Chapter 3. Discrimination in the family

This chapter presents an overview of women’s discrimination in the family. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that limit women’s decision-making power and undervalue their status in the household across 180 countries, covering areas such as child marriage, household responsibilities, parental authority, divorce and inheritance. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies to tackle gender inequality in the family sphere.

The discrimination in the family (DF) sub-index captures social institutions that limit women’s decision-making power and undervalues their status in the household and the family. These formal and informal laws, social norms and practices co-exist in different types of legal systems including civil or common law, customary law and religious laws. They cover areas such as marriage, parental authority, household responsibilities, divorce and inheritance rights.

Women’s decision-making power and their status in the family determine both their ability to choose their own development pathways and the well-being of their families.

The DF sub-index is composed of four indicators:

“child marriage” captures both the prevalence of girls’ formal marriages or informal unions under 18 years of age and the level of legal protection, i.e. whether the legal framework sets the minimum age of marriage for women and men at 18, without judicial exceptions or parental consent, taking into account non-statutory (societal) discrimination against women in traditional, religious and customary laws and practices.
“household responsibilities” captures expectations towards men’s and women’s roles in the family, the prevalence of gender differences in the distribution of domestic duties, as well as legal acceptance of such differences, i.e. whether women and men enjoy the same legal rights and decision-making abilities and responsibilities within the household, taking into account non-statutory (societal) discrimination against women in traditional, religious and customary laws and practices.
“divorce” captures whether women and men enjoy the same rights to initiate divorce without negative repercussions, taking into account non-statutory (societal) discrimination against women in traditional, religious and customary laws and practices.
“inheritance” captures whether surviving spouses and siblings enjoy equal rights to inheritance of real estate and personal property irrespective of their sex, taking into account non-statutory (societal) discrimination against women in traditional, religious and customary laws and practices.

Key messages

The most universal and intractable issues women face globally derive from discriminatory social institutions governing the family:
- The global level of discrimination in the family is 44%.
Legal loopholes still allow discriminatory practices such as girl child marriage and unequal inheritance and status within the household:
- Girl child marriage is legal under certain circumstances in all but 22 countries;
- The legal frameworks of 127 countries do not contain an explicit provision providing women with the same right as men to be recognised as the head of household;
- 29 countries discriminate against women’s and girls’ inheritance rights.
Despite increasing coverage of legal frameworks protecting women’s rights, customary laws still interfere with women’s right to initiate divorce and to inherit in the same way as men:
- In 45 countries, customary, traditional or religious laws allow men to repudiate a spouse without resorting to statutory legal proceedings, whereas women are required to seek and justify such a decision in a court of law;
- In 55 countries, customary, traditional or religious laws provide daughters and/or widows with a lower share of inheritance than sons and/or widowers.
Social norms governing gender roles in the family globally tend to view caring and domestic responsibilities as a female obligation, preventing men from assuming equal responsibilities and stigmatising working mothers:
- Women allocate two to ten times more time to unpaid care and domestic work than men;
- Half of the global population declare that they think children with working mothers will suffer.

How can governments effectively tackle discriminatory social institutions governing the family sphere?

Close legal loopholes that perpetuate child marriage;
Establish legal provisions that recognise women as head of households;
Work with relevant customary and religious authorities to harmonise customary or religious laws governing divorce with the common and statutory law; and
Support relevant authorities to align customary or religious laws of succession and inheritance with national legal frameworks.

Discrimination in the family sphere is the most pervasive and universal form of discriminatory social institution. The SIGI result for the DF sub-index indicates a global level of discrimination in the family of 44%, ranging from 1% in Switzerland to 92% in Bahrain (Figure 3.1). This is the worst score across the four sub-indices of the SIGI indicating that standard gender-sensitive policies have failed to eradicate laws, social norms and practices that perpetuate women’s subordinate status and their low decision-making power in the household. It ranges from 34% in high-income countries to 60% in low-income countries, indicating that, whatever the level of economic wealth, all women around the world face discrimination within their families. Despite important regional disparities, not one single country treats men and women equally in the private sphere with extensive implications on for inter-generational transmission of discriminatory gender norms. Even within the best performing regions, this remains a challenge: in Europe (26%) and the Americas (31%), women’s roles are often confined to their traditional reproductive and caring responsibilities. In some Asian (54%) and African (56%) countries, laws and social norms governing family matters still subordinate women’s status to their fathers, husbands and/or male guardians.

Discriminatory social institutions undermine women’s capacity to participate as equal actors in the family sphere, particularly when it comes to household responsibilities: the global level of discrimination is 60% in this area. In other areas, such as inheritance, divorce and child marriage, the global level of discrimination is respectively 44%, 38% and 36% (Figure 3.2). While the unequal division of household responsibilities remains a global concern, discriminatory inheritance laws and practices continue to be a serious issue particularly across African and Asian countries.

Despite persistent unequal distribution of caring responsibilities between women and men, Switzerland emerges as the best performer in the family dimension because of a strong legislative framework. The statutory minimum age of marriage for women and men is 18, without any legal exception. Moreover, children are the joint responsibility of both the father and mother – regardless of the parents’ civil status – until they attain the age of majority. Prior to a 2014 amendment, the assumption of joint custody was not automatic, and mothers were frequently awarded sole custody. However, since then, both parents regardless of their marital status are awarded joint custody without the need for a prior agreement or the approval of a judge. In addition, The Swiss Civil Code grants men and women equal inheritance and divorce rights. Property grabbing is criminalised in the Swiss Criminal Code, and punishable by a custodial sentence or a monetary penalty. However, women in Switzerland spend much longer than men on most household and family tasks, and caregiving remains overwhelmingly the domain of women (CEDAW, 2015[1]). Swiss women spend over four hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work compared to two and a half hours for men.

