Women law and judicial decision-making in the Middle east and North Africa: Toward gender justice
Abstract
This paper examines patterns and trends in women’s legal status – particularly in the family laws – and their participation in the judiciary in Arab countries and Iran, in order to assess gender justice. (For comparative purposes, information also is included on Israel, Turkey and Malaysia.) It finds a mixed picture. In some countries – such as Tunisia, Turkey and more recently, Morocco – legal reforms have taken place to enhance women’s rights in the family and to push for more gender equality in the society; in other countries, discriminatory family laws remain on the books and women are second-class citizens in the family and society. Women’s participation as lawyers and judges is similarly mixed across the region. Some countries report respectable percentages of women judges (e.g., Algeria and Tunisia), while in other countries women are banned from the profession of judge (e.g., the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia), ostensibly for reasons of religious proscriptions but probably also reflecting biases against women in leadership and decision-making positions.
The full paper presents available information and data on women’s status in the law and women’s status in the judiciary by country, listed alphabetically.
Added by
CAWTAR
| 2018-04-17 10:54:11
Document Type
Papers
Source
Le Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme (UNIFEM)
UNESCO
Keywords :
Gender justice//justice