ABSTRACT
Activists have enjoyed varying degrees of success in their efforts to reform personal status codes toward gender equality for Arab women. In interviews, leaders of reform campaigns in Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco–Hoda Elsadda, Asma Khader, and Rabea Naciri–recount their experiences working to advocate for women's rights, to change retrograde family laws, and to eliminate gender-based discrimination in their societies. Although these women approach issues of human rights and gender equality from different professional and disciplinary perspectives, they have all worked within civil society as activists, in academia as scholars, and in government as policymakers. In their interviews, these three women identify the cultural sources of discriminatory family laws and discuss strategies for grassroots mobilization, advocacy, and policy-making. They also consider the impact of the Arab Spring uprisings and the international human rights discourse on their campaigns to reform family laws, while reflecting on lessons learned during their quest for gender equality.
