Senem ERTAN
Rojda DİKME
Abstract
Although Arab Spring that started in Tunisia in 2010 and later caused turmoil in many Arab countries, mainly in Egypt, Libya and Syria, started as a democracy movement, it caused civil wars, domestic unrest and armed conflicts in these countries. Although it is widely discussed in literature whether the context and objective of these movements, called as democracy seeking movements, are achieved, the role of women and how they are affected from these movements is not adequately examined. In this research, the role of women during the demonstrations leading to quick changes in socio-cultural and economic dynamics in the region, and how this movement has affected the women’s rights will be discussed. In this context, the role of women within the demonstrations, their main demands and how their demands have been met will be questioned. The main purpose of this research is to reveal the positive and negative developments of women’s rights during the Arab Spring. Doing that, firstly by examining the countries under four clusters according to the effects Arab Spring has had, an overall perspective will be presented about women’s rights and the democracy indicators in these countries. Then, by choosing a country differing from others by various features among these clusters, which are Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Syria, the developments in these countries will be thoroughly studied.
Keywords: Women’s Rights, Feminist Movements, Arab Spring, Democratization, Social Movements.]
