Is pressure on women rising in Algeria?

Women in Algeria are facing a major rise in strict religious pressure, according to a report from Marianne released on July 4, 2026. The article claims that influential voices are now trying to limit how women dress, move, and act in public spaces while pushing for a very rigid interpretation of Islamic law.

The tension recently flared up after a lawyer named Fayçal Mahmoudi spoke out. He criticised young women for visiting mixed-gender holiday camps. He even called for a “morality police” to make sure women follow strict religious rules instead of the country’s civil laws. According to Marianne, the pressure often gets worse during the summer. In some beach areas, women report being refused access or harassed if they do not cover up in specific ways.

Social media has also become a battleground. Influencers and some academics regularly attack women who do not wear a veil. They target feminists, students, and actresses. Sociologist Nacer Djabi explains that these attacks show a deep fear of women’s independence. He says these groups want to remove women from public life entirely.

This trend is causing worry across the country, Marriane reports. Recent court cases have also targeted artists and influencers for “promoting perversion.” Many observers fear these actions remind the country of the difficult social tensions seen in the early 1990s.

These efforts to control public behaviour with religious rules resemble the atmosphere before the Algerian Civil War. This conflict, known as the “Black Decade,” started in 1991. The military had canceled elections that an Islamist party was expected to win. For ten years, the state fought against armed Islamist groups. This violence resulted in approximately 44,000 deaths. Today, the rise of rhetoric aimed at enforcing strict social codes through outside pressure mirrors the tactics used by Islamist groups then to dismantle civil rights.

Maghrebi.org, Marianne, POMEPS, HiCN.