Divorces are often messy. In countries like Turkey and Egypt, they can also put women at risk of losing everything: their financial independence, the right to see their children, and their social status.

İpek Bozkurt is a lawyer based in Istanbul. She focuses on cases of violence against women and works with a grassroot organisation called We Will Stop Femicide. Her story was featured in the documentary “Dying to Divorce”, which was the UK’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Nada Nashat is a human rights activist based in Cairo. She is the Advocacy Coordinator at the Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA), an organisation supporting women who want to divorce their husbands. She’s also campaigning to make divorce legislation fairer.

Produced by Lorna Treen

(Image: (L) Nada Nashat, courtesy Nada Nashat. (R) İpek Bozkurt, courtesy İpek Bozkurt.)