Attaining Justice for Women and Girls in Islamic Countries
Irum Ahsan and Maria Cecilia T. SicangcoThe Asian Development Bank (adb) is a multilateral financial institution established in 1966 to promote economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific. Adb has sixty-seven member countries, forty-seven of which are classified as “developing member countries”(dmcs). These dmcs benefit from adb initiatives intended to advance theinterdependent agendas of environmentally sustainable growth, inclusive
economic development, and regional integration.
Adb’s overall approach is contained in Strategy 2030, its long-term strategic framework. It outlines the bank’s focus on seven operational areas, twoof which are accelerating progress in gender equality, and strengthening governance and institutional capacity.1 Strategy 2030 is supported by several institutional documents, including adb’s Policy on Gender and Development(gad) which serves as the guiding framework for gender and development
activities. The Policy adopts gender mainstreaming as the core approach topromoting gender equality and women’s empowerment across the entire
breadth of adb operations – from country partnership strategies to the design and implementation of gender-inclusive projects and programs.2
The Law and Policy Reform (lpr) Program of adb’s Office of theGeneral Counsel reinforces this approach by focusing on legal development
through strengthened policy, legal, judicial, and regulatory systems. The
central premise is that the “rule of law” – a functioning legal system – thatis, comprehensive legal frameworks and effective judicial, regulatory andadministrative institutions that implement and enforce laws and regulations
fairly, consistently, predictably and ethically – is essential for inclusive andsustainable development.1 Broadly, the lpr Program is composed of five pillars – (i) environmental law and sustainable development, (ii) infrastructure
law and regulation, (iii) financial law and regulation, (iv) private sector development, and (v) inclusive growth and access to justice. Adb’s work on
justice sector reform in Islamic countries, discussed below, comes under thefifth pillar.
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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c · V o l u m e 9 , 2 0 1 9Contextual Background and Overview of the ProjectWorldwide, women survivors of gender-based violence often face significant access to justice challenges. However, the situation in Islamic countries
is often exacerbated by factors both intrinsic and extraneous to the justicesystem and the actual language of the law.
First, the legal framework of Islamic countries allows justice sector decision-makers to draw from Sharia law, i.e., religious law forming part of theIslamic tradition. This in principle should have prompted improved justiceoutcomes considering that Islam strongly promotes the dignity of womenand girls. In reality, however, society generally tolerates violence against
women due to a misreading of, among others, Verse 4:34 of the Quran,2which is often mistakenly interpreted as allowing the “beating” of women incertain circumstances. As a result, many legal service providers in Islamic
countries – such as judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and the police force – tend
to erroneously believe that Islam tolerates turning a blind eye to, or evenjustifies, gender-based violence. This kind of mindset undermines the ability of women survivors to use the legal system to vindicate and protect theirrights.
Second, independent of religious factors, local communities in Islamic
South Asia also operate with unconscious biases rooted in centuries ofcustomary norms. The social structure is extremely patriarchal, in which
women are viewed as property and subservient to men. Women are also
perceived as bearers of family honor, such that customary practices often
involve the use of women and girls to resolve unrelated disputes, or forcing
them into marriages as compensation (e.g., vani, swara, baad). Women arethus caught in a web of poverty, patriarchy, and a weak protective infrastructure, resulting in increased vulnerability to violence and discrimination
both inside and outside their homes. This spills over to the legal domain
through perceptions or unconscious biases carried by justice sector stakeholders that informally affect their decision-making process. For example, awoman who wears tight clothes and make-up is “asking for” sexual assault,
and a woman or girl who does not immediately report an alleged assault
must be lying.
Third, women and girls rarely turn to the formal justice system even incases of the most egregious assaults. The court environment is perceived as
unwelcoming – crime survivors are forced to share a small confined space

