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Kurds in Syrian Kurdistan give women equal rights,
snubbing IS jihadists |
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November 10, 2014
BEIRUT,— The local government in Syrian
Kurdistan, the Kurdish area in northern Syria has
passed a decree granting women equal rights in what
a monitoring group called "an affront" to
discriminatory jihadist moves.
Published on the local government's official
Facebook page on Wednesday, the decree states that
women and men should enjoy "equality... in all walks
of public and private life".
Last year, Syria's Kurds created autonomous
governments in the three regions where they are a
majority, establishing self-proclaimed rule.
Arabs also hold office, and the decrees apply to all
ethnicities living in the self-governing areas.
The decree, passed by the leaders of the Al-Jazeera
canton -- officially Hasakeh province -- stipulates
that women have the right to equal labour rights,
including pay.
Women must be 18 years old to marry, and they are
cannot be married off without their consent.
"Polygamy is forbidden," the decree states, adding
that women have the same right to bear witness in
court as men, and that they have full inheritance
rights.
In Islam, men are allowed four wives on condition
that they can afford it, while women have limited
inheritance rights and fewer rights before a law
court.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, Syrian Kurds have not so far allowed women
to inherit at all.
The decree bans so-called "honour killings" and
"violence and discrimination" against women and says
women must get paid maternity leave for their first
three children.
According to the Britain-based Observatory, the
decree is an "affront to laws being passed by the
Islamic State (IS), which are highly discriminatory
against women".
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP:
"While fighting the jihadists, the Kurds also want
to send a message to the international community, to
say that they want to espouse awww.Ekurd.net
culture of democracy and civil rights."
Backed by rebels, the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and
a US-led coalition, Syria's Kurds are fighting a
fierce battle against the IS jihadists in the
flashpoint town of Kobani on Syria's border with
Turkey.
More than 1,000 people, mostly IS fighters, have
been killed there in less than two months, most of
Kobani's residents have fled. The town has become a
symbol of resistance against the jihadists.
Abdel Rahman called the Kurdish decree "a major step
for the region, whose tribal society has long been
ruled by conservative social mores."
Damascus does not recognise the self-proclaimed
governments established by the Kurds in 2013.
Regions and cities names in Kurdish may have been changed or added to
the article by Ekurd.net.
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency,
AFP
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