Throughout the last three decades, the Arab region has attracted the unwanted attention of the rest of the world because of its spiralling political upheaval. This unrest has caused migration, economic and cultural changes, and eventually a spring of revolutions and protests in demand of reform. Arab countries are now in the spotlight of global current affairs, and all the imperfections regarding their cultural, social, and gender inequalities have surfaced to the foreground. Arab women novelists have been addressing feminist issues for centuries, chipping away at the stereotypical image of the meek and voiceless Arab woman that comes hand in hand with Orientalism. Through their fiction, writers such as Nawal El Saadawi, Hanan Al- Shaykh and Fadia Faqir have promulgated a bold brand of Arab feminist thought. This interdisciplinary thesis explores the Greater Syrian and Egyptian woman's novel written between 1975 and 2007. Through the in-depth analysis of Arab women's novels available in English, I attempt to uncover the many reasons behind today's gender inequality in Greater Syria and Egypt. By examining contemporary Arabic narrative styles and cultivating traditional Arab story-telling methods, the creative element of this thesis uses fiction to expose social and political injustice. The novel within this thesis challenges different forms of patriarchy that are dominant in the region, and endeavours to document a historical, on-going revolution.

Assignments and organizations working with exposed women are more and more common in the Swedish society. Both authorities and nonprofit organizations are working actively to strengthen women’s position in the labor market through incentives and other measures. The study shows that the work with exposed women takes place in cooperation between the parties involved. The purpose of this qualitative study was to look into how the professionals were working with exposed women, in different types of organizations. The study focuses on highlighting techniques, qualifications, approaches and cooperation partners within organizations working with exposed women. The study has been related to the Swedish Social law, related reports, Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Constructivist counseling. The study shows that the professionals working with exposed women are using the Motivational Interviewing method and have a Constructivist approach. The study also shows that response when meeting exposed women, education, experience, knowledge of exposed women's vulnerability, and knowledge of women's options in the society are important qualifications. Finally the relevance between the conclusions of the study and the profession of educational counseling and career counseling are discussed. / Uppdrag och verksamheter som arbetar med utsatta kvinnor är alltmer vanligt i det svenska samhället. Både myndigheter och ideella organisationer arbetar aktivt för att öka de utsatta kvinnornas ställning på arbetsmarknaden. Arbetet är utformat genom varierande insatser och åtgärder. Studien visar att arbetet med de utsatta kvinnorna sker i samverkan mellan de inblandade parterna. Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att undersöka de professionella som arbetar med utsatta kvinnor i verksamheter, angående deras arbetsätt. Studien fokuserar på att lyfta fram metoder, kompetenser, förhållningssätt och samarbetspartners inom verksamheter för utsatta kvinnor. Undersökningen har relaterats till Socialtjänstlagen, anknytande rapporter, Motiverande samtal (MI) och den konstruktivistiska vägledningen. Studien visar att intervjupersonerna som arbetar med utsatta kvinnor arbetar utifrån samtalsmetoden MI och har ett konstruktivistiskt förhållningssätt. Vidare visar studien att bemötande, utbildning, erfarenheter, kunskap om kvinnors utsatthet samt kunskap om kvinnors valmöjligheter är viktiga kompetenser. Avslutningsvis diskuteras slutsatsernas relevans för studie- och yrkesvägledarprofessionen.