How Does Islamist Local Governance Affect the Lives of Women?

How do women fare under rule by I slamists? Whereas some scholarly work suggests that I slamists are effective at providing the type of social services that benefit women most, other studies contend that I slamic groups support “pro‐male” policies and cultural interventions that disadvantage the well‐being of women. I n order to adjudicate between these views, I compare two neighborhoods in G reater C airo that are similar on a number of dimensions but in one, a militant I slamist group came to dominate local politics, whereas in the other, strongmen ruled the streets in the absence of a strong state presence. Using an original data set of retrospective health histories for women in each neighborhood, I find that women subject to governance by the I slamic group enjoyed better outcomes related to reproductive health than a statistically matched set of women in the comparable neighborhood while being no more likely to marry early or drop out of school.