The Musawah Opening Video depicts both challenges and successes in the struggle for equality and justice in the Muslim family. View it below or follow the link above to see it on YouTube.
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► Morocco
A new Family Code (Moudawana) was gazetted in Morocco in February 2004. The Preamble to the new Moudawana states: 'Doing justice to women, protecting children's rights and preserving men's dignity are a fundamental part of this project, which adheres to Islam's tolerant ends and objectives, notably justice, equality, solidarity, ijtihad (juridical reasoning) and receptiveness to the spirit of our modern era and the requirements of progress and development.' The King, in introducing the Moudawana, stated:
'The reforms, of which we cited the most important, should not be considered as a victory of one group over another, but rather constitute achievements for all Moroccans, and we took care to ensure that they were consistent with the following principles and references:
I cannot, as Commander of the Faithful, permit what God has forbidden and forbid what God has permitted.
Adopt the tolerant principles of Islam in advocating human dignity, and enhancing justice, equality and good amicable social relations, and with the cohesiveness of the Malekite School as well as ijtihad (juridical reasoning), which makes Islam valid for any time and place, to implement a modern Moudawana for the family, consistent with the spirit of our glorious religion.
Not consider the Moudawana as a law for the woman only, but a Moudawana for the entire family - father, mother and children - and further ensure that this Moudawana eliminates discrimination against women, protects the rights of children and preserves men's dignity.'
The women’s movement in Morocco was one of the major forces behind the reform of the Moudawana. Women’s groups came together in several coalitions over the 10 years before the reform took place to push for equality and justice for women under the law. The women’s groups used a wide variety of strategies, including alliance building, lobbying of decision makers, extensive media outreach, street demonstrations, public education and awareness raising, etc., to build a huge base of support throughout the country. The groups combined religious arguments based on the Qur’an and Sunnah with human rights arguments, sociological data, and the equality guarantees that already existed in the national laws and policies.
Much of the work of the Moroccan women’s groups was Maghreb regional level efforts to share and build resources, especially by a coalition of women’s groups from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia called Collectif 95 Maghreb Egalité. Collectif 95 developed model provisions for personal status codes called One Hundred Steps, One Hundred Provisions for an egalitarian codification of family and personal status laws in the Maghreb (Cent Mesures et dispositions pour une législation égalitaire des relations familiales au Maghreb). Collectif 95 then developed an advocacy tool with arguments for reform of family laws from various perspectives, called Guide to Equality in the Family in the Maghreb.
Since the reforms took place, women’s groups in Morocco have been doing outreach and education to the public to help ensure that the reforms are understood and used.
Until the late 1990s, national legislation in Turkey, be it in civil, penal, or labour laws, contained various discriminatory provisions and an overarching patriarchal perspective, even though the Turkish constitution enshrined the principle of gender equality and Turkey had ratified numerous international instruments.
In part because of the powerful efforts of women's rights activists, there has been a dramatic transformation in this situation in the last decade. In 1998, a law on protection orders aiming to prevent domestic violence was adopted. In 2001, Turkey promulgated a new Civil Code that defines the family as a union based on equal partnership, with spouses jointly running the matrimonial union with equal decision-making powers. A 2001 constitutional amendment redefines the family as an entity 'based on equality between spouses'. In 2004, Turkey reformed the Penal Code to strengthen gender equality and protection of women's rights, particularly sexual and bodily rights.
For the 2001 Civil Code campaign, 126 women’s groups joined together to push for gender equality in the face of opposition from government officials, conservative forces in Parliament, and the media. The three year Penal Code campaign again brought together a range of women’s groups and a diverse group of people (judges, practitioners, representatives from the Women’s Ministry, etc.) either as part of the core working group or as allies, in order to help the campaign expand into a larger platform. The Turkish campaigns advocated with Parliament, held rallies, organised press conferences and issued press alerts.
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The women’s movement in Morocco was one of the major forces behind the reform of the Moudawana. Women’s groups came together in several coalitions over the 10 years before the reform took place to push for equality and justice for women under the law. The women’s groups used a wide variety of strategies, including alliance building, lobbying of decision makers, extensive media outreach, street demonstrations, public education and awareness raising, etc., to build a huge base of support throughout the country. The groups combined religious arguments based on the Qur’an and Sunnah with human rights arguments, sociological data, and the equality guarantees that already existed in the national laws and policies.
Much of the work of the Moroccan women’s groups was Maghreb regional level efforts to share and build resources, especially by a coalition of women’s groups from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia called Collectif 95 Maghreb Egalité. Collectif 95 developed model provisions for personal status codes called 
In part because of the powerful efforts of women's rights activists, there has been a dramatic transformation in this situation in the last decade. In 1998, a law on protection orders aiming to prevent domestic violence was adopted. In 2001, Turkey promulgated a new Civil Code that defines the family as a union based on equal partnership, with spouses jointly running the matrimonial union with equal decision-making powers. A 2001 constitutional amendment redefines the family as an entity 'based on equality between spouses'. In 2004, Turkey reformed the Penal Code to strengthen gender equality and protection of women's rights, particularly sexual and bodily rights.
For the 2001 Civil Code campaign, 126 women’s groups joined together to push for gender equality in the face of opposition from government officials, conservative forces in Parliament, and the media. The three year Penal Code campaign again brought together a range of women’s groups and a diverse group of people (judges, practitioners, representatives from the Women’s Ministry, etc.) either as part of the core working group or as allies, in order to help the campaign expand into a larger platform. The Turkish campaigns advocated with Parliament, held rallies, organised press conferences and issued press alerts.