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University of Warwick
May 9, 2012
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: DEMOCRACY,
TRADITION, GENDER, pp.77-100, J. Bennett, ed., Lahore: Heinrich Boll Foundation,
2007
Warwick
School of Law Research Paper No. 2012/9
Abstract:
This paper argues that plural
regulatory frameworks (‘laws’ broadly defined) including religion, culture,
customs, tradition as well as ‘formal’ law (national and international)
informing women’s human rights, collude to create and perpetuate gender
hierarchies. Whilst ‘informal’ norms of culture, custom and tradition expressly
advance this position, gender neutral laws adopted by the state and her
institutions are suspect, as these too, operate within a male socio-legal and
political environment. Using the example of Pakistan, the paper attempts to
present the contours of an analytical framework for mounting a challenge to
plural legal systems from the perspective of women’s lived experiences and
realities of their being.
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