and inheritance. Decision-making is left to the males of the household who enjoy, by default, the legal status of “head of household.” All of these concepts are supported by the family courts.
While husbands can divorce their spouses easily – often instantaneously through oral repudiation – wives’ access to divorce is often extremely limited, and they frequently confront near-insurmountable legal and financial obstacles. Although Egyptian women can now legally initiate a divorce without cause, they must agree not only to renounce all rights to the couple’s finances, but must also re-pay their dowries.
Violence against women in Egypt also continues to be a major issue with 35 percent of women in Egypt reported as being beaten by their husbands according to a recent Amnesty International report. Honor killings, whereby women who are suspected of tarnishing the family’s reputation through their sexual indiscretions are murdered by male family members, are also carried out periodically, but the Egyptian government isn’t interested in researching or providing statistics. Furthermore, the penal code of Egypt has a partial or complete “defense” for this crime.
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