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In Bangladesh, the term "virgin" must be removed from Muslim marriage certificates. A judgment rendered Tuesday, August 27, 2019 by the Supreme Court of the country, to the great satisfaction of the organizations that campaigned for the removal of this provision " humiliating and discriminatory ".
For decades in Bangladesh, the bride had to choose between three options when filling the Kabinnama, the Muslim marriage certificate of Bangladesh: kumari , that is to say, virgin, or widow or divorced. The Supreme Court orders that the word "virgin" be replaced by the word "unmarried". It's the culmination of a five-year fight.
In 2014, several associations had appealed to the Supreme Court to remove the word kumari , explaining that clause 5 of the contract violated the Constitution because it was humiliating, discriminatory, and violating the privacy of the woman who was getting married.
Application in October
In addition to the disappearance of the word kumari , the judgment orders that the groom also has to answer a questionnaire when he fulfills the contract, and gives his situation: not married, widowed or divorced. " This is a judgment that shows us that we can fight and further change the situation of women in the future, " said one of the lawyers who initiated the procedure.
The vast majority of the Bangladeshi population is concerned, as nearly 90% of the country's 168 million people are Muslim. The full text of the judgment will be published by October, for immediate application.
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