Women Judges in the Muslim World

Does Gender Blindness Improve Gender Equality? Female Judges and the Glass Ceiling Effect in the Islamic Judicial System in Indonesia

“…It is common to find women judges in various Muslim majority populations such as Sudan, Palestinian, Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and others (Abdelkader, 2014). Studies have shown that women's participation in the judicial system has increased in Muslim countries (Sonneveld and Lindbekk, 2017b; UNESCWA, 2019). However, few works have studied the career path of female judges in the judicial system.…”

“…In the context of the Muslim world, even though the strict representation of Islamic law would not prefer women as judges, the appointment of women judges is not a new phenomenon in Muslim countries. Among various studies analyzing the appointment of women judges in Muslim countries, an edited book from Sonneveld and Lindbekk (2017b) provides a comprehensive understanding of domestic and international debates on the appointment of women judges in Muslim countries. The book covers case studies of Muslim countries of various regions, including Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia (Nurlaelawati and Salim, 2017; Zin, 2017), Pakistan in South Asia (Mehdi, 2017), Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia in the Middle East and North Africa (Cardinal 2017; Carlisle 2017; Lindbekk 2017; Sonneveld 2017; Voorhoeve 2017).…”

“…In most Muslim countries, the first appointment of female judges did not happen until the 2000s. Egypt appointed its first female judges in 2003, followed by Bahrain in 2006, UAE in 2008, Kuwait in 2010, and Mauretania in 2013 (Sonneveld and Lindbekk, 2017b).…”

النوع الاجتماعى والمساواة فى الخيارات المهنية فى مصر: العوائق الثقافية والمجتمعية أمام تعيين النساء فى المناصب القضائية (دراسة بالإنجليزية) Gender Equality and occupational choice in Egypt: cultural and societal constraints on women's appointment to judicial posts

“…104 million and women representing almost 49% of this population (1) .Moreover, these women judges were not appointed as their male counterparts but instead selected from among the already-appointed members in the Administrative Prosecution Authority and State Lawsuits Authority. Additionally, this tiny percentage was even accused of being appointed as cover to appease international standards and demands (2) .Women were banned from the standard application process to judicial posts within State Council and the Public Prosecution, since their establishment in 1946 and 1881. These two judicial posts are according to the applicable system, the usual paths to become a judge in the Ordinary Courts and the Administrative Courts (3) .…”

Gendered Justice in China: Victim–Offender Mediation as the “Different Voice” of Female Judges

“…Soon after the publication of Gilligan’s book, her work was heavily criticized on methodological grounds because of her extremely small, selective sample ( Auerbach et al, 1985 ). Given the complexity of social reality, other critics also argued that one should be careful not to attribute too much influence to gender alone in decision making, but rather explore a combination of variables such as professional training and the prevailing political regime along with personal attributes, such as age and marital status ( Sonneveld & Lindbekk, 2017 ). While Gilligan had likely not intended to provide a conceptual framework for advocating the inclusion of female judges in the judiciary, this is precisely what happened following others’ interpretation of her work ( Kenney, 2008 ; Minow, 1987 ).…”