Mali: Backflip on Women's Rights

From Daniel Howden @ the Independent:

Muslim leaders in Mali were declaring victory yesterday after seeing off a new law that would have improved women's rights in the country.

President Amadou Toumani Touré refused to sign a new legally binding family code, passed earlier this month by parliament, that would have meant women no longer had to obey their husbands. The new code instead called for husbands and wives to "owe each other loyalty and protection".

The President was forced to back down after a string of mass protests in the mainly-Muslim West African nation.

Mali: Fight for Equality

From ABC News:

Thousands of people in Mali are protesting against new legislation that strengthens women's rights in the west African nation.

The law, passed by parliament earlier this month, raises the legal age for marriage to 18 and also stipulates that children born outside of wedlock are entitled to a share of any inheritance.

But the head of the National Union of Muslim Women's Associations, Hadja Safiato Dembele, says only a few women support the law.

"A wife must obey her husband," she said.

"It's a tiny minority of women here who want this new law - the intellectuals.

"The poor and illiterate women of this country, the real Muslims, are against it."