Tensions and backlash

These changes have produced tensions in many societies. Religious authorities (in many traditions) have argued that women's expanded roles disrupt divinely ordained gender arrangements. Some political movements have made women's roles a central focus, either in support of expansion or in support of restriction.

• Iran: Pre-revolutionary Iran had expanded women's rights significantly. The Islamic Republic reversed many gains, requiring veiling and segregating sexes in public. The 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody (she had been arrested for improper hijab) showed the ongoing tensions.
• Saudi Arabia: Already discussed. Recent cautious liberalization has expanded women's rights but the kingdom remains one of the most restrictive societies.
• Afghanistan under the Taliban: The Taliban's rule (1996-2001 and from 2021) has imposed some of the most severe restrictions on women in the world, including banning girls' education beyond elementary school and restricting women's employment.
• India: Despite legal reforms, women face high rates of domestic violence, dowry-related deaths, and other forms of gender-based violence. The 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus triggered nationwide protests and some legal reforms.
• China: The one-child policy (1980-2015) produced massive gender imbalances because of sex-selective abortion. Marriage market pressures and continuing patriarchal practices coexist with women's substantial educational and professional advancement.