Child marriage

Key messages

Despite governments’ efforts to prevent child marriage by 2030, many hurdles remain. Since the last edition of the SIGI in 2014, 15 countries1 have strengthened their legal frameworks to delay the age at which the first union can be established by eliminating legal exceptions that allowed children to marry. However, 67 and 45 countries legally allow girls to marry before the age of 18 with parental or judicial consent, respectively. Moreover, only 83 countries stipulate legal sanctions for those facilitating a marriage of an individual who is under the minimum age of marriage.
Although child marriage rates are falling, the practice remains pervasive in some regions. Globally, girl child marriage has declined, from 1 in 4 girls to approximately 1 in 6 over the last decade. However, 16% of girls aged 15-19 are or have been married or are in informal unions, compared to 3% of boys. The highest rates of child marriage are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa (26%) and Southern Asia (24%).
There is a long way to go to achieve SDG 5.3. The practice of child marriage is declining, but at a very slow rate, implying that it would take 100 additional years to meet the 2030 target. If countries with high prevalence rates of child marriage do not considerably accelerate progress and if the international community and donors do not scale up existing efforts and investments, rapid population growth will adversely affect recent gains. Therefore, it is expected that the total number of child brides will increase from more than 700 million today to approximately 950 million by 2030, should change continue at the same pace.
Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden are the best performers in this indicator: the legal frameworks set the age of marriage for girls and boys at 18 without exception. In addition, these countries have the lowest rates of child marriage in the world (less than 1%).

Key policy recommendations

Set 18 as the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys without any legal exceptions, in order to comply with international and regional legal frameworks such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Maputo Protocol (Box 3.1). In 2017, Honduran legislators unanimously outlawed child marriage and raised the minimum age of marriage for both women and men from 16 to 18 years and removed all exceptions for young people under the age of 18 in an effort to prevent child marriage (Plan International, 2017[2]).
Ensure that all marriages, including religious and customary ones, are registered by the competent civil authorities to support the effective implementation and enforcement of laws on the minimum age of marriage. In Madagascar, the law requires marriages to be registered with a civil officer in order to help enforce the age requirement (Government of Madagascar, 2007[3]).
Address the root causes of child marriage, which often stems from extreme poverty. Child marriage is most common in low-income countries and is often concentrated among the poorest household within those countries. Interventions that solely tackle child marriage, per se, in these communities are thus insufficient. In Mexico, the National Programme for the Equality of Opportunity and Non-Discrimination against Women 2014-2018 foresees stronger collaboration with indigenous municipalities in order to eradicate child and forced marriage of indigenous women and girls (Goverment of Mexico, 2013[4]).
Adopt comprehensive national strategies to eradicate child marriage and integrate child-marriage prevention programmes into other government initiatives, particularly in the areas of education, health and employment. For instance, the Government of Uganda adopted the National Strategy to End Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy in 2015. The 2014/15-2019/20 Strategy is intended to provide comprehensive guidance on the implementation of programmes and policies to help eliminate child marriage across Uganda (The Republic of Uganda/UNICEF, 2015[5]).
Prioritise educational and training opportunities for girls, which have proven successful in delaying the age of marriage, and introduce scholarship programmes to enable poor, rural and pregnant adolescents to access education. In Burkina Faso, 47% of girls with no education are married before the age of 18, compared to 12% of girls who attended secondary education (OECD Development Centre, 2018[6]).
Further raise awareness within communities of girls’ rights and of the negative effects of child marriage on men through traditional and religious leaders. This implies empowering the most relevant agents of change and strengthening their duties to protect vulnerable young women. In Zambia, many local chiefs have banned the practice of child marriage and placed the girls affected by child marriage in schools (US Deparment of State, 2016[7]).
Support civil society organisations (CSOs) committed to ending child marriage and further support the role of community-based organisations by increasing their un-ear-marked funding and ensuring that they are well equipped and have the necessary skills to mobilise communities to delay the age of marriage (Box 3.2).

Box 3.1. International standards condemning child marriage

Child marriage is recognised in international legal instruments to be a serious violation of a child’s human rights. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, numerous international treaties and agreements have followed to prevent child marriage and protect the human rights of children, including:

The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages (1962) establishes that all State parties should take ‘legislative action to specify a minimum age of marriage’ (Arts. 1, 2 and 3);
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) states that ‘the betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect’ (Art. 16 (2));
The Convention of the Rights of Child (1989) precluded State parties from permitting or giving validity to a marriage between persons who have not attained the age of majority;
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003) (known as the Maputo Protocol) (Art. 6, clauses (a), (b), (d));
The 2030 Agenda under the Sustainable Development Goals Target 5.3 aims to “eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage”.

Results

The costs of child marriage do not solely fall on girls and their families, but also on international efforts to end poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth by 2030. According to recent estimates of the economic costs of child marriage at a global level, ending this harmful practice could save up to USD 4 trillion by 2030. In Niger, for example, the annual welfare gains from ending child marriage could reach USD 1.7 billion by 2030, while equivalent gains would be USD 10 billion in India due to its large population (Wodon et al., 2017[8]).

Despite being at the front and centre of gender equality commitments, most governments have failed to protect girls from child marriage. Only 22 countries prohibit marriage for anyone under the age of 18 with no exceptions. Among the remaining 158 countries, 38 allow the marriage of girls under 18: 6 countries do not specify a minimum age of marriage and in 32 countries girls can legally marry before turning 18. While 131 countries have set 18 as the minimum age of marriage for boys and girls, 67 and 45 countries allow it with parental or judicial consent, respectively. Legal provisions also fail to protect the most vulnerable: 34 countries do not protect all groups of women and in 129 countries, communities governed by customary, religious or traditional laws encourage girl-child marriage.

