Women in Arab Revolutions

'The Arab Spring has proven an epochal period of activism and change for women.' – Middle-East-Online.com

'Increasingly educated, organized and networked, Muslim women, using sources such as the Qur'an and international human-rights laws, have begun to question the prevailing political, social and religious status quo in the Middle East.' – Time.com

'So how will the revolutions taking place in the region affect women's rights? Is there a chance that women will become more marginalized than before?' – globalpublicsquare·blogs·CNN·com

'In light of the revolutions across the Arab world, what challenges are women facing in this new political era?' – Al Jazeera

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Resisting Polygamy

Malaysia: SIS hopes to trigger a change in legislation in Malaysia through its breakthrough study on polygamy.

Mauritania: Many Mauritanian women now use conditions in the marriage contract to prevent polygamy.

Palestine: The Working Group for Equality in Personal Status Issues concluded the first round of its campaign 'No Justification for Polygamy'.

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Backgrounds to Equality in the Family

Bangladesh: Islamic parties strike against a proposed law to give women equal property rights.

Lebanon: Protests against the country’s authoritarian system of family laws that discriminate against women.

Mali: The revised family code is still on hold and if no consensus is reached soon it may be shelved again.

Palestine: A draft family law that proposed ending polygamy, raising the age of marriage and giving women equal inheritance rights was turned down.

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The Rightful Place of Gender Equality within Islam

Janine Moussa, Chief Researcher for Musawah’s report CEDAW and Muslim Family Laws, writes about the issue, the Musawah Framework and the report on openDemocracy.net.

Musawah in the News

AWID interviews Musawah Advocate Djingarey Ibrahim Maiga about the new Family Code in Mali.

Zainah Anwar and Pinar Ilkkaracan made the list of 150 Women 'Who Shake the World' by the Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

Ms. Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, mentioned Musawah in her statement at the Carter Center’s Forum on Faith, Belief, and the Advancement of Women’s Human Rights in April 2011.

Twitter: Musawah’s Twitter account was launched in February. Follow us: @musawah.

Resources

The Network of Women’s Rights Organizations (NWRO) in Egypt has released Legal Guide for Developing a More Just Integrated Family Law.

Musawah International Advisory Group members Cassandra Balchin and Ziba Mir-Hosseini published articles in the Institute of Development Studies Bulletin Religion, Rights and Gender at the Crossroads.

Partners for Law in Development in collaboration with UN Women launched the CEDAW South Asia website.

‘Human Rights and Islamic Law: A Legal Analysis Challenging the Husband’s Authority to Punish “Rebellious” Wives’ by Murad H. Elsaidi in the Muslim World Journal of Human Rights.

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Musawah Events

Pictures from Musawah’s first strategic planning meeting in February 2011 in Kuala Lumpur

Update: Consolidating Musawah’s Strategic Direction

A working group formed at Musawah’s first strategic planning meeting in February in Kuala Lumpur has finalised a draft Strategic Direction document which will be shared with Advocates (in Arabic and English) soon for feedback and suggestions that will be incorporated into the final document.

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Musawah Outreach

Southeast, South and Central Asia

Musawah Advocate in India, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), issued a press release on March 24, 2011 in Mumbai. In regards to their work on Muslim family law in India, the press release stated that ‘BMMA has taken the lead in addressing the issue of personal status law codification and has been doing nationwide consultations with Muslim women, lawyers, academics and other experts to assess their views on this issue.’

Arab Region (Middle East and North Africa)

Musawah Advocate in Egypt, the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA), issued a statement calling for solidarity on emerging issues and concerns related to the application of custody and visitation laws. CEWLA calls for thorough and thoughtful consideration of all social and legal aspects relating to such proposed amendments before they are passed.

Young Women’s Caucus (YWC)

The Musawah Young Women’s Caucus together with SIS organized a local event in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the 100th International Women’s Day and pay tribute to courageous women who have been an inspiration in their fight for equality and justice in Muslim contexts and across the globe.

Visit YWC Facebook page here.

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International Advocacy

Strengthening Application of CEDAW in South Asia

The Musawah Framework for Action and the findings of the Musawah research on CEDAW and Muslim Family Laws were presented at the Partners for Law in Development (PLD) Training of Trainers on Strengthening Application of CEDAW in South Asia in Kathmandu, Nepal in April. Musawah Director Zainah Anwar was a resource person for the training which included 34 participants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Musawah Secretariat will now consider conducting training on Understanding Islam from a Rights Perspective for South Asia

UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice

At its 16th session, the Human Rights Council appointed Kamala Chandrakirana, Musawah International Advisory Group member and Musawah Advocate in Indonesia, as a member of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice.

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