Women form a considerable portion of a country’s population. Similarly, women constitute a large percentage of the group that participates in economical activities and particularly in agriculture. However, many women do not have proper access to natural resources and credit facilities. Moreover, women tend to be concentrated in informal sectors where they work without an employment contract and paid poorly. Women are highly discriminated in variety of ways that range from international instruments and national legislation to customary laws that are prevalent in Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific region. lastly, women’s discrimination deteriorates further because of the cultural attitudes that are highly internalized by women. In response to the great discrimination of women, international women conferences have played a significant role in assisting in formulation and enacting of appropriate discrimination laws to curtail gender bias.
In many nations in the 19th century, women could not execute any legal acts without the consent of their husbands. The prohibition entailed some states denying women the right to engage in any employment, without the authorization of their husbands such as in Indonesia or Syrian Arab. However, with the development of appropriate anti-discrimination laws, such laws have become outdated. For instance, the Brazilian code of 1916 restricted women from handling some legal acts without prior approval of their spouses. However, with the enacting of the laws 4131 in 1962, the law allowed Brazilian women to transact most acts without approval from their husbands. Further amendments of the constitution in 1988 and 2002 affirmed the rights and equality of both husbands and wives (Agarwal, 2004).
In the 19th century, most constitutions granted men the right to acquire and manage family properties. This limited women from accessing and managing family properties. These days, many nations have adopted laws that empower women to acquire and manage family properties. For example, by 1998 in Philippians, the law allowed joint administration of family property by spouses. However, in case of disagreements the husband decision prevailed. The Brazilian Civil Code of 2002 gave both spouses equal rights for access and management of family property, as well as rights to administer separate property. Similarly, the Turkey Civil Code of 2001 allowed husband and wives to have equal say in marriages. This encompass the access to property particularly land and mainly in nations where land sales is rare, and inheritance is the main form of land acquisition. African nations are almost at par with Europeans nations in upholding laws for equity of women and men. For instance, in Tanzania the Land Act of 1999 acknowledged impartiality of men’s and women in access and management of natural resources (Agarwal, 2004).
The continuous developments of women discrimination laws have greatly uplifted the participation of women politically, socially as well as economically. Enacting of legislations that allow women to participate in legal transactions, as well as engage in formal employment without prior authorization from their husbands is a great move in the liberation of women. Similarly, adoption of codes of acts that allow women to have equal rights in access and management of natural resources such as land was imperative move.
Reference List
Agarwal, B. (2004). A Field of One’s Own: Gender Rights in Latin AMERICA,Asia and Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kubasek, N. K., Browne, M. N., Herron, D. J., Giampetro-Meyer, A., Barkacs, L. L., Dhooge, L. J., & Williamson, C. (2012). Dynamic business law (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.