Nour Association protects Algerian women’s rights after divorce
If you are a divorced woman in the Middle East, you face many problems. And if you are a divorced woman having children, you are expected to have a “mother’s role” until the end of your life. The Nour Association for Women, Children, and Family defends women’s rights to the custody of the child and provides legal, economic, and social support after their divorce in Algeria. JINHA spoke to the president of the association about their activities.
NECWA RAHİM
Algeria- The Nour Association for Women, Children, and Family supports women, who are in the divorce process and also guarantees the future of women’s children. The president of the association, Dalila Hussein told us the association kicked off its activities on March 27. The association provides legal, social, and economic support to women in Algeria.
In the beginning, the members of the association started its works as an initiative, “We discussed with academics, research assistants, lawyers, who are experts in their fields, about the rights of women after divorce and the determination of the fate of their children. An organization working on family and divorce processes was needed and wanted to fill this gap,” Dalila Hussein said.
“Women are fear of losing child custody”
Stating that women have faced many problems in rebuilding their lives after the divorce process in the societies of Middle East, Dalila Hussein told us a divorced woman’s story, “Imagine a 28-year-old pregnant woman in the divorce process. She raised her daughter alone and years later (she is now 34 years old), she wants to get married again but she has threatened by her ex-husband to take her child from her even though she raised her daughter alone. How can we claim and defend this woman's rights? The woman gives up getting married again because she is fear of losing her child custody.”
“Women should be able to get out of the center of social pressures”
Women have faced their “mother’s role” when they want to rebuild their own life, Dalila Hussein said, “A mother sacrifices her life for the sake of her child. Women should be able to rebuild a life for themselves and to get out of the center of social pressures.”
“A rule against women”
Algerian Family Code is an open-ended code, particularly for cases involving child custody, Dalila Hussein said, “Men get married again and have other children from their second wives without facing any problems but if women want to get married again, the child custody is given to men. It is a very interesting situation. The divorced men get married again and have other children but the courts rule against the women.”