缅北禁地

Women demonstrate in Algeria for changes in the Family Code to allow them greater rights.

Photograph: Reuters / Zohra Bensemra

Hayet Laouni is a member of Tunisia鈥檚 senate and an owner of her own maritime business. She credits her success to the liberal approach to women鈥檚 rights that the government has shown since independence, and to its investment in education. 鈥淚 am very grateful to my country,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was born and grew up in a part of the world where life is supposed to be hard for most people, but harder for women. In fact, I come from two parts of the world, Africa and the Arab Muslim world.鈥�

She is not alone. In 2007, Tunisia was ranked the highest in North Africa by a 鈥済ender gap鈥� index compiled by the World Economic Forum, headquartered in Switzerland. Examining women鈥檚 school enrolment, access to jobs, earnings and other indicators around the world, the index also ranked women鈥檚 status in Tunisia as the second highest among all Arab countries. However, on a global scale Tunisia was still near the bottom, ranking 102 out of 128 countries surveyed. Algeria came in at 108, Egypt at 120 and Morocco at 122.

A number of sub-Saharan countries did notably better in terms of women鈥檚 rights and social position, with Ghana ranked at 63 and Kenya at 83. While North African countries appear to be doing poorly in relation to the rest of Africa, they have in fact witnessed a decade of substantial reform, achieving some progress in improving the status of women.

Reforming family codes

Much of the reform has been in these countries鈥� 鈥渇amily codes,鈥� sets of laws guiding the role and status of women in marriage, as well as their rights in divorce and custody matters. The family code has been an important focus for women鈥檚 rights activists because its laws are 鈥渁bsolutely critical and fundamental in Muslim society,鈥� says Mounira Charrad, a Tunisian-born professor at the University of Texas who has researched women鈥檚 issues in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Those laws, Ms. Charrad told Africa Renewal, 鈥渁ddress issues that are at the core of social life.鈥� Successfully reforming them, she says, can improve women鈥檚 marriage rights, access to divorce and ability to secure custody of their children.

In recent years women in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have secured more rights, greater access to education and a modest increase in their political representation.

Tunisia reformed its family code in 1957. However, it was only in 1993 in Tunisia (and a decade later in Algeria and Egypt) that a woman who married a foreigner could pass on her citizenship and nationality to her children. Prior to that, the children had to apply for residence permits just like any foreigner.

鈥淲hen the present Tunisian government allowed a woman to pass on her citizenship to her children, this created a seismic cultural change in the society,鈥� Ms. Charrad told a panel convened in 2007 to mark the anniversary of the 1957 reforms. 鈥淭raditionally citizenship, as well as all other legal rights, was passed on through the father鈥檚 side. By permitting citizenship to pass through the mother鈥檚 line as well, the law challenged the entire patrilineal concept of the family.鈥�

Much of the credit for this progress lies with the emergence of dynamic and indigenous women鈥檚 movements in North Africa during the 1980s and 1990s, explains Valentine M. Moghadam, head of the gender equality and development section of the 缅北禁地Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Leila Rhiwi was the director of one such group in Morocco, Printemps de l鈥櫭ゞalit茅 (Spring of Equality). Women in North Africa today enjoy more rights and protections than 20 years ago, she told Africa Renewal. 鈥淭hen it was very different. At that time women did not have any power over their own lives.鈥�

But progress has been halting and uneven. In 2005 Egypt granted women expanded divorce rights. But efforts to change the law to allow women to travel without the permission of a husband or father were dropped by the government for fear that they were too radical to pass.

Ms. Rhiwi, who is currently the women鈥檚 rights coordinator for Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia (a region known as the Maghreb) for the 缅北禁地Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) observes that there have been different degrees of progress in Morocco compared with Algeria and in the Maghreb countries compared with Egypt. 鈥淲hat we have seen is a change in the law, not a change in society. However, changes in law allow for changes to occur in the society.鈥�

Between law and practice

Ms. Charrad agrees. 鈥淭he law has made a difference in countries like Tunisia, where reforms happened in the 1950s. There we have had a length of time to see the changes. We know now that when the laws change, women are able to file for divorce more easily and custody is easier.鈥�

鈥淲hat the law does not change is the social situation,鈥� she told Africa Renewal. 鈥淪ocially, divorce remains very difficult. They [divorced women] suffer economically, and they find themselves treated as outcasts.鈥�

Eman el-Emam (centre) was one of about 30 women judges sworn onto the bench in April 2007 in Egypt. Conservative groups opposed the appointments, but the country鈥檚 highest Muslim legal authority ruled that the move did not violate Islamic law.

