The Role and Impact of Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) Network in the Struggle against Gender Apartheid in Muslim Societies

Abstract

WLUML is known for its global campaigns against gender inequalities in Muslim societies and patriarchal gender apartheid. It has been particularly active in defining gender apartheid as a crime against humanity under international law and in campaigning internationally against abuses of women rights, especially after Taliban rule in Afghanistan. In particular, the network is concerned with the impact of legal regulations and societal notions on women living under Shari’a law in a world where the West’s intellectual ideas about “women” and “human rights” are absolute, and where various relations are involved. Today, in a global world of global paradigms, orthodox Islam legitimises patriarchal legal systems with its attitudes towards women and traditional fundamentalist discourses, and practices that restrict women’s right to life, are caught in the work and lens of the WLUML through activism activities carried out through various campaigns on international platforms to transform the relevant structures with the ultimate goal of eliminating violence against women and gender discrimination. Taking into account possible criticisms of cultural relativism and anachronism, this article takes the research framework and style in the context of “women’s human rights” and blends it with the feminist perspective and discourse practiced by women living in Muslim societies with Islamic heritage, rather than a feminism imported from the West.