I also don't know what Morocco is doing in the list. It's always been one of the most secular Muslim countries. guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
It's not because the Afghanistan constitution enshrines "equality of the sexes" that equality exists. My cousin (mentioned previously on ET) who came back from his first tour of duty told me that the only females he saw in half a year spent walking around among Afghans as a translator, were little girls. No women anywhere to be seen, except in burkhas on some occasions.
Ok, maybe many women are now in parliament, but my guess is that parliament is mainly (if not only) composed of Western-educated men to start with, so it's not a revolution per se. And writing the law is not the same thing as applying it in warlord territory.
The women's movement in Morocco encompasses both secular and religious activists, and the country has made some major advances in the last few years, including the revision of the family and personal status laws, and the introduction of a quota system that puts at least 30 women in parliament.
We can debate the merits of quotas till the cows come home, but in this part of the world, I think they're a good thing. Nobody will get used to the idea of women in parliament until there are women in parliament, and a critical mass of them at that.
While some developments may appear minor to those who take these freedoms for granted, they are revolutionary in conservative Muslim societies.
Why I am not sure that this is relevant because I don't know on what basis religious women's rights activists argue -- e.g. do they find a basis for changes in law in the Koran (and Hadiths), or do they merely claim that the Koran allows their demands (or even just that the Koran can be interpreted to allow those) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
