While the rest of the world commemorated International Women's Day on March 8, women in the Middle East had less to celebrate than most.

When Omaima Abu-Bakr was a teenager in Egypt, she wore miniskirts and high heels - in line with the fashion of the time. But she says the freedom in fashion didn't translate to equity in education or work or family life. Listen to the Story.

Security forces used excessive force to disperse protests early in the year. Nearly 20 people, most of them Morsy supporters, died in clashes with police in the first three days of January. On January 25, the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising, at least 64 demonstrators died in clashes with police in protests throughout the country.

Womenís movements in the Middle East vary in terms of specific historical trajectories as well as current ideas and practices. Yet, they are similar in that they share several historical and political factors, such as their links to nationalist movements, their links to processes of modernization and development, and tensions between secular and religious tendencies. Specificities and differences can be found in overarching general themes, as becomes obvious in the context of two case studiesóEgypt and Turkeyóexplored in this paper.

This article could not be published in Egypt. At least that's my understanding of the gag order a judge, Hesham Abdel Meguid, imposed on reporting or commenting on the criminal case against independent civil society organizations in Egypt after meeting with President Sisi and his senior intelligence and security advisors.

These opportunities come once in a generation, social movements whose cause is so manifestly just, and whose potential is so transformative, that they rise above the clutter of ordinary politics. The civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez and others inspired a generation as it overcame Klansmen, brutal sheriffs and growers' thugs.

One of Saudi Arabia's most prominent female human rights campaigners has been arrested and jailed for allegedly running a Twitter account. Samar Badawi is the ex-wife of influential human rights lawyer Waleed Abulkhair, and according to activists has been accused of running his Twitter account after he was jailed in 2014. One of the most well-known campaigners for women's rights in Saudi Arabia, Ms Badawi received the 2012 International Women of Courage award, presented by Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

From left, clockwise: Manal al-Sharif, Taffan Ako Taha, Raquel Saraswati, Malala Yousazai, Dr. Elham Manea There is a burgeoning women's rights movement in Muslim-majority societies today. From Pakistan to North Africa, each country has a network of activists, writers and academics struggling to bring women's rights to their countries and overthrow centuries of patriarchal oppression.

In late 2013, the Thomson Reuters Foundation conducted its third annual poll on women's rights in Arab states. 336 specialists designed the poll to assess the extent to which states adhere to key provisions of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which most Arab League states have signed, ratified...

This article is based on some of the research that I have conducted over the past two years on women's activism in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, from independence until the Arab uprisings. I collected over one hundred personal narratives from middle class women activists of different generations.

REUTERS - Weddings in Iran have long been an over-the-top affair with families spending thousands of dollars to celebrate a union. But now some couples are splurging on an entirely different sort of nuptial celebration: a divorce party. Local media outlets and blogs have been abuzz for months about lavish parties, complete with sarcastic invitations and humorous cakes, for couples splitting up.

Many marriages in Saudi Arabia continue to be arranged marriages. However that is not to say that the bride or groom do not get a choice in the matter. They do. But if a bride and groom are brought together through family it is rare for either to reject the match.

Policies related to young adults, women, and families in Arab countries need to take into account the changing marriage patterns and their social and economic implications. This policy brief highlights current trends in marriage patterns of women in the Arab world, emerging policy issues, and links between marriage patterns and other social and demographic trends.

The night after their wedding, Eren stood over Nur in a dusky Mediterranean hotel, "You are old enough! Get ready to fuck or I will send you back to the camp!" A friend of Eren's married a Syrian woman last year who he said was pious and subservient.

Around the world at least one woman in every three has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Every year, violence in the home and the community devastates the lives of millions of women.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women. Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.

The term 'female genital mutilation' (also called 'female genital cutting' and 'female genital mutilation/cutting') refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Between 100 and 140 million girls and women in the world are estimated to have undergone such procedures, and 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of undergoing the procedures every year.

By Gehad Abada, Aswat Masriya When Amira Gamal* walked into the clinic in a murky street in Imbaba, she did not know what to expect or how far off pregnant she was. She arrived before the doctor and read the pamphlets on reproductive health and stages of pregnancy as she waited.

More than 900 Mauritanian women have been trafficked to Saudi Arabia in 2015, where they are trapped working in jobs they did not sign up for, a local activist has told Middle East Eye.

The Yazidi religious minority community in Iraq says 3,500 of its women and girls are still being held by the so-called Islamic State (IS), many being used as sex slaves. A few have managed to escape and here tell their harrowing stories. One day in August, Hannan woke to find her family frantically packing.