E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1 page 20 IV. STATUS OF WOMEN 108. This report is concerned with the status of women only from the religious viewpoint. Although women took part in all the struggles which shaped the history of their country, and although they participate fully in the activities of political parties and trade unions, holding managerial posts such as rectors, court presidents, walis, ministers and ambassadors, it must be said that the law and politics have failed to keep up with the advances made by Algerian women, who still face discrimination at all levels of society for reasons to do with both religion and tradition. 109. Less likely than boys to attend school, more likely to be illiterate, only 6 per cent of women have jobs. Many reports from non-governmental organizations also speak of violence apparently socially condoned - against Algerian women, particularly in the home but also within society, as can be seen from the punitive expeditions mounted against women in Tébessa, Tiaret and Hassi Messaoud who were beaten, raped and thrown into the street for the simple reason that they were living alone and were thus taken for prostitutes. 110. Algeria still appears to be a society in which tradition and religion combine to keep women in a subordinate position. It was observed that issues relating to the status of women invariably give rise to theological debate and that, most of the time, women are excluded from decisions affecting them. One example of this was the debate on the right of women who had been sexually assaulted to have an abortion, which was conducted among the country’s religious and/or political bodies rather than among those directly concerned. 111. The Family Code, the only law which explicitly draws upon the Shariah, was adopted in 1984. Described by President Boudiaf as the “Code de l’Infamie”, it applies to all Algerians, whatever their religion, and systematizes women’s subordinate legal status by giving pre-eminence to their fathers, husbands, brothers and sons and putting women under male supervision. 112. Hence an Algerian woman does not decide to get married: her matrimonial guardian, in point of fact her nearest male relative, does that for her (art. 11) and may refuse to let her choose her own spouse (art. 12). Muslim women may not marry non-Muslim men (art. 31). While the Minister of Justice says that this ban is not actually enforced, since the registrar does not check the husband’s religion, and marriages which Algerian women enter into abroad are regarded as entirely valid, a number of sources, governmental and other, report that Algerian consulates refuse to register such marriages and their refusal has disastrous consequences for both the married couple and their children. 113. Polygamy is authorized (art. 8) and does not require the consent of the existing wives, since they cannot oppose the new marriage. The reason given for its retention is that it supposedly meets the deep-seated wishes of the Algerian people, whereas even the Algerian authorities say that it is a marginal phenomenon encountered in no more than 0.2 per cent of cases. Article 39 of the Code requires wives to obey their husbands and show them due