Progress Amid Resistance

258 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAsurrounding the relative size of each sectarian community, the state has notconducted a national census since 1932. However, the three largest groupsare the Sunni Muslims, the Shiite Muslims, and the Maronite Christians.The smaller groups include a variety of other Christian sects as well as theDruze and a very small number of Jews.Article 9 of the constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religiouspractice, and asserts that the personal status interests of all sects willbe respected. Each state-recognized religious group has the right to adhereto its own personal status laws, which regulate matters related to birth,marriage, divorce, and child custody. For example, the Muslim denominationsalone are subject to four different personal status codes. The sixCatholic denominations share a uniform personal status law, and somestate-recognized denominations, such as the Ismailis, are no longer representedin Lebanon. Nonetheless, the personal status laws of all religiousgroups in some way discriminate against women and promote patriarchalstereotypes.No laws restrict a woman’s freedom of movement or her choice of placeof residence. Lebanese women have had the right to travel without theirhusbands’ authorization since 1974. According to both Sunni and Shiitereligious courts, which adhere to interpretations of Shari‘a, a wife cannotbe compelled to reside in her husband’s house through physical ormental coercion. However, the prevailing patriarchal social system preventswomen from fully enjoying freedom of movement, particularly inrural areas where such norms are more strictly enforced. Conversely, urbanwomen may have more opportunities to avoid conservative customs andtraditions; some are even able to defy them, for instance by going out atnight without a male chaperon or living on their own.There have been several unsuccessful attempts to adopt a unified, civilpersonal status law over the years, beginning in 1974. 24 A bill that wouldcreate an optional civil law was proposed by President Elias Hrawi in 1998and approved by the cabinet, but it met with strong opposition fromall religious leaders, and the parliament eventually blocked it. In 2007,a group of students and young professionals used Facebook, the socialnetworkingwebsite, to launch a new initiative in support of civil marriageand a civil personal status law. 25 In February 2009, the group announcedthe completion of a new draft for an optional civil law, although it appearsunlikely that the measure will be considered by the parliament in the nearfuture. 26