women have no power to exercise this right. In Australia they do, though it cuts both ways. "It can work for some women if they need the imam to pressure the husband, but for other women the husband might pressure the imam," says Anisa Buckley, who is finishing a PhD on Muslim women and divorce at the University of Melbourne. "A lot of imams want to help women but sometimes they can't say what they really want to say because they still have to appease the wider community, and in most cases that means men. If a woman's husband is on the board of the local mosque, the imams are stuck, their job is on the line." Both researchers say women persevere with the Islamic system because it's important to their beliefs, although some resort to the civil courts. "A lot of the literature draws this picture of Muslim women as really vulnerable and depressed, and I've no doubt some of them are, but to paint this whole group of women this way is to do them a great disservice, because they are exercising a great deal of agency in this process," says Krayem. Like any breakup, the results can be heartbreaking. A Muslim man who divorces his wife is supposed to give her a financial settlement but many ignore this; while a woman who seeks a divorce against her husband's wishes has no financial rights and, worse still, has to pay back the dowry he paid when they married,