Stop Violence Against Women, Priority of Eu Program. 16/03/10

In several countries, women have a lower status, because legislation, private law and family law, is still based on religion.

BRUSSELS - To stop the violence against women: this is the priority issue to be dealt with in all countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, according to what has emerged from analysis carried out by the EuroMed Gender Equality Programme (EGEP), which has focused on the condition of women of the area in a roundtable organised in Brussels.

The 'Programme to enhance quality between men and women in the EuroMed Region', financed by the EU as part of the European Neighbourhood Policy, involves nine partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Syria and Tunisia). "There are national strategies," explains Judith Neisse, team leader of EGEP, "like the case of Morocco, where studies have already been carried out, or else countries where studies are underway such as in Tunisia.

Several countries have laws on sexual harassment in its penal code, for example Israel and Morocco. The EGEP programme will specifically help the conducting of a national study in Jordan and in Lebanon, because they are the two countries that have still not carried it out."

There are states that have inserted violence against women into their penal code and not into private law: "for example," Neisse continues, "Jordan and Morocco: this is already a step in the direction of the criminalisation of violence, independently of who commits it. Family law in fact often does not allow the charging of husbands who commit violent acts: it is said that they are family disputes, tensions, there is a certain trivialisation of the phenomenon."

Another key issue for Mediterranean countries is the role of women in the decision-making process, in public and in private. "We talk about the presence of women," explains Neisse, "in the economic and political world, but also of their role in the family.

In several countries, women have a lower status, because legislation, private law and family law, is still based on religion. In several cases, the approach is archaic, especially for marriage or divorce. Also in the case of Israel, due to the attachment to the law of Moses' time."

To make family law lay is one of the aims to be reached for women in the Mediterranean region. According to Neisse, a case where it would be absolutely necessary is Lebanon "with its multiconfessionalism, where ever religious community has its rules, from Orthodox Christians to Shia and Sunni Muslim, with action differing from one community to the other. A solution would be to have a single family code, based on non-religious considerations."

Several countries "have begun to work on the better interpretation of the Islamic law," states Neisse, "with respect to the international conventions, such as Morocco and Algeria." Whilst Tunisia boasts women's status and a family code that is very advanced.

The idea of EGEP is to create subgroups of EU Partner Countries at regional level in order to work on training at sub-regional level. "After gathering data and the priorities," Neisse concluded, "for the final phase we have a series of regional seminars to work with other figures involved. We will identify a series of priorities of groups of countries, on the basis of which we will carry out training, between the second half of 2010 and the first half of 2011." (ANSAmed).