Ostik

Penal Code

• Marital rape is not criminalized under the Penal Code
• Honour crimes: a man benefits from a reduced penalty if he surprises his wife committing adultery and kills her and the person committing adultery with her.
• Domestic violence: many forms of domestic violence are punished. However, in most cases the penalty is reduced if they are committed at home or by relatives.

Personal Status Laws

• Marriage and divorce: Women have access to only limited types of divorce, whereas men have a right by repudiation
• Child marriage: the minimum age is 18 by the Child Law, despite this, child marriage is common especially in rural areas.
• Inheritance: all Egyptian citizens are subject to Islamic inheritance law. Women often receive less than men and daughters receive half the share the sons receive.
• Polygamy is permitted.
• Male guardianship over women is required by law.
• Guardianship of children: the father is considered to be the guardian of his children.
• Custody of children: the mother has the right to keep custody of her children until the age of fifteen.

• Citizenship: Women cannot pass citizenship to a foreign spouse.
• Domestic work: Domestic workers’ rights are excluded from the Labour Code.
• Agriculture work: Agriculture workers’ rights are excluded from the Labour Code.

Penal Code

• Honour crimes: Amendments to the Penal Code were made in 2017 to prevent the reduction of penalties for ‘honour’ crimes. However, the article that allows for reduced penalties if a spouse is murdered when caught in the act of adultery has not been removed.
• Honour crimes – Protective detention: Women and girls whose lives are at risk for reasons related to family honour may be forcibly detained in detention centres for their own protection.
• Marital rape: It is not criminalized in the Penal Code.
• Abortion for rape survivors: Abortion is prohibited under the Penal Code, including for women who have been raped.
• Sexual harassment: Unwanted sexual contact is punishable, however, the Penal Code does not define unwanted sexual contact.
• Prostitution is prohibited under the Penal Code.
• Adultery is considered an offence under the Penal Code.

Personal Status Laws

• Child marriage: The minimum marriage age is 18 by law, but Sharia Court judges can make exceptions “in special cases” for children between 16 and 18.
• Inheritance: Sharia rules of inheritance apply. Women have a right to inheritance, but in many cases receive less than men. Daughters receive half the share that sons receive.
• Guardianship of children: Fathers are the sole guardians of children.
• Custody of children: The mother is entitled to custody until the child is 15. A mother loses custody if she remarries someone who is not a close relative of her former husband.
• Marriage and divorce: Women do not benefit from equal rights in marriage and divorce.
• Male guardianship over women: A male guardian is required for an unmarried woman under the age of 40 (whether divorced, widowed, or single). There are weak codified protections for women under guardianship.
• Polygamy is permitted for Muslim men by the Personal Status Law.

The Constitution guarantees equality before the law but does not address gender discrimination.

There is no right to equal pay for women and men under the Labour Code.

Under the Nationality Law, Jordanian women married to non-Jordanian men cannot pass their citizenship to their children or husband.

Penal Code

• Marital rape is not criminalized under the Penal Code.
• Sexual offences remain problematic as perpetrators are exonerated in the event of a follow-up marriage.
• Honour crimes: An amendment of article 252 of the Penal Code, which reduces the penalty for violence against someone who needs a guardian, has been proposed but not adopted.
• Human trafficking: Law no. 164 of 2011 addresses this but doesn’t mention prevention and protection. Also, as prostitution is criminalized by the Penal Code, it might lead to some survivors of trafficking not wanting to seek help from authorities.

Personal Status Laws

• Marriage and divorce: Women’s rights in terms of divorce differ. However, in most cases they are not equal to men’s rights.
• Male guardianship over women: A male guardian is required for Muslim and Druze marriages.
• Minimum age of marriage: There is no law prohibiting child marriage. The minimum ages varies according to sect.
  Polygamy is permitted
• Guardianship of children: Differs between sects. In many cases the father has guardianship and after him the grandfather.
• Custody of children: Differs between sects. The custodial rights of mothers are limited. Muslim women lose custodial rights if they remarry, men don’t
• Inheritance: Differs between sects. In many cases, women receive less than men and in some cases even half of what men receive.

There are 15 personal status laws applied by 18 different recognized religious sects.
Civil marriage exists, but a civil code to approve it has not yet been approved.

