Egyptians are awaiting the long-anticipated new Personal Status Law, widely known as the “Family Law”, amid concerns that it could introduce new restrictions and penalties that would place additional burdens on families and contribute to rising divorce rates and family breakdown in a country where, according to official figures, a divorce takes place every two minutes. The draft law, which comprises around 355 articles, has sparked extensive social, religious and political debate over marriage conditions, divorce procedures, alimony, child custody, visitation rights, the marital home and other contentious issues affecting family relationships. The controversy escalated after Al-Azhar said the draft law had not yet been referred to it and that it had not taken part in drafting it. In a [...]
