Suzanne Mubarak
Pre-Spring regimes enacted some pro-women's rights policies. The regimes strongly opposed Islamist movements and these policies stemmed from the desire to make society more secular. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak gave women the right to sue for divorce from their husbands and implemented a female-friendly quota system for elections. Observers credited his wife, Suzanne Mubarak, with pushing the reforms. Syria's Bashar al-Assad made it legal for news outlets to report on honor killings, although judges could still reduce penalties if murder was justified that way. Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi made it illegal for men to marry additional women without their current wives' consent. He also discouraged women from wearing the hijab, describing it as an "act of the devil" that forced women to "sit at home." This policy drew criticism for reducing women's freedom to choose their attire, but it also promoted secularism.