This book is a socio-legal interdisciplinary study on gender and diversity in multicultural socie... more This book is a socio-legal interdisciplinary study on gender and diversity in multicultural societies of Europe. It uses secondary data to discuss the broad experiences of migrant single mothers/women in Europe. Second, it includes narratives of experiences across the life course of single Danish-Pakistani women, starting from their pre-migration background to their elderly lives. The author uses an analytical framework used of relational collectivism and individualism, the former referring to the understanding of oneself as connected and interdependent to the family, and the latter referring to values of independence, personal interest and achievements. She uses the term "mélange familism" to explain a new family type that combines both relational-collectivist and individualist elements. A major part of this work is its deliberation of mélange familism and processes of social and legal practices in the everyday lives of single mothers. Crucially, the book demonstrates that social and legal traditions are not static, but are a product of improvisation. It makes a significant contribution by providing an alternate picture of single women/mothers as against the stereotypical image of 'passive, subordinate Muslim women'. It also contributes to gender and family studies by showing the increasing establishment of single-motherheaded households as a source of new possibilities; a new type or form of family construction, and not just the tragic residue of a broken two-parent family
This collection of 11 essays comes from a series of lectures given at the University of Copenhage... more This collection of 11 essays comes from a series of lectures given at the University of Copenhagen in the autumn of 2006. The focus is on how societies deal with multiculturalism, religious pluralism and 'the traditional religious and judicial practices' of immigrants (p 15). The countries ...
NAVEIÑ REET: Nordic Journal of Law and Social Research
This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on... more This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on marital rape. The first part of the article looks at cultural influences on rape laws and compares the historical development of these laws in Danish legislation, Pakistani legislation and more broadly in Muslim law. Danish comparative law often compares with legislation in neighboring countries, but comparing to a more different legal system is valuable too. We find that in both Denmark and Pakistan, socio-economic changes challenge existing definitions of rape and marital rape, leading to demands for legal reform, while the legal system tries to maintain as much continuity in the legal definitions as possible. In both jurisdictions, societal views on women and sex also influence how judges and jurors interpret the law, sometimes leading them to contradict the written law. The second part of the article analyzes two court cases involving marital rape in Danish-Pakistani couples. Cultur...
This welcome new volume addresses a timely and important subject: how a particular principle of I... more This welcome new volume addresses a timely and important subject: how a particular principle of Islamic law, mahr, is being handled in European legal contexts. Mahr is often translated into English as "dower" and references an obligatory transfer of property or money from a husband to his wife in a Muslim marriage; mahr is often, but not always, written into a marriage contract. The collection, edited by Rubya Mehdi and Jørgen S. Nielsen, brings together ten papers from a 2009 workshop on mahr in Copenhagen; most of the contributors are legal scholars, lawyers, and anthropologists. The chapters will be of great use to scholars, legal professionals, and policy makers who are interested in legal pluralism and the legal consequences of globalization and migration-particularly the way in which Islamic legal principles are interpreted and addressed in Western legal systems. The editors' choice to focus on one issue in Islamic law-mahr-works very well. As the contributors show, the way in which Western legal systems handle questions of mahr are as complex and varied as understandings and practices in Muslim-majority countries. On the whole, the chapters are absorbing and well-written, and they complement each other remarkably well. Most address the way which marital disputes involving mahr are handled in European countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and France are discussed), and many of these elucidate the difficulties inherent in attempting to classify mahr according to pre-existing Western legal notions; there is little consensus-even within individual European countries-on how questions of mahr should be handled. It is also important to note that many authors make specific recommendations about mahr can be more effectively addressed in European legal contexts.
This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on... more This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on marital rape. The first part of the article looks at cultural influences on rape laws and compares the historical development of these laws in Danish legislation, Pakistani legislation and more broadly in Muslim law. Danish comparative law often compares with legislation in neighboring countries, but comparing to a more different legal system is valuable too. We find that in both Denmark and Pakistan, socio-economic changes challenge existing definitions of rape and marital rape, leading to demands for legal reform, while the legal system tries to maintain as much continuity in the legal definitions as possible. In both jurisdictions, societal views on women and sex also influence how judges and jurors interpret the law, sometimes leading them to contradict the written law. The second part of the article analyzes two court cases involving marital rape in Danish-Pakistani couples. Cultur...
Multan. 20 Domestic violence, hidden in nature and considered as a private matter involves physic... more Multan. 20 Domestic violence, hidden in nature and considered as a private matter involves physical, sexual, emotional, social, economic and physical, sexual, emotional, social, economic and physiological abuse committed by a person. There is a need to provide legal mechanism for protection of victims of domestic violence inline with the provision of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. To address this alarming issue a proposed Domestic Violence against Women and Children (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2007 was being forwarded to the Cabinet for approval that was passed and has become an Act now in 2010.
