Research Library

By Mounira M. Charrad and Maro Youssef The authors discuss the evolution of women’s associations in Tunisia from the Ben Ali regime to the post-Arab Spring period in this Baker Institute blog: https://bit.ly/2NyRZjl

The Trump administration's family reunification policy is insufficient to address the lasting impacts of the president's zero-tolerance immigration policy, writes Erika de la Garza, program director for the Latin America Initiative, in the Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2NMQnCU.

The authors examine new legislation in Tunisia aimed at increasing protections for women, such as repealing the country’s “marry-your-rapist” law as well as criminalizing marital rape and domestic violence.

Do laws in the Middle East adequately protect women against domestic violence? The author examines the positions of two highly visible Islamist parties — Al-Nahda in Tunisia and the Justice and Development Party in Morocco — on the criminalization of spousal abuse.

Understood in its regional context, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs appears to be a continuation rather than a departure from Southeast Asian drug policy.

Fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, who studied and worked in the United Kingdom for 16 years, examines the magnitude of Brexit's domestic consequences.

Five years after the Jasmine Revolution, Tunisia stands alone as the only country in North Africa where the Arab Spring has led to significant reforms and a democratic transition. Reservations have been voiced, however, on the gender equality provisions in the country’s revised constitution.

The degree to which religious leaders in the Middle East should advocate for women's rights should correspond to the opinions of the individual countries and communities.

What is empowerment? How can women across the MENA region become empowered? Is it possible for Western-born concepts — such as female empowerment — to travel across complex contexts and patriarchal/male-dominated cultures? While agreeing on a definition for female empowerment has proved to be a challenging task among scholars and policy practitioners, working out a universal framework that is applicable to different settings has proven to be an even more daunting task.