The director of The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP) welcomed the position of Sheikh Saeed Abu al-Jabin, a judge at the Supreme Sharia Court in Gaza and head of the technical office in the Sharia judiciary apparatus, who commended the Center’s work and the significant issues it raises. He noted that the system of shared marital property is an idea accepted by the Sharia judiciary, but requires extensive study in the coming phase to consider it and its compatibility with Sharia principles. He explained that the reason behind the importance of this system is the husband’s abuse of the wife’s right to her money, especially since he is fully responsible for spending, regardless of how much money the wife owns.

This came during a meeting held by the Center yesterday, attended by a number of officials from women’s and community organizations, reformers, lawyers, and media personnel, at the conclusion of the campaign it implemented to establish a “system of shared marital property,” funded by the German Heinrich Böll Foundation, which was implemented over four months, from May 1 to August 30, 2016.

Professor Zeinab al-Ghunaimi affirmed during this meeting that the aim of the campaign is to empower married women to have the right to equally divide movable and immovable property acquired during the marriage period, through a document signed voluntarily by the husband and wife.

She pointed out that the Center implemented this campaign due to the increasing phenomenon of economic violence in the Gaza Strip, especially after the 2014 war. The Center received many cases of women seeking legal aid to confront the infringement of their financial rights, including real estate and movable property in which they had contributed from work income or inheritance shares. The continuation of this phenomenon leads to the expansion of family disputes between spouses, ultimately leading to divorce.

Al-Ghunaimi explained that the system of shared property is optional and may be chosen by the spouses when concluding the marriage contract or at a later date. It aims to make a property or a group of properties or movable funds jointly owned by the spouses when they are related to the family, in addition to the fact that it does not affect the rules of inheritance.

Professor Samah al-Qishawi, the campaign coordinator, presented a summary of the activities that were achieved during the campaign period, in addition to the results, outputs, and success stories that were achieved. She indicated that the Center was able to collect the signatures of (1044) women and men on the petition that was announced during the campaign to support and approve the system by the targeted groups, and then it was submitted to Dr. Hassan al-Jojo, head of the Sharia judiciary in Gaza.

The attendees at the meeting recommended the need to continue working until it is actually approved by the Sharia courts in Gaza.