The Enduring Civil Inequality of Lebanese Women

Lebanon’s complex civil status laws have given broad leeway for religious courts to adjudicate civil matters according to theological law, leaving a tangled relationship between church (or mosque) and state in disputes like divorce and child custody. Fatima Ali Hamzeh’s fight to retain custody of her three-year-old son after her husband married another woman while refusing to divorce her has revealed how the intertwined legal systems intersect to create significant disadvantages for women in what is considered to be one of the Middle East’s most progressive states. Global Voices highlights Hamzeh’s story and the women’s rights movement that has rallied around her to combat gender-based legal inequality in Lebanon.

Read:
“A Mother’s Fight for Her Son Exposes Lebanon’s Institutionalized Sexism” (Global Voices)

Additional:
“Hamzeh custody case draws Berri’s attention” (The Daily Star)

(Image Credit: via The Daily Star)