A Shared Vision for Change: Women and Legislative Reform in Muslim-Majority Societies

November 17, 2005: Women leaders from Muslim-majority societies discussed strategies for the creation of egalitarian communities and reform of family law in Muslim-Majority Societies based on women's capability to choose. The panelists included Mahnaz Afkhami, Zainah Anwar, Asma Khader, Rabéa Naciri, and Azar Nafisi. The dialogue was a collaboration between WLP and the Dialogue Project at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.

November 17, 2005

Presented by

WLP IN COLLABORATION WITH
The SAIS Dialogue Project
at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies

LISTEN to the program. (Download free Real Player.)

Panelists: Mahnaz Afkhami, Zainah Anwar, Asma Khader, Rabéa Naciri, and Azar Nafisi (Moderator).

PHOTOS of the event.

WHEN
Thursday, November 17th, 2005
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Light lunch will be provided

WHERE
The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Kenney Auditorium
1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

Women leaders from Muslim-majority societies will discuss strategies for the creation of egalitarian communities and reform of family law based on women's capability to choose.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Azar Nafisi (Introductory Remarks), author of the best-seller Reading Lolita in Tehran, is a visiting scholar at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and Director of the SAIS Dialogue Project at Johns Hopkins University. She has written and lectured widely on the political implications of literature and culture and on the human rights of women and girls. | Online Audio: RM 13:35 minutes

Mahnaz Afkhami (Chair), author and leading advocate of women's rights internationally for more than three decades, is Founder and President of Women's Learning Partnership. She is Executive Director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies and former Minister of State for Women's Affairs in Iran. | Online Audio: RM 12:34 minutes

Zainah Anwar (Malaysia), a women's rights activist and well-published freelance writer, is Executive Director of Sisters in Islam. She was formerly a member of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, Chief Programme Officer for the Political Division at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, and Senior Analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies. | Online Audio: RM 19:15 minutes

Asma Khader (Jordan), a leading advocate of the campaign to strengthen legislation outlawing honor killing, is a member of the Permanent Arab Court as Counsel on violence against women. She is the General Coordinator of Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan and former Minister of Culture.

Rabéa Naciri (Morocco), is a board member and former President of Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité, a network of women's associations and women researchers from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia committed to preventing violence against women. She has written extensively on Arab women and poverty, women and Islam, and capacity-building for women. | Online Audio: RM 15:39 minutes