WUNRN
LEBANON WOMEN - ISSUES OF RIGHTS,
NATIONALITY,
CHILD CUSTODY, LOW POLITICAL
REPRESENTATION +
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Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to their
children and in the event of separation, it is the father who gains automatic
custody |
BEIRUT, 22 July 2008
(IRIN) - Thousands of children in Lebanon are denied full access to education,
healthcare and residency because they do not have Lebanese citizenship.
Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to their
children and in the event of separation, it is the father who gains automatic
custody, according to Lebanese nationality law.
There is a saying in Lebanon: The only woman you’ll see
in parliament is the one wearing black, mourning for the death of her husband
or brother, whose political mantle she has inherited.
In a country famed for being the region’s most socially
liberal and politically democratic, just one woman, Bahia Hariri, the sister of
slain former premier Rafik Hariri, became a member of Lebanon’s new unity
cabinet, announced in early July.
Although Bahia was an MP before her brother's
assassination in 2005, women cabinet ministers such as Nayla Moawad, former
minister of Social Affairs, or former Industry Minister Leila Solh, joined
politics after their husband and father, respectively, died.
Women MPs
Women were only present in parliamentary life twice
between 1952 and 1962 and then not again until three female members of
parliament (MPs) won seats in the 1992 elections.
“Women’s groups are demanding a 35 percent quota in
representation in the government, which would allow for issues such as the
custody and nationality law to take precedence,” said activist Roula Masri.
Women’s groups are demanding a 35 percent quota in
representation in the government, which would allow for issues such as the
custody and nationality law to take precedence.
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In the last Lebanese
parliamentary elections in 2005 only three MPs out of 128 were women - far
fewer than politically restricted neighbours such as Syria, which had 30 women
MPs out of 250; Jordan which had 13 out of 165; and Egypt which had 31 out of
718. Parliamentary elections in Lebanon are due next April.
Women make up about 53 percent of the population -
around two million citizens - while research by the Collective for Research and
Training on Development Action (CRTDA) found that women aged 23-34 outnumber
men by seven to one, because most young men are employed abroad.
While making great strides in the labour force, with
women highly visible in sectors such as the media, advertising and design, poor
political representation is hampering women’s ability to reform discriminatory
laws, say activists.
CRTDA recently re-launched its “Nationality Campaign”,
lobbying politicians on the right for women to nationalise their children if
marrying non-Lebanese.
Nationality law
The nationality law was established in 1925 and
partially reformed in 1994 in a complex decree.
According to a 2008 report by the non-governmental
organisation (NGO) Frontiers Association, the 1994 amendment allows the child
of a Lebanese mother and foreign father to gain Lebanese citizenship after the
child's marriage to a Lebanese, and at least five years uninterrupted residency
in the country, including one year after marriage.
A more comprehensive reform to the nationality law has
become mired in the political issue of the presence of tens of thousands of
Syrian workers and 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Some politicians have argued that to allow Lebanese
women to nationalise the children they have with non-Lebanese, such as Syrians
and Palestinians, would be to shake up the delicate sectarian demographic on
which the country’s political system is founded.
But according to activist Masri, figures from the
Interior Ministry from 2001 indicate that only 1,000 Lebanese women are married
to foreigners, although she admits these need updating with field research.
“However, the issue is not about how many women are
married to Palestinians, Syrians or other foreigners but that they have to
amend this law to highlight that this is a human right,” she said.
Fewer rights
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"Lebanese women carry their
children for nine months and then the government and society tells us that we
don't have a right to them." |
Jewellery designer Rania Choueiri |
Even in simple, everyday tasks, women can find they
have fewer rights than men.
Rania Choueiri, a jewellery designer who owns a shop on
trendy Monot Street, recounts her story of trying to open a bank account for
her son, Karim.
“They asked me where is his father,” said Rania. “I asked
why they need his father when I am his mother and want an account for my son.
They told me that only the father can open the account. I couldn’t believe
it."
Lebanon’s nationalisation campaign has harnessed social
networking website Facebook. A group centred on discussion of the nationality
law currently has some 8,000 members.
"Many Lebanese women abroad have children and would
like to return to Lebanon with their families but are prohibited because they
are unable to provide legal papers to their families,” said Masri.