Women Living Under Muslim Laws Logo
 
english français
Search WLUML
spacer
An international network that provides information, solidarity and support for all women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws and customs said to derive from Islam.
 
 
 
 Current site highlights 
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women!
Women Living Under Muslim Laws is coordinating this Global Campaign to address the persistent misuse of religion and culture to justify killing women as punishment for violating the ‘norms’ of sexual behaviour as defined and imposed by vested interests.

Download the background paper here!

 News and Views 

Azerbaijan: Government Incentive for Marriage & Children in Karabakh (IWPR via WUNRN)
15/05/2008: The government in Nagorny Karabakh is giving incentives to encourage couples to get married and have children.

Saudi Arabia: First women-only hotel (CS Monitor)
15/05/2008: "Some say it's a sanctuary for business women. Others see it as another sign of gender segregation in a male-dominated society."

Mauritania: Justice not working for rape victims (IRIN Africa)
14/05/2008: The Mauritanian government says it is trying to increase prosecutions of rape cases but poorly trained judges working with murky, outdated legal texts make for slow progress.

Uzbekistan/Turkey: The "Islamic Jihad Union" (Qantara)
14/05/2008: The Islamic Jihad Union, an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, advocates the systematic internationalisation of "Holy War" and has aligned itself with the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaida at international level.

Malaysia: Historic ruling; Shariah court allows convert to return to Buddhism (Malaysian Insider)
14/05/2008: The Penang Syariah High Court has allowed a Muslim convert to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights.

UK: "Reclaim philosophical heritage of European Islam" (Muslim Parliament)
14/05/2008: "the time has come when we must begin to look at the philosophical roots of fundamentalism in Muslim societies."

Algeria: New women's radio station (MEMRI)
13/05/2008: An Algerian women's association has announced the launch of a radio station for women, an innovation in Algeria and in the Arab world.

Middle East: Annual women's bike ride for peace and solidarity (Turkish Daily News)
13/05/2008: Affected by the murder of Italian artist Pippa Bucca, 21 Turkish women are taking part in a 296-km bike ride from Beirut to Palestine this May, and dedicate their ride to her and peace.

Kenya: Muslim clerics declare war on condoms (IRIN Africa)
13/05/2008: Muslim leaders in Kenya's North Eastern Province have resolved to campaign against the promotion of condoms as a means of preventing HIV.

Saudi Arabia: Young woman married at 10 years old must pay for divorce (AKI)
13/05/2008: A 23 year old woman, forced to marry at ten in Saudi Arabia, was ordered to pay the equivalent of 16,750 euros to obtain a divorce from her husband, according to Saudi daily al-Watan.

 Calls for Action 

Iran: More women's rights defenders sentenced
12/05/2008: Four women's rights activists, Nasrin Afzali, Nahid Jafari, Zeinab Peighambar-zadeh, and Minou Mortazi, have been given suspended sentences of whipping (10 lashes) and six months imprisonment.

UPDATE: Iran: Khadijeh Moghaddam released from prison
21/04/2008: Khadijeh Moghaddam member of the Mother’s Committee of the One Million Signatures Campaign, and a member of Mothers for Peace, was released on the afternoon of Wednesday April 16, after spending nine days in detention.

Iran: Campaign to free Khadijeh Moghaddam
8/04/2008: Khadijeh Moghaddam, a women's human rights activist, was arrested at her home on April 8th. She is a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign calling for equal rights between men and women in Iran. Many members of the Campaign have been harassed and arrested. A non-violent advocate of change, Ms. Moghaddam is currently being detained in solitary confinement, on charges related to propaganda, influencing public opinion and threatening national security.

 
 Publications 

WLUML Newsletter 5 WLUML (Published: Dec. 2007 / Jan. 2008)
Women Living Under Muslim Laws is delighted to present the fifth issue of the WLUML Newsletter! The objective of WLUML's newsletters is to present a platform for women's rights activists around the world to project their voices, and for networkers to share their experiences of activism across boundaries.

This issue features articles on the launch of the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! and our Feminism in the Muslim World Third Leadership Institute. This issue features networkers' submissions from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burma, India and Pakistan, as well as book and film reviews, updates on solidarity cases and more.

