AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank the knowledge-building team at Noor for their thoughtful coordination of this research project and for the support provided, including providing additional research, writing and editing input. Noor’s advisors from the region also acted as reviewers, for which the author is very grateful. Their insight and incisive comments really drove the report in the right direction. The author would like to thank the Noor team more generally for commissioning this important work, for being patient with the complexities of carrying it out, and for trusting me. The author also wishes to thank other researchers for all additional research carried out. Finally, the author remains eternally indebted to the work of feminist activists, journalists, scholars, and human rights defenders of and from the regions - past and present - whose tireless work, documentation and analyses form the backbone of this paper. 73