Women in Iran do not enjoy the same freedoms as men in public. Yet resistance is stirring under the veil. Young women are well educated, confident, and are fighting for their place in a patriarchal society. Claudia Hennen reports
The Constitution Can Wait
India does not have a uniform civil code regulating family relationships. The religion of the parties determines which law governs the rights and obligations of a family s members, a situation that, according to Ved Kumari, professor of Law at the University of Delhi, upholds the inequality of the sexes
Increasing economic pressure is forcing a growing number of Indian women to seek work; nevertheless, in many respects they do not enjoy the same legal rights as men
The various personal laws that apply in India have their origins in religious text books, customs and traditions.
While customary Hindu law has been codified and modified in various respects to incorporate the liberal principle of equality, the state has been slow in actively regulating the personal laws of minorities. The official line is that the government is waiting for the demand for change to emanate from the minorities themselves.