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This chapter sheds light on the family law debate in Palestine following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (1994). It elaborates on the public debate and political contestation over attempts to reform the ‘Islamic’ family law during the second half of the 1990s. It describes and analyses the various positions, articulations and styles of argumentation adopted by many actors involved in the debate. …

A significant new law was passed by Egyptian legislators in 2004 introducing family courts to arbitrate family conflict in an effort to promote non-adversarial legal mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to examine how this new legal system is working for female plaintiffs. Through an analysis of court practices in a number of divorce and maintenance cases, this essay will make two central arguments: First, I will argue that the benefits family courts are currently providing to female plaintiffs are limited due to a number of gaps and shortcomings in the legislation, mechanisms of implementation, resources, and the capacity and the training of court personnel. In addition, the legal process in the new courts as well as the substantive family laws that are being implemented continue to reflect gender inequality and biases against women. …

In 2000 a new divorce law, called khul, was passed in Egypt. Khul gave Egyptian women the right to unilaterally petition for an end to their marriages. The court automatically grants them divorce, but as long as they relinquish any post divorce financial rights from their spouses. This case study – which shares Marwa’s story – of the reforms in Egyptian personal status laws, shares the findings of Pathways’ research, that while khul has provided a real and beneficial legal option to Egyptian women, gender justice has not yet been served in the unfolding story of Egyptian family law reform, and presents action points based on the research. …

The Egyptian family law system regulates matters such as family property, marriage and divorce, alimony, child custody, and paternity disputes. Until the introduction of a new legal framework which came into effect in 2000 and 2004 women attending the country’s law courts were offered no guarantee of their civil rights or human dignity. This new legislation was a real advance, but as with any attempt to bring about social change through legal reforms the new system has had complex and multidimensional effects. In this light, Mulki Al-Sharmani examines here one aspect of the reform package - mediation-based family courts - in order to assess how far Egypt’s women have travelled in achieving “empowerment through law”. …

In the last decade a series of reforms have been introduced in Egyptian family laws. On January 26, 2000 the Egyptian Parliament passed procedural Law No. 1 of 2000. The goal of this law was to address the problems of backlog of cases and inefficient legal procedures, challenges which were mostly confronted by women since they tended to be the majority of claimants in family law cases. …

In the last decade, there have been several significant family law reforms in Egypt that have impacted the struggle to enhance the legal rights of women in the domain of marriage and family. How have these reforms been brought about? Who were the actors involved in the process? Who are the various interlocutors in the public debate about these reforms? What does this debate tell us about their views and agendas in regard to women’s rights and position in the society? This paper will answer these questions with the aim of providing the context for a study on family courts in Egypt. The purpose of this study is to examine how these reforms are being implemented, to identify the diversions and subversions in the process, and to determine whether these reforms are strengthening the legal rights of women in family disputes. The first section of the paper outlines how Shari'a model of marriage is framed in family law, and the significance of the varied ways in which this religious legal model has been interpreted and implemented. …

This ground-breaking collection investigates the relationship between feminist activism and legal reform as a pathway to gender justice and social change. …

This chapter will examine the contemporary legal, social and religious (jurisprudential) debates over the recent revisions to Iran's Family Protection Act (2011). By highlighting the differential tenor of these debates in various sectors of Iranian society, this chapter will reveal the tensions over women's status and rights in Iranian society, the role of law in shaping that status from 'above,' and, finally, the disparate groups claiming the authority to define women's roles in the Iranian social order. …

Feminist activists have looked to the law and to law reform as a key instrument for advancing women’s rights because of the broad reach of the law and its ability to produce social change, especially for less powerful and marginalised groups in society who have used legal reform to compensate for their lack of power (Lobel 2007). But as "while the formal rules can be changed overnight, the informal norms [i. e. "norms of behaviour, conventions and codes of conduct"] change only gradually. …

This introduction outlines the central themes that are covered in the chapters and sheds light on the linkages between these issues as well as drawing out the conclusions that tie the arguments of the individual chapters. Three central themes connect the chapters in this volume. The first is concerned with problematising binaries and uniform categories. That is, many of the chapters address the question: What is concealed when both reform efforts (and the public debates about them) fail to escape conceptualisations and categorisations that are based on binaries and uniform understandings of terms such as ‘religious’  ‘secular’ or ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity?’ …

This introduction outlines the central themes that are covered in the chapters and sheds light on the linkages between these issues as well as drawing out the conclusions that tie the arguments of the individual chapters. Three central themes connect the chapters in this volume. The first is concerned with problematising binaries and uniform categories. That is, many of the chapters address the question: What is concealed when both reform efforts (and the public debates about them) fail to escape conceptualisations and categorisations that are based on binaries and uniform understandings of terms such as ‘religious’  ‘secular’ or ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity?’ …

Islam and feminism have had a troubled relationship. Over the last two decades, scholars and activists have questioned the western credentials of feminism and claimed justice as a purpose and possibility that can be captured via religious routes. Religion provides women with an ethical framework and a moral foundation that recognizes their rights as individuals and as a collective, albeit redefining equality in the process. The mosque movement in Egypt has empowered women to find dignity, companionship and comfort through piety and conformity to a religious ideal and challenge the less-than-perfect world around them. …

New family laws have been passed in Egypt within the last several years, with important ramifications for women. In this chapter, Mulki Al-Sharmani argues that two issues diminish the transformative role that these reforms could play in strengthening Egyptian women's rights and achieving gender justice. …

In the last decade, new family laws have been passed in Egypt, with important ramifications for women. In this article, I argue that two issues diminish the transformative role that these reforms could play in strengthening Egyptian women's rights and achieving gender justice. First, despite the recently passed laws, the model of marriage that the state continues to uphold through its codes and courts is premised on gendered roles and rights for husbands and wives. This model, however, contradicts the realities of Egyptian marriages. …

In the late 1980s and early 90s, the Bangladeshi feminists mobilised for a uniform family code. Despite the extensive groundwork by the feminists on the required legal changes, the movement failed to attain its goal. The demand for a uniform family code not only challenged male privileges based on Shari'a law but also those based on religious laws of the minority communities. This chapter explores the movement building strategies and negotiations for a uniform family code, particularly feminist efforts to contest the pitting of the ‘right to equality’ against the ‘right to religion’. …