In honor of International Day of Families today, Equality Now released a report examining the status of family laws in 20 African countries, focusing on issues of child marriage, polygamy, marital rape, equal rights to divorce settlement, child custody, and more. Though there's been some progress in achieving equality in the family in recent years, there is still much more to do to protect women and girls worldwide.

In Tanzania and Sudan, for example, marital rape and child marriage continue to be legal. And in Nigeria, there are discriminatory inheritance laws and laws banning same-sex marriages. These are just three examples of many in our family law report. 

When there are inequalities in the family, women and girls are more likely to fall victim to domestic violence or other harmful practices, putting their health and safety at risk, and they are less likely to be active in the public sphere or enjoy economic freedom and empowerment.

During our research, we spoke with women and girls across the continent, including a woman in Malawi who was forced into marriage at 14 years old and subsequently left school and became pregnant at a young age. She said, “Watching my friends continue with their schooling while I grappled with the challenges of marriage has left lasting scars…Sometimes, I would watch them come from school from my grass-thatched house veranda and cry. The struggles of child marriage are still vivid: the beatings, the lost opportunities, and the hunger - my husband would often beat me senselessly, and I would go to bed without food often.”

There can be no equality in society without equality in the family. Family law is the foundation of society, and equitable family law is essential to achieving an equal, inclusive, prosperous, and peaceful Africa.

We need your support to continue advocating and working alongside our local partners to ensure African States align with international standards on human rights and gender equality. Equality Now works with partners around the world to address discrimination in family law. We are a founding Coordination Committee Member and the secretariat of the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law, co-convenors of the Africa Family Law Network, and currently the secretariat of the Hurra Coalition, which is working to address unequal family laws in the MENA region.  

The new research we launched today will form the basis of our work, alongside the Africa Family Law Network, challenging unequal family law in support of Africa’s 583.2 million women and girls.

But we have more to do to ensure equality in the family, and we need your help.

Together, we can protect women and girls, creating a more equal and just society, and a safer and more prosperous world for everyone. Please join us with a contribution today.