While women have grown more outspoken and conscious of their status, this status may very well be worse off in the aftermath of these revolutions. If democracy cannot be achieved at the social and cultural level, the democratization process as a whole will be delusive.

The main political change that has occurred is the voting in of new governments in countries that were previously authoritarian states. But on the other hand, these governments with Islamist majorities seem to be advancing new forms of social conservatism. The potential return to Islamic law has made women’s rights activists concerned with how this could change their way of life. In Egypt, after the fall of Mubarak, the military decided to remove the 64-seat parliamentary quota that was reserved for women. Consequently, today they only make up 2% of parliament representatives. The new parliament, still debating the return to Sharia, has even discussed amending the legal age of marriage from 18 to 14.

Tunisia is the Arab country where women enjoy the most comprehensive laws protecting their rights. In light of the new Islamist majority in parliament, the October 24 Front was established by activists to safeguard these legal guarantees. The Al-Nahda party has repeatedly ensured that they will not create a burden in the face of women’s achievements. They also realize that to keep their tourism sector functioning, they have to remain protective of human and women’s rights. So far, it has not made any initiatives towards including Sharia in the constitution.

The strength of Tunisia’s civil society is not representative of its counterparts in other Arab countries. For this reason, new state actors can have a great effect on the way things are administered. Though much has changed, the patriarchal values of our society are still very constricting of women. An important factor to consider in this equation is that much of women’s rights activism in the Arab world had been connected to the regimes that are being ousted.

Important initiatives were made by the first ladies in previous or current regimes. Both Asma al-Assad and Queen Rania of Jordan have been very active in promoting the development of women’s rights. Leila Ben Ali, Tunisia’s former first lady, was president of the Arab Women Organization. In Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak ran women’s rights NGOs and was very active in pushing for legislation that protects women, most notably banning the practice of female genital mutilation. This may make the issue of gender equality seem closely allied with the practices of these regimes- regimes which are now stigmatized and shunned by their populations. It is not surprising then that new Islamist governments may find it in their favor to abort the advances made under previous regimes.

While women were prominent participants in the protests that took place from Tunisia to Yemen, they might not reap any benefits from their activism. Female representation in post Arab spring parliaments has been minimal. It is feared that the status of women is at a start of a decline in the face of a rising political ideology that might yield a more conservative social system. The importance of social democracy should not be undermined. If new democratically elected governments bring in the rule of Sharia, a field mostly covered by male scholars, this does not have to be exclusive of women’s rights. This logic can only be developed through better education and an enhanced knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence among women in order to bring new interpretations of Islam into the political sphere.