Islamic Feminism and Arab Family Law Reform
Gefinor Rotana Hotel, Rue Clémenceau, Beirut
The Arab Institute for Women is organizing an event to disseminate the results of a two-year research project on Islamic feminism and reform of Islamic family laws in three Arab countries – Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon.
The project, supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has analyzed research and activism relevant for reform of family laws within an Islamic framework, and applied a transnational social movement perspective. Findings are related directly to the reform processes of the three selected national frameworks of family laws.
Project results will be presented to key legal figures in the Arab region, including INGOs and NGOs as well as national and Arab regional judicial and political organizations. The recommendations for how an Islamic framework may further reform of family laws in the select countries, outlined by our research team in policy briefs will be center for discussion.
This is an open event, with limited seating capacity. For registration, kindly email Ms. Maria El Sammak at maria.elsammak@lau.edu. For more information about the project: http://iwsaw.lau.edu.lb/development-projects/research/carnegie-project.php
Program:
9:00 Registration and coffee
9:30 Welcome
9:45 Fatima Seedat, PhD, University of Cape Town, SA: “From expectation to experience: Justice, gender and dissonance in Muslim Family law”
10:45 Nayla Tabbara, PhD, Adyan Foundation, Lebanon: “Reclaiming rights and leadership: the long march of Muslim Women”
12:00 Dr. Connie Christiansen, Principal Investigator: “Islamic feminism and reform of family laws in the Arab region: Increasing the impact?”
12.30 Reem Maghribi, Communication & Gender Specialist and Managing Director of Sharq.Org & Youmna Makhlouf, PhD Candidate in Law, Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas: “Reform of Arab Family Law within an Islamic Framework in Lebanon”
14:15 Sara Abdelghani, PhD Candidate in Politics & International Studies, Warwick University, UK. & Azza Soliman, Lawyer and Board President of Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA): “Reforming the Egyptian Personal Status Laws. A Case for Islamic Feminism”
15:00 Professor Fatima Sadiqi, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah University, Morocco and Fatima Outaleb, Gender Technical Advisor, Morocco: ”At the Intersection of National and Transnational Islamic Feminisms: The 2004 Moroccan Family Law (Moudawana)”
15:45 Coffee
16:00 Panel discussion: Reform of Family Laws within an Islamic Framework?
17:30 Wrap-up and conclusion
18:00 End of conference