N. Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Femicide and the Palestinian
criminal justice system. Seeds of change in the context
of state building, in Law and Society Review36:3
(2002a), 577–605.
——, Re-examining femicide. Breaking the silence and
crossing scientific borders, in Signs. Journal of Women
in Culture and Society28:2 (2002b), 581–608.
A. S. Sidahmed, Problems in contemporary applications
of Islamic criminal sanctions. The penalty for adultery
in relation to women, in British Journal of Middle
Eastern Studies 28:2 (2001), 187–204.
WWHR (Women for Women’s Human Rights), The new
legal status of women in Turkey, Istanbul 2002.Lynn WelchmanAfghanistanAfghanistan’s legal system includes the Sharì≠a and
the Penal Code; in most cases penalties are not gen-
der-based although the code does refer to certain
parts of the Sharì≠a, such as ™udùd, qißàß, and diya.
Afghanistan has capital punishment. Women’s
crime rate is very low and mostly family related. In
Kabul, with a population of nearly three million,
the women’s jail has only 28 inmates who live there
with their children. From 1992 to 2001 in the free
northern provinces of Kapissa and Parwan, there
was only one female execution and one qißàß
(requested by a widowed mother whose daughter
was killed by a man she had refused to marry her
daughter to). From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban mili-
tias stoned or executed many women publicly,
imprisoned many more for violating their orders,
and put into their correctional facility hundreds of
young women and girls for as small an infraction as
laughing in the street. While since December 2001
the reinstated 1964 constitution recognizes the
rights of all citizens, has well-defined separation of
powers, and does not admit fatwa as binding law,
the Taliban operated only by fatwas from their
leader, Mullah Omar.
An overall problem that will have to be dealt
with in the criminal law domain is the fact that the
judiciary is based on £anafìlaw while a sizeable
population follows Shì≠ìJa≠farìlaw.
The largest number of crimes committed by
women and against women are related to family
violence. Often women who have suffered in these
situations face criminal charges as well. Examples
abound: an already married woman whose hus-
band was working in another city ran away
because her father wanted to marry her to another
man (in return for money). The police found and
jailed her, both to protect her from her father and
to punish her for running away without permission
from a male member of her family. Sometimes the402 law: criminal
fate of women in situations of family violence does
not come to light until after their death. Authorities
are reluctant to indict family members in such cases.
It remains to be seen if in the new constitution
(adopted January 2004) and the legal institutions
now taking shape in Afghanistan these issues are
dealt with in a manner consistent with equality of
men and women.Bibliography
M. H. Kamali, Law in Afghanistan. A study of the consti-
tutions, matrimonial law and the judiciary, Leiden
1985.
J. E. Sihombing and H. A. Finlay (eds.), Law Asia family
law series, editor-in-chief R. Watson, Singapore 1979.
H. G. Vafai, Afghanistan. A country law study, Washing-
ton, D.C. 1988.Nasrine GrossArab StatesCriminal law in the Arab world derives, by and
large, from Western European principles as well as
from the Sharì≠a and ≠urf(tribal or customary law),
although in Saudi Arabia law is not codified and the
≠ulamà±(religious scholars) preside over matters of
criminal law. It would not be correct to single out
the Arab states as the only locus of legal disadvan-
tage for women or discrimination against them.
Until quite recently, many Western legal codes
defined women as wives and dependents. Islamic
legal principles treat women as reproductive and
sexual beings to be constrained by the umma(the
Muslim community), family, or tribe. Theoretically,
as Islamic law developed, the adjudication of
crimes shifted to the umma. Yet families and tribal
councils continued to serve as guardians and to
apply customary law.
Women’s legal status affects their role in the judi-
cial system. For example, women are excluded
from giving testimony in the most serious category
of crimes in Islamic law, the ™add(pl. ™udùd),
which are crimes against God. Women judges have
presided in Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, and Lebanon but
historical precedent and Islamist sentiments have
prevented them from serving elsewhere. The key
principles of most criminal categories are gendered
and have serious implications for women.Murder
≠Urfaccorded a lesser monetary value to women’s
lives, and assigned a high value to virginity. Islamic
law adopted these monetary distinctions, although
it did outlaw cruel practices such as death by expo-
sure of female infants. In tribal tradition, a life or