In a courageous and welcome rebuke to ISIS, Kurdish officials in a region of Syria have issued a 30-point decree that elaborates on the rights of women — a slap in the face to the Muslim extremists who want nothing of the sort:
The 30-point decree issued by the joint leaders of the “self-ruling democracy of Jazira province” aims to safeguard and strengthen women’s rights in semi-autonomous areas, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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The decree called for “equality between men and women in all spheres of public and private life,” and said women had the right to run for office and an equal right to work, pay and inheritance. It was not immediately clear whether the decree was legally binding or how it would be implemented.
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The rights decree said women should not be married below the age of 18, called for preventing polygamy and said women had an equal status in the eyes of the law. It said men and women had an equal right to divorce and that so-called “honor killings” and other violence against women was illegal.
Like the article said, there’s no telling how far-reaching this decree would be, or even if it would be implemented. Still, even symbolically, that’s a wonderful document to see.
If only the other regions would follow suit.
(Image via arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com. Thanks to David for the link)