==In the protests==

 

[[File:Flickr - Kodak Agfa - All ladies against Mubarak.jpg|thumb|left|Women in Tahrir Square protest the rule of Hosni Mubarak]]

 

 

Individual women had played key roles in starting the protests. In [[Tunisia]], policewoman Fedia Hamdi's confiscation of [[Mohamed Bouazizi]]'s street vending wares led him to set himself on fire in protest. This incident provoked protests in his hometown of [[Sidi Bouzid]] and eventually spread throughout the country to become the [[Tunisian Revolution]]. His family members and outside observers have hypothesized that Hamdi's gender compounded his embarrassment and frustration and drove him to the point of immolating himself.<ref>{{cite news|last=Day|first=Elizabeth|title=The slap that sparked a revolution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/15/arab-spring-tunisia-the-slap|accessdate=18 March 2013|newspaper=The Observer|date=14 May 2011}}</ref> <ref name="Bouazizi's brother">{{cite news|title=Tunisia: 'I have lost my son, but I am proud of what he did'|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/tunisia-i-have-lost-my-son-but-i-am-proud-of-what-he-did-2190331.html|accessdate=18 March 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=21 Jan 2011}}</ref> As the protests spread, blogger [[Lina Ben Mhenni]] reported from the rural areas where the protests started, including covering security forces' attack of protesters in [[Kasserine]]. Her work provided vital information to other Tunisian activists and brought the events there to the world's attention.<ref name="Lina Ben Mhenni">{{cite news|last=Ryan|first=Yasmine|title=Tunisian blogger becomes Nobel Prize nominee|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/10/2011106222117687872.html|accessdate=18 March 2013|newspaper=Al Jazeera English|date=21 Oct 2011}}</ref> In [[Egypt]], activist [[Asmaa Mahfouz]] posted a video urging Egyptians to protest the regime of [[Hosni Mubarak]] in [[Tahrir Square]] on January 25, [[National Police Day]]. Her video went viral and the January 25 protests drew a large crowd, setting off the [[2011 Egyptian Revolution]].<ref name="Asmaa Mahfouz">{{cite news|title=Revolutionary blogger Asma threatened|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/region/egypt/revolutionary-blogger-asma-threatened-1.757171|accessdate=18 March 2013|newspaper=Gulf News|date=5 Feb 2011}}</ref> Yemeni activist [[Tawakkol Karman]] organized protests and student rallies against the rule of [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]], which culminated in the [[2011 Yemeni revolution]] and the abdication of President Saleh. Yemenis referred to her as the "Mother of the Revolution" and she was named a winner of the 2011 [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. Libyan human rights lawyer Salwa Bughaigis helped organize the [[Libyan civil war#Uprising and civil war|"Day of Rage" protests]] on February 17, 2011. Those protests drove the Libyan army out of [[Benghazi]], which marked a turning point in the [[Libyan civil war|Libyan Revolution]].<ref name="Salwa Bughaigis">{{cite web|title=Salwa Bughaigis|url=http://www.vitalvoices.org/node/2680|publisher=Vital Voices|accessdate=18 March 2013}}</ref>