Women Legal rights

21.01 Eritrea acceded to the UN Convention to Eliminate on all forms of Discrimination against Women on 5 September 1995. (UN Treaties Databases, 17 August 2012) [75]. A

national report submitted by the Eritrean government in 2009 to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the purposes of a United Nations Universal Periodic Review [A/HRC/WG.6/6/ERI/1], carried out in 2009, stated:

‘The Constitution of Eritrea and other pertinent laws guarantee equality of all persons under the law. It further provides that no person may be discriminated against on

account of race, ethnic origin, language, colour, gender, religion, disability, age, political view, or social or economic status or any other improper factors…it has always been a basic State policy of Eritrea to promote equality between men and women. Eritrea has put in place a variety of legal regimes for protecting the rights and interests of women.

This regime has been reflected, inter alia, in the Transitional Civil Code of Eritrea, such as family law, the Land Proclamation No. 58/1994, Election of Regional Assemblies Proclamation No. 140/2004, and a Proclamation to Abolish Female Circumcision No.

158/2007.

‘The Eritrean Constitution and other pertinent laws guaranty [sic] equal rights for women and men. In addition to the supreme principle enshrined in the Constitution prohibiting discrimination on account of race, ethnic origin, language, color, gender, religion, disability, age, political view, social or economic status, various Articles in the Constitution grant equal right to women as men…right after the independence of

Eritrea, the Provisional Government undertook measures to revise the inherited colonial

laws. Consequently, Proclamation No.2/1991 (the Transitional Civil Code of Eritrea) and Proclamation No. 4/1991 (the Transitional Penal Code of Eritrea) repealed all

discriminatory clauses and connotations from the colonial Civil Codes and included protective legal measures. To mention some important provisions in the Transitional Codes pertaining to the status of women:

 ‘Marriage is now based on the free consent of both partners, and needs no parental consent. The age of the female partner was raised to 18 from the previous 15 years;

 Women can enter into a contract of marriage freely;

 bride price and abduction were prohibited by law;

 Irregular unions have been abolished because they don’t provide any legal protection of women’s right[s] upon separation;

 the death penalty is commuted to life imprisonment for convicted women who may be pregnant or have children under three years of age;

 abortion, although still punishable under the penal code, is permitted in situations where a physician certifies that the mother would suffer grave and permanent damage due to severe physical and mental stress, or when the pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest;

 Rape is punishable by law with a maximum imprisonment of 15 years;

 Pornography and other indecent and obscene exposure are also punishable under the Transitional Penal code of Eritrea; and

 A provision of the colonial Civil Code which bluntly glorifies the husband as head of the family was repealed and replaced by a new Article which recognizes the equal power and status of the spouses.’ [73a]

Political rights

21.02 The United States State Department ‘2012 Human Rights Report: Eritrea’, published on 19 April 2013, stated: ‘Women held four ministerial positions in the government: justice, labor and human welfare, tourism, and health. Women also served in other government positions, including as mayors and regional administrators.’ [3b] (section 3)

21.03 The National Union of Eritrean Women website, undated, accessed on 25 February 2011, provided the following information about the participation of women in society:

‘The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) had a clear policy on the issue of

women. As a result, its popular motto 'Equality through Participation' served not only as a slogan, but also as a practical doctrine in the struggle for the emancipation of women.

‘The 1st and 2nd congresses of the EPLF, held in 1977 and 1987 respectively, clearly stated the Front’s principles on the rights and equality of women.

‘This trend continued after independence. Policy and legislative measures where taken to insure the participation of women, who comprise half of the society. The fact that 30%

of parliament seats are exclusively reserved for women, who can, moreover, contest the other seats in the elections, is an example of some of the measures taken to that end.

‘The Constitution of Eritrea guarantees equal rights for both sexes. The Government of the State of Eritrea (GSE) made a deliberate effort to ensure women’s participation in every stage of the constitution-making process.’ [78]

See alsoPolitical systemandPolitical affiliation.

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Social and economic rights

21.04 Information published in the peacewomen.org website, undated, accessed on 24 February 2011, stated that the Eritrean government ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 5 September 1995. [77]

21.05 The United States State Department ‘2012 Human Rights Report: Eritrea’, published on 19 April 2013, stated:

‘Women have a legal right to equal educational opportunities, equal pay for equal work, and equal property rights. The percentage of men receiving access to education,

economic resources, and employment exceeded that of women, particularly in rural areas. The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare and the Ministry of Health are the primary government offices responsible for promoting legal rights of women along with the quasigovernmental National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW).’ [3b] (section 6) 21.06 The Social Institutions and Gender Index (Eritrea section), 2012 version, accessed on

23 May 2012, provided the following information:

‘The Eritrean Constitution provides for full ownership rights for women. The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front established a policy on land redistribution to improve women’s access to land by granting extensive land rights to divorced, widowed and childless women. However, the distribution of land is in most cases handled by land distribution committees at village level. The National Union of Eritrean Women reports that negative attitudes of local authorities towards women’s land rights prevents the principle of

gender equality being implemented in practice. The land rights of married women are often subsumed under male household heads when land is allocated and registered.

