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Abstract: Women are acutely underrepresented in the parliaments of Arab states. The author advocates gender quotas throughout the Arab region as a means to mandate women's participation in previously male-monopolized halls of power. Quotas will help to fast track the paradigm shift needed to mobilize the suppressed political capital held by Arab women, and stimulate policy reforms that advance gender equity by having women a higher representation of women parliamentarians. The article aims to identify and illustrate the principal obstacles hindering the participation of women in Arab national parliaments. Because these obstacles work cumulatively to segregate Arab women from parliamentary seats, the author recommends that Arab states implement fast track quota measures to ameliorate the impact of past and present-day discrimination against women, and to challenge the prevailing patriarchal institutions that perpetuate the political segregation of women in the Arab world. The policy proposal set out in the final sections of the article urges the adoption of urgent discourse as well as ambitious large-scale affirmative action programs. This provocative approach fits within the urgent tactical and dialectical strategy needed to challenge Arab patriarchal structures, and create political inroads for the region's women.
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