0 ABOUT EQUALITY NOW Founded in 1992, Equality Now is an international human rights organisation that works to protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world in the areas of DISCRIMINATION IN LAW, FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM), SEXUAL VIOLENCE, AND SEX TRAFFICKING, WITH A CROSS CUTTING FOCUS ON ADOLESCENT GIRLS. The organisation combines grassroots activism with international, regional and national legal advocacy to achieve legal and systemic change to benefit women and girls, and works to ensure that governments enact and enforce laws and policies that uphold women and girls’ rights. Equality Now’s advocacy network encompasses partners, groups and individuals in nearly every country in the world. VISIT: www.equalitynow.org facebook.com/equalitynoworg @equalitynoworg @equalitynow youtube.com/user/equalitynowyt Equality Now envisions a world where women and girls have equal rights under the law and full enjoyment of those rights. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ............................................................................................................................................................................ 3 PROGRESS TOWARDS EQUALITY ............................................................................................................................. 5 THE STATE WE’RE IN—DISCRIMINATION IN LAW AND ITS EFFECTS ............................................ 9 GRAPHICS: SEX DISCRIMINATORY NATIONALITY LAWS ......................................................................... 14 TRANSFERRING NATIONALITY TO CHILDREN ............................................................................................ 15 LAWS AFFECTING SPOUSES / MARRIAGE .......................................................................................................... 16 CASE STUDIES ..................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Jordan .................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 Malaysia ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20 Bahamas............................................................................................................................................................................ 22 Tanzania ........................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Senegal .............................................................................................................................................................................. 25 INTERNATIONAL LAW ON EQUALITY AND CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS ................................................. 27 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................................... 30 WHAT YOU CAN DO ........................................................................................................................................................ 32 ANNEX ................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 Cover photo: Lena Stein 2 FOREWORD "Everyone has the right to be born with a nationality – safe, fearless and free – secure in their human right to equally transfer, acquire, change or retain it. There is no reason why over 50 countries should still have sexist nationality and citizenship laws which discriminate against women, potentially putting them and their families in danger. If governments cooperate, this is something we can fix in a very short time. Getting these laws working for women and girls will mean that society becomes safer and more prosperous." - Yasmeen Hassan, Global Executive Director, Equality Now Home is where you belong, where you feel connected. Imagine then what it is like to be born without a nationality or to be denied the citizenship of your mother, or, at times, your father, because of discrimination in the law. Imagine the daily struggle to get access to education, health, jobs, voting, a driving licence and other human rights, benefits and services that most citizens take for granted. Unfortunately, this is the reality for countless women and their families, despite repeated commitments by governments to ensure women’s equality by repealing or changing discriminatory laws. Sex discrimination persists in nationality and citizenship laws1 in over 50 countries around the world, continuing to trap women and their families in a web of sexist nationality laws. Too many governments have simply decided that a woman should have fewer rights than a man to pass on her citizenship to her children or her foreign spouse, or to acquire, change or keep her nationality. Now imagine being born with your rightful citizenship, secure in the knowledge that it is yours for a lifetime. And that one day, you will be able to pass on your nationality to your children and spouse, so that they too can enjoy their human rights and access the same freedoms, benefits and services to which we should all be entitled. The laws themselves can be incredibly complex, but the solution is very simple - governments should dismantle these sexist laws and give women and men the same nationality rights. Equality Now has been advocating for legal equality for women and girls for more than 20 years. Recognising that a quarter of the world’s governments are actively denying women equal nationality rights, in 2013 we dedicated our efforts to advocate 1 The terms are used interchangeably in this advocacy report. 3 for legal reform in line with countries’ international obligations. We specifically targeted discriminatory laws that prevent women from passing on their nationality to their children and foreign spouses on an equal basis with men, as well as laws preventing unmarried fathers from passing their nationality to children born overseas, and indicating a wide range of harmful consequences. In 2014, Equality Now co-founded the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights2, a coalition of organisations and institutions, in order to provide sustained and effective advocacy with the aim of eliminating sex discrimination in nationality laws. The steering committee of the coalition includes the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Women’s Refugee Commission, the Equal Rights Trust and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and Equality Now. Credit: Lena Stein. Equality Now January 2016 2 www.equalnationalityrights.org 4 PROGRESS TOWARDS EQUALITY Since 2013 there has been significant progress, both in terms of the amendment of discriminatory laws at the national level and the growing global movement for an end to discrimination within nationality laws. A number of countries have either removed, or taken steps to address, discriminatory provisions within their nationality laws: Senegal: On 25 June 2013, Parliament amended the law to grant Senegalese women the same rights as men to transfer their nationality to their husband and children. Bahamas: On 8 July 2013, the Constitutional Committee recommended that the new Constitution, yet to be voted on, include “the amendment of the citizenship provisions to achieve gender-neutrality and full equality between men and women with respect to the acquisition or transmission of their nationality.” Austria: On 1 August 2013, changes to the nationality law came into effect so that the unmarried father of a child born to a non-Austrian national can now transmit his Austrian nationality without fulfilling additional requirements beyond proof of paternity. The requirement now is for paternity to be recognised by the father or a court within eight weeks of the birth of the child, but if this is not done there is also a provision for easier acquisition by the child of Austrian citizenship. Jordan: On 12 January 2014, the Government of Jordan gave approval for regulations to grant the foreign spouses of Jordanian women and their children certain rights or “privileged services” (Mazaya), including residence permits and improved access to state medical care facilities, education and work in the private sector. However, for the most part, the improvements have yet to be implemented. No changes have been proposed to amend the still discriminatory nationality law. Vanuatu: On 16 January 2014, Parliament granted married women the right to pass their nationality to their foreign spouse on the same terms as married men. Denmark: On 25 June 2014, the Government granted unmarried fathers the same rights as unmarried mothers to transfer their nationality to their children born abroad after 1 July 2014. 5 Suriname: On 10 July 2014, Suriname’s National Assembly passed legislation granting Surinamese women the same rights as men to pass their nationality to their children and spouses. Niger: On 8 December 2014, Law No. 2014-60 of 5 November 2014 modifying the Nationality Code came into effect so that married women can now pass their nationality to their foreign spouse on an equal basis with men. Several countries in Africa, including Togo, Madagascar and Liberia have made