On the move

“Contrary to popular belief, women have always had a relationship with money,” states Badalassi, who condemns the “totally outdated” comment passed by the Roman bank employee Veronica dealt with…

In Sophie Basso’s calm tone and keen gaze, there is determination in the service of the clarity of pleas raised by the network she has been coordinating. Selma Hajri, who is behind the RAWSA initiative, is no less determined. Summed up to that of many RAWSA activists, this beautiful energy is fundamental to spur actions advancing abortion rights in the MENA region, a major struggle in Tunisia, the only country to recognise this right.

Set up in 2019, the RAWSA Network aims at changing mentalities, behaviors and legislations related to sexual and reproductive rights, as well as advocating for legal abortion in most MENA countries.

#EnaZeda is the slogan of a campaign launched on social media networks in Tunisia in October 2019 to denounce sexual violence against women and men. The movement has since grown to make survivors’ words resonate loud and clear.

"Istanbul Convention saves lives", "We don't accept one man's decision", "We don’t give up on the Istanbul Convention" were some of the slogans raised against Erdogan’s decision to withdraw from historic convention to combat violence against women.

How did my mother suddenly become the queen of social networks?

Ten years have passed since the Egyptian Revolution. The opening up of the public sphere did not mean that everyone was welcome in it. Egyptian women were struggling to exact a space for themselves and fought bold battles so their voices could be heard, paying a heavy price for that.

Women prefer to pay financial compensations to redeem their freedom than to stay in undesirable relationships, thus taking the Islamo-conservatives into their own trap. Algerian lawyer Nadia Ait-Zaï elucidates the matter.

In an unusual gesture, taxi drivers in the West Bank, Palestine, put up posters and slogans for a couple of days calling for an end to violence against women, especially domestic violence, and asking the government to quickly approve the ‘Family Violence Protection Law.’