Article 444 of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Family Code of 1987 provides that a husband is head of the household Country: Democratic Republic of Congo Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy & ...
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Country: Syria Law status: Repealed Law Type: Honor Killings Article 548 (amended in 2009 and 2011) of Syria’s Penal Code allows for a lesser punishment, capped at 7 years’ imprisonment, for men who kill their wives, sisters, mothers or ...
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Article 334 of the Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 of the UAE Personal Affairs Law prescribes that males inherit twice as much as females where there are both male and female heirs. Country: United Arab Emirates Law status: Discriminatory law in force ...
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Chapter VII, Section 59 of China’s Labor Act (1994) automatically bars all women from engaging in mining, other forms of intense physical labor that the State specifies or other work that female workers “should avoid.” Country: China Law ...
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Section 6 of the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 only provides 2 weeks of paternity leave. Under section 47(5) of Ireland’s Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26 of 2005) provides that a father can only obtain additional parental financial ...
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Article 85 of Madagascar’s Labor Code (Law No. 2003-44 of 28 July 2004) forbids the employment of women in night work except in family establishments. Country: Madagascar Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Employment Article 85 ...
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Article 253 of Russia’s Labor Code – Federal Law No. 197-FZ of 2001 and Resolution No. 162 of 25 February 2000 automatically bar women from being employed in 456 types of work. Country: Russia Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law ...
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The United States’ Department of Defense Directive-type Memorandum (DTM)-19-004 – Military Service by Transgender Persons and Persons with Gender Dysphoria dated March 12, 2019 bans transgender persons from serving in the military. This exclusionary ...
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Section 3 of Bahamas’ Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act of 1991 explicitly allows marital rape. Country: Bahamas Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Rape Section 3 of Bahamas’ Sexual Offences and Domestic ...
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Laws allowing marital rape treat the wife as the property of the husband, and render her vulnerable to sexual violence and abuse within marriage. Country: India Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Rape Sex discrimination in laws ...
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Article 424. of Libya’s Penal Code provides that If the offender marries the woman against whom the offense is committed, the offense and penalty shall be extinguished and the penal effects thereof shall cease. Country: Libya Law ...
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Article 375 and 376A of Singapore’s Penal Code provide marital immunity for sexual activity with minors under the age of 16 who are said to “consent”. Country: Singapore Law status: Discriminatory law partially amended Law Type: Rape ...
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Article 137 of the Paraguay Penal Code provides a lower penalty for sexual offences against adolescent girls between the ages of 14 – 16 than for rape of a child or a woman. This provision is known as an ‘estupro’ provision. Estupro provisions too ...
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Article 41 of the Iraqi Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 gives a husband a legal right to punish his wife within certain limits prescribed by law or custom. Country: Iraq Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Domestic Violence Sex ...
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Article 237 of Egypt’s Penal Code No. 58 allows for a lesser punishment for men who kill their wives on discovering them in an act of adultery than for other forms of murder. Country: Egypt Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law ...
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Section 55(1)(d) of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria provides that an assault by a man on a woman is not an offense if they are married, if native law or custom recognizes such “correction” as lawful, and if there is no grievous hurt. ...
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Articles 11 and 134 of Oman’s Personal Status Law of 1997 restrict the right of the child’s custodian (normally the mother) to travel abroad with the child without the approval of the guardian (who is required to be male). Country: Oman Law ...
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Article 182 of Kuwait’s Law no. 16 of 1960 promulgating the Penal Code allows an abductor to escape punishment if he marries the person that he abducted. Country: Kuwait Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Rape Sex ...
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When young girls are forced to marry, they face potentially lifelong harmful consequences. They are essentially subject to state-sanctioned rape and are at risk of increased domestic violence, forced pregnancy, and negative health consequences while being ...
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Section 93 of the Mississippi Code 1972 allows girls as young as 15 years old to be married with parental consent, while prohibiting the marriage of boys under the age of 17. Country: United States of America (Mississippi) Law status: Discriminatory ...
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Article 51 of Brazil’s Law No. 8213 of 24 July 1991 providing for the Social Security Benefit Plans and other measures has a lower compulsory retirement age for women as opposed to men. Country: Brazil Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law ...
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Section 103 of Tunisia’s Personal Status Code limits daughters’ inheritance rights and provides that any sons inherit twice as much as daughters. Country: Tunisia Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Inheritance and Property ...
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Article 1749 of Chile’s Civil Code establishes the legal presumption that husbands head the household and control marital property, as well as property owned by their wives. Country: Chile Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law ...
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Article 74 of Cameroon’s Civil Status Registration provides that a husband may object to his wife’s exercise of a trade different from him in the interest of their marriage or children. Country: Cameroon Law status: Discriminatory law in force ...
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Article 202 of the Philippines’ Revised Penal Code defines prostitution as a crime only women can commit. Country: Philippines Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Prostitution Article 202 of the Philippines’ Revised Penal Code ...
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Articles 199, 209 and 638 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code of 2013, Books I, II and V provide that in cases of adultery and other sexual activity and where diyais involved, the testimony of a woman is worth half that of a man, and women may be imprisoned ...
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Article 17 of Pakistan’s Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 (Law of Evidence) provides that women’s testimony is worth half that of men in certain civil matters. Country: Pakistan Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Evidence Article ...
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Sections 4, 5 and 9 of Brunei’s Nationality Law No. 4 of 1961, as amended by S 43/00 and S 55/02, do not allow a Bruneian woman to transfer her nationality to her children and foreign spouse on an equal basis with Bruneian men. Country: Brunei Law ...
