Africa | Algeria | Law

New Algerian Law Punishes Violence Against Women

A new Algerian law came into effect this week punishing violence against women and sexual harassment, in a victory for feminist groups that had fought for years for the legislation. The law, effective from Monday, had been blocked by the Senate for eight months amid resistance from conservative Muslims who view it as interference in family affairs. It's the fruit of a long struggle by feminist organizations in the North African country that have been fighting against a spike in attacks against women in recent years. The article has the potential to be extremely robust in handing down

Africa | Algeria | Society

59% of Algerian women think husbands have right to beat them

Source: Pangea Today

A study on 15 to 49-year-old Algerian women shows that 59 percent of them say that the husband “has the right to hit or beat” his wife. Violence is even more accepted by women who live in the countryside, who are or were married, and who older than 45. Worse, 76 percent of uneducated women and 70 percent of the poorest think husbands can beat their wives. Nearly half of Algerian women justify this kind of violence if the wives don’t show respect to their in-laws or if the wife is too independent.

Africa | Algeria | Society

Algerian female police officers forced to quit to get married

Source: Pangea Today

Women in Algeria who manage to become police officers and get married are very rare. Most female cops in the country either remain single or must give up their careers if they want to have a husband and a family. In Algeria, people who are employed by the national security forces – the police, the army, etc. – must comply with a strict background check when they decide to marry. If a woman’s future life partner has a chance of failing the investigation, she is forced to choose between her job and marrying him.

Africa | Algeria | Culture

Algeria’s controversial ‘purity’ campaign to ban skirts

Source: Pangea Today

Young Algerian conservatives launched a “purity” campaign online against women who wear provocative clothing. The idea is to ban them from going out with short, skin-tight, or sexy apparel. The project provoked a lot of attention on social media and reignited the debate about women’s rights in the Muslim country. The campaign was launched after an incident in the beginning of May at the Law University in Algiers, the capital, in which a security guard prevented a female student from taking her exams because her skirt was “too short.”