Gender, Sexuallity and the Criminal laws in the Middle East in the Middle East and North Africa: A Comparative Study

Much of the discussion regarding legal transformation of women's status in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the Muslim world has concerned family law, commonly referred to in the region as personal status law. To be sure, many further reforms in that area are necessary. However, the reforms in family law by themselves will not suffice to achieve the legal transformation of women's status. In order to overcome human rights violations and discrimination against women, it is also evident that other areas of law, particularly penal or criminal codes,
require re-evaluation and reform, as they continue to legitimize violations of women's human rights in both the private and public spheres.