One of Mahnaz’s major preoccupations has been to help women from her own country and elsewhere in the developing world to seek and find refuge when necessary, to build new lives, and form sustainable women’s organizations to help themselves and others.
Her support has enabled many activists to create or expand women’s human rights organizations that provide safe spaces for women from a variety of backgrounds to discuss ways and means of minimizing conflict and optimizing understanding. In 2002, Mahnaz published an anthology of articles entitled Toward a Compassionate Society, a compelling testimony on issues of conflict resolution and peace building.
Her books Faith and Freedom, Muslim Women and the Politics of Participation, In the Eye of the Storm, and Women and the Law in Iran address the social forces that bind rights, freedom, and gender equality with politics, religion, and culture.
Mahnaz’s leadership in the non-governmental, academic, governmental, international, and activist spheres has helped enable women in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia to make choices that impact their own lives and the lives of their families and communities.