EGYPT: The Children Who Don’t Exist
Heba’s voice over
“Officially I don’t have a name. I grew up without a name.
In Vision
I am not at school. All my friends are at school. There is no one who is not at school except me who is in the streets. And I get very upset when I see them coming back from school all happy. I say to myself why am I not like them?” (wipes her eyes)
Not only can Heba not go to school, but legally she doesn’t exist at all because her father didn’t register her birth. This follows the tradition where a woman is deemed an appendage to a man and so does not need to be registered
But now one woman is fighting back. Hend al Hannawi is an educated woman from the other side of town who’s determined that her child won’t end up officially a non-person. The father of the child refuses to recognize and register her – so Hend’s brought this issue right into the public eye.
“I decided to appear more. Everywhere. TV, newspaper everything. Not because I wanted to appear. To make it clear, to tell the people and the public and the leaders that there is something wrong and that this is unfair.”
In the back streets of Cairo a wedding is in full swing. Scenes like this are part of the happy cycle of life.
Young couples form relationships with aspirations of marriage, children and a happy family life.
But for many in Egypt such a marriage is not an option and the status of thousands of children is not clear cut.
In fact, there are 14,000 unregistered children and adults applying to legitimise their status. Some put the total number of unregistered births as high as 500,000
V/O
In a social system where the man has the upper hand.. both in family and in public affairs, the official existence of a child depends entirely on his whim
“A lot of the fathers do not register the girls. Because why should they? She will marry someone else… she will never go to school. So there are many women who do not legally exist. They’re much less than before. When we started 20 years ago 70% of women in squatter areas did not exist.
.
V/O
In a conservative society not all women feel empowered to take up their cases with the authorities. They come for help to centres such as this one in Manshiya district of Cairo set up by the Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women. These women have given up on their husbands and are trying to get an identity for themselves or their children by themselves. Each individual case has its own complications but the bottom line remains, the father has refused to give an identity to his child.
“It’s been five years, I’m trying to get a birth certificate. Something simple, I tried very hard.”
V/O
The process can be longwinded.
Guiding them through the maze of bureaucracy are women like Magda Abdul Rauf.
The basic problem is that the husband refuses to register the girls not the boys. This is due to traditions. Why should I worry about the little girl. She will marry. Then go to serve another man.
We began to enlighten the women. What are her rights and the importance of having her own papers and registration
The problem.. extends beyond the poor districts of Cairo. It also affects affluent, more modern women…
This little girl is lucky. Her mother, Hind El-Hinnawi, is a professional costume designer. She’s better equipped to fight traditions.
Hend claims that Ahmad Al-Fishawi, a well known actor here in Egypt, married her in a traditional Orfi wedding and that he’s the father of her child. He denies it.
We met on the set….
When he offered Orfi. I thought we can get to know each other better. I trusted him as well.. because it’s easier
PIX river
V/O
Orfi marriage just requires the couple and two witnesses to sign a contract and it is done. It appears to give couples the freedom to develop their relationships without the constraints of an official marriage. But Orfi marriage doesn’t provide women with the securities of an official marriage because it is not legally accepted…
RELIG BUILDING
Although the religious establishment does recognize such marriages
“In 1931 it was decided that marriages should be registered with the State. So the ones registered were known as official marriages and the ones not registered as Orfi marriage.
Orfi marriage is halal as long as the basic conditions are met.”
V/O
Young people are opting for Orfi marriage more and more these days. In a relatively conservative society it’s a way of getting round the difficulties involved in official marriage and moving relationships on to a more serious level.
1st Young man: We have to ask why Orfi Marriage?
2nd Young man: Because real marriages require things like dowry, setting up expenses
Young woman: They require apartments…
V/O
The government organization for Childhood and Motherhood recognizes the problem.
“Orfi marriage is becoming popular among youngsters and due to circulation of misconceptions. They feel they will not cope with the requirements of society that puts on them.”
