Women Living Under Muslim Laws
Women Living under Muslim Laws (WLUML, German: Women who live under Muslim laws ) is a transnational feminist network founded in 1984 in which individual women and groups from more than 70 countries in the Islamic world work together independently of the government .
Foundation and name
The trigger for the establishment of the network were mutually independent events in different parts of the Muslim world, “in which women were deprived of their human rights by invoking so-called Islamic laws”. In 1980, women from Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Iran, Mauritius, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Pakistan founded an action committee to support the struggles of women for their rights on the ground. This resulted in the network with coordination offices in London , Dakar and Lahore between 1984 and 1986 . It does not represent any ideology or a uniform standpoint.
The plural laws in the name are intended to show that there is no such thing as a homogeneous Muslim world. Because in this “Muslim world” the laws change depending on the context and country, and women see themselves ruled by a multitude of laws: religious as well as local, colonial and other influences play a role. The organization also sees the term “Laws” very broadly: Not only state, but also informal laws such as customs and traditions that are subject to the cultural, social and political context can be “Muslim Laws”.
Focus
The main goal of the network is to support individual women but also collective movements in their “struggle” for equality . This support is provided by networking the various movements in order to help out of isolation, and by passing on information, which is often needed to fight against mystification. The association has set itself three priorities:
fundamentalism
A reawakening of fundamentalist currents is evident for the network , and this is causing social polarization. (“Either you are for us or against us!”) After the attacks of September 11th, a war on terror broke out , which, in the opinion of the association, also marginalized Muslim groups in Western countries (cf. WLUML 2006 , P. 8).
Only then, in the opinion of the association, was the aspect of a common religion seen within Muslims as creating identity, and fundamentalist currents were able to assert themselves against progressive and feminist forces.
Militarization
The association also actively opposes progressive militarization , as can be observed today in many countries (Sri Lanka, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.) (cf. WLUML 2006, p. 6). In the opinion of the association, it is connected to fundamentalism, and the network tries to identify trends of increasing violence at an early stage and to achieve peacebuilding.
Self-determination over the body - sexuality
The network draws attention to the control of the female body through laws, cultural or religious practices and takes action against it. Here it applies z. For example, to disseminate relevant information on HIV / AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and to educate them about these diseases.
However, the most important and urgent main focus of WLUML is present everywhere: violence against women.
history
The association was founded in 1984. Then 9 women from Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Iran, Mauritius, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Pakistan founded the “Action Committee of Women Living Under Muslim Laws” to support local activities. The WLUML network, which is still organized in the same way today, emerged from this in 1986.
organization
The association is organized very openly, there are no formal memberships. You can think of it as an umbrella or (wide-spanning) network. Direct employees work in the “Program Implementation Council” (PIC), which consists of 20 to 30 rotating “networkers” who operate interregional networking in accordance with the “Plan of Action”.
This Plan of Action provides information about the goals, activities and strategies of the organization. It was first drawn up in 1986 and has been adapted several times since then. The last renewal took place in 2006 at a conference in Dakar.
The International Coordination Office (ICO), based in London, has a central position . Its task is to simplify the coordination between the individual networkers. Autonomous Regional Coordination Offices in Pakistan and Senegal, which cover Asia, Africa and the Middle East, also help .
Members
According to the Plan of Action , individuals and organizations can be defined as WLUML networkers if they adhere to the following: (WLUML 2006, p. 14)
- Consent and active commitment to the WLUML principles and values,
- Receiving and dealing with WLUML information,
- are in "two-way communication" with the other WLUML members.
Partner organizations
Some partner organizations are listed here. This list does not claim to be complete.
- Act together
- Arab Regional Resource Center on Violence Against Women
- BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights
- Canadian Council of Muslim Women
- Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance
- Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women (LCRVAW)
- Palestinian Working Women Society for Development (PWWSD)
- Queer Jihad
- Research Action and Information Network for the Bodily Integrity of Women (Rainbo)
- Sisters in Islam (SIS)
- Women Against Fundamentalisms (WAF)
- Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights
Principles
The organization focuses on the laws, customs but also the realities of life of the individual women. This also includes the “Muslim” laws and practices, which are often very different, and their consequences. It is not about the religion of Islam per se, but about the interpretations of the religious texts and the political use of the religion. The network itself tries to build bridges, regionally and internationally. A focus is also on women in marginalized groups: Non-Muslim women in Muslim countries as well as Muslim minorities in Western countries are taken into account by the association. Another principle is international solidarity, which the network wants to promote. The association assumes that, although women find themselves in different national situations, their concerns and their struggle for more rights still have something in common. Another principle of the association is the plurality and autonomy that this network wants to convey. His aim is to support his members (associations and individuals) in their concerns and opinions, but not to force any ready-made statements on them.
activities
The work of the association includes calls for action, strengthening the network, publications and specific projects.
Calls to action
Individual organizations and members publish and disseminate calls for action. These contain the latest information, e.g. B. on a current human rights violation. In such situations, the association helps directly through the network, e.g. B. through legal advice, help with asylum procedures or psychological support. The network also uses these calls for action to establish contact with other aid organizations and can therefore help quickly and individually.
Strengthening the network
A main focus of the work of WLUML lies in strengthening the network itself, the organization wants to enable non-hierarchical cooperation. It provides a wide range of information and is in constant contact with activists, the media, academics, other NGOs and a wide variety of governments.
Publications
Another service provided by the network is its publications , which are constantly being expanded and can be downloaded from the Internet. The translation work deserves special mention here, as all publications are in English, French and Arabic.
Projects
In addition, there are always initiatives for collective projects, which are often led by individual network groups, but the ICO and the regional offices help with the organization of these projects. Such projects are e.g. B. Training for the "networkers", workshops and much more. Here are some examples:
- Initiative to Strengthen Afghan Family Rights (INSAF)
- "Gender and displacement in Muslim contexts"
- "Feminism in the Muslim World Leadership Institutes"
- "Women and Law in the Muslim world program"
- "Qur'anic interpretations meetings, for West African networkers and for Francophone West Africa"
- Exchange program (since 1988)
literature
- Nouria Ali-Tani: Women Living Under Muslim Laws. What's behind the name? In: Fikrun wa Fann , January 2011, publication by the Goethe-Institut e. V.
- Amel Hamza: Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML). A Women's Movement in the Islamic / Muslim World between Struggles, Strength, Challenges and Empowerment. In: Ilse Lenz , Helma Lutz u. a. (Ed.): Crossing Borders and Shifting Boundaries . Series of publications by the International Women's University "Technology and Culture", Volume 11. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2002, ISBN 978-3-8100-3494-6 , pp. 207-221. doi: 10.1007 / 978-3-663-09527-9_12
- Pauline Ogho Aweto: North African Feminism and Other Feminisms . In: Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender (Eds.): Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women. Global Women's Issues and Knowledge , Routledge, New York / London 2000, ISBN 978-0-415-92091-9 , pp. 804-807.
- Farida Shaheed: Controlled or Autonomous: Identity and the Experience of the Network, Women Living under Muslim Laws. In: Signs , Vol. 19, No. 4/1994, pp. 997-1019. JSTOR 3175010
Web links
Individual references, comments
- ^ Nouria Ali-Tani: Women Living Under Muslim Laws. What's behind the name? Publication by the Goethe-Institut e. V., Fikrun wa Fann , January 2011
- ↑ WLUML 2006, p. 9
- ↑ wluml.org ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ; PDF) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ wluml.org ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ See section "Organization"
- ^ Calls for Action . ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ To be found on the page wluml.org ( memento of the original from June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
