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| ggg_rank = 119th out of 146
| ggg_ref =<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Gender Gap Report 2022|url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf|publisher=World Economic Forum|access-date=1 March 2023}}</ref>|gii_ref=<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Development Report 2021/2022|url=https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22pdf_1.pdf|publisher=HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS|access-date=14 December 2022}}</ref>}}
{{Women in society sidebar}}The roles of '''women in Lebanon''' have evolved throughout history. The legal status of women transformed over the 20th century, but traditional patriarchal norms and conservative versions of
[[Lebanon]] is known for its active [[feminist]] movements in the [[Arab world|Arab region]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Daou|first=Bernadette|date=2015|title=Feminisms in Lebanon: after proving loyalty to the "Nation", will the "Body" rise within the "Arab Spring"?|url=https://civilsociety-centre.org/file/feminismsinlebanonafterprovingloyaltyenpdf/download?token=fPid7vbA|journal=Civil Society Knowledge Center}}</ref> Oftentimes they aim to overcome legal and sociopolitical discriminations enshrined in personal status law.<ref>{{Citation |title=Chapter 1 Afterlives of a Census: Rethinking State Power and Political Difference |date=2022-05-03 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781503631564-003/html |work=Sextarianism |pages=24–47 |publisher=Stanford University Press |doi=10.1515/9781503631564-003 |isbn=978-1-5036-3156-4 |access-date=2023-02-23}}</ref> In the [[17 October Revolution]], especially women called for reforming the sectarian system in Lebanon, in order to acquire equal rights regarding citizenship, inheritance and protection against domestic violence.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1334107801 |title=Practicing sectarianism : archival and ethnographic interventions on Lebanon |date=2023 |others=Lara Deeb, Tsolin Nalbantian, Nadya Sbaiti |isbn=978-1-5036-3387-2 |location=Stanford, California |oclc=1334107801}}</ref>
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During a session with the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Human Rights Council]] on January 18, 2021, Lebanon's Universal Periodical Review (UPR) submitted recommendations designed to enhance [[human rights]] measures and protections in Lebanon.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=19 January 2021 |title=Lebanon must end impunity for human rights abuses following UN Human Rights Council review |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/01/lebanon-must-end-impunity-for-human-rights-abuses-following-un-review/ |access-date=2021-04-21 |website=www.amnesty.org |language=en}}</ref> The government of Lebanon, according to [[Amnesty International]], should yield to international pressures to address core issues regarding women's civil, social, and economic rights, especially since only minor improvements were made since its last review in 2015.<ref name=":5" /> Recommendations made by 47 governments at the UPR Working Group session included the end of torture via authority figures and their impunity, decriminalization of defamation, elimination of the ''Kafala'' system, and enhancement of citizens’ rights to protest, assemble, and have freedom of speech.<ref name=":5" />
== Legal
The legal system in Lebanon, particularly its civil laws and personal status codes, significantly contributes to reinforcing gender inequality in Lebanese society. The Lebanese legal system draws its inspiration from the French Civil Code and Egyptian legal systems, and states that all citizens should be treated equally. This is articulated in Articles 7 and 12 of the 1926 [[Constitution of Lebanon|Lebanese Constitution]], which guarantee equal civil, political, and employment rights for all Lebanese citizens.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Lamia Rustum Shehadeh |date=2010 |title=Gender-Relevant Legal Change in Lebanon |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/feminist_formations/v022/22.3.shehadeh.html |journal=Feminist Formations |language=en |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=210–228 |doi=10.1353/ff.2010.0029 |issn=2151-7371}}</ref> This, however, is not the case in practice, particularly when it comes to women's rights and the way they continue to be marginalized in society.
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=== Gender roles ===
Gender roles in Lebanon are formed early through [[socialization]] within the family during one's childhood.
Married women are expected to prioritize home obligations and are at times criticized by their families or partners for not wanting to stay at home with the children. This creates a power imbalance between men and women, placing men in a more authoritative position which influences the way women are seen and treated in society, in addition to at home. This perception is changing however, with increased discussion and education surrounding gender equality and the marginalization of women in Lebanon. Traditional gender roles continue to be challenged with more women prioritizing their education and careers in attempt to reshape deeply rooted societal expectations.<ref name=":6" />
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===Marriage===
The penal code in Lebanon, and specifically concerning marriage, used to be in favor of the man. However, it has witnessed some reforms. Article 562, which had historically been used to reduce sentences awarded for a non-premeditated honor killing resulting from an "illegitimate" sexual intercourse, was scrapped by the Lebanese Parliament on August 4, 2011.<ref>{{cite web |date=11 August 2011 |title=Lebanon: Law Reform Targets 'Honor' Crimes |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/08/11/lebanon-law-reform-targets-honor-crimes}}</ref> Moreover, in 2014, the Lebanese Parliament finally passed a full-fledged law targeting domestic violence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lebanon passes law against domestic violence |url=https://mobile.mmedia.me/lb/en/lebanonnews/541645-lebanon-passes-law-against-domestic-violence}}</ref> Nevertheless, some existing laws still tend to favor men in some aspects. For example, if the male spouse is an adulterer, before being accused, his adulterous act is questioned on whether it was done in the marital home or in public. However, if a woman is accused of adulterous acts, she is automatically convicted. Moreover, if convicted, the sentencing time is less for a male than female (male: one month to one year, female: three months to three years).<ref>{{cite web |title=Penalties |url=https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Lebanon.pdf |access-date=2015-11-20 |publisher=Freedomhouse.org}}</ref> Recently, there have been talks about decriminalizing adultery altogether, and a draft law submitted by MP [[Samy Gemayel]] on the matter is still pending review.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gemayel Submits Draft Law Proposing Decriminalization of Adultery |url=http://www.kataeb.org/local/2016/03/08/gemayel-submits-draft-law-proposing-decriminalization-of-adultery}}</ref> Moreover, in Lebanon under article 503 rape is defined as "forced sexual intercourse who is not his wife by violence or threat", through this definition, rape is not recognized in a marital relationship. However, through the 2014 law on domestic violence, there were claims of "marital rights to intercourse" would have penalties including fines but no mention of criminalization.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-19 |title=Lebanon: Reform Rape Laws |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/19/lebanon-reform-rape-laws |access-date=2021-11-18 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en}}</ref>
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This resistance to amending citizenship laws to include women reflects a deeper issue embedded within Lebanon's legal and societal structures. "The challenges of extending the right to pass citizenship status to the children and spouses of Lebanese women are grounded in the structural conditions of sexual difference and the masculinist state. Extending full citizenship rights to women would require a complete overhaul of the census regime and how it defines, regulates, and produces sextarian difference."<ref>Mikdashi, Maya. 2022. Sextarianism: Sovereignty, Secularism, and the State in Lebanon. Stanford University Press. p. 37.</ref> The systemic exclusion of women from full citizenship rights demonstrates how deeply sectarianism and gender discrimination are intertwined in Lebanon, affecting not only the legal status of individuals but also perpetuating inequalities that are deeply rooted in the nation's political and social fabric.
