What does it mean to lift Algeria to protect it from the right of women to travel and live alone?
Sanaa, an Algerian young woman in the mid -1920s, was forced to challenge her father when she reached her admission letter in one of the prestigious grants offered by the British government. After months of preparing her request, which included clear professional plans, articles, and recommendations, she achieved her dream of joining a program in which only four thousand applicants of more than sixty thousand applications are accepted annually around the world.
But her joy did not last long. Her father received the news with a categorical rejection: "You cannot travel alone to Britain without permission or accompanying." "That was the most difficult decision in my life. I had nothing but escape. I paid for it dearly, as my family boycotted me for years, but I did not regret," Sana says.
This position was not just a family issue, but rather a reflection of a firm legal and social nature in Algeria. The Family Law issued in 1984, derived from Islamic law, strips women from some of her civil rights and requires the presence of a guardian (father, brother or husband) to take fateful decisions such as marriage and mobility. Although the law does not explicitly stipulate the mandatory permission of the guardian to travel, social custom and administrative practices such as procedures for extracting a passport or accompanying minors made the matter almost mandatory, especially in small cities or in cases of family conflicts.
Sana's story is no exception; Generations of Algerian women have faced this customary and legal wall, as the man’s authority was pursued in making basic decisions such as marriage, housing and even travel. This reality has been in place despite Algeria's accession to the CEDAW agreement since the 1990s, with reservations, most notably on the fourth paragraph of Article 15, which gives women the right to move and choose the place of residence equally with men.
Today, after more than three decades, Algeria officially raised this reservation in August 2025 under Presidential Decree No. 25-218. According to the official Algerian News Agency, this step does not change the legislative reality directly, but it is an important symbolic signal towards the compatibility between national legislation and international obligations in the field of gender equality.
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"Late but necessary"
In her family's house in Algeria, Khadija Qalash, a researcher at Leicester University and a human rights activist, sat to tell her mother with news that seemed simple on paper but detailed in daily life: "You no longer ask my father's permission to travel or choose your place of residence."
"I myself needed my father's permission when I traveled to continue my studies in Britain. This was part of the reality of the Algerian woman who is treated in law and custom as a minor under the guardianship of the father or husband," Khadija says to the BBC.
This position was a personal translation of the Algerian decision to raise its reservation from the fourth paragraph of Article 15 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which guarantees women freedom of movement and the selection of residence similar to men. Khadija adds: "It is a promising development, very late, but it is necessary. It is a small recognition of the woman's agency on herself, and her independence."
But the decision did not pass quietly. While feminist organizations considered it a historical gain that strengthens the course of gender equality and paved deeper reforms in the Algerian family law, conservative currents saw him as a threat to the stability of the family and neglecting the religious authority and traditions.
For its part, the "Voice of Women" platform described the step as "more than just a legal action", considering that the cancellation of the reservation represents the re -consideration of the independence of women within the family, after decades of dedicating the husband's authority as "the head of the family." She emphasized that the decision is the fruit of "a long struggle for the feminist movement and civil society", from awareness campaigns to the parallel reports submitted to the United Nations. But she stressed at the same time that the biggest challenge is still a comprehensive reform of the Family Law and the integration of the principles of gender justice into public policies and societal culture.
"The law alone is not enough"
Away from international laws and agreements, activists believe that the real challenge to women's rights in Algeria lies in the society itself, which is divided between major, more open and countryside cities that still stick to strict traditions. In Algiers, Oran, and Constantine, it is familiar to work for women, to live alone, or travel to study and work. But in the small towns, the idea of a woman to live alone or move without the father or brother's permission is the subject of controversy and social stigma.
The researcher in women's rights, Khadija, confirms that change does not stop at legal texts, but rather needs to educate women with their basic rights. "The law alone is not enough," she says to the BBC. "
But the biggest challenge, according to women's activists, is the absence of infrastructure in support of women: no phone lines for support, no shelters for emergency cases, and no legal auxiliary offices available to everyone. "If a girl decides to move to another city and faces a rejection of the father or brother, you will not find a strong support network that protects her. Here the great defect appears between legal texts and social reality," she added.
Improving an image?
The timing of the decision raised many questions. After more than three decades of authentication conservative on the "CEDAW" agreement, why did Algeria choose this moment specifically to raise one of its most important reservations related to freedom of transportation and housing for women?
This step places Algeria within a group of Arab countries that gradually began to raise its reservations about the agreement, whether in response to international and European pressures, or as a result of internal pressure from women's movements and civil society. It is also seen as part of Algeria's attempt to strengthen its human rights image at the international level, at a time when it seeks to balance the pressure of the West with the sensitivities of the interior.