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Country: Togo Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Citizenship Articles 5, 12 and 23 of Ordinance No. 78-34 of 7 September of the Togolese Nationality Code do not allow a Togolese woman to transfer her nationality to her foreign ...
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Section 309 of the United States’ Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1409) confers citizenship on children of unmarried U.S. citizen fathers and noncitizen mothers born outside the U.S. only if they meet certain requirements, including their ...
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Article 1 of Monaco’s Law No. 1155 on Nationality (December 18, 1992) as amended by Law No. 1276 (Dec. 22, 2003) and Law No. 1387 (Dec. 19, 2011) does not give mothers the same unconditional rights as fathers to pass on their nationality to their children. ...
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Articles 43 and 44 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland Act 2005 do not allow a Swazi woman to transfer her nationality to her children and foreign spouse on an equal basis with Swazi men. Country: Eswatini Law status: Discriminatory law ...
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Article 4 of Bahrain’s Decree Law No. 12 amending the Bahraini Citizenship Act of 1963 allows Bahraini mothers to only pass on their citizenship to their children under certain conditions not applicable to Bahraini fathers. Country: Bahrain Law ...
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Article 23 of the Personal Status Act also requires express consent to marriage only if the woman has been previously married. For previously unmarried women, (considered ‘virgin’), silence is sufficient to indicate consent to marriage. This makes women ...
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Country: Sudan Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy & Wife Obedience Sections 25(c), 33, 34, 40(3), 51, 52, 91 and 92 of the Muslim Personal Law Act of Sudan, 1991 provide that the contract of ...
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Articles 307, 316, 319, 366 and 373 of Mali’s Law No. 2011-087 Relating to the Code of Persons and Family allow polygamy; mandate wife obedience; establish the man as head of the household and give him by law the sole right to determine the family ...
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Articles 14 and 23 of Malaysia’s Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 allow a man to have more than wife. Country: Malaysia Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy & Wife Obedience Sex ...
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Articles 123, 124 and 125 of Lebanon’s Personal Status Law of the Catholic Sects, 1949 provide that the rights and duties of parental authority (apart from breastfeeding) are confined to the father, and that a mother loses custody of her child upon ...
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Article 123 of Afghanistan’s Shia Personal Status Law of 2009 provides that the household’s supervision is solely the right of the husband and restricts a wife’s right to leave the home. Country: Afghanistan Law status: Discriminatory ...
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Article 122 of Burundi’s Code of Persons and the Family provides that the husband is head of the family. Country: Burundi Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy & Wife Obedience Article 122 of ...
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Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Israel’s Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law (5713-1953) cede jurisdiction over marriage to a sex discriminatory religious law, which provides that divorce depends solely on the will of the husband. ...
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Article 3(1) of Indonesia’s Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage permits a man to have more than one wife. Country: Indonesia Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy & Wife Obedience Sex discrimination ...
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Article 733 of Japan’s Civil Code prohibits women, but not men, from remarrying for 100 days after the dissolution or annulment of a marriage. Articles 772 and 774 state that a child conceived by a woman born 200 days after marriage or within 300 days of ...
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Article 61 of Jordan’s Personal Status Law No. 36 of 2010 provides that a wife who works outside the home is entitled to alimony only if the husband has given explicit consent to the work. Country: Jordan Law status: Discriminatory law in force ...
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Sections 2, 3 and 6 of Kenya’s Marriage Act No. 4 of 2014 allow a man to have more than one wife. The Marriage Act No. 4 of 2014 Country: Kenya Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy & Wife Obedience ...
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Section 6 of India’s Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 provides that the natural guardian of a Hindu minor boy or unmarried girl is the father, and only after him, the mother. It also provides that the guardian of a married minor girl is her ...
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Articles 8, 11, 30, 48, 53 and 54 of Algeria’s Family Code of 1984 restrict women’s rights in marriage by permitting polygamy, requiring a male marriage guardian, barring Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men, and restricting grounds for divorce for ...
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Section 277 of Thailand’s Criminal Code, B.E 2499 (1956) provides marital immunity for sexual intercourse with girls under the age of 15 who are said to ‘consent’, and allows a man who rapes a girl between the ages of 13 to 15 to escape punishment by ...
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Article 144 of the Dominican Republic’s Civil Code allows girls as young as 15 years old to be married off but protects boys younger than 18 from entering into marriage. Country: Dominican Republic Law status: Amended Law Type: Marriage, ...
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Sections 10(2), 13(1) and 15 of Tanzania’s Law of Marriage Act of 1971 allow men to contract polygamous marriages, and permit the marriage of 15-year-old girls, while the minimum age of marriage for boys is 18. UPDATE: On October 23, 2019, the Tanzania ...
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Article 3 of Cuba’s Family Code provides that girls may be married off as young as 14 years old, while requiring a boy to be at least 16 years old. Country: Cuba Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy ...
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Switzerland voted in a referendum on 27 September 2020 which resulted in the approval of 10 days of paternity leave to begin in January 2021. We welcome the news and encourage the government to continue to review the issue and consider additional paid ...
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Section 6 of Sri Lanka’s Matrimonial Rights and Inheritance Ordinance (Jaffna), Ordinance No. 1 of 1911 restricts a married woman from disposing of and dealing with her own immovable property, such as land, without the written consent or her ...
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