I am honored to have been invited to write this preface to a most welcome volume on women’s rights in transitional contexts. The volume includes case studies from across a wide range of transitional sites and examines pressing issues of sexual and gender based, violence, reproductive rights, and women’s participation across case studies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The editors are to be congratulated for bringing together these contributions which are at once wide-ranging and coherent in addressing pressing and sometimes underexplored themes. The colonial and post-colonial contexts of these case studies receive attention—this is especially important as this addresses the long-term effect of historic inequality and injustice. The regularity with which the contributors refer to the colonial context reminds us that colonialism has been a major shaper of the states of the globe and often of their problems and challenges. The authors also address the pressing issue of the role of religion in legal systems and especially in the context of transitions and challenges to women’s rights. While human rights scholars have devoted some attention to the role of religion (at least in the guise of the universalism and cultural relativism debates), transitional justice scholars have not devoted so much attention. The authors consider the role of religion in contributing to repressive practices, but also highlight the scope to reinterpret religious practices and texts.