Since the 2014 edition of the SIGI, only moderate progress has been made in preventing child marriage. Since 2014, 15 countries strengthened their laws on the minimum age of marriage by eliminating legal exceptions that allowed children to marry. However, legal protection from child marriage, while crucial, is not enough. Enforcement of the laws to eradicate child marriage is relatively weak. Currently, 65% of countries have not implemented public measures to generate social support for the enforcement of laws on the minimum age of marriage and 64% of countries have not established awareness-raising and/or education programmes around the minimum age of marriage.

Box 3.2. Preventing child marriage: The example of Breakthrough India

In India, child marriage is prohibited Under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006). While there has been a decline since the passage of the Act, the prevalence of child marriage remains high, while its reporting remains low. In this context, Breakthrough India is one of the many organisations that work to end the practice. They focus their efforts in local communities in three districts (Gaya, Ranchi and Hazaribagh) where there is the highest prevalence of child marriage.

Breakthrough India aims at deepening individual, family, youth and community support to delay the age of marriage with a three-pronged approach:

National mass-media campaigns aim to raise awareness on the negative impact of child marriage and to encourage public dialogue around the issue. The campaign “nation against early marriage” has reached 240 million people;
Providing training for influential community and religious leaders will allow them to become actors of social change. Breakthrough India has seen a 16% increase in community engagement to tackle child marriage;
Direct interventions in local communities trigger discussions around child marriage.
This approach reached 7.5 million people and involved 250 000 supporters (Breakthrough India, 2018[9]).

Source: Breakthrough India (2018[9]), Nation Against Early Marriage, http://www.breakthrough.tv/earlymarriage/againstearlymarriage%E2%80%8F/ (accessed on 26 January 2019).

The human rights-based approach to ending child marriage has not been enough to bring about change. Child marriage disproportionally affects girls with a prevalence rate five times that for boys. Whatever the legal status of girl child marriage, communities and parents continue marrying off girls before their 18^th birthdays: 16% of girls aged 15-19 are or have been married or in informal unions compared to 3% of boys (Figure 3.3). Countries with the highest prevalence of girl child marriage are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa (26%) and Southern Asia (24%). While Niger and Central African Republic have the highest rates of child brides in the world (62% and 61%, respectively), India and Bangladesh have the highest absolute numbers of girl child marriage around the world (over 15 000 000 and almost 5 000 000 of women aged 20 to 24 were married before turning 18, respectively) (UNICEF, 2017[10]). In Latin America and the Caribbean, the situation widely varies from a sub-region/country to another: the practice is less common in the Caribbean (15%) than in Central America (20%) with 2% in Trinidad and Tobago, compared to 30% in Nicaragua.

Although the child marriage rate is slowly decreasing worldwide, accelerated progress is needed to put an end to this harmful practice by 2030. Globally, girl child marriage has declined from 1 in 4 (25%) to approximately 1 in 6 (16%) in the last decade. Approximately 1 in 3 child marriages occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 1 in 6 a decade ago. However, if the current rates continue, the number of child brides will increase due to the rapid population growth in Africa. While the prevalence of child marriage has significantly declined in Southern Asia – where a girl’s risk of marrying before turning 18 has dropped by more than a third, from almost 50% to 30% in the last decade – this practice remains pervasive in many other countries in the region. In Latin America and the Caribbean, child marriage rates have remained stagnant over the last 30 years. The region hosts 3 of the top 20 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage (Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Honduras).

Household responsibilities

Key messages

Women’s status in the private sphere remains generally subordinate to their husband’s authority, worldwide. Men are recognised as the sole head of the household in 23% of countries. Additionally, 15% of countries require women to obey their husbands by law and 19% of countries do not accord equal parental authority to women and men during marriage.
Despite shifts towards a dual-earner household model, social expectations still embrace the male-breadwinner model and accept gender segregation in household tasks. Traditional gender roles in the family have shown remarkable tenacity, confining women to domestic and reproductive roles. On average, 51% of people declare that children will suffer when a mother is in paid employment, ranging from 37% in Europe to 56% in Asia.
The implementation of policies and measures promoting equal distribution of responsibilities within the household does not necessarily translate into lifting the burden on women’s unpaid care and domestic work. Women disproportionately carry the burden of unpaid care for children, relatives and maintenance of the household. Women continue to spend substantially more time in unpaid care work than men in all regions, ranging from twice as much in Europe to four times more in sub-Saharan Africa, to seven times men’s contribution in North Africa. Over the almost two decades since the start of the new millennium, men have started to take a more active role in unpaid care work. In 23 countries where series data is available, the gender gap in the time allocated to unpaid care work shortened by seven minutes. On that trajectory, it will take 210 years to close the gender gap in care responsibilities in these countries (ILO, 2018[11]).
Switzerland is the best performer in this indicator. This is largely due to a comprehensive legal framework that provides women and men with equal rights and decision-making abilities and responsibilities within the household, including the right to be recognised as head of households and equal parental authority. However, social expectations on women’s caring responsibilities are still stigmatising working mothers and defining caring responsibilities as a female prerogative. Approximately 43% of people declare that children will suffer when a mother is in paid employment and, women spend more than double the amount of time than men on unpaid care and domestic work.

