Section 3. Aims and methods of this study

This thematic study on the relationship between domestic violence and shari'a is part of a larger project on Islamic family Iaw¹²This study was designed with three main aims: (ι) to map the problem of domestic violence in Muslim societies in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia; (2) to analyse and compare how states deal with this problem; and (3) to analyse and compare variations in interpretations and applications of shari'a in regard to intra-family violence.

Domestic violence is an extremely difficult subject to study because of the dearth of reliable information. This is the case not only in Muslim societies but virtually everywhere. The reasons for this include: the inability or disinclination of victims to report violence; the refusal or failure of authorities to document reports and/or make reports publicly available; and official and/or social accept­ance of certain forms and degrees of intra-family violence. Hence, the quality and availability of information about domestic violence varies, from non-existent to partial at best.

In the societies that are the focus of this study, estimated rates of domestic violence tend to be high. However, the available information is extremely limited and uneven. Egypt and Palestine are the only countries in the three regions for which national studies which focus on or include domestic violence have been undertaken (el-Zanaty 1995; Yahia 1998). For some countries, there is virtually no statistical information whatsoever. Most information about domestic violence that does exist comes from local and international organizations, including women’s and human rights organizations, and certain bodies of the United Nations with mandates that focus on or include women’s rights.¹³ The lack and unevenness of information is an important finding in its own right. But clearly, it makes the first aim of mapping domestic violence in Muslim societies all but impossible.

In regard to the second aim of analysing and comparing how states deal with domestic violence, the two most important issues are the administration and laws governing gender and family relations, and official commitment (or lack thereof) to women’s rights. The kinds of questions that this research raises include the following: Has the state signed and ratified the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)? If so, has it registered any reservat­ions on the grounds that CEDAW conflicts with shαri^,α? Is there a constitutional authority guaranteeing equal protection of the law for women and, if so, is this authority used effectively to prohibit and punish domestic violence? Is there national legislation and/or administrative sanctions prohibiting domestic violence? What measures, if any, has the state taken or authorized to deal with domestic violence and the protection of victims (e.g. provision of social services and health care, education campaigns)? Some information about the role and activities of the state, such as ratification and reservations to CEDAW, is publicly available. But information about the law’s, policies and jurisprudence pertaining to domestic violence is far more difficult to gather. The best sources tend to be organizations that w'ork on women’s rights issues, and these vary from country to country.

In regard to the third aim of analysing and comparing interpretations and applications of shari'a as it impacts upon the issue of intra-family violence, this study makes no claim to provide an authoritative opinion on what Islam ‘really’ mandates. Rather, the issue is w'hat authorities and members of society believe and accept, and how^, these beliefs are shaped, debated and transformed. Despite variations across societies, there are some commonalities, not least a general tendency to interpret shari'a as sanctioning gender inequality in family relations. Specifically, shari'a tends to be interpreted to give men authority over women family members.

Domestic violence is strongly, and directly, related to inequality between men and women. But the contested legitimacy of gender equality in Muslim societies impedes or complicates efforts to deal with domestic violence as a social problem. There is strong opposition to the notion that men and women should be equal in the context of the family. The corollary is the belief that domestic relationships are legitimately (i.e. ‘naturally’ and/or ‘divinely’) hierarchical. This belief is both derived from and reinforced by dominant interpretations of shari'a. However, for analytical purposes, this study ‘brackets’ the question of whether shari'a lends itself to or opposes formal equality for men and women in order to foreground the issue of violence. Specifically, the question addressed here is whether shari'a is interpreted to construe violence against women as a harm or a right.

As a point of clarification, the ‘bracketing’ of gender inequality distinguishes the approach of this study from most mainstream feminist and human rights discourse, which tends to regard inequality as causal for domestic violence (Dobash and Dobash 1980, 1992). This inclines feminists and human rights activists to prioritize the struggle for gender equality as the means of combating domestic violence (Connors 1994; Coomaraswamy 1999). This is premised on the idea that if women were equal to men and had equal protection under the law, men would not be able to get away with perpetrating violence against them. While this is a valid assumption, it either fails to engage with or delegitimizes the beliefs and ideologies (in this case religious and cultural) that provide justification for in­equalities.

Indeed, gender inequality and domestic violence are integrally related, and this understanding informs the analysis here. But in this study, the primary emphasis is on violence, and the social and cultural context in which it occurs. This relates domestic violence to a lack of rights for women in order to probe the rationales and justifications for that lack. ‘Defining violence in this way allows us to address the record of violence against women as one not composed of a series of instances of abuse... but as one located in a broad social and political context in which not only men but women - and society as a whole — act to perpetuate systems which result in various forms of abuse’ (Toubia 1994: 17).

Focusing critical attention on the rationales that people utilize to claim that men have the ‘right’ to perpetrate violence against women can alter gender inequalities in all social spheres. Establishing the illegitimacy of violence against women undermines a tangible and harmful manifestation of masculine privilege. But such an approach is less controversial, and hopefully more persuasive, because it targets violent practices rather than gender inequality. Moreover, it recognizes that the priority and interest of most victims of violence would be to end the abuse, not their domestic relations.

The comparative dimension of this study turns on the ways in which shari'a informs both official policies and, more broadly, popular attitudes about intra­family violence. Among Muslims, adherence to shari’a principles tends to be construed as a means of demonstrating a commitment (socio-cultural as well as religious) to Islam. Thus, this study strives to engage seriously with beliefs and practices that underlie this commitment. However, this does not translate into a cultural relativist sanctioning of violence against women (Mayer 1991). The assumption here is that domestic violence is a problem that demands recourse, and that such recourse is not inimical to Islam.

It is the hope of those involved in this study that this research will provide a resource for action and advocacy to combat the problem of domestic violence, and to enhance legal and other remedies available to victims.

The remainder of this study is organized as follows: section 4 lays out a framework for analysing domestic violence as a legal and a social problem. Section 5 focuses on domestic violence and shαri'α in general terms of the scriptural and interpretive stances that inform their relationship. Sections 6, 7 and 8 focus, respectively, on efforts to establish an international legal framework for combating domestic violence within a larger campaign for women’s rights, Culturalist resistance to women’s rights, and manifestations of such resistance within Muslim societies that utilize adherence to shari'a as their basis. The final substantive section (9) presents a comparative analysis of domestic violence in Muslim societies, highlighting variations in the relationship between religion and the state as it impacts upon the issue of intra-family violence.