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with their assailant, and discomfort while testifying is perceived as a point
against credibility. Furthermore, women and girls do not know their rights
under the law, and are forced by social and family pressure to settle disputes
through informal means (such as a tribal council of local men known as
panchayat or jirga).
Adbs Legal Literacy for Women project, developed in 2015 and whichstarted implementation in 2016, targets both male and female justice sector
stakeholders in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Pakistan, the project has thus
far focused on Punjab Province, which is the epicenter of gender-based violence crimes in the country. In Afghanistan, the project was implemented
nationwide, including the remote Taliban-held areas.
Adb opted to pilot the project in these two countries because, despite
several pro-women laws and policies in place, more than 80 percent of women in these countries have suffered at least one form of violence. Genderbased violence is endemic and pervasive across class, religion, ethnicity, andthe urban and rural divide. The United Nations’ Gender Inequality Index
confirms this state of affairs, with Afghanistan ranked 153rd, and Pakistan
ranked 133rd, of one hundred fifty-four countries.6 A survey of global experts
has revealed that Afghanistan is the second most dangerous country in theworld for women, while Pakistan is ranked sixth.7
The project addresses gender-based violence in Pakistan and
Afghanistan by taking a two-pronged approach:
1. developing the capacity of legal service providers like judges, prosecutors, magistrates, and religious scholars in responding to clientson gender issues; and2. increased awareness of and support for women’s legal literacy andaccess to justice through a positive media campaign.
Capacity-Building of Legal Service Providers
Top-Down Approach
Legal literacy for women is not a new concept but the adb conceptualization is innovative in several ways. First, adb worked directly with theChief Justices in the respective countries, because in countries with weakpolitical institutions, judiciaries are often seen as the bastion of last resort.
Chief Justices, if motivated, could bring change with just one directive. In
addition, most development partners typically work with executive and leg-

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islative bodies, but legislative reforms will not bear fruit on the ground if
legal service providers lack capacity to enforce rights and resolve disputes.
Training of the judiciary required a change in mindset; understandingof the judicial system; understanding of Islamic, national, and customary
laws; and international law expertise. The adb team was a most diverse andmulti-skilled team, which included (i) a gender and development law expert
from adb, (ii) a former Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, (iii)

The project leader, Irum Ahsan, with Chief Justice Sayed Yousuf Halim of Afghanistan.

The ADB Team in discussion with then Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Pakistan(now Justice of the Supreme Court) Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.

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a human rights expert and Islamic scholar from Malaysia, who is a former
Chair of Women Living Under Muslim Laws, (iv) an award-winning anthropologist and filmmaker whose documentary on compensation marriages inPakistan contributed to a Federal Supreme Court decision declaring that
customary practice as illegal, and (v) local experts on domestic laws and customs, who are active in capacity-building and law reform in both Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
With the support of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, the Attorney
General of Afghanistan, the Lahore High Court, and the Punjab Judicial
Academy, adb developed and delivered gender-responsive trainings for the
judiciary and the prosecutorial service. The training programs were customized specifically for each country, and utilized multi-techniques which

The ADB Legal Literacy Team (From left to right: Maria Cecilia T. Sicangco, Senior Legaland Policy Specialist; Zarizana Abdul Aziz, Professor of Law, International Human Rights
Expert, Islamic Law Expert; P. Imrana Jalal, Principal Social Development Specialist(Gender and Development); Samar Minallah Khan, Expert on Customary Practices Affecting
Women and Girls, Anthropologist, Filmmaker; Saima Amin Khwaja, Expert on Pakistanilaws, Islamic Law Expert; Irum Ahsan, Principal Counsel for Law and Policy Reform;
Gladys Cabanilla Sangalang, Senior Legal Operations Assistant; and Robyn Ann Layton,
Former Justice, Supreme Court of South Australia, Professor of Law, and Expert on Womenand Children as Witnesses)

were interactive and encouraged discussion and critical thinking. To ensurethat the trainings respond to both need and demand, the team of trainers
designed the trainings on the basis of focus group needs assessments withjudges and prosecutors in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Adb especially encouraged the participation of women judges and prosecutors.
The Pakistan trainings covered (i) the basics of gender sensitization, (ii)national and Islamic gender laws and culture of Pakistan, (iii) relevance ofinternational standards, (iv) gender-sensitized judicial conduct in gender-

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based violence cases, (v) gender-based violence against women, (vi) attrition and compromise, which was highlighted as a major issue in the needs
assessments; and (vii) children as witnesses – giving evidence in court. On
the other hand, the Afghanistan trainings threshed out the relationship ofthe Elimination of Violence Against Women (evaw) Law with both the
Old Penal Code and the New Penal Code, specifically with respect to general doctrines and principles, offenses covered, and applicable penalties.
Withdrawal, compensation and mediation, as well as international humanrights norms and best practices on court environment and conduct fromother jurisdictions, were also discussed. The adb team also produced customized manuals for each training.

Customized training manuals for judges and prosecutors in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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More than gender sensitization, these trainings focused particularly on
outcomes which can change not only attitudes but actions by judges andprosecutors. In both countries, the interactive workshops began by drawing
to the forefront unconscious biases that people may have regarding genderroles in society. For instance, most participants associated “brave”, “toy cars”,
and “strategic thinking” with men, and “washing”, “cooking”, and “sympathy”
with women. But the trainers then highlighted that the gendered perceptionof these words is not intrinsic but a social construct – after all, women canbe brave as men can be sympathetic.
In addition, central to the trainings is the concept of “oneness” – that
Islamic law, Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s constitution and laws, and international human rights law all promote the dignity of women and girls. Judges
and prosecutors therefore should not feel conflicted in drawing from international conventions, instruments and norms, or from best practices
in other countries, for fear that these are “Western concepts” anathema to
sharia or domestic law.
For instance, on the issue of economic abuse in Pakistan: Islam mandates that women and girls are entitled to a share of their parents’ properties upon the latter’s death. However, females are often coerced into signingthese off to male family members to “keep the properties within the family.”The adb trainers thus highlighted Section 498A of the Pakistan Penal Code(1860), which prohibits depriving women of their inheritance, along withseveral Quranic verses with the same message. In particular, the adb teamemphasized Surah-An Nisa 4:78 and Surah-An Nisa 4:13-14,9 which statethat not giving women their inheritance is an offense against God whose
corresponding punishment is “entering a fire […] for good.”
All told, adb was able to train nearly five hundred judges and prosecutors in Afghanistan10 and Pakistan.11
Right after the initial batch of trainings in Pakistan, the (then) Chief
Justice of the Lahore High Court, the Hon. Syed Mansoor Ali Shah (nowJustice of the Federal Supreme Court), requested that adb conduct a Trainthe-Trainers course so that the training program could cascade to the remaining 1,500 judges in Punjab. Adb thus trained a cohort of twenty judges
as trainers who are now delivering similar trainings using adb’s modules.
Adb also developed three courses on gender sensitization and decision
writing of gender-based violence cases for the Punjab Judicial Academy.
These courses are now being taught as mandatory subjects to all levels of74

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Training sessions in Pakistan.

the Punjab judiciary. In addition, adb also delivered a specialized training
on evidence, court procedure, and litigation processes to another batch oftwenty judges who are specifically handling gender-based violence cases.
In Afghanistan, adb, the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General’s
Office are now discussing a possible Train-the-Trainers program.
Bottom-up Approach
Adb supplemented the top-down approach with a bottom-up approach.
Other capacity-building initiatives under the project include training workshops for grassroots women, members of the youth, nongovernmental organizations, paralegals, religious leaders (imams), and informal mediators.
Topics ranged from practical matters such as life skills and self-confidenceAttaining Justice for Women and Girls in Islamic Countries

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Training sessions in Afghanistan.

for women, to religious matters such as women’s rights in Islam, and finallyto legal and remedial matters, such as referral mechanisms, effective mediation methodology, and women-related legislation such as family law and theevaw Law.
Positive Media Campaign with a Ripple EffectAdb utilizes a positive media campaign using both traditional and nontraditional media. The positive media campaign has centered on women’s rightsthat are often misunderstood, e.g., the right to inheritance and the rightto education. It provides information and education with an approach that

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Training on legal and remedial matters for community men in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Training on life skills and self-confidence for grassroots women in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

empowers women to know how to exercise their rights, and to inspire men
to support women and girls.
Traditional media initiatives include short documentaries from bothPakistan and Afghanistan. Adb has also supported legal literacy round-Attaining Justice for Women and Girls in Islamic Countries

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tables, in which women and activists shared their success stories, and live
radio shows where lawyers and other legal professionals raised awareness ongender-based violence and rights of women under the law.
Non-traditional media initiatives involve the creative, innovative,
and culturally sensitive use of art, music, and film. For example, trucks inPakistan have traditionally been painted with decorative floral, ethnic, commercial, or other pop culture designs. ADB utilized this art form to promotemessages that are pro-women and pro-girls, highlighting, for example, theright of women and girls to inheritance. In the truck art below, the girl has

ADB’s Samar Minallah Khan was interviewed on women’s and girls’ rights by a popularradio personality.

written on her blackboard “My father will give me my rightful share in his
property. Will you also give your daughter her due share?”
It was important that the truck art imparted legal and social messages
in an easily digestible way. For instance, the illustration below underscoredthe right of women and girls to inheritance simply by saying “Depriving
daughters of their right to inheritance is un-Islamic and illegal.”
Another variant of truck art adb produced emphasized the value that
Islam places on daughters and sisters, and the blessings that God would give78

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A live radio show where a lawyer would answer calls regarding legal disputes involving
women and girls.

“My father will give me my rightful share in his property. Will you also give your daughter
her due share?”Attaining Justice for Women and Girls in Islamic Countries

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a man who treats them with love and kindness. Jabir ibn Abdullah, a companion of the Prophet Mohammad, reported that the Prophet had stated:“The one who has three daughters or sisters, or two daughters or sisters,
and he accommodates them, show mercy toward them, and supports them,“Depriving daughters of their right to inheritance is un-Islamic and illegal.”

Paradise is definitely guaranteed for him.”12 The truck art below, showing a
man lovingly gazing at his daughter, comes with the painted message “Mydaughter, you are the light in my eyes. You are my ticket to paradise.”
Adb also produced puppet shows with positive messages through local community puppeteers and singers.13 The puppets and theaters took ona very traditional look, so that the rural communities in which they wereshown could identify with them. Furthermore, the puppet shows highlighted the legal and religious basis of the specific right discussed, with banners
identifying the law and religious text on both sides of the theater set-up.
Adb held these puppet shows in numerous urban and rural communities in Pakistan, including Multan, Vasindawali, Khangarh, Muzaffargarh,
Bahawalnagar, Khanewal, Mohri Pur and Kabirwala.
In Afghanistan, adb worked with local artists to stage interactive mobile theater shows highlighting the rights of women and girls, the evils of domestic violence and child marriages, and other illegal customary practices.
Collectively, more than 3,000 people in the provinces of Baghlan, Kunar,
Kunduz, and Nangarhar were able to see the theater shows.14

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c · V o l u m e 9 , 2 0 1 9“My daughter, you are the light in my eyes. You are my ticket to paradise.

Theater set-up, with banners on either side identifying the legal and religious aspects of
the right.

Adb is currently working on other non-traditional media platforms.
Other products being developed are: (i) lullabies specifically for girl children in Afghanistan; (ii) positive, pro-women songs sung by famous artists

Attaining Justice for Women and Girls in Islamic Countries(Above) ADB used culturally sensitive puppets and design. (Bottom) Urban and ruralcommunities in Pakistan participated in the puppet shows.

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in Pakistan and Afghanistan; (iii) public space artwork (bridges and walls) in
Afghanistan; and (iv) short animated messages for messenger apps such as
WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger.
Ultimately, media is being used not just as an awareness-raising tool forthe masses, but also to highlight positive news to motivate women, girls, and(Top, center, bottom): Local artists in Afghanistan staged mobile theater shows with prowomen messages.

Attaining Justice for Women and Girls in Islamic Countries

83(Top and bottom): The mobile theater shows were seen by more than 3,000 people,
collectively.

men supporting them. And, especially for non-traditional media platforms
such as truck art and theater shows, it is also used to sensitize the artists
and community level business owners. Now, the community level truck artist has become a celebrity in Pakistan for continuing to replace frivolous
messages with pro-women messages on trucks. Local puppeteers and singers are replicating the shows on their own. Wall artists and mobile theatergroups are also independently planning more shows and art displays.
Institutionalizing Reforms: The Model Gender-based Violence Court
After the gender sensitization and gender-based violence trainings inPakistan, then Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High
Court requested adb’s assistance in establishing a model gender-based violence court (gbv court) in Lahore. This gbv court, Asia’s first such court,
aims to have gender-based violence cases prioritized and conducted in agender-inclusive manner.

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c · V o l u m e 9 , 2 0 1 9Victims of gender-based violence are mainly women (and girl children)and they often do not report violence against them for fear of retribution,
humiliation, shame, social stigma and loss of honor. In addition, victims arealso fearful of coming to the court to give evidence because the court processes are intimidating and they feel re-victimized. The gbv Court is a response to allow them to give their best evidence and minimize the trauma.
Examples of innovations in the gbv court are:
• The gbv court is presided over by the trained judge, prosecutorand staff.
• The court has special infrastructure such as (i) larger courtrooms
so the distance between the victim, lawyers, and audience is increased; (ii) e-court facilities so that women can give evidence
through video transmission, should they so choose; (iii) screens
alongside the witness box so that women who are victims of violence are not forced to see the offenders when giving evidence; and(iv) provision of female support officers who will escort the victim
to a protected place, settle the victim, and remain with the victim
while the victim gives evidence.
• Adb also developed the following, which have all been adopted
by the gbv court: (i) court procedures based on international bestpractices and human rights norms; (ii) formal procedures in casethe victim or the witnesses resile; and (iii) Practice Notes on evidence and other court matters, e.g., testimony recording protocols(for instance, questions put in cross-examination on behalf of theaccused will be given in writing to the Judge, who will be putting
them to the victim or to a vulnerable witness in a language which isclear and not degrading).
The judicial trainings, coupled with the new gbv court, have strengthened access to justice by resulting in a streamlined complaint process, sensitized judges, and provision of support to the victims. They have also challenged widespread negative perceptions that women lie when they complainof violence. Prior to establishment of this court in October 2017, the conviction rate in rape cases was 2 percent; in 2018, the conviction rate has risen
to 20 percent.

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Sustainability of Reforms and Project Impacts
There are several factors that contribute – and are in fact essential – to theproject’s sustainability. First and most important is the access to, and the
support given by, the senior officers of the relevant government institutions. This project would not have gotten off the ground without the support of the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, theChief Justice of the Lahore High Court, the Director-General of the Punjab
Judicial Academy, the Chief Justice and the Director of Policy and Planningof the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, the Attorney General and the Deputy
Attorney General for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and theInauguration of the GBV Court by then Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Hon. Syed
Mansoor Ali Shah (now Justice of the Supreme Court), with other distinguished guests.

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The GBV court, with trained personnel and physical infrastructure that is compliant withhuman rights norms.

Minister for Women Affairs of Afghanistan. In countries with fraught political situations and weak civil societies, and especially those transitioning toformal governance, the will of institutional heads gets things done.
Adb actively consulted these individuals (and the institutions they represented) every step of the way to ensure that they will have a deep senseof ownership over the project. This likewise assures them that the projectis designed and implemented in a manner that is sensitive to the country’s
unique legal, political, social, and religious circumstances. This kind of institutional buy-in has led to reforms that were implemented subsequent
to project activities, and feeds into the project’s overall long-term sus-

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tainability. For instance, on top of the gbv Court and the gender sensitization trainings, adb also assisted the Lahore High Court in notifying theGender Equality Policy for Punjab Judges. The Policy invokes the Pakistan
Constitution, Islamic precepts, and the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and mandates that special
measures be undertaken, whenever necessary, to ensure that female judges
enjoy substantive equality with male judges.
Second, adb’s multi-skilled team was also deliberately multi-culturaland multi-religious. The team had members based in Southeast Asia, SouthAsia, the Pacific Islands, Australia, and United States; some were Muslim,
and some were Christian. It was important for the training participants tosee that gbv is a problem that affects societies of different economic status
and various faith traditions. At the same time, having Muslim members in
the team was crucial to the project’s success and sustainability, because at
the heart of the project is the fact that Islam is a religion of peace and promotes the dignity of women and girls. Having trainers who looked like themand believed like them helped establish rapport and goodwill between the
trainers and participants, and dispelled any notion that the adb team merely
sought to bring in “Western” concepts. Adb was able to build on this rapport by selecting promising participants from the initial training program,and training them specifically as accredited trainers who can deliver themodules to other judges and prosecutors in the future.
Third, sustainability of gbv court reforms depends on whether the sitting judge actively implements the guidelines, court practice notes, andcourt procedures, which were all developed by adb to promote fair trial
principles and justice to both the victim and the accused. In adb’s continuing audit of the gbv Court, adb’s team has determined that the judge initially had the tendency to default to processes he was familiar with which were
not necessarily suitable for proper gbv case management (e.g., the processthat must be undertaken by the judge when the women survivor or a witness
resiles from her previous statement and chooses to withdraw the case). With
proper guidance and training, the gbv Court judge became more adept inapplying the rules of evidence and case management specific to gbv cases.
Fourth, the project allows for flexibility, as well as responsiveness to thecultural, social, and religious contexts of the country’s laws. It is also basedon international norms and provides approaches which were culled frominternational best practice and could be relevantly applied in the country
having regard to legal systems and unique country features.

