Fourteen years ago, thousands of women stood shoulder to shoulder in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. They demanded freedom, democracy \u2014 and their right to be heard. The Arab Spring of 2011 sparked hopes of a new era for women’s rights in the region. But now, after more than a decade, many of those voices have fallen silent.<\/p>\n
Regardless of how hard regimes try to control women’s lives, they will continue to fight for their rights.<\/p>\n
Jihan Zakarriya, associate professor at UCPH<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Not because the women have given up the fight \u2014 quite the opposite.<\/p>\n
\u00bbOppression breeds resistance,\u00ab<\/em> says Jihan Zakarriya, who was born in Egypt and is now an associate professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).<\/p>\n
She has dedicated her research to women’s rights in the Arab world and has witnessed how feminist movements have repeatedly risen \u2014 despite censorship, imprisonment, and societal structures working against them.<\/p>\n
\u00bbOppression breeds resistance. Regardless of how hard regimes try to control women’s lives, they will continue to fight for their rights,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n
Struggle between Western ideals and Islamic identity<\/h3>\n
Women’s movements in the Arab world can be traced back to the late 19th century. In countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, early feminist currents were closely linked to the struggle for national independence. It was a complex dynamic, however, as the ideas of liberation came from the Western world, which many at the same time perceived as colonial powers.<\/p>\n
\u00bbWe have always had an ambivalent relationship with the West. On the one hand, we were colonised and seen as inferior. On the other hand, it was also from the West that ideas about women’s rights and democracy emerged,\u00ab says Jihan Zakarriya.<\/p>\n
This tension has since shaped feminism in the region. Some women’s rights activists have fought for full secularisation of the legal system, while others have found inspiration in Islam, arguing that the religion itself contains ideals of equality.<\/p>\n
Women caught between religion and politics<\/h3>\n
Feminist movements in the Arab world have often found themselves caught between authoritarian regimes and Islamist movements. In Egypt, for example, both the military regime and the Muslim Brotherhood have attempted to use women’s rights as a political tool \u2014 without granting them real equality.<\/p>\n
\u00bbWomen have been used as pawns in the power struggle between Islamists and authoritarian regimes,\u00ab says Jihan Zakarriya, adding:<\/p>\n
\u00bbSocialist regimes in the 1950s and 60s gave women access to education and employment, but not real political influence. The Islamists promised women’s rights through religion, yet at the same time sought to introduce laws that restricted their freedom.\u00ab
\n
\nAccording to Jihan Zakarriya, we are currently witnessing a weakening of women’s rights in several countries. Since the Arab Spring in 2011, regimes have cracked down harder on opposition and civil society \u2014 which has also affected feminists.<\/p>\n\u00bbAfter the revolutions, authoritarian regimes were reinstated with renewed strength. There is now more surveillance, more restrictions on protests, and a general fear of speaking out too loudly,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n
Social media: A new battleground for women’s rights<\/h3>\n
Although street protests and civil society organisations have been suppressed in many Arab countries, women’s movements have found new ways to organise.<\/p>\n
Arab feminists, according to Jihan Zakarriya, were among the first to use social media for activism.<\/p>\n
In Saudi Arabia, online campaigns led to the lifting of the ban on female drivers in 2018 and a reform of the guardianship system, which previously required women to have a male guardian to travel or take up employment.<\/p>\n
Women in the Arab world are used to fighting<\/p>\n
Jihan Zakarriya, associate professor at UCPH<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Similarly, the MeToo movement has had a strong impact in the region \u2014 but in highly localised ways.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIn Kuwait, it was about femicide, in Egypt about sexual harassment in public spaces, in Oman about workplace discrimination. It was not one unified wave but a series of local battles,\u00ab explains Jihan Zakarriya.<\/p>\n
Hope for the future<\/h3>\n
Despite setbacks, Jihan Zakarriya also sees hope for the future \u2014 particularly in the Gulf states.<\/p>\n
\u00bbEducation plays a huge role. In Saudi Arabia, we now see women earning the highest academic degrees and expecting to participate in the labour market on an equal footing with men,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n
Economic reforms in these countries are also driving change. Many governments in the region are being forced to include women in the workforce if they want to modernise their economies.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt is not necessarily a fight for rights, but a matter of necessity. And that can be a path to real change,\u00ab says Jihan Zakarriya.<\/p>\n
Although feminist movements in the Arab world continue to face enormous challenges, one thing is certain, according to Jihan Zakarriya: Women will keep fighting.<\/p>\n
\u00bbThere have always been ups and downs, but we have never stopped. Oppression breeds resistance. And women in the Arab world are used to fighting,\u00ab she says.
