The Issue of Violence Against Women in Algeria: Causes and Public Policies
Abstract
This contribution deals with the topic of: violence against women in Algeria: causes and public policies on violence against women. The violence against women in Algeria has represented a social phenomenon that affects Algerian women of all ages, single and married, whether those residing in cities or rural areas, as well as concerns either working or non-working. This phenomenon is most often carried out within families by the husband against the wife. However, the Algerian authorities have adopted a range of policies in order to face this violence against women; like persuasive measures of awareness and sensitization through the family, school and the media, as well as providing protection to women in centres. In addition, over the last twenty years, the Government of Algeria has promulgated policies, programs and a series of laws has been enacted to punish harassment of women, and tighten the punishment for men, even husbands, who engage in physical and moral violence against women. Indeed, a husband who practices any form of coercion or intimidation on his wife in order to dispose of her property or financial resources will be punished by imprisonment from six months to two years, and anyone who deliberately injures or beats his wife shall be punished by imprisonment from one to 20 years, depending on the severity of the injury, and in case of death, the penalty is life imprisonment. Finally, the government created a national committee that has an aim the implementation of the National Strategy to Combat Violence against Women was formed and the mechanisms for its implementation were evaluated through the preparation of an action plan related to this area in 2013. This contribution deals with the causes and the statistics about the violence against women, then the different policies developed by the Algerian government to fight against this phenomenon.
References
Belarouci, L. (2008). Les violences sexuelles faites aux femmes: la situation en Algérie. Le Journal des psychologues, 1 (254), 53-56.
Belhouari-Musette, D. (2006). Le combat des Algériennes pour la citoyenneté. NAQD. Revue d’études et de critique sociale, 1-2 (22-23), 177-192.
Benoune, K. (2018). Nos ancêtres auraient tué toutes ces femmes: la signification des viols djihadistes en Algérie des années 1990 Retrieved from https://www.boundary2.org/2018 /07/karima-benoune-our-ancestors-would-have-killed-all-these-women-the-meanings-of-jihadist-rape-in-1990s-algeria/#_ftnref15
Benzine, B. (2012). La femme algérienne et le changement: rôle et performance des politiques publiques. Insaniyat, 57-58, 13-38.
Bouatta, Ch. (2015). De quelques facettes des violences faites aux femmes en Algérie.
Dialogue, 2 (208), 85-98.
Chikhi, S. (2001). Du patriarcat public à l’inachèvement de la démocratie. NAQD. Revue d’études et de critique sociale, 189-191.
Daoud, Z. (2004). “Les femmes comme sujet politique au Maghreb“. In Ch. Veauvy, M. Rollinde & M. Azzoug, Femmes entre violences et stratégies de liberté Maghreb et Europe du Sud (pp. 345-360). Saint Denis: Bouchénes.
Iamarene-Djerbal, D. (2006). La violence islamiste contre les femmes. NAQD. Revue d’études et de critique sociale, 1-2 (22-23), 103-142.
Ismain. (2018). Violences contre les femmes en Algérie. Plus de 7000 cas recensés en 9 mois. Journal Réflexion, 24 Novembre, 4.
Khelifi, Gh. (2008). Violences contre les femmes en Algérie: un calvaire qui n’en finit pas. Retrieved from http://www.babelmed.net/article/2073-violences-contre-les-femmes-en-algerie-un-calvaire-qui-nen-finit-pas/
Lalami, F. (2017).Femmes algériennes: un tableau contrasté. Les Cahiers de l’Orient, 4 (128), 83-90.
Matmati, M.. (2017). La situation des femmes au Maghreb: entre conservatismes socialo-religieux et espoir de modernité. IRIS, 24 Octobre. Retrieved from https://www.iris-france.org/101256-la-situation-des-femmes-au-maghreb-entre-conservatismes-socialo-religieux-et-espoir-de-modernite/
Samir, R. (2016). Les violences contre les femmes toujours en hausse en Algérie. Retrieved
from http://www.lestrepublicain.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view= item&id=29900:les-violences-contre-les-femmes-toujours-en-hausse-en-alg%C3%A9rie&Itemid=585
Sid Ali, N. (2017). A new map for the women representation on the elected councils will be drawn, Al-Hiwar Newspaper, 10 May.
Institutional Sources
Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les droits de l’homme (OHCHR), (1979).Convention sur l’élimination de toutes les formes de discrimination à l’égard des femmes, https://www.ohchr.org/FR/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ CEDAW.aspx
Ministère Délégué Chargé de la Famille et de la Condition Féminine, Stratégie Nationale de Lutte contre la Violence à l’égard des Femmes. (2007). Algérie, 17-20.
Présidence de la République, Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement (2005). Code de la nationalité algérienne, Journal officiel, 27 February, 14.
Présidence de la République, Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement. (2005).Ordonnance n 05-02 modifiant et complétant la loi n 84-11 du 9 juin 1984 portant code de la famille, 27 February, 2.
Présidence de la République, Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement.(2012). Loi organique n° 12-03 fixant les modalités augmentant les chances d’accès de la femme à la représentation dans les assemblées élues, Journal officiel, 14 January, 39.
Présidence de la République, Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement. (2012). Code Penal, p.95, http://www.droit-afrique.com/upload/doc/algerie/Algerie-Code-1966-penal-MAJ-2015.pdf
Présidence de la République, Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement. (2015). Loi n° 15-01 portant création d’un fonds de la pension alimentaire, Journal officiel, 7 January, 6.
Présidence de la République, Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement (2015). Loi modifiant et complétant l’ordonnance numéro 66-156 du 8 juin 1966 portant code pénal, Journal officiel, 30 December, 3-4.
Secrétariat de la Fondation des Femmes de l’Euro – Méditerranée (2009). Défis et progrès de la lutte contre la violence à l’égard des femmes en Algérie. https://www.wikigender.org/fr/wiki/defis-et-progres-de-la-lutte-contre-la-violence-a-legard-des-femmes-en-algerie/
Authors who publish in this journal agree with the following points:
- The author(s) guarantee(s) that the article is original and that it has not previously published nor sent to other journals for consideration.
- The author(s) declare(s) that the article does not violate the copyright of third parties and assume(s) the full personal and financial responsibility for any legal action which may be brought by third parties against the ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge
- The author(s) retain(s) the rights of the article. The ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge is allowed to publish it in digital edition with licence Creative Commons Attribution Licence 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) or in any other form that the publisher considers opportune. The licence allows others to share the article, provided that the authorship and the initial publication in this journal are reported.
- The author(s) can establish arrangements with non-exclusive license to distribute the published version of the article (eg. deposit it in an institutional archive or publish it in a monograph), indicating that it was first published in the Journal of Mediterranean Knoweldge.
- The author(s) can distribute the work online (eg. on their website) only after that it is published by the Journal of Mediterranean Knoweldge (see The Effect of Open Access).