Photograph: Reuters / Tara Todras-Whitehill

Ms. Moghadam notes that the countries of North Africa continue to be marked by social practices that not only discriminate against women and are inconsistent with international treaties, but also contravene their own national laws. 鈥淓gypt鈥檚 constitution grants equality to all citizens,鈥� she points out. But Egypt鈥檚 family law contradicts that equality 鈥渂y placing women under the guardianship,鈥� or legal control, of their fathers, husbands or other family males.

The 2005 Human Development Report on Arab States, published by the 缅北禁地Development Programme (UNDP), observes that 鈥渢he business of writing the law, applying the law and interpreting the law in the Arab world is governed above all by a male-oriented culture.鈥� Yet countries like Tunisia show that it is possible, in a Muslim country, to address 鈥渢he injustices against women in personal status matters without infringing upon the principles of shari鈥檃,鈥� as the Islamic legal code is known.

鈥淲e can no longer say that in the Muslim world it is hard to change women鈥檚 rights,鈥� comments Ms. Charrad. 鈥淲omen have really gained very significant rights in Tunisia and Morocco.鈥�

鈥淲e need to move away from the generalized statements about that part of the world and come up with a more nuanced way of looking at it,鈥� Ms. Charrad adds. 鈥淥nce we see the diversity of the experiences of women in the Muslim world and see that some women have gained substantial rights, we can learn from those cases.鈥�

Rights limited by 鈥榞uardianship鈥�

Caroline Sakina Brac de la Perrire, a social scientist who conducted research on Algeria for a 2004 study on women鈥檚 rights in North Africa and the Middle East by Freedom House, a US-based group, argues that Islamic doctrine provides women with tools that they can use to counter conservative social practices. For example, under Islamic law a marriage contract may allow each spouse to state in writing his or her specific rights in the marriage. Used properly, she maintains, this provision could serve to guarantee some rights for women in marriage.

Unfortunately, Ms. Perrire adds, this option is rarely used and is usually restricted to stipulations that do not contravene shari鈥檃. Moreover, many women do not contract their own marriages and therefore have no control over what is guaranteed in writing.

Until 2004, an Algerian woman needed a male guardian (father, brother or uncle) to formalize her marriage on her behalf. In Egypt, another researcher found, while educated girls have a substantial say in choosing their husbands, in the rural areas marriages are often contracted by the fathers. Libyan girls can still be married off by the father or guardian without their input.

Such 鈥渕ale guardianship,鈥� the Freedom House study notes, also has implications for women鈥檚 economic welfare. For example, the dowry, money paid by the groom, conforms to Islamic stipulations that the man provide for the bride and is often the only income a woman can keep in case of divorce. But in Morocco and Egypt, poor women often receive little or no dowry. A national survey found that 60.7 per cent of rural women in Morocco reported that 鈥渢heir husbands or guardians appropriated鈥� such income.

Moreover, women can often be divorced by their husbands immediately and without explanation, a practice known as 鈥渞epudiation.鈥� Only in 2004 did Algeria abolish repudiation as a form of divorce. Morocco, which previously made it easier for men to divorce their wives, granted men and women equal rights to file for divorce in 2004.

In Egypt, a law passed in 2005 granted women the right to a no-contest divorce. However, a woman who exercises that right may lose her dowry, alimony and other gifts given by the man鈥檚 family, a serious deterrent for women with few economic options.

Legal assistance

Some governments, in response to the advocacy efforts of women鈥檚 organizations, have made institutional changes to ensure better access to justice. Egypt introduced a new system of administering child support and alimony and has brought divorce and inheritance issues under one judicial authority. Victims of discrimination can also send confidential complaints to a new gender ombudsman鈥檚 office, which has received 7,000 complaints since 2005.