=== Single mothers ===
A large proportion of Lebanese society is still against premarital sex or single mothers, and there have been many cases where Lebanese women were blacklisted by their families for them being pregnant before marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CLDH {{!}} Single mothers in Lebanon: a never-ending struggle |url=http://www.rightsobserver.org/blog/single-mothers-in-lebanon:-a-never-ending-struggle |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=www.rightsobserver.org}}</ref> Some people have even reached the extent to kill their sister or daughter for having alleged pre-marital sexual relationships, calling it an "honor crime".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Refugees |first=United Nations High Commissioner for |title=Refworld {{!}} Lebanon: Risks for a single Christian mother, particularly the risk of becoming a victim of an "honour crime;" state protection available |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/41501c2ce.html |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref>
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France confirmed the electoral system of the former Ottoman Mount Lebanon province in setting up a Representative Council for Greater Lebanon in 1922. Two stage elections, universal adult male suffrage, and multimember multi-communal constituencies continued the situation that prevailed in Mount Lebanon up to 1914.<ref>Harris, William. Lebanon: a history, 600-2011. Oxford University Press, 2012, p. 160.</ref>
The women's movement organized in Lebanon with the creation of the [[Syrian-Lebanese Women's Union]] in 1924; split in the Women's Union led under [[Ibtihaj Qaddoura]] and the [[Lebanese Women Solidarity Association]] under [[Laure Thabet]] in 1946, the women's movement united again when the two biggest women's organizations, the [[
Women in Lebanon gained [[women's suffrage|suffrage]] in 1952, only five years after men did in the new Republic (in the year 1947). The [[Constitution of Lebanon|Lebanese constitution]]—specifically Article 7—proclaimed that "All Lebanese are equal under the law, enjoying equally civil and political rights, and performing duties and public responsibility without any discrimination among them." This however did not protect against [[Sexism|gender discrimination]] and thus women were not equally protected. Women were refused the right to vote by earlier Lebanese governments, and they were not granted voting rights until they began organizing petitions demanding for equal rights between genders. In 1952, the Women's Political Rights Agreement was signed, and it gave Lebanese women who had at least finished elementary education the right to vote.<ref name="refworld.org">{{cite web |author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |title=Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa - Lebanon |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/47387b6c2f.html |access-date=2015-11-20 |publisher=Refworld}}</ref> The limitation requiring women to at least have an elementary education to vote was lifted five years later in 1957 without much discourse.<ref>Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook : Volume I: Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Oxford University Press. 2001. p. 174</ref>
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== Feminism and activism ==
{{See also|17 October Revolution}}
Women who are engaged in political organizations often acquire social stigma. For example, many women within the Palestinian resistance movement live in Lebanese camps. These women "have political meetings at night and often sleep away from home. Many have been called prostitutes for doing so. But they have stood fast saying that their country comes before family".<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Al-Hibri, Azizah |author2=Mary Bailey |date=1974 |title=Interview: Beyond the Veil and the Vote: Lebanese Women Today. |journal=Off Our Backs |volume=4 |issue=7 |pages=23 |jstor=25783880}}</ref>
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== Sports ==
{{See also|Women's football in Lebanon}}
In Lebanon, women in sports have historically faced challenges despite their commitment and passion to compete. This namely includes having to deal with societal norms and perceptions regarding gender roles, limited resources, and insufficient exposure. Despite this, several Lebanese female athletes have achieved great success, not just in Lebanon, but on an international level across different sports.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Dima |date=2023-08-23 |title=Lebanese Women in Sports: Overcoming Disparities and Striving for Recognition |url=https://fanack.com/society/features-insights/lebanese-women-in-sports-overcoming-disparities-and-striving-for-recognition~263583/ |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=The MENA Chronicle {{!}} Fanack |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Jaber |first=Christina |date=August 4, 2021 |title=The Lebanese Female Athletes Who Made History at The Tokyo 2020 Olympics |url=https://www.specialarabia.com/en/article/7116-The-Lebanese-Female-Athletes-Who-Made-History-at-The-Tokyo-2020-Olympics-}}</ref>
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