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Women fight for rights in the Arab world: \u00bbOppression breeds resistance\u00ab \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/women-fight-for-rights-in-the-arab-world-oppression-breeds-resistance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women fight for rights in the Arab world: \u00bbOppression breeds resistance\u00ab \u2014 University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Women fight for equal rights throughout the world. 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"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"","text":"This is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Fourteen years ago, thousands of women stood shoulder to shoulder in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. They demanded freedom, democracy \u2014 and their right to be heard. The Arab Spring of 2011 sparked hopes of a new era for women’s rights in the region. But now, after more than a decade, many of those voices have fallen silent.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Regardless of how hard regimes try to control women’s lives, they will continue to fight for their rights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Jihan Zakarriya, associate professor at UCPH<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Not because the women have given up the fight \u2014 quite the opposite.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00bbOppression breeds resistance,\u00ab<\/em> says Jihan Zakarriya, who was born in Egypt and is now an associate professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).<\/p>\n<p>She has dedicated her research to women’s rights in the Arab world and has witnessed how feminist movements have repeatedly risen \u2014 despite censorship, imprisonment, and societal structures working against them.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbOppression breeds resistance. Regardless of how hard regimes try to control women’s lives, they will continue to fight for their rights,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h3>Struggle between Western ideals and Islamic identity<\/h3>\n<p>Women’s movements in the Arab world can be traced back to the late 19th century. In countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, early feminist currents were closely linked to the struggle for national independence. It was a complex dynamic, however, as the ideas of liberation came from the Western world, which many at the same time perceived as colonial powers.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe have always had an ambivalent relationship with the West. On the one hand, we were colonised and seen as inferior. On the other hand, it was also from the West that ideas about women’s rights and democracy emerged,\u00ab says Jihan Zakarriya.<\/p>\n<p>This tension has since shaped feminism in the region. Some women’s rights activists have fought for full secularisation of the legal system, while others have found inspiration in Islam, arguing that the religion itself contains ideals of equality.<\/p>\n<h3>Women caught between religion and politics<\/h3>\n<p>Feminist movements in the Arab world have often found themselves caught between authoritarian regimes and Islamist movements. In Egypt, for example, both the military regime and the Muslim Brotherhood have attempted to use women’s rights as a political tool \u2014 without granting them real equality.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWomen have been used as pawns in the power struggle between Islamists and authoritarian regimes,\u00ab says Jihan Zakarriya, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSocialist regimes in the 1950s and 60s gave women access to education and employment, but not real political influence. The Islamists promised women’s rights through religion, yet at the same time sought to introduce laws that restricted their freedom.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":174409,"id":174409,"title":"Jihan_Zakarriya_pp","filename":"jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","filesize":733655,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/kvinder-kaemper-for-rettigheder-i-den-arabiske-verden-undertrykkelse-skaber-modstand\/jihan_zakarriya_pp\/","alt":"","author":"106","description":"","caption":"","name":"jihan_zakarriya_pp","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":174364,"date":"2025-03-06 15:01:49","modified":"2025-03-12 08:27:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":700,"height":700,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp-480x480.png","medium-width":480,"medium-height":480,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","medium_large-width":700,"medium_large-height":700,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","large-width":700,"large-height":700,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","1536x1536-width":700,"1536x1536-height":700,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","2048x2048-width":700,"2048x2048-height":700,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp-290x290.png","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":290,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp-290x180.png","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":700,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/jihan_zakarriya_pp.png","extended-width":700,"extended-height":700}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Jihan Zakarriya is associate professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>According to Jihan Zakarriya, we are currently witnessing a weakening of women’s rights in several countries. Since the Arab Spring in 2011, regimes have cracked down harder on opposition and civil society \u2014 which has also affected feminists.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAfter the revolutions, authoritarian regimes were reinstated with renewed strength. There is now more surveillance, more restrictions on protests, and a general fear of speaking out too loudly,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h3>Social media: A new battleground for women’s rights<\/h3>\n<p>Although street protests and civil society organisations have been suppressed in many Arab countries, women’s movements have found new ways to organise.<\/p>\n<p>Arab feminists, according to Jihan Zakarriya, were among the first to use social media for activism.<\/p>\n<p>In Saudi Arabia, online campaigns led to the lifting of the ban on female drivers in 2018 and a reform of the guardianship system, which previously required women to have a male guardian to travel or take up employment.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Women in the Arab world are used to fighting<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Jihan Zakarriya, associate professor at UCPH<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Similarly, the MeToo movement has had a strong impact in the region \u2014 but in highly localised ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIn Kuwait, it was about femicide, in Egypt about sexual harassment in public spaces, in Oman about workplace discrimination. It was not one unified wave but a series of local battles,\u00ab explains Jihan Zakarriya.<\/p>\n<h3>Hope for the future<\/h3>\n<p>Despite setbacks, Jihan Zakarriya also sees hope for the future \u2014 particularly in the Gulf states.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbEducation plays a huge role. In Saudi Arabia, we now see women earning the highest academic degrees and expecting to participate in the labour market on an equal footing with men,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>Economic reforms in these countries are also driving change. Many governments in the region are being forced to include women in the workforce if they want to modernise their economies.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt is not necessarily a fight for rights, but a matter of necessity. And that can be a path to real change,\u00ab says Jihan Zakarriya.<\/p>\n<p>Although feminist movements in the Arab world continue to face enormous challenges, one thing is certain, according to Jihan Zakarriya: Women will keep fighting.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere have always been ups and downs, but we have never stopped. Oppression breeds resistance. And women in the Arab world are used to fighting,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with our top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":5457,"name":"8. marts","slug":"8-marts-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5457,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":7817,"name":"kvindernes internationale kampdag","slug":"kvindernes-internationale-kampdag-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7817,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1008,"name":"Ligestilling","slug":"ligestilling-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1008,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":6828,"name":"mellem\u00f8sten","slug":"mellemoesten-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6828,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11485,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/istock2155573439.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174525"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174621,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174525\/revisions\/174621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}