gender stereotypes frequently are reflected in social institutions that discriminate against women across the region for example according to the sigi laws in egypt morocco tunisia and yemen reveal setbacks or contribute to stagnancy of women s physical integrity while legislation and de facto access to resources are vital for women s autonomy and empowerment estimates from countries in the region show recent reversals in laws and de facto access to resources in fact the mena region has been the lowest performing region in the oecd sigi study with major problems in freedom of movement access to public space family code restricted physical integrity restricted resources and assets