Key policy recommendations

Include legal provisions recognising women with equal right to be a head of household and guarantee equal parental authority during marriage and informal unions (Box 3.3). In Rwanda, the legal provision granting the status of heads of household only to men was removed in 2016. Under the revised Law Governing Persons and Family, spouses are expected to manage the household jointly and have equal rights and obligations.2
Tackle entrenched social norms and traditional views of masculinity through training and awareness-raising campaigns targeting men in order to “de-feminise” care giving and reshape existing gender norms that prevent men from assuming equal caring responsibilities (Box 3.4).
Provide better access to basic infrastructures and public services: better access to water and energy, childcare and care for the elderly reduces the time women spend on domestic care. Expanding school hours also enables women to replace time spent on childcare with more productive activities. In Cuba, children’s circles administered by the Federation of Cuban Women provide daily care to children from forty-five days of age until school entry. This system has substantially contributed to reducing women's unpaid care work and enhanced women’s participation in the labour market (Sáez, 2015[12]).

Guarantee family-friendly working conditions that enable parents to balance their working hours and caring responsibilities. A flexible work schedule or teleworking allows women and men to choose working hours that better accommodate their caring responsibilities. In Croatia3 and Uzbekistan,4 the law establishes that parents are entitled to flexible/part-time schedules.

Box 3.3. International standards on gender equality in the family sphere

The right to gender equality in the family sphere is enshrined in several international treaties and benefits from a wide international consensus including:

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), which affirms women’s and men’s equal rights and responsibilities as parents (Art. 16 (c)) and acknowledges that women have the same rights and responsibilities as men concerning guardianship, wardship and trusteeship of children (Art. 16 (g));
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) promotes the equal sharing of responsibilities for the family by men and women and considers its critical role to their well-being and that of their families (Art. 15);
Target 5.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (2015) advocates “the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family” and highlights the need to “recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work”.

Results

A woman’s position within the family remains subordinate to her husband’s authority (Box 3.4). The man is still solely recognised as the head of household in 40 countries – giving him the role of sole economic agent. These legal restrictions are mainly suffered by women in Western and Middle Africa (15 countries) and Western Asia (9 countries). In some countries, the laws regulating family matters explicitly confine women to their domestic and reproductive roles. For instance, in Djibouti, the law states that the role of the wife is to manage the household, while the husband is responsible for the family expenditure and its protection. Elsewhere, women are only allowed to assume the role of head of the household under specific conditions, such as the absence or death of their husbands. Women are often still considered as a dependent household member: in 27 countries, women are required by law to obey their husbands and are exposed to legal consequences in 16 countries if they fail to. Furthermore, women’s authority over their children is restricted in 34 countries where men are still recognised as holding full parental authority during marriage or informal unions.

Social expectations of the division of responsibilities within the family show a strong preference for stereotypical gender roles on the male-breadwinner model. Women’s paid employment during their children’s early years is closely associated with assumptions that children’s development is negatively affected by it (Corrigall and Konrad, 2007[13]). On average, 51% of respondents declare that children will suffer when a mother is in paid employment, ranging from 37% in Europe to 56% in Asia. The lowest rates of social acceptance of working mothers during their children’s childhood are found in Southern Asia (75%), Western Asia (68%) and Northern Africa (67%).

Box 3.4. Engaging Mozambican men in unpaid care work

Entrenched social norms may prevent the equal distribution of household tasks and responsibilities between men and women. In Mozambique, household chores and care work largely remain a woman’s responsibility. In this context, Rede HOPEM (Men for Change Network) in partnership with the Institute for the Promotion of Small and Medium Companies (IPEME) implemented the “Men in the Kitchen” television programme aimed at challenging traditional masculine stereotypes and applying a gender-transformative approach. In addition, the programme seeks to:

Expand men’s involvement in domestic duties through cooking, nutrition and agro-processing courses and training;
Prevent and reduce violence against women.

Since its inception in 2012, more than 600 men have participated in the training sessions (UN WOMEN, 2013[14]). Alongside the “Men in the Kitchen” television programme, men also receive further training on care work such as childcare and information on sexual and reproductive health rights.

A survey revealed that after receiving the training, 90% of participants were in favour of equal sharing of domestic responsibilities between women and men (UN WOMEN, 2013[14]). Results of the evaluation of this programme revealed that the implementation of holistic and synchronised approaches is crucial to ensure that men’s partners continue encouraging them to take part in household activities rather than questioning their masculinity or even underestimating them (Langa, n.d.[15]).

Sources: UN WOMEN (2013), “Men in the kitchen: Cooking up change in Mozambique”, http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/7/men-in-the-kitchen (accessed on 28 January 2019); Langa, J. (n.d.), Mozambican Men in the Kitchen, http://menengage.org/mozambican-men-in-the-kitchen/ (accessed on 27 January 2019).

Traditional societal views about care and domestic work are reflected in gender time-use gaps. Women continue to assume the burden of unpaid care and domestic responsibilities (Figure 3.4). Worldwide, women spend two to ten times more time on unpaid care work than men, including raising children, caring for sick or elderly family members and managing household tasks. Since the last edition of the SIGI in 2014, little progress has been achieved in reducing the disparity between women’s and men’s care responsibilities. In 2018, women spent, on average, more than four and a half hours in unpaid and domestic work per day versus one and a half hours for men, compared to five hours and one hour in 2014, respectively. On that trajectory, it will take 210 years to close the gender gap in care responsibilities (ILO, 2018[11]).

Gender inequality in unpaid care work is also related to the wealth of a country. Time-use data reveals a negative correlation between income and levels of gender inequality in unpaid care work: the distribution of responsibilities is the most equal in high-income countries. This is largely due to the fact that men in higher income countries are more engaged in care activities and have better employment arrangements. In OECD countries, men spend more than two hours per day doing unpaid care work compared to their counterparts in non-OECD countries who spend an average of one hour daily on such work.

