Health and health system
Although life expectancy is rising steadily and is higher than the African average, it masks growing difficulties. Socialist regimes established a healthcare system accessible to all. In 1974, access to healthcare even became free for all, but it has now become difficult to get good care, as hospitals are regularly overcrowded, some medicines are unobtainable and most of them are quite expensive for the average Algerian. Despite the high cost of medicines, Algerian households often have a large pharmacy. In the countryside, people often rely on traditional medicine, and the use of plants - whose properties and virtues are generally well known to women - is widespread. Endemic health problems include diabetes, hypertension and malnutrition.
Couples and marriage
Although arranged marriages are less common, parents still express their opinion when the young couple meet without an intermediary and, if necessary, refuse the lovebirds. However, when a young man asks for a girl's hand in marriage, she has every right to refuse, even after introductions have been made between the respective families... Algerian women therefore have much more freedom than in the past.
What often poses a problem in the context of a future union is the material situation. On the one hand, we have the lack of housing and work for young men, and on the other, educated young women who consider their professional future to be at least as important, if not more so, than marriage, and who are looking for better partners. The result: fewer and later marriages in Algeria. On the day of the feast, for which there is a risk of incurring huge debts, men are on average 33 years old and women 30 (in the cities), whereas in the 1960s they were getting married at 18. In Algiers, for example, there are an estimated 800,000 single people out of a population of nearly 3 million, i.e. around half of all young people over the age of 15. For the majority of young people, the weight of tradition, the way society looks at them and the marked separation between teenage boys and girls make dating difficult. So, when it comes to the thrill of romance, the Internet complements classified ads and arranged encounters. Meeting up gets even more complicated. We isolate ourselves in parks and it's difficult to go to expensive hotels, where the receptionist may ask for the family record book to share a room. It seems, however, that hotels have become less demanding in their search for customers... However, there are couples living together among the younger generation, but this is often hidden from the family and very rarely in the open. As a result, marriage remains the official means of expressing the desire to live together. This is why some Muslim charities, aware of the difficulties faced by young couples and the frustrations they cause, even organize group weddings, which are less costly and, in a way, sponsored.
Perhaps for all these reasons, marriages in Algeria have been falling since 2013, and statisticians predict that this decline will continue steadily until 2030.
However, if you ever have the opportunity to attend a wedding in Algeria, it's always a great moment. The union is celebrated with the family, and the wedding festivities last a week. If you come across several crowded and "noisy" shared cabs or minibuses in the street, it's a wedding. Just another way of announcing the wedding! Every evening there's fun, singing and dancing, the men on one side, the women on the other. Tea and sodas are drunk, officially no alcohol... Very often - and this is the latest trend - guests set off fireworks in broad daylight. Yes, it's surprising, but it's very common these days, and is on the verge of becoming a real custom.
The divorce
Repudiation is a kind of unilateral divorce that can be decided by the husband at any time. It involves a three-month "notice period", during which the wife is allowed to remain in the marital home, and the husband continues to provide for her. After this period, the husband may reverse his decision, in which case the spouses reconcile, or the wife must leave the house. The Koran deals at length with this form of divorce, and justifies it to women as follows: "If he divorces you, his Lord may give him better wives than you in exchange, who are submissive to God, believing, pious, worshipping, fasting (LXVI, 5)." This form of divorce is not accompanied by any legal compensation, even though the Koran states: "Repudiated women are entitled to a suitable pension (II, 241)." Judicial divorce is the woman's means of seeking a divorce. To do so, however, she must prove that her husband has committed a fault, such as physical abuse, lack of maintenance or repeated absences, and her accusations must be backed up by witnesses. Divorce is only granted if reconciliation is impossible. Divorce by compensation is the closest to Western divorce: it allows the wife to ask her husband to repudiate her, if she cannot afford to seek a legal divorce. In this case, however, she must pay her husband financial compensation for the wife he loses through no fault of his own, and he always has the option of refusing.
Women
With the war of liberation in which women took part, independence and the national construction of socialism, the place of women had evolved significantly, from a rather archaic conception to a more modern recognition. However, the evolution of women's place in society remains difficult in the face of the weight of tradition and prejudice.
In the early 1980s, the Chadli Bendjedid government reacted to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism by promulgating a Family Code in 1984, which turned women into eternal minors in the eyes of society. Despite a Constitution that recognizes the principle of gender equality and condemns all discrimination against women simply because they are women, this code based on Koranic law formalized their inferiority to men and denied them the possibility of enjoying basic civil and economic rights. Among other things, it legalized polygamy, the duty of obedience to and repudiation by the husband, and unequal inheritance rights. Apart from manifest abandonment or serious abuse, it remains difficult for a woman to obtain a divorce. Many of today's social movements are concerned with the visibility of women in society. Women's groups and associations are working to have the Family Code reviewed, if not repealed. However, the "new" Family Code presented by Bouteflika in March 2005 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor: the guardianship of a woman by her father or another man is maintained, as is polygamy, although in the latter case a judge's opinion is now required. While women can now apply for and obtain custody of their children, and therefore of the marital home in the event of separation, they can only apply for divorce in certain special cases. Cafés, traditionally frequented by men, are timidly opening their doors to women, and more and more restaurants are displaying ayli, "family", allowing women or couples to meet in confidence in establishments that go so far as to repel young single men. Urban women are also frequenting gyms, which are becoming more and more numerous in Algiers, and are sometimes investing in them professionally. In recent years, women's soccer teams from Kouba (a suburb of Algiers) and Tizi-Ouzou (JSK) have been training in stadiums. For a woman traveling with a man, it should come as no surprise that the man is given priority, leaving her to the blurred limits of peripheral vision. This should be seen as a sign of respect, not belittlement.
Polygamy
According to Western libertine poets, this old fantasy originated in the East. In any case, polygamy is a tradition codified by the Koran, because it existed long before the birth of the Prophet, who simply reduced the number of authorized wives from ten to four. Introduced into Algeria by the Ottomans, it is only authorized by religion on condition that the man's wives are well treated in all areas ("Marry as you please two, three or four wives. But if you are afraid of being unfair, take only one wife", says the Koran, IV, 3) and that the first wives give their consent. In Algeria, therefore, it is totally legal under the Family Code to have several wives, provided that the first wife gives her consent with a signature, and a judge gives his opinion. In practice, however, most women refuse, often forcing the husband to keep just one wife. Moreover, as polygamy is expensive, men who take on several wives rarely treat all their wives equally, and it is often the last wife who is favored in every respect.
Dress code
In contemporary Algeria, there is sometimes a glaring difference between the dress of young people in the big cities, whose attire is comparable to that of young Westerners, and the traditional costumes worn by rural dwellers. In Kabylia, for example, women still often wear traditional dresses, predominantly red. Don't forget that you're in a Muslim country where certain dress codes differ from our own - less so in Oran or Algiers. Avoid provocative, low-cut or short outfits (miniskirts and shorts). Similarly, men should avoid wearing shorts outside seaside areas. Rural dwellers in particular remain faithful to traditional dress, which varies from region to region.
