The impact of empowering women
Women are often the primary plaintiffs in many personal status cases in Egypt, but encounter numerous obstacles in seeking justice. Egypt's personal status law (Law No. 1 of 2000) – which governs marriages, divorce, child custody and various alimonies – has transformed social and economic realities, in part by inadvertently increasing women's authority within the family and over children. In turn, anti-women grassroot movements within society perceive these changes as a reduction of male privileges.
The majority of personal status litigation cases filed by women deal with post-divorce financial compensation, including alimony and child support. Despite the clear basis of these financial obligations in Islamic jurisprudence, anti-women forces argue that including specific provisions for family-related expenses in the personal status law is merely a tool that the authorities use to intervene on behalf of women.
They claim that these provisions will facilitate the seizure of men's savings, particularly in the case of divorce, and curtail men's authority in determining affordable child support payments, which are mandated until the child reaches legal adulthood at 21 and increase in line with inflation rates. Moreover, groups of divorced fathers see post-divorce financial obligations as an extension of what they perceive as women's encroachment on men's employment opportunities.
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Male defendants in personal status cases see the law as a threat, in part because failure to comply with rulings and to issue payments or disclose income can result in imprisonment. Yet in reality, court rulings regarding alimony, child support and other financial entitlements for women often lack effective enforcement mechanisms. Passing legislation to strengthen enforcement in these cases could be a challenge, given the potential opposition from anti-women forces and their allies.
Division of wealth according to "toil and endeavour"
However, there are promising signs for Egyptian women in their quest for financial justice. First, calls are circulating within Egyptian society to enshrine the division of wealth between spouses according to the principle of "toil and endeavour" – the idea that divorced and widowed women who contributed to their spouses' accumulated wealth are entitled to a just portion of it. Demands are growing from feminist forces to codify this principle into law, which could alleviate the economic burden of divorce on women. The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar has also championed this principle as grounded in Islamic jurisprudence and as a safeguard to ensure women's rights.
Uncensored: Muslim women on women′s rights
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The need for real freedom in Egypt: the book opens with Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian physician, author and well-known women′s rights advocate. She explains why Middle Eastern women have so far failed to make a breakthrough in their fight: "Women can′t be liberated under the patriarchal, imperialistic and militaristic system that determines our lives now. We are governed by power, not justice; by false democracy, not real freedom" -
A Syrian psychoanalyst in exile: Syrian psychoanalyst Rafah Nached was arrested in Damascus in September 2011 after organising meetings to help traumatised anti-Assad protesters. She was freed two months later and now lives in exile in Paris. "In the Arab society, change is refused because whoever does not join the mass is considered an atheist or abnormal," she says in Huitfeldt′s book -
Democracy is people′s will: Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer who has dedicated her life to fighting for women′s, children′s and refugee rights. A target of threats by the government and the police in her country, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. "Democracy does not recognise east and west; democracy is people′s will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge the idea of various models of democracy," she says -
Peace between Israel and Palestinians: "of course, occupation is male, especially military occupation. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a man-made conflict and we, as women, have to end it," says Palestinian legislator, activist and scholar Hanan Ashrawi in the book. Despite making some controversial comments about Jewish refugees, Ashrawi has contributed significantly to the peace process between the two countries -
Men′s fear of women in Yemen: feminist Amal Basha is from Yemen, which placed last in the UN Gender Equality Index in 2016. Women′s economic, social and cultural rights are restricted by Sharia law there - but why? "Men are afraid of women because women are the voice of peace. They have no interest in wars since they are not arm dealers willing to milk the country through all sorts of military deals," she says -
A sign of hope in Libya? To end the ongoing civil war in her homeland, both genders will have to change their attitudes, says Libyan Hajer Sharief, a member of the UN advisory committee and Kofi Annan foundation: "If you look into the houses, you will see mothers pushing their young sons to go to the war. Even if they don′t carry weapons themselves, they are definitely contributing to the circle of violence in Libya" -
Honour killings in Jordan: Jordanian Rana Husseini is a feminist, human rights defender and an investigative journalist, whose reporting sheds light on violence against women. "The Jordanian society blames women for everything: for being raped, harassed, giving birth to children of the wrong sex and even for their husbands′ unfaithful and womanising behaviour. The list is endless," she says on the topic of honour killings
Another significant opportunity for women arises from the Egyptian government's efforts to crack down on the informal sector and compel its workers to integrate into the formal economy, aiming to boost state tax revenues.
Should this economic initiative succeed, it will inadvertently strengthen the capacity of personal status courts to estimate wealth more accurately and prevent male litigants from exploiting the informal economy to evade financial compensation for their spouses.
The anticipated fiscal policy could help reduce the economic burden on female breadwinners, compensating for the ineffective provisions of existing laws, thus potentially reducing the financial gender gap.
The inadequacy of enforcement mechanisms often compels women to work to support their families. On top of this burden, women automatically assume the custody of children, according to both Egyptian law and Islamic Sharia, and shoulder the responsibility of childcare.
Following a request for court intervention, both the Egyptian Personal Status Law of 2000 and amendments to the Egyptian Child Law allowed mothers to participate alongside fathers in making decisions about their children's education. Simultaneously, there is an increasing number of cases where fathers entirely relinquish educational decision-making to their former partners, in exchange for waiving financial support and compensation.
These growing maternal responsibilities, whether intended or unintended, and whether positive or negative, come amidst a concurrent rise in divorce rates and a shift towards judicial resolution of marital disputes. It would not be unwarranted to wonder if Egyptian society is poised to become more mother-centric in the coming years.
© sada | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 2024
Nouran Sayed Ahmed is an Egyptian writer interested in law, religion and the politics of sports in Egypt. She is a researcher affiliated with the Henry Luce Foundation project on The Global Politics of "Moderate Islam".