Egyptian Male Chauvinists Balk Over Equal Divorce Rights For Women

Male chauvinists in Egypt are up in arms because women are being given the same options in divorce as men have always had. You see, divorce laws in Egypt are based on Shariah Law and have always favoured men, because women are just too stupid, according to Judge Ayman Amin Shash.

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"The question of settling divorce should be in the hands of the wiser party, and that is men. Men are wise, which is why they do not have to go to court. Islamic law would consider the wise wife an exception, and you cannot generalize an exception."

— Ayman Amin Shash, chief judge, technical bureau of the National Center for Judicial Studies, Cairo, July 7, 2004

Muslim men in Egypt have a right to what is called a unilateral, unconditional divorce. In other words, they don't have to go through the court system to divorce their wives. All they have to do is tell their wives three times "you are divorced" and bye, bye wife. To make it official all they have to do is tell a religious notary within 30 days and it's done. But there are some odd variables that could change the outcome. There is up to a 1 year waiting period in which the "repudiated" wife is not allowed to remarry, because it seems the man is allowed to change his mind. If she were to remarry, he'd be out of luck, so three times and she's out, for good; but if he says "you are divorced" less than 3 times, he could force the wife to come back, even if she chooses not to, and they would not need another marriage contract. The man also gets off easily in terms of compensation. All he has to give to his "divorced" wife is

the deferred dowry, “maintenance” (nafaqa) during the waiting period, and compensation (mut`a) of at least two years maintenance (with consideration for the husband’s means, the circumstances of the divorce, and the length of marriage). However, many Egyptian women seeking divorce have been willing to forfeit these financial rights to avoid burdensome and uncertain court proceedings. These women ask their spouses to divorce them in return for forfeiting their rights.

Whereas women are forced to go through long, troublesome court procedures to secure a divorce, with 2 options: Fault Based or no-fault based (Khula).

Regardless of which system they choose, a number of government officials are involved in the process, including judges, attorneys for both parties, and arbitrators involved in compulsory mediation between the couple. Public prosecutors are also often present in divorce cases, exercising considerable influence on these proceedings and the outcome of the case. For both types of divorce initiated by women (fault-based and no-fault) described below, public prosecutors provide the judge with an advisory opinion on whether the divorce should be granted.

And there are only 4 reasons a woman is allowed to file for a fault-based divorce

(1) illness, including mental illness, venereal disease, and impotence; (2) non-provision of maintenance or financial support; (3) absence or imprisonment; and (4) “injury” (darar) which includes a variety of forms of physical and mental harm.

And the burden of proof is on the woman, since her testimony is only worth half of a man's, as with all court cases in Egypt. Most of the time, the request for divorce is denied for lack of witnesses, particularly with "injury". So, when President Mubarak, after years of pressure from rights groups, lawyers, legislators etc, established in 2000 the no-fault divorce law (khula), women started taking advantage if it. This law allows women to file for divorce for "incompatibility",

In order to file for a “no-fault” divorce (khula), a woman need not provide grounds for filing the divorce request, but must agree to forfeit her rights to alimony and her deferred dowry (mu’akhar) as well as repay her advanced dowry (muqaddam). For some women, khula has proved to be faster than the fault-based divorce process, since they are not required to demonstrate evidence of harm or find witnesses, and men do not have the right to appeal the no-fault divorce to a higher court.

Women who can afford to are opting for the easier no-fault divorce even though they do so at a major financial loss, since she

... must agree to forfeit her rights to alimony and her deferred dowry (mu’akhar) as well as repay her advanced dowry (muqaddam).

The Khula is what Egyptian men are in an uproar about, so much so they have formed a group Egyptian Organization for Divorced Men to fight to maintain the status quo; that is, to keep women from maintaining equal rights in divorce, and keeping them subjugated, since women are merely property. According to Abdul-Rahman Hamed, head of EODM,

"Men are losing ground. In the past, a man had the upper hand.

Now, the woman is acting as his peer. If he threatens her with divorce, she does

the same. She might even divorce him without his knowledge."

They are doing their best to have the law rescinded, because they believe it is goes against Shariah law. I think it has more to do with the loss of control, male domination and bruised egos. Suddenly women can leave an abusive marriage as easily as men have been able to leave divorce a woman with a mere repetition of a few words "You are divorced". According to Hamed, Egyptian men are being divorced every 12 minutes, and there are 12,000 divorced men in the country. The supposed problem with divorce in Egypt has nothing to do with khula, but more with the relationship between males and females. Perhaps if Egyptian men treated their wives with respect and dignity, and not like a piece of property, there wouldn't be so many divorces.

I wanted a divorce but he refused. He left the house. He told me “You’re not getting a divorce. You’re staying just in case, like a spare tire.”

— Hamida Tariq, Qalubiyya, June 16, 2004

More information on marriage and divorce laws in Egypt on Human Rights Watch.