Democratic Transition

Violence against women, gender pay gap, homo hatred - the gender backlash is in full swing worldwide. That is why we need encouraging feminism.

While Tunisia has taken meaningful steps towards protecting civil and political rights, the country’s LGBTIQ community still faces numerous forms of systemic discrimination and stigmatization.

A disconcerting trend has been perceptible for quite some time. Governments across all continents – irrespective of their political orientation – are taking drastic action against civil society actors: against non-governmental organizations, social and ecological activists, women’s rights activists and human rights advocates. The space for actors who are critical of government policies, who call for democracy and human rights, who take an active stand against large-scale projects, and who protest against social injustice, land grabbing and environmental degradation is shrinking.

Ten experts from eight different countries share their views and perceptions of the assaults committed on New Year’s Eve in Cologne. A contribution to the ongoing debate on sexualised violence and harassment in Germany.

This article describes HBS partner Mourakiboun, explains the project of long-term election observation and gives insides into the Tunisian electoral process 2014.

An Interview with Nazra for Feminist Studies, an Egyptian group that documents cases of gender-based violence, offers psychological, medical and legal support for survivors, and works with female politicians to boost representation.

Egypt first declared May 1 an official holiday 50 years ago. That same year, on May 1, 1964, three workers were born — Ahmed Mahmoud from the Public Transportation Authority, Ali Aref from the Steam Boilers and Hesham Abu Zaid from the Tanta Flax factory.