V/O
Hind’s supportive family, were initially dismayed and angry at the news of their daughter’s Orfi marriage. But soon they rallied around her as she decided to take her fight to register her daughter to the courts. They wanted to ensure that their granddaughter has a birth certificate with her father’s name on it.
Her fight began to attract public attention when she took the film star she claims is the father of her child, to court. But he fought back.
Ahmad Al-Fishawi, appeared on TV talk shows refusing to acknowledge his daugher on the grounds that his Orfi marriage to Hind was not valid.
The courts took his side against Hind.
“The public came out to support me more than after the case. Everybody started thinking where would the baby go.
******************************BREAK*********************************
V/O
These young girls arn’t registered so they’d have no choice but to have an Orfi marriage…
They’re visiting the woman’s centre for help in sorting out their official status.
They’ve got no form of identity… they can’t go to school…they can’t work…they can’t get medical treatment…. or, of course, marry officially. And all because their fathers didn’t see the relevance of registering girls.
These girls feel isolated even within their own families
They tell me I am not their sister. They found me outside the mosque.
I feel I am not their sister.”
V/O
Most girls are unsure of exactly why they have not been registered
“I am Heba Hassan. I am 13 yrs old. I want to go to school. I do not have the papers to go to school” ADD HER STORY.. NOT SCHOOL
In Heba’s case the father claims that as he was going to the bakery the papers got burnt. Even though there are two boys after Heba who were registered and go to school. The problem is not the loss of papers. The problem is that Heba is a girl and what does she need the papers for? She wanted to learn and came to us to the Illiteracy programme
V/O
Heba’s dream is to go to her local school
“I want to be a doctor or a teacher
03:41 (Arabic)
My brothers are at school and the older ones work. It is only me who does not have any. I get very upset when they ask me what year are you in and I say I am not at school.
V/O
Three generations of Heba’s family live in this tiny house. Her father claims he’s lost his own papers and has been too preoccupied to worry about registering his daughter.
“I lost my papers when the bakery got burnt” MORE???????
And it appears registering daughters has not been the custom in this community for a while… as Heba’s mother shows
“I am not registered either. When I went to register they asked me for a birth certificate I said I do not have.
V/O
For Heba’s generation the work of social workers like these offers girls a ray of hope..
She was not even aware of the problem. Now we are trying to get her papers.
V/O
But Heba doesn’t even know the exact date she was born
“I do not know anything. All I know that I was born in 1993.”
Under pressure her father says he’ll follow up the necessary paper trail and finally register her.
God willing on Saturday I’ll go.
Hind has the money to hire a lawyer to fight her case……
They decided to ask the court to force Al-Fishawi to take a DNA test to prove paternity. The court agreed.
We were asking the court for a DNA test 28th February. That was a great success. I thought ok the DNA would prove. From the day the public knew about the case he said that he did not know me. He was stuck to make the DNA test. At that time he did not know that it is obligatory. The lawyer advised him to say that he had a sexual relationship with me and the baby might be his but did not marry me.
Then it turned out that the court didn’t have the jurisdiction to enforce the DNA test after all. And Ahmad Al-Fishawi refused to take it. Hind’s father was deeply disappointed.
“We do not have a law that says clearly how paternity can be proved. The law does not say clearly about leaves it completely to the judge and his understanding of religion”
But all was not lost. Hend’s case caused such public outrage that the ripples reached Parliament.
An amendment was tabled to enforce DNA testing in paternity cases. With refusal to comply being a punishable offense.
Tape 1
05: 10 (Arabic)
“In case the father refuses to recognize the child, the new law will force the DNA and to punish in case it is refused”
….
the law will change because of my case. Yes I am doing something to change society. One step in the change. After 17 days of the verdict the law is changing
Hend said I will stand up…
a sample that shocked all. Said to the society wake up and gave hope to the girls that they can stand up to the man.
It’s a step in the right direction to gain girls the automatic right to their own identity.
V/O
Heba’s father has still not registered his daughter. She may in the end be lucky but many thousands of others will be left waiting, stranded between tradition and modernity
Heba’s voice over
“Officially I don’t have a name. I grew up without a name.
