Introduction

For women’s rights groups working in the Arabic-speaking world, it is notable that the midpoint between today and the Beijing conference was also the beginning of an unprecedented period of vast social unrest and political instability that would ultimately sweep across the region. The Arab revolutions saw the rise of huge protest movements, significant political and constitutional reforms, as well as ruinous civil conflict and conservative backlash.

Throughout these protests and political movements—from the courthouse steps in Benghazi in February 2011, to the streets of Khartoum in December 2018—women were central leaders, organisers, and voices. Among these key political actors were both women who had been deeply involved in feminist activism and organization at community, national and international levels, as well as those who were seeing an opportunity for the first time to become politically and socially engaged.

Many of these movements managed to consolidate political support for women’s rights into tangible results: in Egypt, for example, new rights for women were enshrined in the constitution, while in Tunisia, the establishment of women voters as a key electoral bloc saw the introduction of significant legislative protection in the form of new laws to combat violence against women.

The increased prominence and participation of women was, however, met swiftly and near universally with significant backlash amid insecurity and instability. Politically empowered women were challenged by deeply reactionary political movements  that also rose in prominence. These movements also secured political victories that led directly to severe consequences for women’s rights. In other contexts, civil wars and violent extremist groups victimised women and girls through conflict, while women were politically excluded and marginalised in peace processes.

In order to explore the relationship between global feminism as promoted and catalysed by processes like Beijing, and the role of women in the Arab revolutions and its broader impact on women and girls in the region, we present the experiences of our partners, activists from the region, and their work and their relationship with Beijing, through the revolutions and to the present day. These insights come from women who participated directly and indirectly in the conference and other international activism, who held leadership roles in Beijing and those too young to have taken part.

In this work, we explore the contribution of women from the Arab region to international processes and discourses, how they have incorporated new concepts and approaches into their activism at home, built relationships and movements internationally. We seek to consider the extent and effectiveness of global solidarity and intersectional feminist thought and practice on national-level activism in the Arab region, the contribution of transnational feminism to women’s activism and political participation during the extraordinary period of change in the Arab region.

Across the world, we are seeing a rise in populist nationalism, and with it a concerted backlash that has targeted feminist progress and the rights of women and girls in particular. What is the relationship between global feminism and the rise of the ‘anti-gender movement’, in particular with regard to the backlash against women’s rights and women’s participation witnessed in the wake of the Arab revolutions? What can be learned from how women dealt with this backlash?

Among these chapters are remarkable stories that have rarely or never heard before, evidence of the lengths reactionary elements took to sabotage progress in Beijing, of the incredible sense of community experienced in Beijing, and the influence and legacy of this milestone in the global movement for women’s rights.

We hope these insights contribute not only to our understanding of the impact of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, but to the appreciation of women’s activism in Africa and the Arab region and what it has achieved since Beijing  and the revolutions.