abroad without their husbands' permission. A 1992 state of emergency law remains in effect, and the government is especially concerned with enforcing the restrictions on assembly and association. These restrictions, which are used to limit the activities of opposition political parties and other opponents of the regime, are among the major human-rights problems in Algeria. On 21 February 2022, the Human Rights Watch reported that the Algerian authorities arbitrarily imprisoned human rights defenders, civil society activists, opposition figures and journalists for peacefully exercising their rights to speak and assemble. On 2 March 2022, Amnesty International reported that Algerian authorities ramped up their assault on civil society, with 27 human rights defenders and peaceful activists arrested in February. According to the reports, the authorities have sought to suppress Hirak protests, have arrested hundreds of activists, human rights defenders and journalists, and held them in pretrial detention or sentenced them under vaguely worded charges. Women's rights The Algerian Family Code of 1984, according to Amnesty International, "imposed many serious limitations on women's rights, including the right to equality before the law and the right of self-determination". Under Algerian law, nonspousal rape is illegal, but spousal rape is not. Women often choose to report their rapes, but convictions can be difficult to obtain, things have improved on these fronts since a 2007-2011 nationwide program to combat violence against women. Women abused by their husbands cannot file charges unless they can provide medical confirmation that they have been incapacitated for at least 15 days. A number of women's groups run rape-crisis centers and provide counseling to abused women, but have limited resources and have trouble getting spousal abuse taken seriously. Sexual harassment is a crime punishable by a fine. Women receive decent medical care during pregnancy and childbirth. Although the sexes are equal under the constitution, there are discriminatory elements of sharia in Algerian law. Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslims, for example. Women have the ability to get a divorce and are usually awarded child custody, although certain decisions about children's lives remain in the father's hands. Men can marry up to four women, although this is supposedly allowed only if the first wife approves and if the man can afford it. Women can choose their own husbands. Daughters inherit less than their brothers by law. Women are discriminated against in employment. In cities, women are encouraged to seek an education, and more girls