Divorce

Key messages

Despite formal, legal equality in many countries, restricted divorce rights still trap women in African and Asian countries. Women have guaranteed equal rights in 142 countries to initiate divorce. In 38 countries, the right to initiate divorce is unequal for men and women and 44 countries stipulate different requirements and conditions for women to finalise a divorce or annulment than they do for men.
Legal guardianship and responsibilities for children after divorce mirror societal expectations of women and men in the family sphere. Women and men enjoy equal rights and responsibilities for children after a divorce in 146 countries. After a divorce, women and men continue to share legal guardianship in all but 40 countries while in 34 countries women and men do not have equal rights and obligations concerning their children after a divorce.
Beyond statutory laws, customary, traditional and religious laws govern family affairs and divorce proceedings. Globally, 87 and 54 countries discriminate against women’s legal right to initiate divorce or to be the legal guardian of their children, respectively.
The best score in this indicator is shared by 64 countries. In these countries, women’s divorce rights are protected by comprehensive legislative frameworks that provide women with the same rights as men to initiate and finalise divorce proceedings. Divorce legislation concerning child custody often allows for joint or single custody arrangements.

Key policy recommendations

Harmonise civil, family, customary and religious laws to ensure that women have the same rights to initiate and finalise a divorce or annulment and be the legal guardians of their children after a divorce. Under customary, traditional and religious laws, women face more difficulties in obtaining a divorce and legal guardianship of their children after divorce proceedings.
Strengthen the registration of marriages to protect the rights of spouses concerning property issues upon the dissolution of marriages by divorce.
Provide free legal advice to women in family matters including family law and divorce to ensure that women have access to equal justice mechanisms and are not forced to abdicate their rights to obtain a divorce.

Results

The right to initiate divorce (Box 3.5) contributes to women’s empowerment and especially their ability to escape violent partners without seeing their parental authority threatened. Women’s equal rights to initiate divorce are guaranteed in 142 countries, while 146 countries grant equal rights and responsibilities for children after a divorce.

Box 3.5. International standards for women’s rights during a divorce

Although women’s entitlement to equality upon and after divorce is not considered a human right, it has been acknowledged by various international conventions and protocols, including:

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) calls on State parties to eliminate discrimination against women at the inception of marriage, during and its dissolution by divorce (Art. 16 (1));
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003) stipulates “State Parties shall enact appropriate legislation to ensure that women and men enjoy the same rights in case of separation, divorce or annulment of marriage. In this regard, they shall ensure that:
- Separation, divorce or annulment of a marriage shall be effected by judicial order;
- Women and men shall have the same rights to seek separation, divorce or annulment of a marriage;
- In case of separation, divorce or annulment of marriage, women and men shall have reciprocal rights and responsibilities towards their children. In any case, the interests of the children shall be given paramount importance.”

However, in some regions, women are still trapped by restricted rights (Figure 3.5). In 38 countries, the right to initiate divorce is not equal for men and women and 44 countries have different requirements and conditions for women to finalise a divorce or annulment. These discriminatory laws exist particularly in Western and Southern Asia (18 countries) and in Western and Northern Africa (9 countries). In most of these countries, there are differences in the legal grounds that each spouse may use as a basis for divorce. For instance, in Mauritania, a man has the unilateral right to divorce his wife without justification at any point in time, whereas women may only divorce their husband on specific grounds, such as injury to the wife or the abandonment. In in some other countries, while divorce is allowed on limited grounds for both women and men, it is far more restrictive for women. In Bangladesh, under the Christian law, a man can initiate divorce based on allegations that his wife committed adultery. A woman, however, must prove adultery but in the context of an additional act deemed admissible under the law including incestuous adultery, bigamy with adultery, sodomy and bestiality.

Some groups of women are more likely to face legal barriers to divorce. Some 38 countries do not grant the same legal protection to initiate a divorce to all groups of women. In the Philippines, there are no laws governing divorce, except for the Muslim community. This means that a woman whose husband has committed physical abuse must remain legally married to the perpetrator. Furthermore, in 32 countries5, discriminatory legal frameworks prohibit women from remarrying within a specified period of time after divorce. Legislative changes to this aspect have been very slow to develop. In 2010, Guatemala abolished article 229 of the Decree No. 17-73 (under which a divorced woman was unable to remarry for a period time set forth in the Civil Code). More recently, in 2016, the Japanese government passed an amendment to the divorce law allowing women with the same rights as men to remarry without waiting following divorce, with the exception of pregnant women. These restrictions on remarriage have had harmful consequences for women’s ability to choose the life they want after divorce.

Box 3.6. Women challenging societal norms and discriminatory laws by initiating divorce in conservative West Africa

Traditionally, women have been expected to endure bad marriages in several conservative countries in West Africa. Yet, an increasing and unprecedented number of young women across the region are challenging taboos by exercising their right to initiate divorce. In Maradi, Niger, the number of women initiating divorce has doubled since 2016, despite the country’s persistent discriminatory customary practices and the lack of equal divorce and legal guardianship rights. Similarly, in Senegal, the number of women seeking divorce through Dakar’s Association of Female Lawyers has tripled in 4 years and in Ghana 73% of the divorce cases handled by the Legal Aid Scheme of Greater Accra between 2016 and 2017 were filed by women.

According to women’s associations, academics, local officials and lawyers, this trend is spreading throughout urban and rural West Africa, both in Muslim and Christian areas. The phenomenon is attributed to increased access to media, government-sponsored radio broadcasts and sermons, which either inform women of their legal rights or remind them that they are entitled to leave failing relationships. This trend reflects not only a generational shift concerning women’s attitudes towards divorce, but an increased awareness and application of women’s legal rights, even if these are not yet the same as those enjoyed by men. Given the prevalence of discriminatory divorce laws in the region, it highlights the key role played by the media, government programmes and religious leaders in promoting change (Searcey, 2019[16]).

