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Gender Equality and Egalitarianism in the Middle East and North Africa

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Gender Equality

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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Gender equality

Definition

Egalitarianism is “a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs” (Merriam Webster 2018).

Introduction

Egalitarianism is “a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs” (Merriam Webster 2018). Most national constitutions contain provisions calling for the protection of equal rights universally – that is, for all groups – and more commonly in recent years for women specifically, due to the rise of the international women’s rights regime and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. These trends are part of the growing support for the international norm of gender equality that also gives force to the 5th Sustainable Development Goal to Achieve Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls.

Yet, despite the widespread promotion of equal protections in constitutions and other legal frameworks, gender egalitarianism has not been achieved in any society worldwide. In...

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Correspondence to Lindsay J. Benstead .

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Benstead, L.J. (2019). Gender Equality and Egalitarianism in the Middle East and North Africa. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P., Wall, T. (eds) Gender Equality. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70060-1_4-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70060-1_4-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-70060-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-70060-1

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