Most commentary on the condition of
women in the Middle East assigns a central place to the role of Islam. In fact,
there have been important variations, as well as persistent similarities, in
women’s conditions in Muslim societies. To make sense of the varieties of
women’s real, concrete historical experience, we must avoid confusing analytic
and polemical goals.
Current writing on women in
the Middle East exhibits two equally vigorous, but so far divergent trends.
A ‘Family Code’ law has been introduced which removes many of women’s
basic human rights. She also speaks about contraception, the problem of
abandoned children and the consequences for women of the insistence on virginity
at marriage.
Marie Aimée:
I would like to start with this new law, which is known in Algeria under the
name “Family Code”, (not the name of it, that is “Law on Personal Status”) a
title which is also used in Tunisia and Morocco.
The legal status of the Muslim women (1) in Bangladesh is defined by the principles
of Sharia through Muslim Personal Law along with the general law which is
non-religious and secular in its character. The Muslim personal law covers the
field of marriage, divorce, maintenance, guardianship of children and
inheritance whereas the general law covers the rights under the Constitution,
penal codes, the civil and criminal procedure codes, evidence act etc.
Ms Noriani Nik Badli Shah, research manager of Sisters in Islam, an NGO which lobbies for the rights of Muslim women, said not many Muslim women were aware of this right, and those who did were discouraged from using it by social pressure.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan, The Hon Mr Justice Sh. Riaz Ahmad, with senior members of the Pakistani judiciary took part in a judicial conference with UK Judges to discuss best practice on handling child contact, child abduction & forced marriage cases.
The
legal code of a nation ordinarily reflects, or should reflect, the values of the
society that form that nation. It depicts the influence of its past history and
its future aspirations or, at least, the aspirations of those in control. The
structure, mode, content and intent of the code indicate the ethical concepts
peculiar to that nation. All penal codes have ostensibly the same aims - to
punish the offender, to prevent crime and to preserve the peace.
Iran’s Guardian Council, a hard-line conservative force in Iran, recently approved a bill broadening women’s divorce rights—a right that has been severely limited since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
This legal literacy programme for women in Morocco was elaborated by the Morocco field office of the International Human Rights Law Group and 14 Moroccan women’s advocacy NGOs and local development associations from around the country.
Iran's reformist-controled Majlis, or parliament, has adopted a proposal expanding women's rights regarding divorce less than two months after winning a protracted battle with conservatives over a more limited reform.
