WUNRN
MALI - NEW FAMILY LAW - FEWER
WOMEN'S RIGHTS, MORE INEQUALITY
December
9, 2011 - For more than 10 years, women in Mali have been waiting for the
adoption of a Family law to protect their fundamental rights. Last week (2
December 2011), the Malian Parliament adopted a text which – far from
increasing protection – eliminates rights and perpetuates discrimination.
A
first draft of the Family Code, the fruit of many years of discussion and
consultation, was adopted by the National Assembly in August 2009. Although the
text did not enshrine equal rights between the sexes, it did contain
significant advances. However, following protests by conservative forces,
President Amadou Toumani Touré decided not to enact the law and to send in back
to Parliament for a second reading. During the revision process, the central
provisions - concerning the legal age for marriage, custody of children and
inheritance - underwent such substantial changes that the modified text goes
against the very principles of equal rights and non-discrimination.
According to the new Code, « a woman must obey her husband » and men are
considered « head of the family ». The legal age for marriage is 18 years for
males and 16 for females. In certain cases, marriage can be authorised from 15
years. Religious marriages are legally recognised.
The new Code violates Mali’s international obligations, set out in instruments
such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ratified in 1985 and the Protocol to the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa,
ratified in 2005.
Our organisations have made repeated calls for the adoption of a Family Code
which guarantees women’s human rights**. We have repeatedly sounded the alarm
concerning the harmful consequences of weakening the text. While the demands of
the High Islamic Council have been taken into account in the new law,
recommendations made by civil society have been ignored.
With the adoption of this text, Mali has missed the opportunity to eliminate
discrimination and harmful practices against women. Our organisations will
continue the combat for a Family Law that protects women’s rights, in
accordance with Mali’s international obligations.