By Tarah Demant, Women’s Human Rights Coordination Group
© Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
The theme of this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence — “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women”— is a theme that resonates across the globe. It’s especially timely in the Middle East and North Africa where we’ve seen unprecedented challenges to military regimes and repressive governments.
Throughout the region, women have joined with men in fighting against increased militarism and in calling for governmental and social reform. We’ve seen women in the headlines of protest and revolution from Bahrain to Yemen, to Egypt to Tunisia and beyond.