Gender Equality in Burundi

From Wikigender.org

Burundi
Flag of Burundi
Population (in Mil.)	9.9
Sex Ratio (m/f)	0,98
Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m)	1.06
Fertility Rate	4.66
Income Ratio (f/m)	0.77
Literacy Ratio (f/m)	0,78
Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m)	0,38
Women in Parliament (in %)	30,5
SIGI Rank	50
More information on variables
Did you know that Burundi ranks number 50 of 102 countries on the OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index? To learn more, see the official country note "Gender Equality and Social Institutions in Burundi" at genderindex.org:

Social Institutions

Burundi’s Article 17 of the Constitutional Act of Transition establishes the equality of men and women before the law. However, the government fails to implement effectively the act’s provisions. The traditional society is a patriarchal and patrilineal one, in which a woman is constantly under the protection of her father, brother, husband or the family council. Women in Burundi have more duties than rights and many times must subordinate themselves due to the customs and practices governing the relations between men and women. The fact that Burundi was a war zone until as late as 2005, when the first successful post-war democratic elections were held, further complicates matters. While gender equality had not been taken seriously before the conflict, women’s rights worsened during fighting. For many women, the war meant displacement, rape, slavery or murder.

Family Code

The Code of Person and Family was modified in 1993 in order to eliminate previously legal discrimination. Despite a legal system that ensures gender equality, matrimonial arrangements, succession, legacies and gifts related to marriage are still governed by customary law.

With regards to early marriage, the legal age of marriage is 18 years old for women and 21 years old for men. Seven percent of women between 15 and 19 are currently married. Burundi experiences an acute problem of adolescent pregnancy. Between 1980 and 1990 pregnancy was the main reason for the expulsion of girls from secondary school.

Polygamy was abolished in the 1993 amendments of the Code of Person and Family but tends to occur still, especially on the Imbo and Moso plains in the outer region of Burundi. The country’s long history of conflict and crisis has also affected families by causing promiscuity and polygamy.

The 1993 amendments of the Code of Person and Family give men and women equal rights and responsibilities in terms of parental authority regarding guardianship, wardship, trusteeship, and adoption of children.

Burundian jurisprudence allows women to inherit from their husbands. Similarly, girls and boys may inherit equal shares of their parents’ property. The government recognizes, however, that this jurisprudence has not been sufficiently publicized. Following customary law and traditions, a peasant woman cannot inherit from her father or her husband.

Physical Integrity

Female genital mutilation reportedly does not exist in Burundi and information on the existence of specific legislation is limited.

While violence against women was particularly severe during the armed conflict and included rape, torture and enslavement of young girls and women, the situation of women is still quite alarming. Since the December 2002 ceasefire, women’s security continues to be threatened by government soldiers and rebels. Women in rural areas are particularly affected following displacements linked to the crisis, together with the phenomenon of non-marital relationships and polygamy. The law prohibits rape (punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment), but does not specifically prohibit spousal rape. In 2003, 983 cases of sexual violence were registered. This number rose to 1675 in 2004. It should be noted that many cases of rape go unreported or are settled among the families involved, especially in rural areas, as a result of cultural constraints. Domestic violence against women also occurs and while wives have the right to charge their husbands with physical abuse, they rarely do so. The police do not normally intervene in domestic disputes and there are no known court cases on the abuse of women, even if the law protects women in terms of physical abuse.

Concerning the problem of missing women, the population sex ratio in Burundi is 0.99 and the sex ratio at birth is 1.03.

Civil Liberties

Women’s freedom of movement is not limited in Burundi, but remains difficult due to security reasons. Since the amendment of the Code of Person and Family, women have enjoyed the right to freedom of movement. Married women make their choice of residence and domicile in agreement with their husband. In the event of disagreement, each spouse may request that the dispute be resolved in the family council or, if necessary, in court.

Women’s freedom of dress is not limited in Burundi.