In Vision
I am not at school. All my friends are at school. There is no one who is not at school except me who is in the streets. And I get very upset when I see them coming back from school all happy. I say to myself why am I not like them?” (wipes her eyes)
Not only can Heba not go to school, but legally she doesn’t exist at all because her father didn’t register her birth. This follows the tradition where a woman is deemed an appendage to a man and so does not need to be registered
But now one woman is fighting back. Hend al Hannawi is an educated woman from the other side of town who’s determined that her child won’t end up officially a non-person. The father of the child refuses to recognize and register her – so Hend’s brought this issue right into the public eye.
“I decided to appear more. Everywhere. TV, newspaper everything. Not because I wanted to appear. To make it clear, to tell the people and the public and the leaders that there is something wrong and that this is unfair.”
In the back streets of Cairo a wedding is in full swing. Scenes like this are part of the happy cycle of life.
Young couples form relationships with aspirations of marriage, children and a happy family life.
But for many in Egypt such a marriage is not an option and the status of thousands of children is not clear cut.
In fact, there are 14,000 unregistered children and adults applying to legitimise their status. Some put the total number of unregistered births as high as 500,000
V/O
In a social system where the man has the upper hand.. both in family and in public affairs, the official existence of a child depends entirely on his whim
“A lot of the fathers do not register the girls. Because why should they? She will marry someone else… she will never go to school. So there are many women who do not legally exist. They’re much less than before. When we started 20 years ago 70% of women in squatter areas did not exist.
.
V/O
In a conservative society not all women feel empowered to take up their cases with the authorities. They come for help to centres such as this one in Manshiya district of Cairo set up by the Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women. These women have given up on their husbands and are trying to get an identity for themselves or their children by themselves. Each individual case has its own complications but the bottom line remains, the father has refused to give an identity to his child.
“It’s been five years, I’m trying to get a birth certificate. Something simple, I tried very hard.”
V/O
The process can be longwinded.
Guiding them through the maze of bureaucracy are women like Magda Abdul Rauf.
The basic problem is that the husband refuses to register the girls not the boys. This is due to traditions. Why should I worry about the little girl. She will marry. Then go to serve another man.
We began to enlighten the women. What are her rights and the importance of having her own papers and registration
The problem.. extends beyond the poor districts of Cairo. It also affects affluent, more modern women…
This little girl is lucky. Her mother, Hind El-Hinnawi, is a professional costume designer. She’s better equipped to fight traditions.
Hend claims that Ahmad Al-Fishawi, a well known actor here in Egypt, married her in a traditional Orfi wedding and that he’s the father of her child. He denies it.
We met on the set….
When he offered Orfi. I thought we can get to know each other better. I trusted him as well.. because it’s easier
PIX river
V/O
Orfi marriage just requires the couple and two witnesses to sign a contract and it is done. It appears to give couples the freedom to develop their relationships without the constraints of an official marriage. But Orfi marriage doesn’t provide women with the securities of an official marriage because it is not legally accepted…
RELIG BUILDING
Although the religious establishment does recognize such marriages
“In 1931 it was decided that marriages should be registered with the State. So the ones registered were known as official marriages and the ones not registered as Orfi marriage.
Orfi marriage is halal as long as the basic conditions are met.”
V/O
Young people are opting for Orfi marriage more and more these days. In a relatively conservative society it’s a way of getting round the difficulties involved in official marriage and moving relationships on to a more serious level.
1st Young man: We have to ask why Orfi Marriage?
2nd Young man: Because real marriages require things like dowry, setting up expenses
Young woman: They require apartments…
V/O
The government organization for Childhood and Motherhood recognizes the problem.
“Orfi marriage is becoming popular among youngsters and due to circulation of misconceptions. They feel they will not cope with the requirements of society that puts on them.”