Source: Searcey, D. (2019), “A quiet revolution: More women seek divorces in conservative West Africa”, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/world/africa/niger-divorce-women.html (accessed on 27 January 2019).

Despite formal legal equality, parental guardianship and responsibilities after a divorce are extensively determined by social norms that reinforce traditional gender stereotypes. After a divorce, women and men continue to share legal parental guardianship in all but 40 countries, while in 34 countries, women and men do not have equal rights and obligations towards their children after a divorce. Parental roles after a divorce are often determined by child-custody practices that tend to reflect and reinforce traditional gender roles, with fathers’ holding fewer parenting responsibilities, generally as the financial provider, and mothers assigned to the primary child-rearing role. For instance, in Bolivia, the law stipulates that following parental separation sons aged over 7 remain the responsibility of their fathers, and that daughters under 18 and sons under 7 remain the responsibility of the mother. Similarly, in Somalia, a mother is automatically entitled to custody of male children until the age of 10 and female children until the age of 15. Child custody is often automatically awarded to the mother. This may happen at the detriment of the mother and of her children if the mother cannot afford the full cost of raising them.

Pervasive customary, religious or traditional practices or laws continue to undercut women’s legal right to file for divorce and obtain legal guardianship of their children in 52% and 30% of countries, respectively. National legal frameworks may be subject to personal laws based on customary or religious jurisprudence that at times may be discriminatory against women in divorce proceedings. For instance, in countries where Islamic law is applied, men have a unilateral right to divorce – repudiation – without resorting to legal proceedings (talaq), whereas women are required to seek and justify their decision in a court of law (tatliq). In practice, it is very difficult for women to divorce this way, as they must prove the grounds for divorce. In the event of divorce or repudiation by the husband, under customary law, women often lose custody of their children.

Women are confronted with psychological, social and financial consequences in all stages of divorce. In addition, divorced women tend to be stigmatised and have fewer chances to remarry than divorced men. Prevailing social norms regarding women’s responsibility to ensure the stability of the family often inhibit women’s legal rights to initiate divorce. In some countries, divorced women face discrimination in accessing social services such as housing or employment. Women also face discrimination in divorce settlements, property rights and the separation of financial assets. In some cases, women can only obtain physical custody over their children, as the father retains legal custody and guardianship. For instance, in Somalia, if a divorced woman remarries, she may lose custody of younger children, unless the father gives his consent to the continued custodianship of the mother. This carries significant implications for freedom of movement because the father can prevent his ex-wife from taking the children out of the country or the area.

Various obstacles prevent women from enjoying divorce rights on an equal footing with men. Lack of education and information, the time and the monetary costs involved in divorce and litigation proceedings obstruct women from seeking divorce. Women often do not initiate divorce if they are in a vulnerable economic situation. Under customary law in some countries, women may be required to repay dowry upon divorce, which may constitute a strong disincentive to divorce, especially for women in poverty. Women still struggle to access legal aid in cases of divorce, while procedures require each party to engage their own lawyer. Furthermore, in some countries, women lack equal access to courts because they must rely on a male relative or lawyer to represent them. This is particularly detrimental in divorce and child-custody cases in which the guardian is also likely to be the husband.

Inheritance

Key messages

Inheritance laws remain strongly biased in many developing countries. Only 25% of countries grant women the same inheritance rights as men in law and in practice. This shortfall is mainly due to the influence of customary laws. Moreover, 16% of Asian and African countries do not guarantee equal inheritance rights between women and men.
Legal reforms have been uneven. Only two sub-Saharan African countries6 have eliminated discriminatory legal provisions related to women’s inheritance, although the governments of Ghana,7 Uganda,8 and Namibia9 have pending succession bills.
The effectiveness of legislation governing inheritance matters is only made evident when social norms, attitudes and behaviours shift. To date, 57% of countries deny women’s legal rights to inheritance under customary, religious or traditional laws and practices.
The best score in this indicator is shared by 64 countries. These countries provide widows and daughters with equal inheritance rights without legal exceptions regarding some groups of women. Furthermore, there are no discriminatory laws or practices restrict these rights in practice.

Key policy recommendations

Prohibit discrimination against widows and daughters in inheritance laws. Legal frameworks should explicitly allow women to inherit land and non-land assets on equal basis with men and guarantee that all groups of women enjoy the same rights to inherit land and non-land assets as men. In Viet Nam, disinheritance of surviving spouses is explicitly prohibited, including after remarriage, and property dispossession is criminalised in its many forms, including through “spiritual intimidation10”. Moreover, Decree No. 126/2014/ND-CP stipulates that the practice of dispossessing surviving wives of their inheritance or of their wedding presents should be eliminated.
Close loopholes in national legislation by establishing the supremacy of civil law over customary, religious and traditional laws that discriminate women’s and girls’ rights to inheritance.
Repeal discriminatory laws that do not allow a widow to maintain her inheritance rights over her dead husband’s property if she re-marries. In 2015, the reform of the Civil Code in Gabon included the removal of discriminatory provisions – notably widows losing their usufruct (lifetime use, though not full title) of the familial property and land should they remarry outside the family. Furthermore, women should have the legal capacity to draw up their own wills, irrespective of their marital status. Recent legislative reforms in Rwanda granted women the same rights as men to make a will.11
Engage religious and traditional leaders in discussions about the interpretations of customary law in relation to the inheritance rights of female surviving spouses and daughters.
Run awareness-raising campaigns around inheritance rights in rural communities and ensure the provision of free legal advice, support and advocacy to access legal consultations and assistance. In Gabon, within the Ministry of Public Health and Population, a Branch for the Protection of Widows and Orphans was created. The Branch is tasked with informing families, especially women, of their rights regarding inheritance. With that objective, they offer legal advice on inheritance rights (Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (Gabon), 2011[17]). In the wake of the adoption of the Code of Persons and Family, the government and NGOs are holding education campaigns for women about their rights to inheritance and property (US Department of State, 2016[18]).

