Woman Faces Abuse Over Decision to Divorce, Case Study
Reem, an engineer, married her university classmate fifteen years ago. They lived in the city of Lattakia, where they worked hard to ensure a decent living for themselves and their children. During these years, Reem and her husband made it a point to save money and buy a shop, which Reem managed after her day job at a government institution.
Seven years into their marriage, the shop began to do well, so her husband asked Reem to resign from her job and devote her time to managing the business. This request marked the start of disagreements between Reem and her husband. She initially refused, but her husband and family pressured her until she gave in. “My mistake from the beginning was giving in to this pressure. My children were younger then, and I felt afraid, but my compliance at that time led me to my current state,” she says.
Reem quit her job and managed the shop while caring for her children and handling household affairs. Her husband remained at his private engineering office. Over the years, her business thrived, and she expanded the shop and hired more employees. Despite her new field having no relation to her academic specialisation, Reem succeeded in business, so much so that the income from the shop alone was enough to ensure the family’s financial stability.
Although Reem had proven capable of managing her new business, the problems between her and her husband grew. After a verbal fight with her husband during the eighth year of their marriage, Reem faced severe physical abuse and had to flee to her parents’ house. “Only a few hours after I arrived at my parents’ house bruised and hurt, my brother spoke to my husband and asked him to fetch me. When he arrived, my father calmly asked him not to repeat his actions and that he could discipline me less brutally. My father also reminded me of the importance of absorbing disagreements and problems because his weak heart could not stand having a divorced daughter at home,” she says.
This incident was a sign to Reem that she would not find any support from her family or social circle if she considered divorce. At the same time, her family’s lenient attitude only allowed her husband’s violence to escalate. He began losing control of his temper whenever he got angry, insulting and then beating her severely. Reem repeatedly tried to escape from her husband’s violence and take refuge with her family or friends. Still, she found herself alone, with no one to support her. “Everyone is afraid of divorce. Divorce is a worse hell than violence in our society,” she says.
In the tenth year of her marriage, after a severe beating by her husband, Reem attempted to file a separation lawsuit in court on the grounds of harm. However, the court rejected her claim due to a lack of witnesses, even though a medical report confirmed that Reem had been injured. The judge dismissed the report, arguing that the injury was unrelated to domestic violence. Reem claims that her husband managed to bribe the judge, who rejected her separation lawsuit. At the same time, no one from her family, acquaintances or neighbours agreed to testify on her behalf in court. As a result, Reem lost the case.
Reem grew more afraid of her husband as his violence against her intensified. He prevented her from leaving the house, even going to her shop. She could no longer visit her family or friends. Her husband refused to divorce her and became abusive, forcing her to live with him. Reem became trapped in her home, trying to avoid her husband’s anger in every way possible to find a means of escape. Finally, she decided to reach out to a lawyer for help.
The lawyer advised Reem to file a case for a mukhalaa (consensual) divorce in which she would waive all her rights to the house, alimony, and dowry. However, Reem did not accept this, preferring to remain confined in her husband’s home. “I am now imprisoned in my house,” she says. “When I told my family about my decision, they opposed and attacked me, and my father insisted that he would not take me or my children in if the divorce took place.”
Despite amendments to Syria’s Personal Status Law in 2019, women’s social and economic situation after divorce remains controversial. In Syria, the husband has the final say in a divorce, and no clauses guarantee the wife’s financial rights if she seeks divorce. In the case of Reem, who invested her savings and life’s work to build financial stability with her husband, she is now threatened with losing everything due to her desire to divorce him.
Reem is still in her husband’s house, unable to file a mukhalaa divorce suit to not lose her home, as there is no other place for her and her children to go. In Syria’s current state of corruption, separation lawsuits face discrimination and bias based on connections and bribery. Reem says her husband constantly threatens to bribe the judge if she considers filing a second lawsuit. All this while her husband is supported by their social circle, leaving Reem alone, without family or community support.