African Family Laws Discriminatatory to Women
By Khalifa Hemed
Published May 17, 2024
Discrimination against women is widespread in family laws across Africa. Gender Inequality in Family Laws in Africa: An Overview of Key Trends in Select Countries, an analysis of 20 African countries, reveals gender inequality in marriage, divorce, custody, and property rights perpetuated by sex discrimination institutionalized within legal systems and customary laws.
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Equality Now, the organisation that conducted the study, says overlap and contradictions in legal frameworks make the interpretation and application of family laws confusing, creating complex challenges for harmonizing legal systems.
The impacts of discriminatory family laws can put women at greater risk of sexual and gender-based violence, curtail their economic opportunities and reduce their decision-making power.
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Full equality in family laws has not been achieved in any of the countries–Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Congo-Kinshasa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia and Tunisia–in which the survey was conducted.
Saying communities in Africa developed intricate and deep-rooted systems of customary laws governing family relations, Equality Now notes that the introduction of European legal systems and religion resulted in a blend of customary, religious, and statutory laws that still shape legislation and practice through legal pluralism.
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“This complex patchwork is influenced by evolving social dynamics. Civil, customary, and religious law, such as Islamic or Christian canon law, sometimes encroach or conflict, and many provisions in religious and customary laws discriminate against women and girls,” Equality Now says.
Esther Waweru, a Senior Legal Advisor at Equality Now who also co-authored the report, says: “Culture and religion frequently act as major impediments in the struggle for family law equality, stalling reforms. Claw-back clauses and retrogressive practices water down the positive impact of progressive laws, and there is backlash from anti-rights movements seeking to reverse hard-won gains in areas such as eliminating child marriage and female genital mutilation. Stagnation is also a problem, with governments pledging to reform discriminatory laws but failing to take meaningful action. In some instances, progressive family codes remain in limbo awaiting enactment.”
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