The Arab Spring represents a leap backward for women || Newspapers

Despite the new freedoms championed by the revolutionaries following the Arab Spring, women continue to be regarded as subordinate to men. In Tunisia, a mass protest called for all women to be veiled, which led to unveiled female professors being hounded off campuses. Mobs shouted at Tunisian women demonstrators to go back to the kitchen “where they belong.” In Egypt, conservative forces are on the rise, demanding the imposition of policies – particularly reforms of family legislation – that would represent a step backward for women. Arab women have been forced to defend their rights. (The Daily Star)