Happily Ever After?

As a girl, Merna Soliman ’26 pictured marriage the way many do: two people falling in love and deciding to build a life together. Today, the 22-year-old political science graduate approaches marriage differently. “I think I will have 100 to 200 stipulations, minimum,” she said of her future marriage contract.

As an undergraduate, Soliman worked with two local NGOs supporting incarcerated and vulnerable women and took classes on women’s rights and Egyptian law at the University. Among these courses was Women and Gender in Egyptian Courts, offered as part of the Core Curriculum and taught by Mohamed Serag, professor in the Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations.

These experiences transformed Soliman’s views on marriage. What she once perceived primarily as a personal commitment, she now views as a legal contract that can shape her rights and responsibilities long after saying “I do.”

Marriage is often considered a private matter; however, the expectations surrounding it — who provides, who decides and what happens when things fall apart — are reinforced by Egypt’s century-old Personal Status Law. Currently, proposed amendments to a controversial article 355 of the law are making their way through Parliament. If passed, the amendments would alter many aspects of family life, from custody arrangements and divorce requirements to grandparent visitation rights.

For Soliman, the debate has personal implications. "My financial security, child custody rights and ability to leave an abusive relationship are at risk," she said. "There are too many loopholes in the current law that can trap women in injustice."

More to Lose

Bringing together students from across disciplines, Women and Gender in Egyptian Courts examines the challenges women face in accessing justice under Egypt's Personal Status Law.

“Our department has always engaged with issues that are important to Egyptian society, and this is reflected in some of the thesis projects our students undertake,” Serag said. “This course continues that approach by helping students understand their rights and responsibilities under the Personal Status Law. Hopefully, by understanding the law and its shortcomings, they can think of solutions to some of the problems we are facing.”

For Serag, those shortcomings have been decades in the making. “Egypt's family law has steadily fallen behind many other Muslim-majority countries in protecting women's rights,” he said.

While taking Serag’s course during her final semester at AUC, Soliman was particularly troubled by legal mechanisms that reinforce marital obedience, especially in cases involving physical or emotional abuse. “If a wife flees her home because of abuse but cannot prove that the home is unsafe, and then pursues khula [a divorce initiated by women], she forfeits all financial rights she would otherwise be entitled to in a divorce,” she explained. “When it comes to ending a marriage, women have a lot more to lose than men.” 

“The greatest protection many women have isn’t the law. It’s knowing their rights before they need them.”

Serag pointed to a child support case filed in 1976 but not resolved until 2001. By then, he said, the child had grown up and married, meaning the father was no longer required to support her. Even when courts award child support or alimony, payments are often based on understated income, Serag added. “We have seen cases awarding EGP 500 per month for a wife and EGP 300 per month for a child. That amount is a joke,” he said.

Helen Rizzo, associate professor of sociology and director of AUC's Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, said these legal outcomes are connected to a maintenance-obedience dynamic reinforced by Egyptian family law. Under this framework, husbands are expected to provide financially for the family, while wives are expected to accept the husband’s role as head of the household, Rizzo noted.

This dynamic shapes how marriages end as much as how they function. A husband can generally end his marriage through verbal divorce without going to court. A wife, by contrast, must either pursue a judicial divorce — which can take years — or seek khula, through which she gives up alimony and returns her dowry.

These legal differences can create vulnerability for women even within stable marriages. “Because the divorce laws advantage men, the possibility of divorce, even if it is low, is always in the back of women’s minds," Rizzo said. “Divorce can completely upend their lives in ways that men, especially those who can provide financially, don’t experience.”

Don't Rock the Boat

As they continue to navigate a family court system stacked against them, women are left with limited options for protecting their rights. “The greatest protection many women have isn't the law,” said Serag. “It's knowing their rights before they need them.”

Although women can add stipulations to their marriage contracts — including the right to work, remain in the marital home after divorce and initiate divorce proceedings — Serag and Rizzo pointed out that many brides-to-be are discouraged by family and friends from doing so.

“The most controversial condition is when the bride wants to include her right to divorce,” Rizzo explained. “There is heavy pressure by both families not to include this — as it offends the groom’s family for appearing not to trust the groom, and the groom feels that it diminishes his role as head of the household and decision maker.”

Even in cases of abuse within a marriage, families may often prioritize maintaining appearances. Soliman recalled hearing about a woman experiencing marital rape and abuse who, after speaking up about what she was going through, was told by her family to “get over it because he is your husband.”

Being exposed to such stories throughout her life, Soliman has come to understand the limits of legal awareness alone. “I am educated, financially independent and able to stand up for myself,” she said. “I am just a small segment of society. In reality, most women do not have the education or financial support to do this.”

“If a wife flees her home because of abuse but cannot prove that the home is unsafe, she will forfeit all financial rights she would otherwise be entitled to in a divorce. If she pursues khula [a divorce initiated by women], she also loses all financial entitlements. When it comes to ending a marriage, women have a lot more to lose than men.”

The Road to Reform

Today, roughly 1.7 million divorce, khula, alimony, child custody and visitation cases are pending in Egyptian family courts, according to the latest statistics issued by the Public Prosecution reported by Al Masry Al Youm. The backlog, alongside concerns about women’s experiences within the system, has intensified calls for reform.

Serag believes that education is an important first step toward meaningful change. “The way a law is interpreted and applied can have a significant impact in practice,” he said. “If everyone involved is well educated, we are likely to have more equitable outcomes.”

Rizzo agrees that legal reform alone is not enough. While the proposed amendments may address specific issues, she argued that they leave intact a broader framework that treats husbands as providers and wives as dependents expected to obey. “Any proposals to amend these laws that do not address the underlying inequalities in the family will be piecemeal if they remain based on the maintenance-obedience dynamic,” she said.

As Parliament debates the proposed amendment, Soliman hopes that her eventual marriage will be built on an equal partnership rather than one defined by unequal rights and responsibilities. "According to the Quran, couples should have mercy toward each other," she said.

As the legal system continues to evolve, Soliman remains mindful of these considerations — and will keep drafting her stipulations.