits partners and other supportive countries and organizations to engage in political, economic and social reform on a regular basis. An outgrowth of the Forum, the Democracy Assistance Dialogue was designed to foster productive dialogue between civil society and governments of BMENA. Integrating the participation of non-governmental actors, political leaders, media representatives and civil society experts, DAD hopes to develop specific reform initiatives on issues related to political reform, democracy and human rights. On a broader level, the DAD’s ultimate aim is to enhance and initiate democracy programs in the region, thereby strengthening the functional capacity of democratic institutions.1
Topic:
Civil Society, Gender Issues, Women, Empowerment, and Feasibility
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa