[state] state, gender, identity

Bahrain: Young divorcee is threatened for speaking out against Sharia courts, politicized judges and the lack of a personal status law

Afghanistan: 22 women and children to a cell - life in a notorious Afghan prison

Shaima left her violent husband and married a man she loved. They lived happily, but after a few years the police came after her - adultery is illegal in Afghanistan - demanding 4,000 afghanis (£42) in exchange for her freedom.

Saudi Arabia: Women’s issues - baby steps and individual successes

Perhaps there is no issue in Saudi Arabia more sensitive, more controversial and more shrouded in secrecy and contradictions than the issue of women.

Canada: Muslim women embrace Canada as home but remain on the margins of civic and socio-economic life

A recent report by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW), Engaging Muslim Women: Issues and Needs, reveals Canadian Muslim women’s affinity and affection for Canada but a lack of engagement in the political, social and economic life of the country.

South Africa: Respecting diversity and difference - the challenge facing a secular democracy

A case study of South Africa by WLUML networker Rashida Manjoo in which she outlines the implications of a lack of debate on identity politics in South Africa, and the apparent conflation of culture and religion with other identity issues.

رسالة من مواطنة من الدرجة الثالثة

UK: Muslim women angry at views being ignored, study shows

Muslim women in Britain feel their views are being ignored because community leaders and male-dominated national Muslim organisations are failing to represent them, according to a recent government report.

UPDATE: Iran: 'Stop Stoning Forever' Campaign

UK: Gender as a 'particular social group'

A casenote on a recent House of Lords case on gender as a 'particular social group' under the 1951 Refugee Convention - including a striking dictum from Baroness Hale, the first female Law Lord.

Iran: 'Stop Stoning Forever' Campaign