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Algeria
Family Code
The real battleground over the status and rights of women has
been the family code, a set of legal provisions regulating marriage
and the family. Debated between those who wanted family life organized
along Western secularist lines and those who favored a family
structure conforming to Islamic principles and ethics, the code
was proposed, discussed, and shelved at least three times over
a period of two decades before being adopted into law in 1984.
In one instance, in 1981, the code's provisions provoked vehement
opposition from female members of the National People's Assembly
and street demonstrations by women in Algiers, both almost unprecedented
events in Algeria.
Although some of the 1984 code's provisions are more liberal
than those of the 1981 version, the code essentially reflects
the influence of Islamic conservatives. The family unit is "the
basic unit of society"; the head of the family is the husband,
to whom the wife owes obedience. According to the sharia, a Muslim
woman may not marry a non-Muslim; polygyny is permitted under
certain conditions (although it is rarely practiced); and women
do not inherit property equally with men. A woman cannot be married
without her consent, and she may sue for divorce in specified
circumstances, including desertion and nonsupport. Custody of
children under age seven in divorce cases passes to the wife but
reverts to the husband when the children are older. Divorce rates
have risen steadily since independence, but divorce remains much
easier for men than for women.
Data as of December 1993
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