Africa, with its mix of statute, custom and religion is at the centre of the debate about law and its impact on gender relations. This study focuses on women’s experiences in the family because the lives of women continue to be lived out largely in the private domain, where the right to privacy is used to conceal unequal treatment of women which is justified by invoking custom and tradition. The book shows how law and its interpretation is used to disenfranchise women, resulting in their being deprived of land and other property which they may have helped to accumulate. It also considers issues of violence within the home, reproductive rights and examines the issue of female genital cutting. Index, bib, apps, 407pp, UK. HART PUBLISHING LTD.

How much has life really changed for women during the last decade? Has the women's movement affected women all over the world? Has it changed women's relationships with men? Nikki van der Gaag answers these questions with hard, sometimes disturbing, evidence. Many women have made huge leaps forward in legal rights, political representation, employment, education, health but beneath the surface the statistics are shocking. Vivid testimonies from women and men around the world explain why, especially in this post feminist age, women's rights are still very much an issue for men and women alike. Tables, bib, index, 139pp, UK. PLUTO PRESS.

An analytical approach to African laws looking at issues impacting on women's lives and welfare, such as access to land, marriage, employment, sexual and physical abuse, and family law. The authors describe the status of women in each country investigated and examine how laws are applied to the benefit or detriment of women and their children. Other important issues discussed are the significance of religious laws and moral constraints, especially Christian and Muslim and their impact on the traditional status of women. Index, xix, 652pp, GHANA. SEDCO PUBLISHING LTD, 9964722354

An exploration of the present day realities of Islamic family law with particular emphasis on the rights of women, focusing on law in its social context. The contribu-tors discuss the regulation of shari'a law in Egypt, family law and identity in the West Bank and Gaza, and the application of shari'a family law within the context of civil law requirements in the USA. Index, bib, notes, tables, xi, 300pp, UK. ZED BOOKS, 1588262111

CONTENTS - PART I: INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS - 1 International Human Rights Law and Gender - 2 Women and 50 years of the U N - 3 Women's Rights in the U N and Specialised Agencies - 4 The Prohibition of Gender-specific Discrimination - 5 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination - 6 Women and Humanitarian Law - 7 European Systems of Protection of Women - PART II: AFRICAN EXPERIENCES - 8 Introduction to the African System of Protection of Human rights- 9 Women's Rights under Islam - 10 Female Genital Mu-tilation, Polygamy and Brideprice - 11 NGOs, the Women's Movement and the Promotion of Human - 12 Women in the Armed Forces in Uganda: Human Rights Issues - 13 Women Prison-ers and Female Staff in Uganda Prisons - Index, notes, bibliography, index, 352pp, UK. ZED BOOKS.