Photo: Lena Stein
In 1995, at the historic United Nations 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, governments from around the world agreed on one of the most progressive plans to advance women's rights and achieve gender equality – the Beijing Platform for Action. In it States committed to "revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex." 20 years later, this goal is far from being met.
Progress
There has been progress in removing legal discrimination against women. Equality Now is pleased to report that more than half of the countries highlighted in all three previous reports have repealed or fully or partially amended the discriminatory laws indicated. Among these countries are:
Countries |
Legal provision repealed or amended since 2000 |
Algeria |
Wife obedience is no longer mandated |
Argentina |
A sexual abuser is no longer exempt from punishment by agreeing a settlement with the victim |
Australia, Switzerland |
Women are now allowed to apply for all jobs in the army |
Bahamas |
Women now have equal inheritance rights to men |
Bangladesh, Kenya |
Women can now pass citizenship to their children on the same basis as men |
Bolivia, France |
Women are no longer prohibited from working at night |
Colombia, Mexico, Romania, Turkey |
The minimum ages of marriage for males and females are now the same |
Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Peru, Uruguay |
A rapist can no longer avoid punishment by marrying the victim |
Haiti, Jordan, Morocco |
There is no longer an exemption from penalty for men who murder their wives and/or female relatives in certain circumstances |
India*, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Serbia and Montenegro, Tonga |
Marital rape is now a crime |
Iraq |
Women can now obtain a passport without having to get approval from a male guardian or a husband |
Kuwait |
Women now have the right to vote |
Latvia |
Women are no longer prohibited from working overtime and travelling for work during pregnancy and one year after childbirth |
Lesotho |
Property can now be registered in the name of women married in community property |
Mexico |
Women are no longer prohibited from remarrying for a specified time after divorce or widowhood |
Kenya, Monaco, Venezuela |
Women can now pass their nationality to their foreign spouse on the same basis as men |
Nepal |
Certain restrictions on women’s property rights have now been lifted |
Pakistan |
Discriminatory evidentiary standards applied to proving rape under the Zina Ordinance have been removed |
Poland |
Women are no longer restricted from passing their surname to their children |
Republic of Korea, Turkey |
Men are no longer designated as head of the family |
Swaziland |
A woman married in community of property can now register property in her own name |
* Although India’s domestic violence law of 2006 gives women the option to bring a civil case for marital rape, India continues to exempt marital rape from its criminal law.
Извор: WUNRN – 16.02.2015