Doctoral Dissertation Research: Women, Islam, and Social Change: A Case Study of Iran's Organization for the Defense of Children's Rights

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This is a study of the efforts of Iranian women to advance the rights of women and children through the legal system. The research explores the ways Iranian women have been able to use principles of Islam and Islamic courts to contest oppression under an Islamic regime. This project focuses specifically on child custody issues through a case study of Iran's Organization for the Defense of Children's Rights (ODOR), a Non-Governmental Organization under the UN. In part this project is a case study of a significant trial which resulted in altering Iran's custody laws in favor of children and mothers in 1997. The tactics used by the reform-oriented litigants are examined through interviews and analysis of important documents. The second phase of this research focuses on participant observation in the organization's current activities. The theory-building objectives of this project include: Adding to knowledge about resistance to legal demands; Increasing understanding of Islamic feminism; and advancing understanding of the globalization of human rights discourse.