Discourses of Equality, Rights and Islam in the One Million Signatures Campaign in Iran

An innovative signatures campaign by Iranian feminists uses human rights discourses within an Islamic framework to reform family law. Using a bottom-up approach, the campaign seeks to harmonize culture and law by arguing that women’s relatively high status within Iranian society should be reflected in the law. Iranian feminists emphasize the indigenous character of their struggle, and push the state to live up to its promise of being a rights-securing, just and modern Islamic state.