Penal Code

• Martial Rape: Martial Rape is not specifically defined as a crime. Article 486 of the Moroccan Criminal Code states that “rape is the sexual intercourse of a man to a woman without her consent and is punishable by imprisonment from five to ten years.”
  And the punishment increases if the victim is under 18 years old, or if she is unable, disabled or pregnant, then the perpetrator is punished from 10 to 20 years …If the perpetrator is from the victim’s family, or has authority over the victim, or is a legal guardian, or a paid worker, or a religious leader or official, or any person who assaults one or more persons, the punishment is 5–10 years in prison but can be as much as 20–30, depending on the severity of the case.
• Adultery: There is equality between men and women. According to Article 418 of the Penal Code, provides that a husband or wife
  benefits from a mitigated sentence if they kill their spouse caught in an act of adultery. A reduced sentence also applies for a head of a household who assaults a person they find in their home engaging in illegal intercourse.
• Abortion: Article 449 of the Penal Code criminalizes abortions. There is no specific exception for rape survivors. The Penal Code does not penalize abortion if it is necessary to preserve the health of the mother like when a doctor performs the abortion with the permission of the husband. A draft law was adopted by the Council of Government in June 2016 to review the Penal Code and to decriminalize abortions in three cases: if the pregnant woman is the victim of rape or incest; if the pregnant woman suffers from a mental disorder; or in case of foetal deformitie. A judicial inquiry was launched as a result.

Personal Status Laws

• Child marriage: The minimum marriage age is 18 by the article 19 of the Family Code. But courts can approve marriage of minors according to articles 20-21. In fact more than 80% of minors’ guardians’ requests have been accepted. Article 16 on marital affirmation has been used by some courts to recognize child marriage,especially in rural areas
• Legal guardianship of children: the father is considered to be the guardian of his children according to the chapter 231.
• Child custody: In the event of a divorce, child custody is awarded to the mother by chapter. 171 and children can choose to be in the custody of the mother or father when they reach 15. The mother loses custody if she remarries.
• Polygamy: it is permitted under strict conditions by the Family code. The husband must provide a court with evidence of an “exceptional justification” for the marriage and to prove he has sufficient financial resources to cover family expenses, housing, and to ensure equal treatment of his wives. However, article 16 of the Family Code is used is exploited to avoid the conditions set on polygamy as it does not require the plaintiff to present the required documents.
• Inheritance: According to the Family Law, daughters receive half of the share the children receive.

Women can pass their citizenship to their children from a non-Moroccan husband, but women cannot pass citizenship to a foreign husband. A bill to amend the Nationality Law is awaiting approval.

The Domestic Workers Law was issued in 2016, guaranteeing some protection for domestic workers, but permitting the employment of people who are 16 years old. The Law still needs to ensure monitoring and tracking in its application.

Penal Code

• Marital rape: It is not criminalized in the West Bank (WB). However, rape is criminalized by Article 152 or the Criminal Code of 1936 in the Gaza Strip and Articles 292 & 293 of the Penal Code of 1960 in the West Bank.
• Adultery: Adultery is an offence in Gaza. In the West Bank, it is criminalized according to Article. 282 of the Jordan Penal Code. The laws that criminalize adultery also discriminate against women by punishing them more severely than men.
  Article 282 of the Jordanian Penal Code stipulates that a woman who commits adultery should be sentenced from six months to two years of imprisonment, whereas Article 283 stipulates that a man who commits adultery should be sentenced from one month to a year.
• Honor crime: In the West Bank, the laws on mitigation of penalty were repealed, however in Gaza the government has not applied these reforms. Additionally, judges can utilize Articles 99 and 100 from the Jordan Penal Code which allow for reduced penalties.
• Sexual harassment: It is not completely criminalized as Article. 305 covers generic types of harassment, which are not clearly defined.
• Human trafficking: There is no comprehensive legislation – some conditions of the Jordan Personal Code apply in the West Bank .
• Abortion: It is prohibited for rape survivors by the Jordan Penal Code (Articles 321–325) and in Gaza by the Criminal Code of 1936 (Articles 175–177)

