Promoting women’s rights through Sharia in northern Nigeria

Evaluating practices affecting Muslim women in northern Nigeria according to Sharia

DFID / Department for International Development (DFID), UK , 2006

This report documents both exemplary and harmful practices affecting Muslim women in Northern Nigeria, and evaluates them according to Sharia. Based on a desk review, consultations with various stakeholders and a national conference the report spans a wide area and consists of diverse ethnic groups, most of whom are Muslim.

The practices covered in the report relate to some of the following:

marriage and marital relationships

access to health and reproductive health services

access to justice

The report shows that negative practices are in most cases perpetrated out of shared ignorance of the relevant rulings of Sharia. The entire Muslim community has a duty to work to eradicate these negative practices. We have also identified some exemplary practices that enhance respect for the rights and dignity of women which need to be encouraged. To achieve this, we propose the following recommendations:

address the problem of ignorance about Sharia, by embarking on an awareness campaign targeting both men and women
work towards establishing a pilot scheme for a community-based annual award ceremony to identify and recognise people who engage in exemplary practices
establish women’s forums where women may freely air their views and voice their concerns at family and community level and iron out their concerns at community level

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About: Department for International Development (DFID), UK

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