Women in the Muslim World and Human Rights Activism

Abstract

Human rights emerged with a universal and generalist character, their precepts should be useful for everyone. However, in this first moment, which was mainly thought -from a masculine perspective- specific rights and demands of women were not included. This context was changed from the process of specifying the subject of law, which resulted in documents focused exclusively on women, from activism, women included their human rights the international agenda. However, the framework created has been criticized by feminists from outside the global north, they point out how it may represent a white and western point of view. This article presents the specific case of Muslim women, discussing how their activism aims to bring the instrumentality of Human Rights to their reality. Therefore, this paper addresses the general challenges faced by this group of women and how they act upon it. We highlight the importance of these new voices, both in the international scenario and in the process of internalization at the local level, for the greater effectiveness and legitimacy of Human Rights.