March 30, 2008 Karamah Joins the Global Legal Information Network

Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, has become an associate member of the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), a cooperative international legal database administered by the Law Library of Congress. A Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations was signed at the Library of Congress on March 18 by Azizah Al-Hibri, president of Karamah, and Rubens Medina, Law Librarian of Congress and chair of the GLIN Executive Council. “Karamah’s concerns span the globe, and their goal is to educate and build bridges among peoples who may not yet understand each other very well,” said Medina. “It is the acknowledgement that this objective is also shared by GLIN that brings us together today.” Al-Hibri expressed his hope that “this affiliation will advance global dialogue on Islamic law and facilitate access to information and educational material … critical to the advancement of human rights, especially those of women.” Karamah is a charitable, educational organization that focuses on the domestic and global issues of human rights for Muslims, especially women. It comprises a global network of women jurists and leaders who produce articles and studies on a wide range of topics related to women’s rights under Islam. As an associate member of GLIN, Karamah will contribute scholarly writings to the database that will be linked to relevant national-level legislation and court decisions available in the GLIN database. GLIN is a public database of official texts of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by 36 governmental agencies and international organizations, covering 51 jurisdictions. The database is accessible online at www.glin.gov. Founded in 1832, the Law Library provides Congress, other government agencies and the public with legal information housed in its collection of more than 2.6 million volumes. For more information about the Law Library, go to www.loc.gov/law/.