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66 Drake L. Rev. 733 (2018)
Sharia Law in U.S. Courts: A Necessary Measure to Protect Muslim Women

handle is hein.journals/drklr66 and id is 767 raw text is: SHARIA LAW IN U.S. COURTS: A NECESSARY MEASURE TO PROTECT MUSLIM WOMEN ABSTRACT Over 5,000 women per year are victims of honor killings around the world. Pakistan alone often reports 1,000 of these victims. Violence against women is everywhere, but under legal systems influenced or controlled by Sharia law, propagated notions of female inferiority and gender inequality cause women to be victims of violence at higher rates. In the United States, jurisprudence has failed to address unique cultural issues perpetuated by Sharia-law legal systems. Specifically, U.S. asylum law has not been consistently extended to include women in the United States who cannot return home for fear of imminent honor-based violence. This Note calls upon U.S. courts to use Sharia law as a guide when hearing asylum law cases and in other areas of law in which U.S. courts can better serve Muslim Americans. Additionally, this Note calls for a consistently applied definition of a qualifying particular social group in U.S. asylum law which encompasses women who fear imminent honor-based violence. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction .................................................................................................. 734 II. Violence Against Women (VAW) Sharia Law and Gender ................. 735 III. Cultural Practices of Violence Against Women .................................... 739 A . H onor K illings .................................................................................. 740 1. Domestic Legislation on Honor Killings ................................. 743 B . A cid A ttacks ..................................................................................... 745 1. Domestic Legislation on Acid Attacks .................................... 746 IV. Comparing Sharia Law and Western Legal Systems ............................ 748 A. A Look at Domestic Legal Systems ............................................... 748 B. Sharia Law Within the International Legal Framework ............. 752 V. Considering Sharia Law and Gender Roles in Western Courts ............ 756 A. The State of Honor Violence in the United States ...................... 757 B. Sharia Law in the U.S. Courtroom ................................................. 760 1. Legislative Attempts to Block Sharia Law in U.S. C ourtroom s ............................................................................... 760 2. Criticisms of Legislative A ction ............................................... 762 3. Family Law and Islamic Principles .......................................... 763 4. Sharia Law in G reat Britain ..................................................... 765