Using feminist translation theory to increase the compatibility of Saudi Arabia’s personal status judicial decisions with Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Aljalal, Aren (2023). Using feminist translation theory to increase the compatibility of Saudi Arabia’s personal status judicial decisions with Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis tests whether the application of feminist translation theory (FTT) in the personal status judicial decisions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) can increase the compatibility of KSA’s judicial decisions with Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) concerning family relations and marriage.

FTT was introduced in the late 1970s with the aim of eliminating discriminatory language against women. Since then, the theory has developed many strategies to challenge gender-inequitable beliefs and convey equality-related concepts to cultures where women’s rights are not fully granted and the concept of equality is unfamiliar (Pas and Zaborowska, 2017; Ergun, 2015). However, prior to this study, no practical framework had been developed to systematically apply FTT strategies to support women’s rights. For the purpose of this study, I developed a context-specific feminist translation framework (FTF) based on my analysis of the report of the Tunisian Individual Freedoms and Equality Committee (IFEC), in which the Committee proposed legislative reforms to some gender-inequitable personal status articles in the Tunisian Personal Status Law through feminist rewriting.

The established FTF consists of four elements: (i) legal support of women’s rights: (ii) political support of women’s rights (iii) human rights institutions and civil society support of women’s rights; and (iv) the source of gender-inequitable laws (religion- or custom-based judicial decisions). This thesis used mixed methods to examine these four elements in order to determine the most suitable approaches and strategies to apply FTT in the context of the personal status judicial decisions in KSA. The four elements were examined from two aspects: (i) the degree of support for women’s rights and (ii) the space available for reform. These two aspects were investigated through a questionnaire presented to participants from four categories: (i) religious scholars; (ii) legal practitioners; (iii) legal translators; and (iv) women’s rights advocates, who are representative of the stakeholders involved in the process of reform. The results of the 94 completed questionnaires identified the status of women’s rights in the personal status judicial decisions of KSA. To gain a deeper understanding of the questionnaire’s findings, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify the reasons for the current status of women’ rights and to find ways to push women’s rights forward. Collected data was analysed using SPSS and ATLAS software.

Overall, data indicated that the FTF was successful in identifying key issues hindering women’s rights in the study’s context and the most appropriate FTT strategies to resolve these problems in a systematic manner. Quantitative results revealed that the legal support of women’s rights and its space for reform is the highest among the first three elements of the FTF, while the political support of women’s rights and its space for reform is the lowest. Regarding the fourth element, the questionnaire showed that the space available for reforming custom-based gender-inequitable personal status judicial decisions is higher than the space available for reforming religion-based gender-inequitable personal status judicial decisions. The semi-structured interviews indicated that there is an overlap in the origin of the personal status judicial decisions, as custom-based judicial decisions are often mistaken as religion-based judicial decisions, a situation that needs to be addressed as gender-inequitable custom-based judicial decisions are easier to reform than those based in religion. The qualitative data also showed that a gradual approach of reform is the most suitable for the context of the study. The interviews further showed that a clear national plan that includes input from all stakeholders is needed to make systematic progress towards reforming women’s rights.

In conclusion, the thesis results prove that FTT can increase the compatibility of KSA personal status judicial decisions with Article 16 of the CEDAW. Moreover, the thesis provides significant support to the possibility of operationalising FTT in different genres and contexts through modifying a context-specific developed FTF.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):