Iran's continued retention of discriminatory laws stands in stark contrast to the advances Iranian women have made in other spheres since the Revolution in 1979. Leila Alikarami here analyses the extent to which the actions of women's rights activists have led to a significant change in their legal status. She argues that while Iranian women have not yet obtained legal equality, the gender bias of the Iranian legal system has been successfully challenged and has lost its legitimacy. More pertinently, the social context has become more prepared to accommodate legal rights for women. Highlighting the key challenges that proponents of gender equality face in the Muslim context, Alikarami attempts to ascertain the causes of Iran's failure to ratify the CEDAW and questions whether and to what extent interpretations of Islamic principles prevent Iran from doing so. Applying feminist legal theory to contemporary Iran, Alikarami's approach re-evaluates the underlying principles that have shaped the struggle for equal rights between the sexes.

Leila Alikarami is a practicing lawyer and human rights activist who grew up in Tehran, where she completed her legal training with Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi. Since 2001, Alikarami has focused on women's and children's rights and in 2009 she accepted the RAW in War (Reach All Women in War) Anna Politkovskaya Award on behalf of the women of Iran and the One Million Signatures campaign. She has a PhD from SOAS, University of London, UK.