United Nations Radio

A study commissioned by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights shows that countries worldwide still maintain laws that discriminate against women.

The study says repeated promises by states to revise or repeal the laws are not being honoured. Patrick Maigua reports from Geneva.

The report says an undertaking pledged by governments in 1994 during the fourth conference on women in Beijing to revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex was yet to be fulfilled; and women who constitute more than half the world's population continue to experience state-sanctioned and state-condoned discrimination. The report says 53 states still do not outlaw rape within marriage, while succession and inheritance favors the male child. Women are also at a disadvantage when it comes to age of marriage. Dr. Fareda Banda from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) is the author of the report.

"A lot of states have laws which provide that young girls can get married at the age of 14 or 16, while young men get married at the age of 18 or 21. Disproportionately, more girls get married early than boys and this affects their right to education, it impacts on their health. If you get married at 14, you have a fairly long reproductive cycle. How many children are you going to have and what is going to be the impact on your health?"

The report recommends that the human rights council appoint a special rapporteur on laws that discriminate against women as a means to put pressure on governments to prioritize the review and elimination of laws which discriminate against women.

Patrick Maigua. UN Radio, Geneva.

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