Women lost out big time in the elections in Lebanon in June. There were a mere six women MPs out of 128 in the Lebanese parliament. Now there are only four. Lina Abou-Habib, director of the Centre for Research and Training on Development Action, says: “It was a major, major setback for women, in terms of representation. But also because the women who do enter parliament do so through patriarchal channels.”

With only 3.1% of seats now occupied by women, Lebanon is at the bottom of the table of parliamentary representation of women in the Middle East.