April 3rd marks the first day of the 2011 Carter Center Human Rights Defenders Forum. The theme for this year’s…
women’s rights
Revolution and women’s rights
Tuesday marked the first day of the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meeting. …
Islamic feminism
Is secular feminism feasible in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim-majority nations of the world? Isobel Coleman, a Senior…
Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah dies at age 75
Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the influential and controversial Lebanese Shi‘i spiritual leader, died Sunday morning in Beirut at age…
Not just a bill to support women’s rights or secular values
On July 13, French parliament will vote on a bill to ban burqa-style veils in the name of gender equality…
Traditionalism and female subordination in church
In her article, "The Persistence of Patriarchy," subtitled Hard to believe, but some churches are still talking about male headship,…
Religion and women’s rights: strange bedfellows?
While in the past women’s human rights activists have admitted a certain skepticism about religion, my recent experience at the…
Religion and women’s rights in the British elections
Over at openDemocracy, Rahila Gupta discusses the significance of the upcoming British elections with respect to women's rights and religion.…
Afghanistan’s women
At Reuters's Afghan Journal, Golnar Motevalli asks how reintegrating the Taliban might affect the already tenuous position women inhabit in…
On Turkish laicism
In a somewhat surprising move, Turkey's Constitutional Court announced today in a very close vote its decision to not ban…