Dr. Laila Nicolas Rahbani provides an in-depth report and analysis on the state of Arab women in the media in the Middle East and North Africa.

Last week, Freedom House hosted an event featuring women activists from Egypt, Jordan and Iraq who spoke on the status of women’s rights and advancement in the region.

In October of 2009, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi ignited a heated debate when he said the niqab was merely a tradition not linked to religion, and that women would be banned from wearing it in schools and universities.

A few days ago, an article was published on the Daily News Egypt website, about how some Egyptian women see the veil as a protection against sexual harassment on the streets. This is not a surprise, given the shocking statistics that were released a couple weeks ago that stated that 98% of foreign women and 83% of local women are sexually harassed in Egypt.

Imagine “Men in Black” meets hijabs and neon eyeliner. Dressed in identical black suits, white-collared shirts, and silver head scarves, Dwleat Nanvey and Maha Hamied are part of Egypt’s growing corps of “lady guards,” trained to provide protection to high-powered Arab women. Visitors clamped in one of the ladies’ vise-grip handshakes will notice a golden pin on her lapel – a soaring falcon, her employer’s symbol.

Egypt's High Administrative Court overturned on Wednesday a ban on female students wearing the niqab, or full face veil, in university examinations, saying it violated women's constitutional rights.

Damascus is getting trendier these day. As Syria opens up, western-style cafes and restaurants are mushrooming. Men and women gather together, sipping coffee and smoking and in the evenings, bars are filled with liberal-minded Damascenes gathering over a bottle of wine or Arak, the local aniseed-flavored spirit. Nights out may start with a lively debate about politics and end up on the dance floor. But as common as such scenes are these days in the capital, in much of the country they are not the norm.

Right to Know Day was established to celebrate the creation of the International Freedom of Information Advocates Network on the 28th of September in 2002.

Iranian women and the kindness of the presidential candidates
By: Masieh Alinejad

What is the level of women’s participation in Lebanese politics? Does Lebanese law guarantee the right of women to participate? Also, what are the general political trends regarding this issue?