V/O
Hind’s supportive family, were initially dismayed and angry at the news of their daughter’s Orfi marriage. But soon they rallied around her as she decided to take her fight to register her daughter to the courts. They wanted to ensure that their granddaughter has a birth certificate with her father’s name on it.
Her fight began to attract public attention when she took the film star she claims is the father of her child, to court. But he fought back.
Ahmad Al-Fishawi, appeared on TV talk shows refusing to acknowledge his daugher on the grounds that his Orfi marriage to Hind was not valid.
The courts took his side against Hind.
“The public came out to support me more than after the case. Everybody started thinking where would the baby go.
******************************BREAK*********************************
V/O
These young girls arn’t registered so they’d have no choice but to have an Orfi marriage…
They’re visiting the woman’s centre for help in sorting out their official status.
They’ve got no form of identity… they can’t go to school…they can’t work…they can’t get medical treatment…. or, of course, marry officially. And all because their fathers didn’t see the relevance of registering girls.
These girls feel isolated even within their own families
They tell me I am not their sister. They found me outside the mosque.
I feel I am not their sister.”
V/O
Most girls are unsure of exactly why they have not been registered
“I am Heba Hassan. I am 13 yrs old. I want to go to school. I do not have the papers to go to school” ADD HER STORY.. NOT SCHOOL
In Heba’s case the father claims that as he was going to the bakery the papers got burnt. Even though there are two boys after Heba who were registered and go to school. The problem is not the loss of papers. The problem is that Heba is a girl and what does she need the papers for? She wanted to learn and came to us to the Illiteracy programme
V/O
Heba’s dream is to go to her local school
“I want to be a doctor or a teacher
03:41 (Arabic)
My brothers are at school and the older ones work. It is only me who does not have any. I get very upset when they ask me what year are you in and I say I am not at school.
V/O
Three generations of Heba’s family live in this tiny house. Her father claims he’s lost his own papers and has been too preoccupied to worry about registering his daughter.
“I lost my papers when the bakery got burnt” MORE???????
And it appears registering daughters has not been the custom in this community for a while… as Heba’s mother shows
“I am not registered either. When I went to register they asked me for a birth certificate I said I do not have.
V/O
For Heba’s generation the work of social workers like these offers girls a ray of hope..
She was not even aware of the problem. Now we are trying to get her papers.
V/O
But Heba doesn’t even know the exact date she was born
“I do not know anything. All I know that I was born in 1993.”
Under pressure her father says he’ll follow up the necessary paper trail and finally register her.
God willing on Saturday I’ll go.
Hind has the money to hire a lawyer to fight her case……
They decided to ask the court to force Al-Fishawi to take a DNA test to prove paternity. The court agreed.
We were asking the court for a DNA test 28th February. That was a great success. I thought ok the DNA would prove. From the day the public knew about the case he said that he did not know me. He was stuck to make the DNA test. At that time he did not know that it is obligatory. The lawyer advised him to say that he had a sexual relationship with me and the baby might be his but did not marry me.
Then it turned out that the court didn’t have the jurisdiction to enforce the DNA test after all. And Ahmad Al-Fishawi refused to take it. Hind’s father was deeply disappointed.
“We do not have a law that says clearly how paternity can be proved. The law does not say clearly about leaves it completely to the judge and his understanding of religion”
But all was not lost. Hend’s case caused such public outrage that the ripples reached Parliament.
An amendment was tabled to enforce DNA testing in paternity cases. With refusal to comply being a punishable offense.
Tape 1
05: 10 (Arabic)
“In case the father refuses to recognize the child, the new law will force the DNA and to punish in case it is refused”
….
the law will change because of my case. Yes I am doing something to change society. One step in the change. After 17 days of the verdict the law is changing
Hend said I will stand up…
a sample that shocked all. Said to the society wake up and gave hope to the girls that they can stand up to the man.
It’s a step in the right direction to gain girls the automatic right to their own identity.
V/O
Heba’s father has still not registered his daughter. She may in the end be lucky but many thousands of others will be left waiting, stranded between tradition and modernity