WLUML Newsletter 4 WLUML (Published: August 2007)
We are delighted to present the Fourth Issue of the Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) Newsletter! The overarching objective of WLUML's bi-annual newsletters is to present a platform to women's rights activists around the world to project their voices, and for networkers to share their experiences of activism across boundaries.

This issue, with an improved format, features the addition of 'Activists Reflections', which present a selection of the articles we received in response to our online Call for Submissions. Reflecting the transnational nature and philosophy of the WLUML network, the articles and reports included in this newsletter range from Growing Talibanisation in Pakistan to Expanding International Legal Protections for Victims of Gender-Based Violence in Iraqi Kurdistan and the lobbying of the Gambian Committee Against Traditional Practices.

Dossier 28: A Collection of Articles various (Published: December 2006)
This Dossier explores issues around ‘secularism’.

For more than two decades, feminists have discussed the impact and mechanics of extreme right politico-religious forces and shared strategies of resistance against fundamentalisms. But, as feminists, we have yet to develop a coherent analysis of the concrete alternatives. Yet we need such an analysis in order to move beyond resistance and be more pro-active in our advocacy for an alternative vision of society. In the context of globally rising extreme right politics justified with reference to religion and rising neo-liberalism’s impact on democratic governance and social inclusion, it is time to discuss secularisms in depth.

The articles in this volume look at some of the questions feminists need to begin discussing in order to define more clearly the changes we want to see and the systems that will work best for women, and in order to develop a movement that is more inclusive and more effective.

Dossier 28 seeks to contribute to these discussions by presenting various analyses of secularism, from the perspective of theory as well as lived experience in contexts as diverse as Algeria, Argentina, China, Egypt, France, India, Italy, Senegal, South Africa, and Sudan.

Occasional Paper 15: Iraq Women's Rights Under Attack Occupation, Constitution and Fundamentalisms Nadje Al-Ali, Mubejel Baban, and Sundus Abass (Published: December 2006)
This Occasional Paper features recent activities of Act Together, one of WLUML's networking organisations based in the UK. In July 2006 Act Together, Women's Action for Iraq, hosted Sundus Abass, Director of Women in Leadership Institute (Baghdad) in London for 15 days. WLUML helped to make the visit possible, as part of various network activities in support of women in post-conflict situations, such as in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka. This publication is a record of some of the activities that happened during those 15 hectic days. The aim of the visit was to highlight the work that Iraqi women are doing to try to amend the new Iraqi Constitution, in particular to ensure that the pre-existing Iraqi Personal Status Law, one of the more egalitarian family laws in the Middle East, is not replaced by Article 41.

The publication includes:

· Three talks that were given at a public meeting at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), in London
· The translated edited transcript of a film was by Maysoon Pachachi, of a two-hour discussion in Arabic between three highly experienced Iraqi women activists
· Briefing paper for Parliamentarians
· Act Together grassroots action leaflets

For Ourselves – Women Reading the Qur'an WLUML (Published: 2004/Originally published: 1998)
Due to popular demand, WLUML has reprinted the edited transcripts of a 6-day workshop 'Qur’anic Interpretations by Women Meeting' held in 1990. This publication presents the views and work of a dynamic group of activists, Islamic scholars, jurists and historians of Muslim jurisprudence. Their groundbreaking effort was to begin the process of a new approach to Qur’anic interpretation, reaffirming women’s right to read and interpret the Qur’an for themselves.

Recognizing the Un-Recognized: Inter-Country Cases and Muslim Marriages & Divorces in Britain Sohail Akbar Warraich & Cassandra Balchin (Published: January 2006)
Now available online! WLUML's brief policy research project with the aim of beginning a dialogue on how to address the human rights violations being suffered by women in Muslim communities in Britain and South Asia in connection with the recognition of Muslim marriages and divorces in Britain. We believe this to be the first in-depth report of the issue to combine sociological, legal and political analysis.

Plan of Action - Senegal 2006 WLUML (Published: January 2006)
In July 2006, active networkers from the international solidarity network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) gathered in Dakar, Senegal to develop our fourth Plan of Action (PoA). We are now delighted to be sharing with you our Plan of Action - Senegal 2006, the analytical framework that will guide our programmatic strategies and activities in the coming years.

.