ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that in the area of women's rights as human rights there is the least amount of resonance, especially in the countries of South Asia, and that this lack of resonance has prevented the effective implementation of rights. The issues of women, ethnicity, and rights discourse eventually come to a head in the area of family law or personal law. There are examples of personal laws and women's rights that informed issues such as no-fault divorce and the best interest of the child centuries before the west considered them. It is also the area where the law, ethnicity, and ideology with regard to the rights of women merge to become a powerful ideological force. Women's groups supported Shah Bano vociferously, but their discourse of rights and equality was muffled by the voices of communalism on both sides. Trapped in the middle, especially when riots ensued, their voice was naturally weakened.
