Countries worldwide are honoring International Women's Day, and the nations of the Middle East and North Africa are no exception.
On Thursday, Egyptian women protested in Cairo to demand more representation in the constitutional assembly. According to Daily News Egypt, "eight women elected and two appointed women make up less than 2 percent of the 508 seats in the People's Assembly." The female activists' demonstration called for far higher numbers, anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent.
Meanwhile, though Afghanistan used International Women's Day to reveal that it is opening up a female-only Internet cafe in central Kabul, critics and activists are still wary of the future of women's rights in the country. The Afghanistan government is receiving backlash after it recently welcomed advice from Muslim clerics that women and men should remain segregated in public, and "allow husbands to beat wives under certain circumstances" — a strong reminder of former Taliban control over the region.
So what does this mean for International Women's Day 2012?
It means that although women in Egypt and other Arab countries might be gaining more attention globally, they are still fighting for their recognition and their basic rights in their home countries. Egyptians turned to social media to help organize protests during the Arab Spring — and in fact, it was a woman, Asmaa Mahfouz, who helped organize protesters to Egypt's Tahrir Square on Jan. 25, 2011 with her viral YouTube video. When coverage of attacks on female protestors started breaking from the region in late 2011, women again were at the forefront of the protests.
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Activists also voiced their concerns online and in protests in other Arab countries in honor of International Women's Day. Check out the gallery below to see the range of views emerging from the region.
Egypt attracted much attention online and in Cairo as women protested ahead of presidential elections in the country. Reem Abdellatif, an Egyptian American journalist based in Cairo, was one of the scores of women vocalizing online. Twitter users also noted that "virginity tests" took place during last year's International Women's Day protest in Cairo, and that protestor Samira Ibrahim is largely responsible for drawing awareness to the issue. In Tunisia, women dressed up and held signs as they protested in the capital city of Tunis. A Twitter user who goes by the handle @amarpaint79 and is identified as only "Dignity of Bahrain" in English used the day to draw attention to human rights issues in Bahrain. A YouTube video posted by @amarpaint79 goes in-depth about the experiences of Bahraini women, but it's restricted due to its graphic content. Users also tweeted about the women who are currently out of the public eye because they've been put in prison for their advocacy work. User @Egyptocracy reminded followers that despite the enthusiasm, the protests were ultimately a sign of discontent.
?Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, mozcann ?
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