Women & Islamic Cultures Family, Law and Politics

Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) because
many of its provisions contradict Islamic law.
Some argue that for the human rights ideology to
succeed in non-Western nations, it must allow for
multiculturalism. Others argue that allowing spe-
cial privileges for cultural and religious practices of
diverse ethnic groups potentially threatens gains
made by feminists (Okin 1999). The refusal to sign
CEDAW can be viewed as an example of the nega-
tive aspects of multiculturalism.
The tension between multiculturalism and uni-
versal human rights has created a dual system of
laws that govern women’s status in Iran. A conflict
is caused by the adoption of modern legal systems
in a country that also codifies Islamic law, the
Sharì≠a, giving rise to “two parallel but distinct
notions of legitimacy: Shari±a and legal” (Mir-
Hosseini 1993, vii). Laws derived from dominant
readings of the Sharì≠a, such as marriage, divorce,
and custody laws, usually contradict secular norms
derived from human rights principles concerning,
for example, legal equality between the sexes.
Often, one of these notions of legitimacy is chal-
lenged in court, blurring the boundaries between
the secular and the religious. Women renegotiate
their legal status through manipulation of these
obscure boundaries (Mir-Hosseini 1993).
Today, Iranian women play a vital role in various
human rights non-governmental organizations.
One such group is the Society for Protecting the
Rights of the Child (SPRC), headed by activist
female lawyer, Shirin Ebadi. Shirin Ebadi was the
first female judge in Iran in 1975. After the 1979
Revolution, women judges were dismissed, forcing
Ms. Ebadi to step down from the bench. She con-
tinued her work as an attorney and a human rights
activist. In 2003 Ms. Ebadi was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize making her the first Iranian, the first
Muslim woman, and the third woman ever to
receive the award.
The work of SPRC and other such groups often
falls in the obscure gap between modern legal stan-
dards (international human rights) and religious
laws (governing marriage, custody, and the family).
SPRC relies on human rights law to improve chil-
dren’s rights. However, the use of these principles in
conjunction with the group’s focus on family and
custody laws exemplifies reliance on prescribed
gender roles to promote women’s rights.
In 1997 SPRC and Ebadi succeeded in codifying
a proposed amendment to the custody law, pro-
hibiting automatic custody of children to unfit
fathers. Such victories demonstrate women’s use of
human rights standards to improve child welfare,
reinvent their own rights as mothers, and legitimize

mashriq arab states 273

their roles as activists in the reform movement.

Through activism in human rights organizations

and adherence to prescribed gender roles, Iranian

women are engaged in everyday forms of resist-

ance. Relying on human rights ideology and focus-

ing on traditionally female roles has legitimized

women’s struggle for equality.

Bibliography

S. Mackey, The Iranians. Persia, Islam and the soul of a

nation, New York 1996.

Z. Mir-Hosseini, Marriage on trial. A study of Islamic

family law. Iran and Morocco compared, London

1993.

S. M. Okin, Is multiculturalism bad for women?, in S. M.

Okin with respondents; J. Cohen, M. Howard, and

M. C. Nussbaum (eds.), Is muticulturalism bad for

women?, Princeton, N.J. 1999, 7–26.

M. Price, A brief history of women’s movements in Iran

(1850–2000), <www.iranonline.com/History/women-

history/4html>, 2000).

Niaz Kasravi

Mashriq Arab States

Women’s rights activists in the central Arab States

point to discrimination and violence against women

as major violations of women’s rights. The system-

atic nature of the subordination of women as

embedded in law and social practice permeates

nearly every aspect of women’s lives. The inferior

legal status of women in the region is rooted in per-

sonal status codes (PSC) that are religiously de-

rived. These laws discriminate against women and

privilege men in both the public and private spheres.

Modern legislation on nationality, penal, and other

laws has generally reinforced the discriminatory

clauses of the PSC. This discrimination is translated

and put into practice in civil, political, and eco-

nomic life with the rights, statuses, and roles of men

and women organized hierarchically.

Women’s subordinate status in society limits their

access to education, employment, and political rep-

resentation, in addition to making them more vul-

nerable to violence. Laws on violence against

women in the region do not sufficiently address the

size and scope of the problem, and the few laws that

exist lack enforcement mechanisms to guarantee

their implementation. The notion of marital rape

does not exist in the law, and unmarried women

with children and rape victims are particularly vul-

nerable and not always protected under the law. In

addition, lack of official quantitative and qualita-

tive statistics on the extent, forms, and manifesta-

tions of violence against women, enables states in

the region to shun their responsibilities, notably to