Challenges for Women
Locally and Regionally
While digital platforms serve as powerful tools for
feminist change, they also expose organizations, the
women involved, and their content to both
individual and collective attacks. As Hayat Mershad,
a prominent Arab feminist, activist, and journalist,
pointed out, “there isn’t a single time that feminist
content is posted online without facing bullying
afterwards.” (Asmar, 2020, p.13) Organizations that
share information about abuse or provide digital
services often encounter harassment, victimblaming, and mass attacks, mirroring the blame and
shame women face offline. This was corroborated
by interviewees and other studies, who noted that
these attacks often extend to women working in
these organizations, such as case workers and
journalists.
All women interviewed in the studies cited in this
section reported experiencing online and offline
attacks, reflecting a broader regional trend across
the MENA region. For instance, Sarra Ben Said from
Tunisia faced an online smear campaign using
photos from her organization’s Facebook page, while
Lilav Ihsan from Iraq received personal threats that
targeted her father as well due to her support for
women affected by the conflict in Iraq. Hayat
Mershad and members of the Fe-Male organization
in Lebanon also endured threats to themselves and
their loved ones, both online and offline. Similarly,
Suhair Faraj highlighted that case workers at TAM,
a women and media development organization in
Palestine, regularly face threats and online
harassment from abusers, including instances of
men impersonating women on the organization’s
hotline to gather information for defamation or to
sexually harass staff (Asmar, 2020, p. 13).
Moreover, Radio Rozana’s Chief Editor; Loujeina Haj
Yousef mentioned that “Every time Radio Rozana
publishes anything related to gender issues or
women’s rights, we are attacked online. When we
publish content on issues such as marital rape,
cheaper alternatives to sanitary pads or women
driving cars, we are accused of being indecent and
of disrespecting Syrian culture and religion. The very
worst attacks come when we publish about
homosexuality.” (Refsing, 2023)
Despite these frequent forms of violence, women's
rights organizations and feminist groups persist in
responding to incidents of violence, both online and
offline, putting in protective measures. (Asmar,
2020, p. 13). They have implemented protective
measures, such as separating their private lives and
social media profiles from the organizations'
channels, to avoid being personally targeted
According to secondary sources, including studies
such as those by Asmar (2020), cooperation with
government cybercrime units and major tech
companies in combating online violence presents
significant challenges. While cybercrime units in
countries like the Occupied Palestinian Territories
and Lebanon have demonstrated efficiency in tracing
perpetrators, these actions often come with
substantial risks. In these contexts, the same
governments and security forces that track online
abusers also engage in repressive practices, using
women’s data against them, suppressing dissent,
and employing tactics of threat, blackmail, and
extortion—as illustrated by the Occupied
Palestinian Territories case (Asmar, 2020, p. 13).
Nevertheless, women's rights and feminist
movements remain a powerful force of social change
in the MENA region. These movements are at the
forefront of efforts against gender-based violence;
advocating for the abolition of discriminatory laws
and the dismantling of patriarchal social norms.
Additionally they create alternative safe spaces
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