Enfranchised Minors : Women as People in the Middle East after the 2011 Arab Uprisings

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Enfranchised Minors : Women as People in the Middle East after the 2011 Arab Uprisings
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6(1) LAWS, 1-25 (2017)

According to the author, women in the Arab world occupy a position of “enfranchised minorhood.” That is, even after gaining the vote, these women have enjoyed a lesser civic status than that of their male counterparts. The Arab Spring ushered in a new era of political reform and opportunities for advancing women’s rights. This article investigates advancements in three areas of law—criminal law, family law, and nationality law—closely entwined with women’s civic status in each of Morocco, Lebanon, and Kuwait. Together, these countries represent the Arab world’s diverse regional, political, economic, and religious realities. Maktabi finds generally that the reforms have been substantial in criminal law, incremental in family law, and minimal in nationality law. Where women have achieved successes, despite reactionary pushback from patriarchal and religious interests, they have done so by allying with other women, pushing for targeted reforms, and raising awareness of their plight.