The number of agunot, or women whose husbands refuse to divorce them, is no greater than the number of men whose wives refuse to grant them a divorce, according to a study commissioned by the Rabbinical Courts Administration.

The study, which began in 2006, counted only 180 agunot, and found that less than 1,000 cases opened in the last two years were still unresolved.

But according to Professor Ruth Halperin-Kadari of Bar-Ilan University, open cases account for only a fraction of agunot.

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Many women, she said, either give up in despair or get a divorce only after acceding to their husbands' demands that they waive financial and/or custody claims.