Laure Moghaizel
Moghaizel's father was a high ranking police officer whose work demanded constant relocation throughout Lebanon, allowing her increased exposure to various settings, peoples and cultures.
She decided on a career in the public sector, became involved with the feminist movement, and committed her life to the intersection of law and women's issues.
Therefore, it is in this period of civil war that Moghaizel rose to prominence mostly for her legal activities and her vicious women rights advocacy.
[2] As described by author Rita Stephan, “Laure Moghaizel considered women’s rights as a matter of equal and fair treatment for all citizens”.
As legal representatives of the Association, the Moghaizel couple advanced a human rights agenda which paid special attention to the needs of Lebanese women in both public and private contexts.
[2] (See below for full list of accomplishments) Moghaizel's later work extended beyond national laws impacting women to strengthen the enforcement of international treaties in Lebanon.
Effectively an international doctrine of women's rights, CEDAW had been signed on to by 114 countries, including five Arab states, by the time it gained momentum in Lebanon.
[5] In an interview, Laure explained how much she enjoyed coming home from the office, “...[taking] off [her] suit and slipping into some overalls, [playing] with the children, [giving] them their baths, and [helping] them with their homework” (LaTeef 206).
[8] Her daughter, Nada Moghaizel Nasr describes her mother as being someone who did it all: she was simultaneously a homemaker that cooked, cleaned and raised children, and an exceedingly successful advocate against social and political inequality.
[5] Her youngest son, Naji Moghaizel, was born with Down syndrome, and is one of the reasons why Laure and Joseph became involved in movements to support the disabled.
Jana, aged 28, was killed on the stairs of her parents’ apartment building, located on the demarcation line between East and West Beirut.
North Carolina State University professor Rita Stephan asked in a 2010 article, “How does the nuclear family and, in the Moghaizel case, the married couple, impinge upon and shape activism for women’s rights?”.
[4] Stephan examines the extent to which Moghaizel's marriage and social norms influenced her activism, accepting Nancy Fraser's contention that contemporaries lack “a coherent, integrated, balanced conception of agency .
Stephan argues that Laure Moghaizel gained “social capital from being able to show the full approval of their families and husbands” (Ibid.)
[4] Joseph's presence in Laure's life can be simultaneously viewed as a boon and restricting factor that set precedent for future social activism in Lebanon.
[6] Her contributions to feminism, therefore, are considered by critics to provide a framework for advancing women's’ rights in developing societies that also limits the extent of potential social change.
