The Charitable Organisation for Social Awareness demands that child custody age in the Druze confession be raised

The Charitable Organisation for Social Awareness submitted ten years ago a proposed revision of the Druze family laws composed of 17 clauses of which three are to be given priority, namely regarding raising children’s custody age, giving mothers’ priority for child custody (in case she is found “fit and eligible” and if she remains unmarried) and safeguarding women’s inheritance rights from their fathers.  The president of the organization, May Wahhab Bou Hamdan explained the reason for prioritizing these clauses namely the persistence of Druze judges in refusing to raise children’s custody age (currently set at 7 years for boys and 12 years for girls) as they argue that when boys are raised by their fathers, they “become men” while the same judges have agreed to raise girls’ custody age to 13 years of age.  Bou Hamdan added that Druze Sheikh Akl Naeem Hassan has recently referred these clauses to the vote and hence the decision of the organization to pursue the dialogue with selected political leaders concerning the proposed amendment that will result in raising child custody age for boys to 12 years as boys need the same care and affection of their mothers as in the case of girls.  Bou Hamdan clarified that their actions are not directed against fathers and that they do not seek to prevent fathers from having custody of their children.
Bou Hamdan recalled that the organization submitted the full proposal for a reform of the Druze family law (dating back to 1948) back in 2002.  The suggested revisions were signed in April 2002 by former Minister of Justice Samir Jisr after he confirmed that it did not jeopardize public order or violate the Constitution or the current legal framework.  The organization had hoped that their petition would be referred to the Parliamentary Commission for Administration and Justice so that it can take its course to the General Assembly.  However, the unstable situation that has prevailed since then has delayed the process until now.
Source: Al-Nahar 13 November 2013