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Moving Forward
Adb intends to scale up the project in several ways. First, the Pakistan leg ofthe project has been limited thus far to Punjab province. In 2019, adb will bebroadening the project scope in Pakistan by (among others):• Coordinating with technical committees in Pakistan’s Federal
Parliament, as well as other development partners, in reforming thelegal framework that applies to gbv offenses and courts;• Undertaking discussions with the Federal Supreme Court and officials of the Federal Judicial Academy (the Academy) to discuss possible courses on gender sensitization to be designed and deliveredby adb under the auspices of the Academy;• Assisting other courts in Pakistan in developing similar reform initiatives; and• Amplifying the positive media campaign. The response to the initial batch of truck art (twenty trucks traversing Punjab) and puppet
shows has been extremely positive. Adb is in the process of having a second batch of trucks painted, and another batch of puppet
shows produced, in addition to other traditional and non-traditional media platforms.
In Afghanistan, both the capacity development program and positive
media campaign are being scaled up. Afghanistan’s Supreme Court has given permission to adb to train a cohort of fifteen-twenty judges (who initiallyparticipated in the December 2018 Kabul trainings) under the auspices of aTrain-the-Trainers program. These judges, once accredited by adb, will beable to teach the training program to other judges in Kabul and elsewhere.
adb is also developing an access to justice and violence against womencourse for the Supreme Court’s Judicial Training Program (locally called the“stage” program). Furthermore, adb is in the process of producing a customized benchbook on violence against women cases for use by prosecutors, judges, lawyers and other stakeholders. On the media campaign front,
adb has started working with local artists who are to paint pro-women andpro-justice messages on public walls, including the walls near the Attorney
General’s Office and the Supreme Court.
Lastly, adb is exploring the possibility of replicating project activities
in Tajikistan, another predominantly Muslim Asian country. adb will beAttaining Justice for Women and Girls in Islamic Countries

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fielding an exploratory mission to Tajikistan in the second or third quarterof 2018 to meet justice sector stakeholders. The objective is to determine
need and demand for access to justice and violence against women training
programs.
Endnotes
1 Asian Development Bank, Strategy 2030: Achieving a Prosperous, Inclusive,
Resilient, and Sustainable Asia and the Pacific, July 2018. See www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/435391/strategy-2030-main-document.pdf, lastaccessed on 24 February 2019.
2 See Policy on Gender and Development at www.adb.org/themes/gender/
policy, last accessed on 24 February 2019.
3 See Law and Policy Reform Program: Effective Legal Systems for Sustainable
Development at www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/183511/law-policy-reform-brochure.pdf, last accessed on 24 February 2019.
4 Examples of the English translation of Verse 4:34 of the Quran:
Sahih International translation: “Men are in charge of women by [right of ] what
Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from theirwealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband’s] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally],
strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed,
Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.”
Pickthall translation: Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath madethe one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the
support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which
Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them andbanish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way
against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.
Yusuf Ali translation: Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to
those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first),(Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they returnto obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High,
great (above you all).
Mohsin Khan translation: Men are the protectors and maintainers of women,because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend(to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly
obedient (to Allah and to their husbands), and guard in the husband’s absence what
Allah orders them to guard (e.g. their chastity, their husband’s property, etc.). As to
those women on whose part you see ill­conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse

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to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful), but if they return toobedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance). Surely, Allah is Ever Most
High, Most Great.
5 See Gender Inequality Index at http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/GII, last
retrieved on 24 February 2019.
6 Experts’ survey by Thomson Reuters Foundation. See www.reuters.com/
article/us-women-dangerous-poll-factbox/factbox-which-are-the-worlds-10-mostdangerous-countries-for-women-idUSKBN1JM01Z, last retrieved on 24 February
2019.
7 For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - anobligatory share.” [Quran, Surah-An Nisa 4:7]
8 “These are bounds set by Allah. Allah will let the ones who obey Allah and His
Messenger, enter gardens beneath which rivers flow. There, they will settle for good.
That is the great triumph.
Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses the bounds set by
Him, Allah will cause him to enter a fire, and there, he will settle for good. He will
have a humiliating punishment.” [Quran, Surah-An Nisa 4:13-14]
9 A video featuring the Afghanistan trainings is available online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEvE5cUSMAQ, last accessed on 24 February 2019.
10 A video featuring the Pakistan trainings is available online at www.youtube.
com/watch?v=yYZ5RFQAJIU, last accessed on 24 February 2019.
11 Hadith12 A video featuring these puppet shows is available online at www.youtube.
com/watch?v=oVhBOkBhQHo, last accessed on 24 February 2019.
13 A video featuring these mobile theater shows is available online at www.
youtube.com/watch?v=it4JxFsyzaA, last accessed on 24 February 2019.