Rebecca Chiao of the Egyptian Centre for Women鈥檚 Rights told Africa Renewal that since the changes were implemented in Egypt, her group has held an average of 6,000 consultations annually with women seeking legal assistance in understanding and using the new regulations.

Reform of inheritance practices has been minimal. According to shari鈥檃 law, women are entitled to inherit a share that is half that of their brothers. But in Egypt and Libya, reports the Freedom House study, women鈥檚 access to inheritance, housing and property is often determined by their educational level, family support systems, economic status and access to legal information and mechanisms. As a result some women, especially in rural areas, do not even get their half share. Moreover, non-Muslim women married to Muslims cannot inherit matrimonial property.

鈥淚nheritance laws are very explicit in the Koran,鈥� observes Ms. Charrad. 鈥淔or most people, to change them is to question a fundamental piece of the religion. In contrast, marital and divorce laws in the Koran are less explicit, therefore much more fluid and open to varying interpretations.鈥�

Reproductive rights

Overall, women in North Africa have made important progress in reproductive rights 鈥� in fact, notably better than in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Tunisian law protects the right of a woman to decide whether to practice birth control or have an abortion. Estimates by the World Health Organization indicate that contraceptive use in Tunisia grew from 24 per cent in 1980 (the current rate in most of sub-Saharan Africa) to 63 per cent in 2007. Nearly all Tunisian women live within 5 kilometres of a source of family planning and they typically wait until about age 27 to get married, compared to about age 16 in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

In Egypt, 96 per cent of women live near a family planning centre and about 60 per cent use the centres鈥� services. The Algerian government has created an innovative family planning policy that reimburses people for purchasing contraceptives. More than 90 per cent of births in Algeria and Tunisia take place in public health facilities, drastically reducing maternal and child mortality in those countries.

One persistent problem in Egypt is female genital mutilation (FGM) of girls 7-10 years old. Amira El-Azhary Sonbol, a researcher for the Freedom House report, notes that while the practice has been illegal there since 1996, it remains common. 鈥淓gyptians widely believe FGM to be an Islamic practice,鈥� she has reported, 鈥渆ven though it is also performed by Egyptian Christians and is not practiced in most Muslim countries outside the Nile valley.鈥�

Ms. Moghadam notes that many laws in North Africa and the Middle East are seen as directly resulting from Islamic injunctions, while they in fact derive from tribal or pre-Islamic cultural practices. In a study on women and Islam for UNDP, she cites the veiling and seclusion of women, controls over women鈥檚 sexuality, male privilege and parents鈥� preference for sons, all of which reinforce current norms and laws.

Politics: a male preserve

One area in which male dominance is especially notable is political representation. Morocco got its first senior female political figure in 1997, a secretary of state in the cabinet. Since then there have been few others. Moroccan parties agreed in 2002 to reserve 30 seats out of 325 for women in parliament. In 2004 Algerian women comprised almost 20 per cent in the upper house of that country鈥檚 legislature, while in Egypt women make up a meagre 8 per cent in both houses and there are few women in cabinet posts.

Women have fared better in the judiciary. Algeria has 800 women judges, about half the total in the country. There are also 1,065 women lawyers out of a total of 6,400. In Tunisia, women make up 27 per cent of judges and 31 per cent of lawyers.

Public attitudes appear to support such trends. A Gallup poll published in August 2007 found that 75 per cent of Moroccans, 70 per cent of Tunisians, but just 51 per cent of Algerians believe women should hold cabinet-level leadership posts in government.

Ms. Rhiwi cautions that while women鈥檚 representation remains limited at the national level, the problem is worse locally, noting that in Morocco women make up less than 1 per cent of local government officials. 鈥淲e have done a lot at the national level,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ow we have to do the same at the local level.鈥�

Moreover, she notes, women鈥檚 representation nationally is not legally fixed, but simply a result of political parties鈥� agreement to observe quotas for women. 鈥淲e hope to get it entrenched in the law. We have to also ensure that the changes will be real, effective and institutionalized.鈥