Family laws affect the daily lives of women and men around the world - their relationships, employment, education, housing, mobility, etc. The following are some life stories of women which illustrate the profound impact of unequal and unjust family laws and practices.
For information about broader trends in various countries, see the National Profiles section of the website and Musawah's Global Report on Equality in the Muslim Family, Home Truths.
The Musawah Opening Video also depicts images and data about the struggle for equality and justice in the Muslim family. View it here or follow the link to see it on YouTube (click on the icon to view in full-screen mode).
► Unregistered Marriage
A woman and a man who are British nationals of Pakistani origin were married in Luton, Britain. The husband went to Pakistan and married another woman. Luton Police referred the case to a women’s group for advice on how to pursue a bigamy case. On further enquiry, however, it was revealed that the first marriage was not considered a valid marriage because it had been conducted at a mosque that was not registered to conduct marriages. The wife had no rights as a married woman and the husband had no responsibilities towards her. Many thousands of women in Britain are thought to be in similar situations regarding marriages that were not properly registered.
Source: Sohail Akbar Warraich & Cassandra Balchin: Recognizing the Un-Recognized: Inter-Country Cases and Muslim Marriages & Divorces in Britain, Women Living Under Muslim Laws, 2006
► Child Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage
Nazreen, from Pakistan, is 55 years old, but looks much older. Nazreen was married at the age of nine to a 50-year-old alcoholic man with a gambling habit. From the second day of her marriage she was forced to work in several houses as a domestic servant. Until her husband died, he subjected her to violence, and she suffered in silence because she did not have the courage or support to fight back. Somehow, she succeeded in ensuring her daughter was educated through higher secondary and was able to marry.
Nazreen's daughter's fate was not much different from her own. She faced beating, psychological torture and non-maintenance by her alcoholic husband. As a bold woman, she decided to try to get herself released from her marriage by approaching the Court through a free legal aid service. However, the registration of the case to the final order took 15 months, and she had to pay for heavy legal expenses. Finally, a decree for the dissolution of marriage was passed with a condition that she forgo the amount of her deferred dower, Rs.10,000.
Source: Syeda Viquar-un-nisa Hashmi, 'Khul'a: A Married Woman's Right or a Penalty?'
► The Right to Choose Who to Marry
In Saudi Arabia, women of all ages generally need to obtain permission from a male guardian (father, husband, brother, uncle, son) to work, travel, study, marry or obtain medical treatment. Fatima Al-Timani, a Saudi Arabian woman, was forcibly divorced from her husband by a court in 2005 at the request of her half-brothers. The couple's ordeal started when Fatima's half-brothers asked a court to annul the marriage, citing her husband's low tribal background.
The judge agreed, even though the couple had been married for over two years and had two children. Following the ruling, the couple was arrested in Jeddah after going there to seek official help. Fatima and her children spent nine months in a women's prison in Dammam after refusing to go back to her family. In January 2007, Riyadh's Appeals Court upheld a judge's decision to divorce the couple, and Fatima was moved to a women's shelter in the city, where, as of May 2008, she was still living with her two-year-old son, Suliman. Her other child, four-year-old Noha, lives with her husband, Mansour Al-Timani.
Suminah, from Indonesia, works as a migrant domestic worker in Saudi Arabia. Suminah sends money every six months to her parents for four reasons. Firstly, the money is needed for her children who live with her parents; secondly, the money will be managed by her parents to build a house; thirdly, Suminah does not want the money to be used by her husband Sanerdi's first wife; and, fourthly, Suminah too often hears of husbands mismanaging the earnings of their wives either for remarrying or philandering.
Source: Tati Krisnawaty, SH Ningsih, JJ Rizal, eds., Rumah-Dambaan Buruh Migran Perempuan: Sepuluh Cerita dari dan tentang Rumah Buruh Migran Perempuan asal Sukabumi, Malang, Lombok Tengah dan Bone, The World Bank - Jakarta, May 2008.
► Financial Provisions
Aisyiah, from Malaysia, is a working woman who has been married for many years. All these years of marriage, her husband barely supports her. She believes that he feels it is not necessary for him to provide basic things that a husband is required to give because she is earning her own money. So she bought the house, the car, the furniture, her own clothes. She pays the doctor's bill when she's sick and helps to pay for the children's education. She knows she won't get anything from him, so she invests her money so that she won't be a financial burden to anybody.
Source: Case submitted to the Sisters in Islam legal clinic, Malaysia.
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