Equality is necessary and possible in Muslim families, and not just so-called modern women demand such equality, women said Saturday at an international gathering in Kuala Lumpur.

Equality is necessary because "many aspects of current Muslim laws and practices are unjust", said Zainah Anwar, a leading activist in Malaysia and former head of the NGO Sisters in Islam, which hosted the Global Meeting for Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family.

Anwar, also the project director for the musawah (equality) meeting, said equality and justice in the family is made possible by the coming together of Islamic teachings, a human rights framework and constitutional guarantees of those human rights.

At a press conference after the event, she said the perception that such demands for justice are not made by "traditional" women in rural areas is "a myth". The meeting of some 250 delegates from 47 countries which opened Friday runs through Tuesday.

"We met with 2,000 women in rural areas and small towns, many of them single mothers," Anwar said. "It's easier to talk about equality with traditional women because they knew instantly what we were talking about."

"They question the idea of the protective husband, he is missing in action, lost in space," she said.

The gathering, Anwar said, was part of an evolving global movement which aimed to further Islamic principles of equality and justice.

The fact that the international talks could be held in Malaysia - known as a democracy but often considered "difficult" regarding Islamic issues, as one local journalist put it - "shows there is space in Malaysia to talk about Islam" and national policies, Anwar said.

Organizers decided to limit media access to just the opening and closing plenary sessions, keeping a close hold on the sensitive central aim of the global event: reform of Muslim family law.

Organizers on Friday launched the publication of Home Truths: A global report on equality in the Muslim family, documenting experiences from 30 countries including Indonesia. The report also describes developments in laws and policies in these countries as they relate to family law and women's rights.

In her keynote speech UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women Yakin Ert*rk said that although she had found "impressive levels" of equality between men and women, "women continue to be subordinated and subjected to abuse."

Ert*rk raised concerns over proposed regionally and religiously based frameworks on human rights, such as the "Islamic alternative" to the international Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to be put forward during the upcoming gathering of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

While some say such frameworks may be useful in enabling more enforcement of human rights, Ert*rk said they should be "monitored closely by women's rights groups so their rights are not subordinated to the common good".

Ahead of the ASEAN summit later this month, chair of Indonesia's women's rights body Kamala Chandrakirana said Southeast Asian leaders should involve the voices of women. She said this would ensure that the ASEAN Human Rights Charter would "actually provide meaningful change" for women.

Among the speakers on Saturday was the scholar Amina Wadud, the woman imam from the United States, who has stirred up controversy for leading congressional prayers, a role commonly understood to be only filled by men. She said it was the "duty" of Muslims as responsible "human agents of Allah" to work toward the route to "partnership" as provided in the Koran, away from the domination of patriarchy.

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