Syrian women and the law

In ancient times, people used to see women as taboos; a flesh without spirit, or when found, a spirit that is devilish. Then came world religions to prove the contrary. The monotheistic religions gave women rights, duties, and obligations. In Islam, women were addressed in the following verse of the Holy Quran: “You people fear your God who created you from one soul, then created its partner and many men and women out of them.” (The Sura of Women, Verse 19).

Civilization developed, and different communities were established where gender roles were rapidly changing. Pretty soon, intellectuals, theorists, and thousands of women around the world realized their potential and importance to the development of their societies in particular, and humanity in general. With time, many countries in the world (Syria included), passed legislation that recognized the equality of women, in humanity, law, social and civil rights, obligations, economy, and freedom of belief. Over the last 30-years, thanks to efforts by the United Nations, several international conferences were held, dealing with women rights including one in Nairobi (1985), Cairo (1994), Istanbul (1996), and Beijing (2001).

In Syria, articles 44-45-46 of the Syrian Constitution guarantee protection of ‘freedoms, general rights, and obligations’ of the Syrian family. One question arises: have some judicial verdicts of certain cases (like the rights of a divorced wife) been in compliance with Muslim Sharia, Christian practice, or the Syrian Constitution? A review of some of these verdicts, related to alimony, passed by religious courts in Damascus in 2001-2006 obliged the husband to pay his divorced wife (and children) a monthly salary that ranged from a minimum of 500 SP ($10 USD) to 3,000 SP ($60 USD). Certain articles of the Personal Status Law (65, 71, 81, and 83) need to be amended because they do not provide a verdict that offers a divorced woman the shelter, protection, and financial means she needs, when her husband abandons her, to live properly and provide for her children.

It is a national obligation to protect divorced wives from need and poverty. Therefore, legislation needs to be changed to achieve that and the amount of alimony needs to become a minimum of 7,000 SP ($140 USD) to a maxi-mum of 12,000 SP ($240 USD). Only that can help in providing her with a decent life in order for her to educate both herself and her children. In order to protect the Syrian

Legislation needs to be changed. Alimony should become from a minimum of 7,000 SP ($140 USD) to a maximum of 12,000 SP ($240 USD).

family after divorce, the follow-ing legal texts should be re-visited. 1) Modifying the marriage age of women. 2) Assigning a judge for every troubled family in order to prevent divorce (if possible) and protect the wife and children if it becomes inevitable. 3) Creating a legal condition for polygamy and justice for both the old and new wife. 4) Preventing violence against children through penalty against either mother or father (or both). 5) Creating a family fund, based on articles 44-46 (mentioned above) of the Constitution, from which fines will be extracted by the Personal Status Courts in the case of divorce. 6) Committing the husband—by law—to se-cure a residence for his divorced wife, regardless of whether her children are underage of not, for a period between 15-20 years after divorce.

Efforts should be made to educate women on their rights and obligations before the Syrian law, to make them aware of their duties towards themselves, their husband, children, and society as a whole. An organization should be established to direct and develop women and children in society. Programs should be broadcasted, from a legal and religious perspective, that shed lights on what rights a woman has and is perhaps unaware of in the Syrian law. In his second inauguration ad-dress, given at the Syrian Parliament on July 17, 2007, President Bashar al-Assad devoted a part of his speech to the role of women in society. He said: “We are all required to work for a more active role for women and for enabling them to be active participants in all fields; for the development, openness and progress of society is strongly linked to the rights women actually enjoy and their participation in the life of their country. I say actually, not only in terms of the quotas in the People’s Assembly or the trade unions or other bodies. We want women to get involved using their own capabilities and to convince others with the major roles they can play. This is an issue which has to do with society’s development. We cannot talk about developing women without developing society, be-cause women are members of this society.” These words are a catalyst for what is yet to come in terms of laws and legislation related to women in the upcoming 7-years of Assad’s term; laws that will protect divorced women and their children.