Antifeminist narratives on the rise - Insights on Arabic-speaking online spaces 23.04.2026 Digital environments increasingly shape public discourse. Our expert roundtable on 7 May discusses arabic-speaking online spaces where antifeminist narratives are widespread. Image: Creator: Fabrika.cc With digital environments increasingly shaping public discourse, antifeminist narratives are gaining ground online. In the new FES report ‘The Manosphere in Arabic: Mapping Subcultures, Narratives, and Impacts Across Arabic-Speaking Online Spaces’, feminist researcher Sarah Kaddoura examines the Arabic-speaking ‘manosphere’, a loose network of online communities in which such narratives thrive. On 7 May, the author will join our roundtable to present the report’s findings, followed by a discussion with experts and participants on key questions, including:the role these online spaces play in shaping debates on gender, authority and social norms;the way antifeminist content spreads online, and what is needed to counter it;possible EU responses to online harms, both within Europe and through EU external actionways to help shape EU approaches to gender justice-programmingDate: 7 May, 11:00-12:30 CEST Venue: FES EU Office, Rue du Taciturne 38, 1000 Brussels The event takes place under the Chatham House Rule. For more information, please contact Agnes.Mach(at)fes.de. Register now Programme overview Programme 10:30 Registration 11:00 Opening Remarks Merin Abbass, Head of FES Lebanon 11:05 Presentation of the FES report ‘The Manosphere in Arabic-Speaking Online Spaces’ Sarah Kaddoura, Palestinian feminist researcher, activist, writer, and content creator; programme manager at South Feminist Futurescommented on by Pedro Espirito Santo, Cabinet of EU Commissioner Síkela, Policy Assistant for Gender and Equality (TBC) 11:30 Open Exchangemoderated by Samantha Elia, Program Manager of the FES Political Feminism Program in the MENA region 12:30 Light lunch and networking Related articles Friday, 24.10.2025 News Publication Policy Brief: Beyond Values - How Feminist Foreign Policy Serves Strategic Interests Feminist Foreign Policy can be more than "just" a moral choice. Our policy brief explores how FFP can become an effective tool of foreign policy strategy. Friday, 06.12.2024 News Publication Policy Brief: A feminist foreign policy approach to EU security and defence Peace and security are at the heart of the Feminist Foreign Policy adopted by many EU Member States. Yet they have recently also increased their budget on defence. Can these notions be reconciled? Explore the question in our new policy brief. Monday, 15.12.2025 News Feminist Foreign Policy in Action Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) questions traditional takes on foreign relations and is becoming increasingly widespread in the political world. Find out more about our work to further the dialogue on this topic.
