mandate to attain and maintain equality, equity,
and empowerment for Canadian Muslim women in
the North American setting, and to develop a
vibrant human rights sector within their organiza-
tions. The CCMW collaborates with the Canadian
government at the municipal, provincial, and fed-
eral levels in order to achieve its objectives. It also
seeks to develop strategies to counteract racism
and violence against women, publishes reports and
newsletters, hosts conferences and workshops, and
initiates local and national projects to disseminate
information that further their objectives. The
FMW engages in initiatives similar to those of the
CCMW, and in addition deals with such issues as
violence against children, rights of physically and
mentally disabled citizens, alleviation of poverty,
and discrimination against ™ijàb-wearing Muslim
women.
The CAIR was inaugurated in the United States
in 1994. Subsequently, the CAIR-CAN chapter was
launched in 2000. The CAIR-CAN undertakes
tasks such as monitoring local and national media
in order to challenge stereotyping, hosting infor-
mation seminars and workshops, formulating and
distributing action alerts, and assisting with inter-
community relations. Physicist Sheema Khan is its
founder and current chairperson and is responsible
for overseeing most of its projects. CAIR executive
members and members-at-large include men and
women who may play parallel roles within the
media-related organization.
The CIC was founded in 1998 with numerous
objectives including education of Canadians about
Islam and Muslims, networking with all levels of
government and with NGOs, and undertaking
national research initiatives. Wahida Chishti Valiante,
a family counselor, is a founding member and the
current vice president of the CIC. While overseeing
the various CIC initiatives, she lectures regularly at
both national and international conferences, and
is an author of major research papers related to
media and social work. Similar to the CAIR, CIC
executive members and members-at-large include
men and women who may play parallel roles
within their organization.
Muslim women are increasingly evident in
human rights movements and NGOs in Canada,
representing the wide diversity of cultures, races,
languages, and ethnicities within the Muslim
Canadian community.Bibliography
CAIR-CAN (Council of American Islamic Relations-
Canada), <http://www.caircan.ca/>.
CCMW (Canadian Council of Muslim Women), <http://
http://www.ccmw.com/>.272 human rights
CIC (Canadian Islamic Congress), <http://www.cicnow.
com/>.
CMCLA (Canadian-Muslim Civil Liberties Association),
<http://www.cmcla.org/>.
FMW (Federation of Muslim Women), <http://www.fmw.
org/>.
MLA (Muslim Lawyer’s Association), <http://www.
muslimlaw.org/>.Nadira MustaphaIranThis entry examines Iranian women’s use of the
human rights discourse to contest legal limitations
under an Islamic regime. Based on field research
in the year 2000, findings indicate human rights
ideals serve as instruments of reform for women
seeking to revise their legal, social, and political
rights in Iran. This struggle takes place in the con-
text of a reform movement that began in 1997.
Discovered in 1878 at the Babylon excavation
cite, Cyrus the Great’s cuneiform cylinder was
declared the first ever human rights charter by the
United Nations in 1971. Most Iranians take pride
in this historical tie with the human rights move-
ment. However, the development of this movement
in Iran has differed from its progress in the West.
With roots in the ideals of enlightenment, human
rights ideology generally places great importance
on individualism. Islam, however, values the roles
that individuals play in society. Hence, the rights
movement in Iran has often relied on this paradigm,
focusing on the rights of women as mothers, chil-
dren, and students, that is, within a social location.
The Iranian women’s rights movement gained
particular visibility in the early twentieth century
after the Constitutional Revolution. Secret women’s
organizations were formed dealing with wide-rang-
ing issues including the right to participate in gov-
ernment, vote, publish women’s magazines, and
mandated education for girls (Price 2000).
After the Second World War, the United Nations
was created to protect individuals from oppression
at the hands of their governments. Concurrently,
the Pahlavìregime was in the process of Western-
izing and secularizing Iran (Mackey 1996). This
historical backdrop provided an ideal impetus for
the advancement of women’s efforts for equality. By
1962 women gained the right to vote, and in 1968
the Family Protection Law expanded women’s
rights in marriage, divorce, and custody (Mir-
Hosseini 1993). Many of these rights were lost after
the Revolution of 1979. In 1998 the Supreme
Council decided Iran would not become party to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of