Analysts believe that the move came in response to the increasing demands of the United Nations and the European Union, especially in light of the comprehensive periodic review of the Algerian registry in the Human Rights Council. Others consider that it is also linked to the authority's attempt to improve its external image, and emphasize its commitment to international human rights standards, at a time when it is working to enhance its economic and diplomatic partnerships with Europe and Africa.
"Abroad, it is a declaration that Algeria is moving in the path of openness and alignment with international agreements. And inside, it is an attempt by power to confirm its ability to make reform decisions despite the conservative opposition," Algerian political researcher Kamal Tirshi told the BBC that the decision bears dual messages. But he points out that the success of the step remains subject to the extent of its translation into actual amendments in the Algerian family law, or its survival is just a political paper to polish the image.
Conservatives: "A recipe for the collapse of the family"
On the other hand, the voice of the conservative current in Algeria risen, rejecting the move to raise the reservation. The Islamic politician Abdel -Razzaq Maqri considered that the "CEDAW" agreement "is one of the most dangerous international agreements aimed at dismantling the family and imposing the Western model on Islamic societies." He added, asking through his Facebook account and X platform: "What has changed today until we retract the reservations that we refused yesterday?"
For these opponents, the lifting of the reservation is not limited to amending a legal article, but rather is seen as a preacher in the Algerian family system based on established religious and social foundations. They are afraid that the equality of women in men in housing and transport decisions will lead to the escalation of marital disputes, and to increase divorce rates, which have already reached about 40 percent of marriages in Algeria.
Conservatives warn that "prejudice to the fundamental difference between men and women, as stipulated in the Qur’an, is not a step towards equality, but a recipe for the collapse of the family." In their view, the decision did not stem from internal reform. Rather, it came in response to international and Western pressure that may be paid for the Algerian society later.
Between the text and reality
The lifting of the reservation may be registered in the legal texts, but its true effect remains dependent on the extent of its application on the ground. Many women in Algeria are still facing economic, cultural and judicial obstacles that limit their independence. Experts believe that the absence of parallel reforms - from training judges and police services to raising societal awareness - may make the step closer to a symbolic achievement than to an actual change.
The researcher and activist Khadija confirms that the decision is still "theoretically": "I will consider it a real breakthrough when I see it applied in the Algerian family law. Only then a woman can travel or build her independent house without the guardianship of the father, husband or brother."
In her personal experience, she says that she returned after years of absence and noticed gradual social changes: women working in schools, and others who rent homes on their own, which were phenomena that were two decades related to shame. But at the same time she hears angry voices on social media. "One of the commentators wrote:" Where do they go with the rights of women? What do they want yet? "," In a sign of the continuation of the societal resistance of any step towards gender equality. "
Does the Algerian family law change?
Legally, the removal of the reservation of Algeria brings its international obligations in the field of human rights, as Article 151 of the Constitution of 2020 states that international treaties arise on national laws, which makes this step binding on the Algerian legislator. Lawyer Mohous Siddiq believes that the decision "may open the door for a comprehensive review of the Family Law, which has been the subject of controversy since its issuance in 1984."
A friend of the BBC explains that lifting the reservation from the fourth paragraph of Article 15 in the "CEDAW" agreement places Algeria in front of a double equation: international obligations on the one hand, and the peculiarities of society and its internal laws on the other hand. It is reminded that when Algeria expressed its reservation in 1996, the reason was purely legal, as the family law at the time did not recognize the wife of an independent financial bond, which would have created a direct contradiction with the text of the agreement. However, with the amendment of the law in 2005 and the addition of Article 37, which has devoted the independent financial liability to the wife, "the reasons for the reservation of the disappearance of his justifications were removed," says Mahaus, considering the last step "as a continuation of a path that started years ago."
As for the issue of the husband or guardian’s permission for the travel of women, it explains that the Algerian law does not explicitly stipulate this condition, but social norms and traditions have devoted this practice within many families. He adds: "morally and socially, the woman asked her husband or father before traveling. But legally, there is no text that imposes this. The only exception appears if the wife left the marital house permanently without an agreement, in this case the husband can file a lawsuit against her, which puts her under the penalty of sanctions."
Regarding future problems, Maidhah believes that lifting the reservation is no longer inconsistent with the Family Law after the 2005 amendments, but it reminds that Algeria is still conservative on other articles such as Article 29, which reflects that the course of legal alignment has not yet been completed. As for potential conflicts, it is expected that the situation will remain close to what it is now: "Even before the lifting of the reservation, there were marital differences because of the wife's work or travel, and it is often resolved through the judiciary. The new today is that these conflicts may take a greater political and media momentum, but I do not expect a wide social disintegration, but rather a temporary storm that some parties exploit for ideological goals."
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