This book is a socio-legal interdisciplinary study on gender and diversity in multicultural socie... more This book is a socio-legal interdisciplinary study on gender and diversity in multicultural societies of Europe. It uses secondary data to discuss the broad experiences of migrant single mothers/women in Europe. Second, it includes narratives of experiences across the life course of single Danish-Pakistani women, starting from their pre-migration background to their elderly lives. The author uses an analytical framework used of relational collectivism and individualism, the former referring to the understanding of oneself as connected and interdependent to the family, and the latter referring to values of independence, personal interest and achievements. She uses the term "mélange familism" to explain a new family type that combines both relational-collectivist and individualist elements. A major part of this work is its deliberation of mélange familism and processes of social and legal practices in the everyday lives of single mothers. Crucially, the book demonstrates that social and legal traditions are not static, but are a product of improvisation. It makes a significant contribution by providing an alternate picture of single women/mothers as against the stereotypical image of 'passive, subordinate Muslim women'. It also contributes to gender and family studies by showing the increasing establishment of single-motherheaded households as a source of new possibilities; a new type or form of family construction, and not just the tragic residue of a broken two-parent family
This collection of 11 essays comes from a series of lectures given at the University of Copenhage... more This collection of 11 essays comes from a series of lectures given at the University of Copenhagen in the autumn of 2006. The focus is on how societies deal with multiculturalism, religious pluralism and 'the traditional religious and judicial practices' of immigrants (p 15). The countries ...
NAVEIÑ REET: Nordic Journal of Law and Social Research
This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on... more This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on marital rape. The first part of the article looks at cultural influences on rape laws and compares the historical development of these laws in Danish legislation, Pakistani legislation and more broadly in Muslim law. Danish comparative law often compares with legislation in neighboring countries, but comparing to a more different legal system is valuable too. We find that in both Denmark and Pakistan, socio-economic changes challenge existing definitions of rape and marital rape, leading to demands for legal reform, while the legal system tries to maintain as much continuity in the legal definitions as possible. In both jurisdictions, societal views on women and sex also influence how judges and jurors interpret the law, sometimes leading them to contradict the written law. The second part of the article analyzes two court cases involving marital rape in Danish-Pakistani couples. Cultur...
This welcome new volume addresses a timely and important subject: how a particular principle of I... more This welcome new volume addresses a timely and important subject: how a particular principle of Islamic law, mahr, is being handled in European legal contexts. Mahr is often translated into English as "dower" and references an obligatory transfer of property or money from a husband to his wife in a Muslim marriage; mahr is often, but not always, written into a marriage contract. The collection, edited by Rubya Mehdi and Jørgen S. Nielsen, brings together ten papers from a 2009 workshop on mahr in Copenhagen; most of the contributors are legal scholars, lawyers, and anthropologists. The chapters will be of great use to scholars, legal professionals, and policy makers who are interested in legal pluralism and the legal consequences of globalization and migration-particularly the way in which Islamic legal principles are interpreted and addressed in Western legal systems. The editors' choice to focus on one issue in Islamic law-mahr-works very well. As the contributors show, the way in which Western legal systems handle questions of mahr are as complex and varied as understandings and practices in Muslim-majority countries. On the whole, the chapters are absorbing and well-written, and they complement each other remarkably well. Most address the way which marital disputes involving mahr are handled in European countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and France are discussed), and many of these elucidate the difficulties inherent in attempting to classify mahr according to pre-existing Western legal notions; there is little consensus-even within individual European countries-on how questions of mahr should be handled. It is also important to note that many authors make specific recommendations about mahr can be more effectively addressed in European legal contexts.
This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on... more This article investigates how rape laws and rape cases are culturally influenced, with a focus on marital rape. The first part of the article looks at cultural influences on rape laws and compares the historical development of these laws in Danish legislation, Pakistani legislation and more broadly in Muslim law. Danish comparative law often compares with legislation in neighboring countries, but comparing to a more different legal system is valuable too. We find that in both Denmark and Pakistan, socio-economic changes challenge existing definitions of rape and marital rape, leading to demands for legal reform, while the legal system tries to maintain as much continuity in the legal definitions as possible. In both jurisdictions, societal views on women and sex also influence how judges and jurors interpret the law, sometimes leading them to contradict the written law. The second part of the article analyzes two court cases involving marital rape in Danish-Pakistani couples. Cultur...
Multan. 20 Domestic violence, hidden in nature and considered as a private matter involves physic... more Multan. 20 Domestic violence, hidden in nature and considered as a private matter involves physical, sexual, emotional, social, economic and physical, sexual, emotional, social, economic and physiological abuse committed by a person. There is a need to provide legal mechanism for protection of victims of domestic violence inline with the provision of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. To address this alarming issue a proposed Domestic Violence against Women and Children (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2007 was being forwarded to the Cabinet for approval that was passed and has become an Act now in 2010.
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Papers by Rubya Mehdi