Egypt’s National Council for Women is urging Egypt’s parliament not to approve two controversial laws reducing the minimum age of marriage to 14 and allowing a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death. Egypt’s Islamist dominated parliament is to introduce the legislation which critics say is anti-female and “catastrophic.” The Council charges that “marginalizing and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country’s human development.” Lawmakers are also seeking to eliminate decade old reforms which allowed women to end unhappy or abusive marriage without interference from their husbands.
Update:
The Christian Science Monitor’s Dan Murphy reports that “The chances of any such piece of legislation being considered by the Egyptian parliament for a vote is zero.” Murphy warns that “extreme, not to mention inflammatory claims” about the law are spreading across the Internet.