Take 60 Seconds to See What Happened to Women in the Middle East

It is now the law in these countries that women must wear the Hijab or Burqa. To not do so can result in beatings or imprisonment. Many Middle East and North Africa countries still prevent women from moving freely in their own country or traveling abroad without the permission of a male guardian. Women in the region are fighting rules that authorities often claim are for their protection, but that deprive women of their rights and enable men to control and abuse them at will. In a Human Rights Watch report, “Trapped: How Male Guardianship Policies Restrict Women’s Travel and Mobility in the Middle East and North Africa,” says that although women’s rights activists have succeeded in securing women’s increased freedoms in many countries in the region, old and new restrictions require women to seek permission from their male guardian – typically their father, brother, or husband – to move within their country, obtain a passport, or travel abroad. Human Rights Watch also found that in a number of countries, women cannot travel abroad with their children on an equal basis with men.

“From leaving the home to leaving the country, authorities in the Middle East and North Africa are imposing varying restrictions on women’s right to freedom of movement,” said Rothna Begum, senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Women in the region are fighting against restrictions that authorities often claim are for their protection, but in reality, deprive women of their rights and enable men to control and abuse them at will.”

The report is based on a comparative analysis of dozens of laws, regulations, and policies, as well as information provided by lawyers, activists, and women in 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Male guardianship policies in the region, which also exist beyond the Middle East, have been influenced by a broader history of laws and traditions around the world, including European legal traditions, that gave or still give men control over women’s lives.

Fifteen countries in the region still apply personal status or family laws that require women to either “obey” their husbands, live with them, or seek their permission to leave the marital home, work, or travel. Courts can order women to return to their marital homes or lose their right to spousal maintenance.

In some countries, these rules are becoming more entrenched. In March 2022, Saudi Arabia issued its first written Personal Status Law, which codified the long-standing practice of requiring women to obey their husband “in a reasonable manner” or lose financial support from their husbands if they refuse to live in the marital home “without a legitimate excuse.”

Women can be arrested or detained or forced to return home if male guardians in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia report that they are “absent” from their homes. In Saudi Arabia and Yemen, women are still not allowed to leave prison without a male guardian’s approval.

In Iran, married women must show their husband’s permission to obtain a passport, and to travel. In Qatar, interior ministry rules require unmarried Qatari women under age 25 to show permission from their male guardians to travel abroad; while Qatari men from age 18 do not. Yemen’s de facto policy requires Yemeni women to show their male guardian’s permission to obtain a passport.

Qatar also allows male guardians to apply to a court to impose travel bans against any of their female relatives, including their wives. Authorities in Iran, Gaza (Palestine), Saudi Arabia, and Yemen also allow male guardians to ban women’s travel abroad.

Some restrictions are relatively new. Hamas authorities in Gaza issued restrictions in February 2021 that means an unmarried woman, even if able to leave Gaza amid sweeping Israeli and Egyptian movement restrictions, can be prevented from traveling as soon as her male guardian applies for a court-ordered ban. In August 2022, Houthi authorities in Yemen, who control large parts of the country, expanded restrictions so that women cannot travel or leave their areas within the country or travel abroad without a mahram. In May 2023, Libya’s Internal Security Agency, a body linked to the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, one of the two governments in Libya vying for legitimacy and control, began requiring Libyan women traveling without a male escort to complete a detailed form about the reasons for their travel and past travel.

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