Title goes here The Equality & Justice Alliance is dedicated to advancing equality and promoting equal protection of the law for all Commonwealth citizens regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. www.equalityjusticealliance.org.uk 2 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa 1. Muslim family laws and discrimination 1.against women 2. 3. Muslim family laws The case for reform Country reports and discrimination of Muslim family laws against women This report This report commissioned by Sisters For Change provides a comprehensive legal review of Muslim family laws across Commonwealth Asia and Africa, analysing the nature and extent to which they discriminate against Muslim women and girls. The right of women to equality, including within the family, is recognised in international law. Yet the constitutions of a large number of Commonwealth countries provide that personal status laws (relating to marriage, divorce, distribution of marital property, inheritance, adoption and related matters) are exempt from constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination, or reserve matters of personal status to the ethnic and religious communities within the country. This report provides a detailed analysis of 12 focus areas relating to marriage and family matters in 10 Commonwealth countries where Muslim women and girls suffer discrimination under current Muslim family laws. The 10 countries selected for review from Commonwealth Asia are Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka and from Commonwealth Africa are Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The report discusses the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in urging legal reform of discriminatory religious and personal laws; highlights the critical legal advocacy work of domestic women’s rights organisations across the 10 countries; and analyses steps taken by governments to reform and/or overcome resistance to legislative change. The report concludes by making a series of recommendations for reform of Muslim family laws that discriminate against Muslim women and girls for each of the 10 Commonwealth countries reviewed. The purpose of this report is to advance and support the reform of family and personal laws that discriminate against Muslim women and girls. 1 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa Authors and acknowledgements This report was commissioned and edited by Sisters For Change and authored by Musawah. Sisters For Change and Musawah would like About Sisters For Change to acknowledge and thank the national level Sisters For Change (SFC) is an international NGO advocates and activists working across the 10 working to eliminate discrimination and violence against focus Commonwealth Asia and Africa countries women and girls worldwide through legal reform, legal who contributed towards this report, many of whom empowerment, legal accountability and legal advocacy are supporting Muslim women in obtaining justice strategies. SFC works to generate systemic change in and redress and diligently pushing for reform of how governments combat violence, structural change discriminatory provisions in Muslim family laws within to give women voice and agency in justice systems and their own challenging domestic contexts. social change to end the social acceptance of violence against women and girls. SFC is active in the UK, India and Indonesia. As a member of the Equality & Justice Alliance, SFC is working to reform laws that discriminate About Musawah against women and girls and LGBT people across the Commonwealth. SFC is currently working with the Musawah is a global movement for equality and justice Governments of Namibia, Saint Lucia and Samoa in the Muslim family. It was launched in Kuala Lumpur, on technical assistance programmes and is a member Malaysia in February 2009 to address the compelling of the SADC Parliamentary Forum’s Technical Working need for women’s groups working in Muslim contexts Group on the development of a Model Law on Gender- to come together to share strategies, build scholarship Based Violence. and promote best practices to advance the rights of For more information visit Muslim women to equality and justice. Musawah’s key www.sistersforchange.org.uk strategy is to challenge the ways Islam is being used to Follow us on @sisters_4change justify discrimination against women in law and practice Registered Company No. 9136425 and to build an international discourse and public Registered Charity No. 1165647 voice to assert that equality is possible within Islam. It does this through four areas of work – knowledge Copyright © Sisters For Change 2019 building; capacity building; international advocacy; This work can be copied, shared and distributed, in communications and outreach. One of Musawah’s key whole or in part, for research, educational and public initiatives is to map the status of Muslim family laws policy purposes subject to the condition that the work globally. The project is led by its Executive Director, is not altered or adapted and the Equality & Justice Zainah Anwar, and coordinated by International Alliance is acknowledged as author of the work. Advocacy Programme Officer, Hyshyama Hamin, with substantive support from the Musawah team. This work has been commissioned by Sisters For Change, a member of the Equality & Justice Alliance, For more information visit but it has not been approved by, nor does it represent www.musawah.org the opinions of, any other member of the Alliance. Follow us on @musawah Printed in the United Kingdom. First printing 2019. ISBN No. 978-1-913173-08-1 Design by Bright Design, [email protected] Sisters For Change is grateful to the UK Government Foreign & Commonwealth Office for supporting the work of the Equality & Justice Alliance. 2 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa 3 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa Contents 04 Focus of review 06 Executive summary 08 CEDAW and Muslim family laws 09 Structure of report Muslim family laws Country reports 1. and discrimination against women 3. 12 Introduction 53 Bangladesh 12 A. International legal standards on equality 60 Recommendations for reform in marriage and family relations 61 Brunei Darussalam 15 B. Muslim family laws 68 Recommendations for reform 16 C. Overview of Muslim family laws 69 India in Commonwealth Asia and Africa 76 Recommendations for reform 17 D. Summary of findings assessed 77 Malaysia against 12 key areas of discrimination 86 Recommendations for reform 26 E. Reforms required to Muslim family laws 87 Pakistan 94 Recommendations for reform 95 Singapore The case for reform 102 Recommendations for reform 2. of Muslim family laws 103 Sri Lanka 32 Introduction 110 Recommendation for reform 33 A. CEDAW and Muslim family laws 111 Kenya 37 B. SDGs and Muslim family laws 118 Recommendations for reform 39 C. Key barriers and challenges 119 Nigeria to reform of discriminatory laws 128 Recommendations for reform 41 D. Case studies of successful 129 South Africa Muslim family law reform 136 Recommendations for reform 43 E. Why reform of Muslim family law is necessary and possible 44 F. Recommendations for reform 2 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa 3 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa TitleFocus goes of review here 6 Nigeria 4 Kenya 1 Bangladesh Population of 163,046,161 2 Brunei Darussalam Population of 433,285 9 South Africa 3 India Population of 1, 3 6 6 , 417, 75 4 4 Kenya Population of 52,573,973 5 Malaysia Population of 31,949,777 6 Nigeria Population of 200,963,599 7 Pakistan Population of 216,565,318 8 Singapore Population of 5,804,337 9 South Africa Population of 58,558,270 10 Sri Lanka Population of 21,323,733 4 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa 1. Muslim family laws and discrimination against women 7 Pakistan 1 Bangladesh 3 India 5 Malaysia 10 Sri Lanka 2 Brunei Darussalam 8 Singapore 10 334m 8/10 10/10 countries Muslim women countries requiring consent countries with divorce reviewed of male guardian for laws discriminating Muslim women to marry against Muslim women 5 Comparative legal review of the impact of Muslim family laws on women across Commonwealth Asia and Africa Executive summary This report commissioned by Sisters For Change provides rights. The 10 countries selected for review from a comprehensive legal review of Muslim family laws Commonwealth Asia are Bangladesh, Brunei, India, across Commonwealth Asia and Africa, analysing the Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka; and nature and extent to which they discriminate against from Commonwealth Africa are Kenya, Nigeria Muslim women and girls. The right of women to equality and South Africa. within the family is recognised in international law. Yet The laws on minimum age of marriage vary in the 10 the constitutions of a large number of Commonwealth countries reviewed, ranging from no minimum age of countries provide that personal status laws (relating marriage, to different minimum ages depending on to marriage, divorce, distribution of marital property, sex (ie: lower age of marriage for girls than boys), inheritance,