Ownership Rights

Men and women have the same legal status in civil matters, such as in the conclusion of contracts and in the administration of their property.

Men’s and women’s access to land differs in the sense that, by traditional law, a woman cannot inherit land from her father or husband. Burundian jurisprudence provides for equal access to land, but the government has failed to publicize this right.

Women have a restricted access to bank loans, with explicitly discriminatory credit practices. Until recently, women only had access to very small loans to be used for domestic expenditures while men had access to commercial loans. Theoretically, a woman no longer has to obtain her husband’s permission to open a bank account, engage in business or take out a loan, but the number of loans granted to women remains insignificant. In 1995, 1.4 percent of loans were made to women, but this number is increasing and the nature of the loans has extended to commercial and home loans. Even the central bank, which long resisted granting home loans to married women, has recently yielded in this aspect. Some micro-credit financial institutions encourage women to save and grant them credits at favorable rates; 67.3 percent of Credit Union Bank credits go to women.

With regards to access to property, the 1993 amendments of the Code of Person and Family provide for joint management of family property for women and wives in the absence of their husbands. Spousal consent for any act to dispose of common property is still needed.

Sources

AFROL GENDER PROFILE, Burundi, Available : http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/profiles/burundi_women.htm
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (2004), Burundi, Rape-the hidden human rights abuse, Report.
CEDAW (2000), Consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 18 of the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women – Initial reports of States parties : Burundi,. CEDAW/C/BDI/1, 3 July 2000, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
CEDAW (2007), Consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 18 of the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women – Combined second, third and fourth periodic reports of States parties : Burundi, CEDAW/C/BDI/4, 6 march 2007, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
FAO, IFAT, ILC (2004), Rural Women’s access to Land and Property in Selected countries, pregress towards achieving the aims of the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, Report Gender and Population Division (FAO) ,Technical Advisory Division (IFAD, and International Land Coalition (ILC).
IPU (2007), Legislation and other national provisions on FGM, Web : http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/fgm-prov.htm accessed 26th July 2007.
UNOCHA (2003), Burundi: Feature – Civilians losing the war, United Nationas Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Integrated Regional Information network (IRIN).
US. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (2006), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Burundi, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
US. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (2006), International Religious Freedom Report, Burundi, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
WOMANWARPEACE.ORG (2007), Country profiles, reports and fact sheets on Burundi, http://www.womenwarpeace.org/burundi/burundi.htm , updated on 01/03/2007.

The Africa for Women's Rights Campaign

Key facts

CEDAW: ratified in 1992
CEDAW Protocol: neither signed, nor ratified
Maputo Protocol: ratified in 2003

The Campaign

On 8 March 2009 the "Africa for Women's Rights" Campaign was launched at the initiative of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in collaboration with fove non-governmental regional organisations: the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies(ACDHRS), Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) and Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA). These organisations make up the Steering Committee responsible for the coordination of the Campaign.

The Campaign aims to put an end to discrimination and violence against women in Africa, calling on states to ratify international and regional instruments protecting women's rights, to repeal all discriminatory laws, to adopt laws protecting the rights of women and to take all necessary measures to wensure their effective implementation.

Country Focus: Burundi

Although Burundi has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), it has still not ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), or the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.

The Coalition of the Campaign remains particularly concerned by: the persistence of legislative provisions that discriminate against women; the legal vacuum in the area of succession, marriage regimes and gifts; the perpetration of sexual and domestic violence with almost total impunity; and the limited access by women to education, the labour market and health care.

Sources

Focal Points: Ligue ITEKA
Dushirehamwe, www.dushirehamwe.org
Centre de paix pour les femmes (CPF), Interview of Perpetue Kanyange, CPF President, www.africa4womensrights.org
Recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, April 2008
United Nations Integrated Ofﬁce in Burundi (BINUB)
Interim Report of the United Nations Independent Expert charged with examining the situation of human
rights in Burundi, August 2008
UNICEF