Personal Status Laws

• For Muslims, the Jordanian Personal Status Law No. 61 of 1976 is applied in the West Bank and the Egyptian Law of Family Rights of 1954 applies in Gaza. Different laws apply to Catholic Christians, Episcopal Anglican Christians, Orthodox Christians, and Coptic Orthodox Christians.
  Palestinians living in Jerusalem are subject to Israeli civil regulations and Jordanian family law. For Muslims in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, two different sets of laws apply, both of which derive from the Hanafi School of Islamic jurisprudence.
• Child marriage: the minimum age of marriage was raised in Palestine to 18, however it is subject to exceptions.
• Male guardianship over women: to marry, women need the approval of a male guardian.
• Guardianship of children: Fathers are the guardians of children.
• Marriage: The husband has to bear the responsibility of meeting the financial needs of the wife, and the wifeneeds to obey her husband’s wishes. A husband can divorce by repudiation (talaq). A wife has the right to divorce on specified grounds. The personal status laws require a Muslim woman to obtain consent of a male guardian in order to marry. They also allow the guardian or the husband to prevent women from working or travelling if it is perceived that doing so would harm the family’s unity.
• Custody of children: the mother has custody but will lose it if she remarries.
• Inheritance: daughters receive half of the amount the sons receive
• Polygamy: is permitted

Labour law: The law allows for a shorter maternity leave period than the ILO standard (12 weeks instead of 14 weeks).

The Labour Law does not apply to domestic workers. The President issued Decree No. 2 of 2013 concerning domestic workers, which consists of 13 articles that determine the rights and duties of domestic workers, such as number of working hours, the right to rest, remuneration, post contract rights, and compensation.

Social Security Law, No. 19 of 2016: contains discriminatory provisions. For example, Article 66 treats women contributors to the social welfare fund unequally to men. In the case of death, the children of a woman contributor to the fund do not benefit equally to the children of a male contributor. Also, some legal restrictions exist on women’s employment in certain industries that do not apply to men, such as mining.

Note: Due to the occupation, the Palestinian authority (PA) cannot enforce its laws in the Area C and East Jerusalem (mixture of legal framework in Hebron, the Seam Zone as well as Bedouin communities)

Penal Code

• Law 58: adopted in 2017, it eliminated discrimination against women in the Penal Code.

Personal Status Laws

• Guardianship: the mother can be a guardian only in case of inaptitude or absence of men, and conditions for guardianship introduce clear discrimination against women. (Art 154 of the Personal Status Code )
• Child marriage: while the minimum age for marriage is 18, special permissions from the court are possible with the approval of the guardian, then the mother. (Art 6 of the Personal Status Code)
• Inheritance and alimony: the Personal Status Code introduces the duty for men to spend on children and wives, which justifies arguments for inequality in inheritance (Art 38 of the Personal Status Code) Despite it not directly being stated in the Personal Status Code, the rule for inheritance takes from religion, and arguments against equality include religious arguments (Chapter 4 from Book 7 of the Personal Status Code). However, a law proposal addressing the issue was submitted to the Tunisian Parliament in 2019 after the Presidency formed the Committee for Individual Liberties and Equality, which forged a report and the proposal. The law is stuck at the Parliament, and the process has to be restarted as of 2020
• Marital duties: both spouses are required to fulfill their responsibilities according to customs, which introduces unequal repartitions of roles and duties.
• Custody: the interest of children is not taken into consideration; religious affiliation is introduced as a determinant and only applies to men ( Art 59 of the Personal Status Code). Also, women lose custody if they relocate geographically, which is at odds with the right of movement (Art 61 of the Personal Status Code). (Art 61 of the PSC).
• Dowry: the consummation of a marriage is immediately linked to dowry and is a requirement for marriage (Article 3, 13 of the Personal Status Code)– which is degrading for women.

• While the 2014 Constitution lays down the principles of equality between women and men, the Personal Status Code still bears many gender-discriminatory articles. First, the man is considered as the head of the family (Article 23 of the Personal Status Code). Second, the inclusion of customs and religious notions in some articles, resulting in anachronisms (best case scenario) and, in direct contradiction with some fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution (worst case scenario).
• Citizenship: Tunisian women do pass on their nationality to their children, but do not have equal right with men to pass citizenship to a foreign partner (Articles 7, 13, 14, 21 of Citizenship Code)