Gender Equality in the Republic of Congo

Republic_of_Congo
Flag of Republic_of_Congo
Population (in Mil.)	4.1
Sex Ratio (m/f)	0,99
Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m)	-
Fertility Rate	-
Income Ratio (f/m)	-
Literacy Ratio (f/m)	n/a
Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m)	0,18
Women in Parliament (in %)	8,5
SIGI Rank	0
More information on variables
Did you know that Republic_of_Congo ranks number 0 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 Republic_of_Congo" at genderindex.org:

Social Institutions

The Republic of Congo is based on a dual legal system: a French inspired form of modern law that was superimposed on the customary law. This system is not without problems concerning the situation of women within the country. Nevertheless, the constitution of 8 December 1963 proclaimed equality under the law of all citizens and guaranteed that, “women shall have rights equal to those of men.” The law gives full legal capacity to women irrespective of their marital status. However, discriminatory provisions in the laws governing inheritance, marriage and parental authority still exist.

Family Code

Congolese family law is the result of a process whereby women have progressed from the status of “a person of full age but without legal capacity” to that of “person of full age”. However, several discriminatory practices remain. The husband is still considered the head of the family. The criminal code treats adultery differently depending on whether the act is committed by the husband or the wife.

Concerning early marriage, the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men. However, the State Procurator may, in a “serious case”, grant a dispensation from this rule. Despite the minimum age, 56% of young women between 15 and 19 years are currently married (UNICEF, 2005). The family code recognizes so-called pre-marriages, i.e. “a solemn agreement whereby a man and a woman, with the consent of their families and, where necessary, in the presence of the chairman of the village committee mutually promise to enter marriage”. Minimum age for pre-marriages is not determined although the law recognizes the possibility of cohabitation. The lack of minimum age for pre-marriages is a major problem since the majority of couples cohabit under this statute, without being formally married. Congo thus faces a problem of “early pre-marriage”.

Polygamy is legal in the Republic of Congo. A woman is free to choose before the marriage union whether she agrees to polygamy. However, the husband might later start planning to contract a second wife. In this case, legally, the parties to the marriage have to go before the civil court with a request for revision of the marriage contract in order to choose the polygamy option. The husband cannot take a second wife if his first wife does not give her consent. If a couple agrees to a polygamous union from the beginning, a woman has no legal right to oppose to her husband taking a second wife. Recent data on the prevalence of polygamy is not available. In 1974, an estimated 21% of married men were polygamists (Welch and Glick, 1981).

Concerning parental authority, both spouses have the same rights in respect to their children and exercise their authority jointly. However, the husband is considered the head of the household and “exercises this function in the common interest of the marriage and of the children”, which is contradictory to the joint parental authority. Moreover, certain customs perpetuate discrimination between men and women on this matter.

Women have difficulties of access in matters of inheritance. Women’s inheritance rights depend on the property arrangements adopted at the time of the marriage. If 'community of property' was the norm chosen at the time of marriage, then a husband’s estate is divided so that half is inherited by his wife, and the other half by his family and children. If the couple was married in ‘separation of property’, a widow has no rights to the estate of her late husband but she retains a right of usufruct, i.e. she has the right to use the property even if it belongs to the family of the deceased spouse. In practice the wife often loses all rights of inheritance upon the death of her spouse, especially in the context of traditional or common-law marriages.

Physical Integrity

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is not widely practiced in the Republic of Congo but may occur among some of the immigrant communities from West African countries where it is more common. There is no specific legislation forbidding FGM.

The criminal code lists several types of violence against women, including acts of violence against women during armed conflicts. However, traditional practices and modern laws, both of which place the man at the head of the family, are perceived as allowing him the right to chastise his spouse. Domestic violence is widespread and rarely reported. In the private sphere, women suffer mistreatments of varying intensity. These acts are perpetrated under the seal of silence, which explains the small number of court actions regarding domestic violence to date. Furthermore, spousal rape is not an offense under Congolese law. Violence in the home tends to become accentuated during pregnancy.

A significant increase in the number of cases of sexual violence was recorded in connection with recent armed conflicts. A qualitative study reveals that cases are found in all age groups. The forms most frequently mentioned are rape, sexual harassment and sexual abuse.

Women account for 52% of the population, and the phenomenon of 'missing women' does not appear to be a problem.

Civil Liberties

Women’s rights to freedom of movement and choice of domicile is constitutionally recognized. However, husbands have final say in the choice of a home. Pre-married women are also required to live in the home chosen by the pre-married man.

There is no reported limitation to women’s freedom of dress.

Ownership Rights

Women have the full legal capacity irrespective of their matrimonial status. Concerning access to land, while women account for 60.4% of the agricultural workforce, they own only 25.5% of it in smallholdings. Unmarried women (single, divorced, or widowed) account for a majority of female landowners (70.4%). In the Republic of Congo, a woman can acquire land through one of the following channels: (i) matrilineal or patrilineal filiations (the head of the lineage decides how land should be allocated. Most frequently, the head of the lineage is a man and the filiations are patrilineal. But the head of the lineage has the capacity to choose to allocate the land to a woman.); (ii) marriage (at the husband’s request, the head of the lineage may allocate land to the wife); or (iii) rent and purchase (this is a recent method of land acquisition and not yet widely used by women).

Women face practical difficulties with regards to their access to bank loans, due to the rigid approach of the banking sector, women’s lack of training in management and bookkeeping and also the absence of a legal framework and of regulations in the micro-financing sphere.

Concerning access to property, there is no legal discrimination. However, the husband's status as the head of household limits the possibility for women to own property.

Sources

• CEDAW (2002), Considerations of reports submitted by states parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; combined initial, second, third, fourth and fifth periodic reports of States parties - Congo, CEDAW/C/COG/1-5, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
• CEDAW (2003), Summary record of the 606th meeting, CEDAW/C/SR.606, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
• CEDAW (2002), Summary record of the 607th meeting, CEDAW/C/SR.607, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
• CRC (2006), Considerations of reports submitted by states parties under article 44 of the convention : concluding observations of the committee on the rights of the Child, CRC/C/COG/CO/1.
• FOCUS GROUP WITH VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE (1998), Report on materna land infant health and family planning, 4 pages.
• UN (2003), Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective. Violence against Women, Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Radhila Coomaraswamy, submitted in accordance with commision on Human Rights resulution.
• UNICEF (2005), early marriage: an harmful practice, The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2005
• US. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (2006), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Congo, R., Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
• US. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (2006), International Religious Freedom Report, Congo, R., Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
• WELCH, C.E. and P.C. GLICK (1981), The incidence of Polygamy in Contemporary Africa : A research note, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 43, No. 1. (Feb., 1981), pp. 191-193.

The Africa for Women's Rights Campaign

Key facts

• CEDAW: ratified in 1982
• CEDAW Protocol: signed in 2008
• Maputo Protocol: ratified in 2007

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: the Republic of Congo

Although the Republic of Congo ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1982 and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) in 2007, the government has still not ratified the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.

The Coalition of the Campaign is particularly concerned by the following continued violations of women’s rights in Republic of Congo: persistence of discriminatory legislation, discrimination within family, violence against women; and limited access to education, decision-making positions, healthcare and justice

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Sources

• Focal Point: OCDH
• Recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, January 2003
• Inter-Parliamentary Union
• UNICEF
• OIF