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New Draft Personal Status Law Sparks Outrage in Egypt

February 27, 2021

A draft Personal Status Law, reportedly issued by the Egyptian Cabinet, was published by local media on February 23 and has since sparked widespread controversy and backlash. The draft law was referred to the parliament today to a joint committee of constitutional and legislative affairs, Ahram reports, which will be followed by further discussions and amendments. The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights released a press release rejecting the draft personal status law, stating that it does not match “current progressive times”, and that it’s based on a regressive and strict jurisprudential school. “In Egypt, we have female ministers in all fields, yet under this law, they wouldn’t even have the right to contract their marriage, and would be prevented by any man from traveling even if it’s a work requirement,” Nehad Aboul Komsan, chairwoman of ECWR, explained in a video. Aboul Komsan added that in Egypt, 18.1% of women are heads of households, which implies that the law does not reflect the reality of Egyptian households where many women are now the main contributors to the family. The release states that the proposed draft contains many gaps: 1. There is…


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