Feminist Activism, Women's Rights, and Legal Reform (Feminisms and Development)

This ground-breaking collection investigates the relationship between feminist activism and legal reform as a pathway to gender justice and social change. Since the advent of feminist movements legal reform has been a popular and yet contentious vehicle for seeking women’s rights and empowerment. This important book looks at comparative insights drawn from field-based research on the processes, the challenges, and the outcomes of legal reform and feminist activism. Feminist Activism, Women's Rights, and Legal Reform brings together cases from Middle East, Latin America, and Asia of the successes and failures of reform efforts concerning the promulgation and implementation of new family laws and domestic violence codes.

In Egypt's modern history, reform of personal status laws has often formed an integral part of political, cultural, and religious contestations among different factions of society. From the beginning of the twenty-first century, two significant reforms were introduced in Egyptian personal status laws: women's right to petition for no-fault judicial divorce law (khul') and the new mediation-based family courts. Legal Reform and Gender Justice examines the interplay between legal reform and gender norms and practices. It examines the processes of advocating for, and contesting the khul' and new family courts laws, shedding light on the agendas and strategies of the various actors involved. It also examines the ways in which women and men have made use of these legal reforms; how judges and other court personnel have interpreted and implemented them; and how the reforms may have impacted women and men's understandings, expectations, and strategies when navigating marriage and spousal roles.Drawing on an extensive four-year field study, Al-Sharmani highlights the complexities and mixed impacts of legal reform, not only as a mechanism of claiming gender rights but also as a system of meanings that shape, destabilize, or transform gender norms and practices.

In Egypt's modern history, reform of personal status laws has often formed an integral part of political, cultural, and religious contestations among different factions of society. From the beginning of the twenty-first century, two significant reforms were introduced in Egyptian personal status laws: women's right to petition for no-fault judicial divorce law (khul') and the new mediation-based family courts. Legal Reform and Gender Justice examines the interplay between legal reform and gender norms and practices. It examines the processes of advocating for, and contesting the khul' and new family courts laws, shedding light on the agendas and strategies of the various actors involved. It also examines the ways in which women and men have made use of these legal reforms; how judges and other court personnel have interpreted and implemented them; and how the reforms may have impacted women and men's understandings, expectations, and strategies when navigating marriage and spousal roles. Drawing on an extensive four-year field study, Al-Sharmani highlights the complexities and mixed impacts of legal reform, not only as a mechanism of claiming gender rights but also as a system of meanings that shape, destabilize, or transform gender norms and practices. Essays About The Relationship Between Feminist Activism And Legal Reform As A Pathway To Gender Justice And Social Change In Iran, South Yemen, Egypt, Bangladesh, Morocco, Brazil And Ghana. Legal Reform And Feminist Activism / Mulki Al-sharmani -- Debating Islamic Family Law In Palestine : Citizenship, Gender, And 'islamic' Idioms / Nahda Shehada -- Readjusting Women's Too Many Rights : The State, The Public Voice, And Women's Rights In South Yemen / Susanne Dahlgren -- Reforming Egyptian Family Laws : The Debate About A New Substantive Code / Mulki Al-sharmani -- Men Aboard? : Movement For A Uniform Family Code In Bangladesh / Sohela Nazneen -- From Status To Rights : The Shifting Dimensions Of Women's Activism In Iranian Family Law Reform / Arzoo Osanloo -- Moroccan Divorce Law, Family Court Judges, And Spouses' Claims : Who Pays The Cost When A Marriage Is Over? / Jessica Carlisle -- Organizing To Monitor Implementation Of The Maria Da Penha Law In Brazil / Silvia De Aquino -- Implementing Domestic Violence Legislation In Ghana : The Role Of Institutions / Takyiwaa Manuh And Angela Dwamena-aboagye. Edited By Mulki Al-sharmani. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Annotation This ground-breaking collection investigates the relationship between feminist activism and legal reform as a pathway to gender justice and social change. Since the advent of feminist movements in the Global South and North, legal reform has been a popular and yet contentious vehicle of seeking women's rights and empowerment. Accordingly, law has been an important focus of feminist scholarship. This important book will contribute to such scholarship, with comparative insights drawn from field-based research on the processes, the challenges, and the outcomes of legal reform and feminist activism from a number of countries in different regions of the world. Feminist Activism, Women's Rights and Legal Reform brings together cases from Middle East, Latin America and Asia of the successes and failures of reform efforts concerning the promulgation and implementation of new family laws and domestic violence codes

This ground-breaking collection investigates the relationship between feminist activism and legal reform as a pathway to gender justice and social change.Since the advent of feminist movements legal reform has been a popular and yet contentious vehicle for seeking women's rights and empowerment. This important book looks at comparative insights drawn from field-based research on the processes, the challenges, and the outcomes of legal reform and feminist activism. Feminist Activism, Women's Rights, and Legal Reform brings together cases from Middle East, Latin America, and Asia of the successes and failures of reform efforts concerning the promulgation and implementation of new family laws and domestic violence codes.

This ground-breaking collection investigates the relationship between feminist activism and legal reform as a way to gender justice and social change. Since the advent of feminist movements legal reform has been a popular and yet contentious vehicle for seeking women's rights and empowerment. This important book looks at comparative insights drawn from field-based research on the processes, the challenges, and the outcomes of legal reform and feminist activism in different regions of the world Looking at global case studies this collection explores the interplay between feminist activism and land reform. It investigates at the successes as well as the failures of reform efforts, the processes of law making and feminist legal advocacy as well as the ways in which these processes have been shaped by historical and socio-political contexts.