Egypt Restricts Right of Women to Divorce
The Egyptian Parliament has approved a new law on a man’s right to have several wives that appears to be a compromise between feminists and Islamic fundamentalists.
The law approved Monday replaces one adopted by President Anwar Sadat in 1979. Sadat’s law gave a woman the right to divorce if her husband took a second wife. The new legislation makes this conditional on “material or moral damage” befalling the first wife as a result of the man’s second marriage.
In Islam, a man is entitled to have up to four wives at the same time.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.