Lebanon may witness a remarkable rise in the number of women serving in Parliament come May 2018 due to initiatives from women’s groups, “civil society” activists, and the substantial number of female candidates – 113 at the start of the election period. However, as this briefing paper shows, Lebanese women continue to face numerous challenges in entering government. The new electoral law passed in June 2017 does not provide women with equal opportunity to be elected, and it is yet to be seen whether it will increase female representation in Parliament. Nevertheless, the historic number of...
This issue of Tatimma focuses on the question of civil rights and liberties in Lebanon. Whilst it is usually considered that civil freedoms in Lebanon are light-years ahead of other Arab countries. Yet this state of liberties appears to be more a facade for a discriminatory system which limits the liberties of Lebanese citizens, specifically Lebanese women, refugees, foreign workers to name a few.
