Lawal, Amina

LC control no.	n 2005066109
Descriptive conventions	rda
Personal name heading	Lawal, Amina *Browse this term in* LC Authorities or the LC Catalog
Associated country	Nigeria
Birth date	1973
Place of birth	Kurami (Nigeria)
Affiliation	BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights
Profession or occupation	Human rights workers
Found in	Dompè, Maria. Amina Lawal, c2003: t.p. (Amina Lawal) "Amnesty International" WWW site, Sept. 6, 2005 (On 22 March 2002, Amina Lawal had been sentenced to stoning to death by a Sharia court in Bakori in the Katsina State of northern Nigeria) Dictionary of African Biography, accessed February 21, 2015, via Oxford African American Studies Center database: (Lawal, Amina; women's rights advocate; born 1973 in Kurami, Nigeria; studied a qurʼanic curriculum for a short period of time; was found guilty by Islamic courts of adultery for giving birth to a child while unmarried (at the age of thirty); the consequence as decided by the Funtua sharia court was death; the nongovernmental organization, BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights, came forward to assist in Lawal's appeal to the upper courts; there was tremendous pressure from human rights groups around the world for Nigerian officials to intercede on Lawal's behalf; a boycott was organized by contestants of the 2002 Miss World Beauty pageant, which was to be held in Nigeria; the winning argument for her defense was provided by the concept of “extended pregnancy” or a “sleeping embryo”; her sentence was overturned by the Katsina State Sharia Court of Appeals (25 September 2003); the president of Nigeria during the trial, Olusegun Obasanjo, had declared that he would personally overturn her case and spare her life; was praised as a symbol for the advancement of women's rights)