Institute of Law in Gaza holds a legal encounter on 'The Compatibility of the Draft Personal Status Law with Women's Rights in Gaza
Institute of Law in Gaza holds a legal encounter on 'The Compatibility of the Draft Personal Status Law with Women's Rights in Gaza'
On Wednesday 5 April 2023, the Institute of Law at Birzeit University organized a legal encounter with lawyers and representatives from women's institutions in Gaza entitled "The Compatibility of the Draft Personal Status Law with Women's Rights in Gaza." The speaker of the encounter was Ms. Zainab Al-Ghanimi, Director of the Center for Women’s Legal Research and Consulting.
The meeting was opened by Ms. Lina Al-Tunisi, administrative coordinator of the Institute of Law in Gaza, who welcomed the attendees and introduced the “legal encounters” program of Birzeit University.
Ms. Al-Ghanimi then spoke about the work of the Civil Coalition, which includes fourteen women's and human rights organizations and activists, in addition to a number of legal figures. Driven by community engagement and social responsibility, the coalition seeks to adjust the personal status law in Gaza, in order to overcome the challenges facing women’s rights and access to justice. These adjustments include raising the age of custody of children to 18 years, raising the age of marriage, and enacting the Khula law that grants women the right to terminate their marriage. The speaker explained that the draft Personal Status Law, which is awaiting approval by the Legislative Council, currently covers approximately 75% of the demands of the women's movement, but there are still issues that need to be amended or included.
With regards to the positive aspects of the Draft, she highlighted Articles 5 and 10, which outline the definition and conditions of marriage, indicating that it is the first time marriage laws have been defined in Gaza. She also said that the new regulations, whereby the court has to notify the first wife or wives if the husband signs a new marriage contract, constitutes “affirmative action” in favour of women. Other positive developments relate to separation due to harm, such as in cases where divorce is granted when the husband suffers from any defect - provided that the wife returns the dowry-, or when the husband is infertile, in which case women can obtain the divorce after five years of marriage. However, she noted that infertility should be proven by medical reports rather than being linked to a certain period of time.
As for the problematic issues in the Draft, Ms. Al-Ghanimi pointed to the third chapter of the Draft Law, which requires maiden women, regardless of their age, to obtain the approval of their guardian in order to get married. This suggests women lack capacity and contradicts personal status laws in other countries, where the guardian’s approval is only required in the case of minors.
The meeting ended with a lively discussion in which many interventions and recommendations were made. The importance of the amendments was highlighted, including the implementation of affirmative action in favour of women in separation issues, raising the age of child custody to 15 years, raising the age of marriage to 18 years, and khul' (divorce initiated by the wife) in exchange for financial compensation. Participants emphasized the need to have a societal discussion of the draft law with the participation of all women's and human rights institutions, as well as Family Courts, to ensure that there is consultation and awareness about the law before it is enacted.
