The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP) today discussed a research study entitled “Identifying the Needs of Divorced Women” with judges of the Sharia courts in Gaza.

The workshop was part of the “Women Forward” project, funded by the German Heinrich Böll Foundation. The meeting aimed to present the problems identified by the study.

Dr. Hassan Al-Joujou, head of the Sharia Judiciary in Gaza, discussed the problems resulting from divorce, whether for the divorced woman, the children, and society’s view of the divorced woman, stressing the need for everyone to deal with divorce away from disputes and the necessity of continuing life. He emphasized the importance of having a family forum for children to see each other in order to preserve their psychological health.

Al-Joujou spoke about the alimony fund that they had begun preparing, but the Gaza Ministry of Finance’s seizure of the funds is preventing it from beginning operations, explaining that if these funds were released, the suffering of divorced women would be alleviated.

Similarly, Al-Joujou praised the efforts of women’s centers and institutions working in this field and in issues related to women in general.

For her part, the director of the Center, legal researcher Zeinab Al-Ghunaimi, welcomed the judges and attendees, noting that the project seeks to support divorced women, especially young women, and reintegrate them into society. It aims to form a permanent forum for divorced women under the name “Women Forward” so that it continues its work within the framework of a woman-to-woman program within the forum, strengthening divorced women’s self-confidence and self-esteem, raising legal awareness among divorced women to enable them to protect their rights, defending the rights of divorced women before national courts, and solving their legal problems through the center’s legal consultation unit.

In addition to helping raise the level of scientific and professional awareness and skills of divorced women, in cooperation with NGOs working in this field, to help them create job opportunities for a number of them to alleviate poverty, and contribute to raising public awareness towards recognizing women’s rights equal to men’s rights in family issues.