As I pointed out in my presentation, one of the important roles of women's organizations is to bring about legislative change and legal reforms in order to ensure the rights of women. For instance, if they are raped, we would like women to have a legal recourse, to be perceived as credible witnesses, and not be accused of being unfaithful to their husbands and so on.
Thanks to CIDA funds, Inter Pares supports the Sudanese Organization for Research and Development, SORD. This organization has worked to bring about legislative reform. It has worked among other things on reforming criminal law, particularly provisions related to rape, and has worked on bringing about changes to laws that affect individuals, such as the age of consent for marriage and divorce. Within the context of Shari'ah, SORD is proposing changes that could lead to long-term reform so that we can see deeper change. For the moment, we are examining how we might bring about fairer legislation for women. Inter Pares supports the work of the SORD on these matters.
That said, not only does this work include legislative reform, but also public consultations and court attendance to see how judgments are rendered and how cases are treated. This also involves speaking with judges and lawyers, meeting religious leaders, discussing the proposed reforms, having discussions on Shari'ah to see how it is interpreted, and whether it is subject to interpretation. These discussions will also ensure that there is a significant support base in the population when these reforms are proposed.
In short, Inter Pares contributes to that work.