Box 3.7. International standards for women’s inheritance rights

Although most of the most important international human-rights instruments and treaties do not specifically mention the rights and needs of widows, the poverty incidence of women’s restricted inheritance rights is widely recognised:

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) calls on governments to undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women and girls full rights to the inheritance of land and other property (para. 60 (f)), and to review national inheritance tax systems to eliminate any existing bias against women (para. 165 (f));
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation No. 29 (2013) establishes the principle of equal treatment of surviving females and males and prohibits the disinheritance of the surviving spouse (para. 53).
Target 5.A of the Sustainable Development Goals (2015) calls upon all governments to “undertake reforms to give women equal rights to inheritance”.

Results

Women’s inheritance rights continue to be persistently denied in certain regions. Only 44 countries accord women the same inheritance rights as men in both law and practice, while 29 countries do not grant female surviving spouses and daughters the same rights as their male counterparts to inherit land and non-land assets. These discriminatory legal frameworks are more prevalent in Africa and Asia, especially in Western and Southern Asia (12 countries) and Northern and Eastern Africa (8 countries). For instance, women do not have equal access to inheritance rights as men under the three systems of law – statutory, customary and Islamic that govern inheritance rights in Tanzania. The pace of change is clearly too slow. Since the last edition of the SIGI in 2014, only two countries12 have reformed their laws on inheritance and succession.

Legal loopholes negating women’s inheritance rights, combined with poor law enforcement mechanisms, can negatively impact women’s socio-economic rights. Disinheritance of the surviving spouse still occurs in a significant number of countries (96) where there are contradictory and/or no clear uniformity in legal regimes that govern inheritance rights (e.g. statutory, customary and religious laws, personal status codes), allowing simultaneous interpretations and applications of different legal systems. For instance, many countries have multiple personal status codes that regulate inheritance matters, which often deny equality between women and men despite the provisions of civil law. In Yemen, according to Islamic inheritance rules, women generally inherit half of what their male relatives inherit. Some personal codes prevent the transfer of property between adherents of different religious confessions. This creates a challenge in inter-faith marriages where a woman may be unable to transfer her property or land to her children or inherit from her deceased husband. In Lebanon for example, children born to Lebanese women and non-Lebanese fathers are subject to these discriminatory inheritance laws. In some countries, inheritance by the surviving spouse depends on the marital regime and whether the deceased left a will (testamentary succession) or not (intestate succession). These discriminatory legal clauses can have extensive impacts on women’s vulnerability to poverty. Out of 258 million widows, worldwide, 38 million live in extreme poverty (Loomba Foundation, 2015[19]), notably due to disinheritance practices.

Box 3.8. The advocacy campaign “I want my inheritance” in Sohag, Egypt

Although the Egyptian Civil Code affirms women’s rights to own, inherit and use their property, most women, especially in rural areas, are deprived of their legitimate economic rights, which makes them more vulnerable. Women’s inheritance is also a social issue: many prejudices lead families to accept and encourage this discriminatory practice.

As a result, the Badr Altawael Association for Local Population Development with the support of the Euro-Mediterranean Women’s Foundation (FFEM) launched an advocacy campaign called “I want my inheritance” from January to September 2017. The campaign aimed to promote women’s rights to inheritance through raising the community’s awareness and mobilising local relevant actors in Sohag.

The participation of diverse actors such as civil society organisations (CSOs), the media, judges, local authorities, community and religious leaders (Muslim and Christian) and members of parliament (MPs) was crucial to:

Creating an environment of dialogue among the public through lectures, round tables, training and theatre-forum activities;
Committing religious leaders to inform family members that women have inheritance rights according to religious texts; and
Constituting committees of lawyers and psychological counsellors to provide support in villages.

At the end of the advocacy campaign, 100 Christian and Muslim figures and community leaders had promoted women’s rights to inheritance. In addition, 87 conflicts were settled amicably, 26 cases were reported to courts and 10 women obtained their inheritance (they became role models encouraging other women to claim their rights). Furthermore, 17 MPs representing Sohag Governorate advocated a reform of the law to increase sanctions against those who deprive women of their inheritance rights (Euro-Mediterranean Women's Foundation, 2017[20]).

Source: Euro-Mediterranean Women's Foundation (2017), We Have the Floor: Mediterranean Civil Society Calls for Gender Equality to Become a Reality, https://www.euromedwomen.foundation/pg/en/documents/view/7339/we-have-floor-mediterranean-civil-society-calls-for-gender-equality-to-become-reality (accessed on 27 January 2019).

Female surviving spouses face multiple discriminatory practices that deprive them of their inheritance of property and land. Women’s rights to inherit their husband’s property are denied in 102 countries under customary, religious or traditional laws and practices. Moreover, 103 countries do not criminalise property dispossession or grabbing of inheritance. Discriminatory practices such as property grabbing (e.g. Burkina Faso, eSwatini [formerly Swaziland] and Zambia), forced eviction (e.g. Guinea-Bissau) and levirate marriage13 (e.g. Benin, Gambia, Mali) persist in some countries. Other administrative and financial obstacles make it difficult for women to register property and land in their own name, restrict women’s rights in the household – often making them dependent on their husband’s family – and put widows at risk of losing custody of their children. Additionally, female surviving spouses and daughters often possess temporary rights to inherited land and property. Even when women may be granted the right to temporary stay in the property (usufruct), this practice prevents them from selling, purchasing or benefiting from renting out the land or property. In 37 countries with evidence of discriminatory traditional, customary or religious inheritance practices towards women, the law the does not take precedence over these practices.

