State Obligations, Immigrant Women’s Rights Islam and Legal Pluralism in Oslo, Norway

Farhat Taj

Abstract:
The paper depicts a view of the complex multicultural relationship between protection against
discrimination, cultural diversity, collective identity and individual rights. It presents a picture of the lived experiences of women from the Pakistani community in Oslo and their search for dignity and justice through engagement with legal pluralism. The paper explore how a responsive and context sensitive legal approach adopted by a Norwegian-Pakistani women NGO is responding to individual women’s mixed identities as Norwegian citizens and members of social and religious communities. The NGO provides multiple choices that enable its clients to opt for the choice that most suits their situation. The Norwegian state depends on such immigrant NGO to protect and serve the civil rights of its female citizens with non-Western background.
Key words:Multiculturalism, Human Rights, Legal Pluralism, Bigamy, Gender Discrimination, Agency,Citizenship, Islam, Muslim Personal Law, NGO