A joint United Nations and Syrian study has called on the Syrian government to end social discrimination against women and grant them more say in the political system.The study, conducted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, reported: "As soon as a man and a woman marry and form a family, the man's rights far exceed the woman's in legislation covering citizenship, penal code and personal affairs". Three examples are given below.
* Children of women married to non-Syrians have no right to citizenship, unlike children of Syrian men with foreign wives
* A woman needs a guardian's signature to marry legally and only the husband can divorce the wife.
* Syrian women receive only half of the man's share in inheritance.
The study also said: "Precise mechanisms are called for to help women reach decision making positions on the social, economic and political levels. Laws that discriminate against women must be reviewed to conform to international norms".