References

[9] Breakthrough India (2018), Nation Against Early Marriage, http://www.breakthrough.tv/earlymarriage/againstearlymarriage%E2%80%8F/ (accessed on 26 January 2019).

[1] CEDAW (2015), “Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination agaisnt Women: Combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of States parties due in 2014: Switzerland”, United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, https://www.refworld.org/country,,,STATEPARTIESREP,CHE,,583870f44,0.html (accessed on 26 January 2019).

[13] Corrigall, E. and A. Konrad (2007), “Gender role attitudes and careers: A longitudinal study”, Sex Roles, Vol. 56, pp. 847–55, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9242-0 (accessed on 26 January 2019).

[20] Euro-Mediterranean Women's Foundation (2017), We Have the Floor: Mediterranean Civil Society Calls for Gender Equality to Become a Reality, https://www.euromedwomen.foundation/pg/en/documents/view/7339/we-have-floor-mediterranean-civil-society-calls-for-gender-equality-to-become-reality (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[4] Goverment of Mexico (2013), Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2013-2018, , Programa Nacional para la Igualdad de Oportunidades y No Discriminación contra las Mujeres, https://www.sacmex.cdmx.gob.mx/storage/app/media/igualdad-sustantiva/PROGRAMAS%20NACIONALES/programa-nacional-para-la-igualdad-de-oportunidades-y-no-discriminacion-contra-las-mujeres-2013-2018.pdf (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[3] Government of Madagascar (2007), Law on Marriage and Matrimonial Regimes, https://landwise.resourceequity.org/records/1615 (accessed on 31 January 2019).

[11] ILO (2018), Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work, International Labour Organization, Geneva, https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_633135/lang--en/index.htm (accessed on 31 January 2019).

[15] Langa, J. (n.d.), Mozambican Men in the Kitchen, HOPEM, http://menengage.org/mozambican-men-in-the-kitchen/ (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[19] Loomba Foundation (2015), The Global Widows Report 2015: A Global Overview of Deprivation Faced by Widows and Their Children, http://www.theloombafoundation.org/images/The%20Global%20Widows%20Report%202015.pdf (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[17] Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (Gabon) (2011), Direction Générale de la Protection de la Veuve et de l’Orphelin (General Directorate for the Protection of the Widow and the Orphan), http://www.sante.gouv.ga/2-ministere/33-directions-generales/258-direction-generale-de-la-protection-de-la-veuve-et-de-l-orphelin/ (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[6] OECD Development Centre (2018), “Burkina Faso SIGI country study”, OECD, Paris, https://www.genderindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/BurkinaFasoSIGI-20x20-EN-web.pdf (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[2] Plan International (2017), Honduras Outlaws Child Marriage, https://plan-international.org/news/2017-07-13-honduras-outlaws-child-marriage (accessed on 31 January 2019).

[12] Sáez, I. (2015), “El horizonte de la igualdad de género: Colombia y Cuba frente a los retos del cuidado”, Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe, https://www.cepal.org/es/publicaciones/39626-horizonte-la-igualdad-genero-colombia-cuba-frente-retos-cuidado (accessed on 31 January 2019).

[16] Searcey, D. (2019), “A quiet revolution: More women seek divorces in conservative West Africa”, New York Times, 06 January 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/world/africa/niger-divorce-women.html (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[5] The Republic of Uganda/UNICEF (2015), The National Strategy to End Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy 2014/2015-2019-2020. A Society Free from Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy, https://www.unicef.org/uganda/NATIONAL_STRATEGY_ON_CHILD_MARRIAGE-PRINT_READY.pdf (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[14] UN WOMEN (2013), “Men in the kitchen: Cooking up change in Mozambique”, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/7/men-in-the-kitchen (accessed on 28 January 2019).

[10] UNICEF (2017), State of the World's Children 2017: Children in a Digital World, https://www.unicef.org/sowc2017/ (accessed on 27 January 2019).

[7] US Deparment of State (2016), “Country reports on human rights practices for 2016, Zambia”, https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/265528.pdf (accessed on 28 January 2019).

[18] US Department of State (2016), “Country reports on human rights practices for 2016, Benin”, https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2016humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper (accessed on 28 January 2019).

[8] Wodon, Q. et al. (2017), Economic Impacts of Child Marriage: Global Synthesis Report, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/530891498511398503/pdf/116829-WP-P151842-PUBLIC-EICM-Global-Conference-Edition-June-27.pdf (accessed on 28 January 2019).

Notes

← 1. Chad (2015), Costa Rica (2017), Denmark (2017), Ecuador (2015), El Salvador (2017), Gambia (2016), Guatemala (2017), Honduras (2017), Malawi (2017), Netherlands (2015), Panama (2015), Rwanda (2016), Trinidad and Tobago (2017), Zimbabwe (2016), Germany (June 2017).

← 2. Law Governing Persons and Family, Art. 206, 209.

← 3. Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits, Arts. 15 and 16.

← 4. Labour Code, Art. 229.

← 5. Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Comoros, Costa Rica Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay.

← 6. Gabon (2015) and Rwanda (2016).

← 7. The Intestate Succession Bill and the Property Rights of Spouses Bill.

← 8. The Succession Amendment Act.

← 9. The Intestate Inheritance Bill.

← 10. Penal Code art 133-140.

← 11. The Law Governing Matrimonial Regimes, Donations and Successions (2016), Art. 75.

← 12. Gabon and Rwanda.

← 13. Where women are considered to be part of their deceased husband’s property, and hence given into marriage to the brother of the deceased.

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