This House believes women will be worse off after the Arab revolutions

Monday February 27 2012
MOTION REJECTED by 26% to 74%

Speakers

Iman Bibars

Speaking for the motion

Iman Bibars is the vice-president of Ashoka, an NGO, and regional director of Ashoka Arab World. She is also the co-founder and chairperson of the Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women - Egypt’s first microfinance organisation which provides credit and legal aid for impoverished women heading their households.

Amel Jerary

Speaking against the motion
Amel Jerary

During the Libyan Revolution and since the liberation of Tripoli, Amel has volunteered as an interpreter and international media coordinator for the Media and Communication's Committee of the National Transitional Council and for the interim Prime Minister. She is also a lecturer in the Language Department of the University of Tripoli and the manager of Atlas Language and Cultural Services in Tripoli which provides cultural consultation and training to a number of foreign institutions and organisations.

Khedija Arfaoui

Speaking for the motion

Khedija Arfaoui is a feminist researcher and former academic. Since the 1980s she has been an active member of Tunisia’s civil society with a particular focus on women’s rights. She has been a member of a number of groups including the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and the Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development. More recently she was a member of Amnesty International and the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy.

Rabab El Mahdi

Speaking against the motion

Rabab El Mahdi is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo and co-founder of a number of opposition groups in Egypt, including Kefaya pro-democracy movement, the National Front for Democracy and Social Justice, and Women for Democracy. She is the author of a number of publications including "Beyond the 'Woman Question' in the Egyptian Revolution" .