"the region cannot be addressed, nor modern democracies constructed, as long as these issues are pushed under the carpet by regimes, the UN or conservative thugs"
Wow that covers just about everyone but you Daniel!
I do take issue with you refering to Conservative thugs. Check a few facts and you will find far more people were killed last century by activists (Thats a thug when they are left wing) than by right wing thugs.

[Deleted for abuse.]

JBowyer and Arjay: are you really so blinkered that you ignore the fact that this splendid article is about WOMEN? The treatment of women in these countries is appalling! Or do you overlook that in your quest to continue the millennia-old Muslim-Jewish battle?

Rise up all you women of the Middle East! Demand your rights. We women of the West will support you even if the likes of JBowyer and Arjay never lift a finger to help.

Arjay. You let yourself down with this sort of rant which seems to me to have no relation to the article which is about the plight of women in many/most/nearly all/all Muslim states. The facts as listed cannot be denied. Those countries are clearly sexist to an appalling degree.
Because he cannot answer the criticisms/comments in the article, Arjay does not even refer to them. Instead he churns out a list of issues that are totally irrelevant. In the process he automatically demonstrates that he is unconcerned with the position of women in those countries and so proves that he is totally sexist.
I have just realised that I have automatically assumed that Arjay is male. Reasonable I think because it would be a weird female who would support their own oppression, though I do know that there are a small number of women who do betray their own sex and claim that Islam is not sexist.
My personal gripe over the issue of the plight of women in Muslim countries is in respect of the feeble and selfish attitude of women in this country and others who call themselves 'feminists' and are so busy with the glass ceiling that they do nothing for and say very little about women who are really in terrible trouble elsewhere.

Western feminism by and large does not give a stuff about women suffering under godless regimes. They are to pre occupied with the right to abort their babies, take on male jobs and spend millions on academic studies to confirm their 'victim'status.

JBowyer:

I think the "conservative thugs" referred to were Islamist conservatives, not Western-style conservatives.