Launch of Translation Series: New Advocacy Tool for the Reform of Family Law in Muslim-Majority Societies

Guide to Equality in the Family in the Maghreb is the first volume in a new Translation Series launched by WLP to increase the availability of feminist works produced in the Global South, especially those that lucidly define women’s issues, identify fields of opportunity, and map out strategies to empower women and to promote women’s human rights.

The Guide is a unique advocacy tool developed by Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité, a coalition of women’s organizations from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, to communicate a shared vision of legal reform supporting the development of more egalitarian families, communities, and societies. The Guide outlines a process that relates meaningful social change to women’s capability to make deliberate and thoughtful choices.

Family law in Muslim-majority societies governs every aspect of a woman’s life – from minimum age and conditions of marriage, to divorce, child custody, and the right to work, travel, or decide on a place of residence. The reform of family law is therefore crucial to women’s ability to participate on equal terms in both family life and public life. In each thematic module, the Guide presents the current state of the law, then proposes religious, human rights, sociological, and domestic legal arguments for reform, well-supported by relevant data.

WLP has organized a series of events to celebrate the launch of the Guide and the Translation Series and to introduce the Guide to new audiences. On October 27, 2005 WLP hosted a book launch for women’s organizations worldwide at the 10th Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum in Bangkok, Thailand. WLP’s Moroccan partner Rabéa Naciri, representing the coalition Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité, said, “We have wanted to translate the Guide for some time, in order to extend its reach to a wider audience. It is very rewarding to see the Guide taking on new life, particularly because of the extensive collaborative work that went into the production of the original.”

In November 2005, WLP will reach out to academics, students, policymakers, NGO leaders, and media representatives to share with them this new resource emerging from women’s activism in Muslim-majority societies. Leading women’s rights activists from Jordan, Malaysia and Morocco will discuss the Guide at a panel entitled, “A Shared Vision for Change: Women and Legislative Reform in Muslim-Majority Societies,” to take place on November 17, 2005 at John Hopkins University’s School of Advanced Studies in Washington DC. The Guide will also be presented at the Annual Conference of the Middle East Studies Association during the panel session, “Violence Against Women: A Human Security Perspective,” to take place on November 21, 2005. Read more about the panel at Johns Hopkins University.

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