This ground-breaking collection investigates the relationship between feminist activism and legal reform as a pathway to gender justice and social change.Since the advent of feminist movements legal reform has been a popular and yet contentious vehicle for seeking women's rights and empowerment. This important book looks at comparative insights drawn from field-based research on the processes, the challenges, and the outcomes of legal reform and feminist activism. Feminist Activism, Women's Rights, and Legal Reform brings together cases from Middle East, Latin America, and Asia of the successes and failures of reform efforts concerning the promulgation and implementation of new family laws and domestic violence codes.

Looking at global case studies this collection explores the interplay between feminist activism and land reform. It investigates at the successes as well as the failures of reform efforts, the processes of law making and feminist legal advocacy as well as the ways in which these processes have been shaped by historical and socio-political contexts.

Introduction: Legal Reform and Feminist Activism - Mulki Al-Sharmani1. Debating Islamic Family Law in Palestine: Citizenship, Gender, and 'Islamic' Idioms - Nahda Shehada2. Readjusting Women's Too Many Rights: The State, the Public Voice, and Women's Rights in South Yemen - Susanne Dahlgren3. Reforming Egyptian Family Laws: The Debate about a New Substantive Code - Mulki Al-Sharmani4. Men Aboard? Movement for a Uniform Family Code in Bangladesh - Sohela Nazneen5. From Status to Rights: The Shifting Dimensions of Women's Activism in Iranian Family Law Reform - Arzoo Osanloo6. Moroccan Divorce Law, Family Court Judges, and Spouses' Claims: Who Pays the Cost When a Marriage is Over? - Jessica Carlisle7. Organizing to Monitor Implementation of the Maria da Penha Law in Brazil - Silvia de Aquino8. Implementing Domestic Violence Legislation in Ghana: The Role of Institutions - Takyiwaa Manuh and Angela Dwamena-Aboagye