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This chapter discusses the processes that led to the promulgation of the two Yemeni family codes of 1974 in the South and 1992 after the Unification. The author will look from a larger societal perspective at who the actors were in drafting the codes and what kind of public debates were allowed as part of the two processes. In particular, she will discuss the theoretical implications of a development gone reverse; does modernisation always bring women more rights? What kind of rhetoric a state has to turn into when it takes away women rights that gained popular approval? …

This report presents the findings of a field study on family courts in Egypt. The aim of this twelve-month ethnographic research, which started in January 1, 2007, was to conduct an in-depth study of the litigation process in family courts in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses in regard to meeting the legal needs of female disputants and strengthening their rights. A secondary goal of the study was to examine the effect of the new structures of family courts (e. g. …

This is the executive summary for a report which presents the findings of a field study on family courts in Egypt. The aim of this twelve-month ethnographic research, which started in January 1, 2007, was to conduct an in-depth study of the litigation process in family courts in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses in regard to meeting the legal needs of female disputants and strengthening their rights. A secondary goal of the study was to examine the effect of the new structures of family courts (e. g. …

The purpose of this workshop was to provide time and space to reflect. Participants reflected on their work on empowerment and why they do it, and how it has shaped them. Participants reflected on their personal journeys and also on their relationships with power; when do they feel powerful and why, when do they feel powerless, and how do they react to power. This report follows the different sessions and highlights the themes and questions that emerged from the participants’ stories and reflections. …

In the first decade of the new millennium, a series of new procedural personal status laws were passed in Egypt, with great significance for women. However, many of those who pushed for these reforms felt that the lack of comprehensive changes in the substantive laws undermined the new procedural laws and maintained a legal system that legitimised hierarchical gender roles and relations.  Accordingly, since 2005 there have been initiatives to introduce a new comprehensive family law.  These new efforts have triggered a heated public debate. …

The aims of this workshop held in Cairo from 9-11 January 2009 were threefold: 1) disseminate the findings of the research on the reforms in Egyptian family laws and their impact on women’s empowerment, 2) exchange knowledge on reform trajectories in family laws in a number of Middle Eastern countries, and 3) have a regional debate about reform trajectories, strategies, challenges, and successes in regard to the question of women’s rights and Muslim family laws. The workshop was attended by members of women’s rights organisations, judiciary, lawyers, students of gender studies, researchers and academics, and representatives of relevant government bodies such as Ministry of Justice. …

Based on the results of the First Pan-India Survey of Female Sex Workers (n=3000), this paper positions sex work within the broader spectrum of informal labour markets that women engage with in India. It puts forth an important dimension missing so far in sex work studies in India – of sex workers with prior or simultaneous labour market work experience. Informal labour markets act as important sites/junctures linking poverty with sex work. For a substantial proportion of respondents, sex work was not their first experience of paid work. …

This paper was presented at Fazendo Genero (Doing Gender) 8 held at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina from 25-28 August 2008. The purpose of the study was to identify and analyse changes in women's lives in Salvador, Bahia over three successive generations, and how these changes relate to processes of women's empowerment. …

This chapter examines the significance of social relationships in women's lives and their relevance to processes of women's empowerment. In Bangladesh, traditional structures limit women's social interaction to their immediate family and maintain male responsibility over them. However, here we look at the example of Saptagram - a social mobilisation organisation particularly focused against gender injustice towards rural landless Bangladeshi women - and how by providing relationships beyond the private sphere it engendered bonds of friendship and loyalty amongst its beneficiaries. …

In this paper, presented to 'Pathways: What are we Learning?' Analysis Conference, Cairo, 20-24 January 2009, I want to argue against a common and perhaps a temptingly easy understanding that posits a direct and problematic link between the challenges of reforming Egyptian personal status laws and their seemingly inescapable religious identity. Such a reading has a homogenizing effect that: 1) collapses those who take issue with the proposed changes in the substantive laws from a religious perspective into one unitary position, 2) fails to appreciate the interconnectedness of secular (e. g. human rights) and religious discourses that frame the debates about the new legal reforms, and 3) conceals a number of underlying issues which go beyond the question of the religious boundaries of the family laws. …

In Bangladesh women are engaged in a variety of economic activities ranging from homestead based expenditure saving activities to outside paid work. However, women's work always remains under reported, especially women’s non‐market homestead based economic activities. Under reporting is particularly critical in the case of official statistics. The types of work women are involved in are often overlooked by women themselves. …

Diasporic Somalis are increasingly leading a transnational life in which family members are sustained through networks of relations, obligations and resources that are located in different nation-states. These networks and relations enable diasporic Somalis to seek safety for themselves and their relatives, minimize risks and maximize family resources. In this article, Mulki Al-Sharmani examines three key dimensions of such a way of life, namely: migration; remittances; and transnational family care. She focuses on the roles that women play in this family-based support system. …

Using topical life stories, focus groups, data and discourse analysis, this paper, presented to 'Pathways: What are we Learning?' Analysis Conference, Cairo, 20-24 January 2009, explores the experiential diversity and thematic commonalities in the lives of Palestinian unmarried women, in the context of a society experiencing prolonged warlike conditions, political crisis, and social disruption. In particular, the project examines dynamics of choice, embodiment, responsibility, and survival, as well as attempt identify structural, social, political and economic factors shaping Palestine’s rather unique pattern of early, but not universal marriage, with a relatively high proportion of never-married women (but not men) over time. Comparing topical life stories of an earlier generation of largely educated unmarried women (now 40-65) who often had a clear trajectory of a life committed to the national project e and/or self-improvement with the diverse voices found in focus groups of contemporary young women (18-25) in diverse locations in the West Bank offers a window into how choice and responsibility operate differentially in the lives of unmarried women. Issues explored are how unmarried women place and value themselves in family and societal settings, how families and communities view unmarried women and shape these choices and responsibilities, and how unmarried women narrate marriageability, self-fashioning, and embodiment. …

This is a presentation given by Samia Rahim at the Cultural Crossroads Conference held in Hong Kong on 20 June 2010 on research conducted into how women in Bangladesh interacted with television and the media. The research countered dominant discourse which devalues women's relationship with television and in using a wide range of methodologies across a range of research locations uncovered that women do not only use television to accumulate new knowledge, but also strategies, tactics and ways to handle various situations. …

Domestic violence against women has gained worldwide attention as a form of discrimination as well as a violation of women’s human rights. An estimated one in three women in the world is affected, independent of their social standing and cultural background. In many countries around the world, laws are now in place making domestic violence against women a crime. Yet implementation often lags behind legal reforms. …