The position of women in polygamous marriages is also unclear as husbands can claim land for one wife only. Many women also lack the means of working the land and face specific difficulties, especially in regions in which cultural norms prevent women from clearing land.

‘With regard to access to property other than land, Eritrean women have equal rights to conclude contracts, administer property and run businesses. In 2003, 41 percent of all business licenses issued in the Central Region of Eritrea over the previous five years were to women.

‘There are no laws that discriminate against women with respect to access to credit.

However, in practice, a lack of property and collateral make it difficult for Eritrean

women to access capital in commercial banks, where they access only 9 percent of available credit. The Government’s Savings and Micro Credit Programme is the largest micro-credit provider in the country and 40% of its customers are women.’ [15]

21.07 A paper published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, undated, accessed on 16 July 2013, stated:

‘Land tenure legislation promulgated in Eritrea in 1994 reflects a strong policy of gender equality. The right of ownership of all land in Eritrea is the exclusive right of the

government. Every Eritrean citizen, whose main source of income is the land, has a lifetime right of usufruct over land with the provision that such a right is neither divisible nor inheritable. Eritreans qualify automatically for land upon attainment of age 18 regardless of sex, religion or marital status; individual holdings are registered and lifetime usufructuary title-deeds issued.’ [63]

21.08 A report submitted by the Sexual Rights Initiative (an association of NGOs including Mulabi, Action Canada, Action India, Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning, and others) to the United Nations Human Rights Council, in December 2009, for the purposes of a universal periodic review, stated:

‘The Constitution guarantees freedom of movement to everyone and the transitional civil code provides both spouses with the right to choose residence. However, deeply rooted traditions practically necessitate that after marriage a woman automatically holds the domicile of her spouse. Socially, men are entitled to select their wives, although women have no such entitlement, especially in the patriarchal rural communities. In rural areas, women after marriage stay at home, and never go out without the permission of their husbands. The father at home is the dominant figure financially and socially and his daughters cannot go out with men or getting [sic] married without his permission.

Women are not allowed any relationship outside the marriage frame, and it is hard for the women to travel alone seeking education or work especially in rural areas away from Asmara.’ [70]

21.09 The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) website, accessed on 21 August 2013, provided the following statistical information on life expectancy, education and health:

Eritrean women - Statistics (UNICEF)

Life expectancy: females as a percentage of males, 2011 Life expectancy: The number of years newborn children would live if subject to the mortality risks prevailing for the cross-section of population at the time of their birth.

108

Adult literacy rate: females as a percentage of males, 2007 -2011*

73

Enrolment ratios: females as a percentage of males, Primary gross enrolment ratios school 2008-2011*

The gross enrolment ratio is the number of children enrolled in a schooling level (primary or secondary), regardless of

84

age, divided by the population of the age group that officially corresponds to that level.

Enrolment ratios: females as a percentage of males, Secondary gross enrolment ratios school 2008-2011*

The gross enrolment ratio is the number of children enrolled in a schooling level (primary or secondary), regardless of age, divided by the population of the age group that officially corresponds to that level.

76

Survival rate to last grade of primary: females as percentage of males 2008-2011*

94

Contraceptive prevalence (%), 2007-2012* 8

Antenatal care coverage (%), At least one visit, 2007-2012* 70

Antenatal care coverage (%), At least four visits, 2007 -2012*

41

Delivery care (%), Skilled attendant at birth, 2007 -2012* 28

Delivery care (%), Institutional delivery, 2007 -2012* 26

* Data refers to the most recent year available during the period specified in the column heading. [52a]

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Violence against women

21.10 The African Development Bank website provided the following information, dated 3 March 2009, about gender-based violence in Eritrea:

‘[Gender-based violence] GBV takes many forms including FGM; rape/attempted rape, domestic violence, enforced child bearing and early child marriages to older men. A number of research reports acknowledge that all forms of violence against women are underreported in Eritrea as most victims are prevented by custom and fear from reporting the assaults against them. Eritrean police do not always record any violence against women as a separate category, making it impossible to accurately state prevalence.

‘Although rape is a criminal offence in Eritrea, there is a provision in the Penal Code that if the perpetrator of rape decides to marry the victim with the consent of the latter the prosecution is closed. The provision has its origin in customary laws/codes which favours this resolution of rape since it preserves the honour of the family and

regularises the sexual intercourse and appeases the “owners” of the girl’s sexuality, namely the parents. In fact, some parents of raped girls prefer to marry their daughters to the offender in order to cover up the offence and shame inflicted on the family, ignoring the sexual injury and the emotional trauma of their daughter. Perpetrators of rape, in turn, opt to marry their victims as a means of escaping justice, only to divorce the women soon after the marriage.’ [97]