Women’s Status in the Family and Legal Status

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class="clear-block block block-views"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="view view-taxonomy-landing-page view-id-taxonomy_landing_page view-display-id-block_1 view-dom-id-5"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="item-list"> <ul> <li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first"> <div class="views-field-field-copy-image-fid"> <span class="field-content"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/child-marriage-south-sudan"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130504215839im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/copy/banner_southsudan.jpg" width="322" height="250" class="imagefield imagefield-field_copy_image"/></a></span> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-2 views-row-even views-row-last"> <div class="views-field-field-copy-image-fid"> <span class="field-content"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/node/95629"><img 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href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/07/south-sudan-end-widespread-child-marriage">South Sudan: End Widespread Child Marriage</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Mar 7, 2013</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">The government of South Sudan should increase efforts to protect girls from child marriage. The country’s widespread child marriage exacerbates South Sudan’s pronounced gender gaps in school enrollment, contributes to soaring maternal mortality rates, and violates the right of girls to be free from violence, and to marry only when they are able and willing to give their free consent.</div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-2 views-row-even views-row-last"> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/10/un-mark-day-girl-fighting-child-marriage">UN: Mark Day of Girl By Fighting Child Marriage</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Oct 10, 2012</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">As the world celebrates the first International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, 2012, eliminating child marriages should be a key political priority for governments to protect the rights of girls and women.</div> 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Nearly one in five has been raped.</div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-4 views-row-even"> <div class="views-field-field-imagefile-fid"> <span class="field-content"></span> </div> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/06/extend-family-leave-all-workers">Extend family leave to all workers</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Feb 6, 2013</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">Two years ago, the signs were clear. My mother, with Alzheimer's, heart failure, and kidney failure, was not going to live long. My brothers and I took time off work for medical appointments and hospice care. I worried about her comfort, about how my dad would cope and how the grandkids would feel.</div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-5 views-row-odd"> <div class="views-field-field-imagefile-fid"> <span class="field-content"></span> </div> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/12/26/laws-hurting-bangladesh-women-linger-books">Laws Hurting Bangladesh Women Linger on the Books</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Dec 26, 2012</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">Successive governments in Bangladesh have allowed harsh, discriminatory personal laws to persist. After a year of interviews, Aruna Kashyap finds women trapped in abusive marriages or propelled into poverty after divorce or separation.</div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-6 views-row-even"> <div class="views-field-field-imagefile-fid"> <span class="field-content"></span> </div> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/11/its-time-governments-finally-put-end-child-marriage">It's time for governments to finally put an end to child marriage</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Oct 11, 2012</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content"><p>The first UN International Day of the Girl, designed to promote education for young women everywhere, is the perfect opportunity to finally stamp out child marriage, writes Gauri van Gulik from Human Rights Watch.</p></div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-7 views-row-odd"> <div class="views-field-field-imagefile-fid"> <span class="field-content"></span> </div> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/10/un-mark-day-girl-fighting-child-marriage">UN: Mark Day of Girl By Fighting Child Marriage</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Oct 10, 2012</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">As the world celebrates the first International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, 2012, eliminating child marriages should be a key political priority for governments to protect the rights of girls and women.</div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-8 views-row-even"> <div class="views-field-field-imagefile-fid"> <span class="field-content"></span> </div> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/03/marriages-made-heaven-living-hell-many">Marriages: Made in Heaven, Living Hell for Many</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Oct 3, 2012</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">Bangladesh's family laws for Muslims, Hindus and Christians, some dating to the 19th century, grant men far greater powers than women in marriage and accessing divorce. They do not recognise women's many contributions to marital homes, husbands' businesses and other family property. They give virtually no guidance to courts for determining maintenance amounts when marriages break down. Yet these laws have remained frozen in time for decades, and in some cases more than a century.</div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-9 views-row-odd"> <div class="views-field-field-imagefile-fid"> <span class="field-content"></span> </div> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/01/trapped-abusive-marriage">Trapped in an Abusive Marriage</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Oct 1, 2012</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">When Namrata, a Bangladeshi Hindu, asked for a glass of water, her husband instead gave her a glass of acid. Today, with her mouth and throat destroyed, she eats through a feeding tube. Having already spent her life savings, her husband disappeared after the attack. Yet Namrata cannot legally divorce her husband due to Bangladesh’s archaic Hindu family laws.</div> </div> </li> <li class="views-row views-row-10 views-row-even views-row-last"> <div class="views-field-field-imagefile-fid"> <span class="field-content"></span> </div> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/19/un-human-rights-council-adoption-outcome-tunisias-upr">UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of Tunisia's UPR</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-created"> <span class="field-content">Sep 19, 2012</span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-news-teaser-value"> <div class="field-content">Human Rights Watch welcomes the Universal Periodic Review report on Tunisia, which includes recommendations to improve the situation of human rights in a context of democratic transition. Although Tunisia’s government accepted many of these recommendations, it also rejected several critical ones aimed at preventing a sliding back into authoritarianism.</div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news-all/733">more documents on this topic »</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <div class="limiter clear-block"> <div class="clear-block"><a href="#header" class="back-to-top">Back to top</a></div> <div class="nav"> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/rss" class="rss-link">RSS</a> <div class="pipe-links"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/home">Home</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/our-work">Our Work</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/news">News</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/publications">Publications</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/multimedia">Multimedia</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/about">About Us</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/contact-us">Contact Us</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130504215839/http://ff.hrw.org/">Film Festival</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130504215839/https://secure.hrw.org/site/c.nlIWIgN2JwE/b.8585041/k.3E50/Donate_to_Defend_Human_RIghts/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?msource=n">Donate</a></div> </div> <div class="footer-blocks clear-block"> <div id="block-views-hrw_footer-block_1" class="clear-block block block-views"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="view view-hrw-footer view-id-hrw_footer view-display-id-block_1 view-dom-id-6"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"> <div class="views-field-body"> <div class="field-content">Human Rights Watch<br/> 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor<br/> New York, NY 10118-3299<br/> USA<br/> Tel: 1-(212) 290-4700<br/> <br/> <strong><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/en/contact-us">Contact Us - Global Offices</a></strong><br/> <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130504215839/http://ff.hrw.org/">Film Festival</a></strong><br/> <strong><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/en/about/jobs">Employment</a></strong></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-tic-5" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="col-left clear-block"><strong class="vocab-header"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/regions">Browse by Region</a></strong><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="first first"><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/africa">Africa</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/americas">Americas</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/asia">Asia</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/europe/central-asia">Europe/Central Asia</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20130504215839/http://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa">Middle East/N. 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Women’s Status in the Family and Legal Status