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| Ivory_Coast | |
 Flag of Ivory_Coast | |
| Population (in Mil.) | 21.1 |
 Sex Ratio (m/f)
| 1,03 |
 Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m)
| - |
 Fertility Rate
| - |
 Income Ratio (f/m)
| - |
 Literacy Ratio (f/m)
| 0,63 |
 Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m)
| 0,36 |
 Women in Parliament (in %)
| 8,5 |
| SIGI Rank | 58 |
| More information on variables | |
| Did you know that Ivory_Coast ranks number 58 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 Ivory_Coast" at genderindex.org: | |
Contents |
Social Institutions
Although Cote D'Ivoire ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of any Form of Discrimination against Women in 1995, the convention’s terms are rarely applied, as the national legal framework has not yet been harmonized with the convention. Traditional laws prevail in different spheres and, although they have no real binding power today, they still justify the existence of customs that often discriminate against women.
Family Code
Many discriminatory provisions persist in Ivorian legislation, including:
Within the family: The Civil Code provides that the man holds the status of head of the family (art. 58). The husband chooses the family residence (art. 60). The husband has the right under common law to administer and dispose of marital property (art. 81). A divorced woman cannot remarry during a period of 300 days from the date the divorce is pronounced (arts. 25 and 26). A woman can be punished for adultery wherever the offence is committed, while the man is only punished in the case of habitual adultery or adultery that takes place in the marital home (Criminal Code, art. 391). According to the Law on Succession 1964 (n° 64-374), “property is passed to the parents and his spouse, in that order”.
Physical Integrity
Côte d’Ivoire is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of Female genital mutilation in West Africa, ranking at the 5th place in the sub region, after Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. According to the preliminary results of the MICS1 2006, nearly 40% of women have undergone FGM/C in the country. The prevalence is particularly high in the North (87,8%), North-West (87,9%) and West (73,3%).
There is a strong social consensus around these mutilations. The main reasons given to justify FGM/C practice in the country are the following: i) it is a way to test the courage and the endurance of the young girls, ii) it is a guarantee for the wife’s faithfulness, iii) it is a ritual of purification and social integration (preparation to life as a housewife), iv) it is a religious requirement.
In Côte d’Ivoire, FGM/C is practiced among most ethnic and religious groups and within all layers of society, but prevalence is higher among Voltaïques (72,2 %) and Northern Mande (70,5%) ethnic groups, among the Muslim population, in rural areas and among women/girls that have not had access to education. Data show that young girls and even babies are increasingly affected by FGM/C practices, whereas the phenomenon is more and more taking an urban character, due to the recent crisis and massive population displacement.[1]
Civil Liberties
It is difficult for Ivorian women to obtain access to justice, particularly due to a lack of information concerning their rights and the laws that protect them, for fear of being rejected by their families, and because of the significant costs of trials.
Ownership Rights
Ivorian women and men have equal ownership rights. There is no gender discrimination regarding access to land. However, it should be noted that according to an act adopted in 1998, all rural land (developed or not) is state-owned and, thus, inaccessible to both men and women. Both genders have equal access to usufruct of rural land, which can be transferred by one of five means: purchase; inheritance; donation among living people; intestate succession; or through bonds.
Legally, there is no gender discrimination regarding access to property other than land. This right is, however, limited under the option of “marriage with community of property” which considers husbands to be the head of the household and gives them the authority to manage assets.
Access to bank loans is difficult for women, not because of legal discrimination but because of their situation. Very often, they are unable to meet the lending criteria established by banks, such as a title to a house and production of a profitable cash crop. Some banks also require married women to secure their husband’s approval for loans.
References
- ↑ *UNICEF, Female Genital/ Mutilation Cutting, www.unicef.org/ <br>
Sources
- AFROL GENDER PROFILE, Cote D'Ivoire, Available : http://afrol.com/Categories/Women/profiles/cote d'Ivoire_women.htm
- CEDAW (2005), Concluding comments of the committee – CEDAW : Cote d'Ivoire. 22/07/2005.A/60/38, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
- MCT (2004). Human Rights Violations in Cote d'Ivoire, Alternative Report to the United Nations committee against torture.
- 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), Female genital mutilation/Cutting: A statistical exploration, New York, UNICEF, 2005
- UNICEF (2005b), Changing a harmful social convention: female genital mutilation/cutting, UNICEF Innocenti Digest (2005), available at http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/fgmgb-2005.pdf.
The Africa for Women's Rights Campaign
Key facts
- CEDAW: ratified in 1995
- CEDAW Protocol: not signed
- Maputo Protocol: signed in 2004, not ratified
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: Cote D'Ivoire
Although Côte d’Ivoire ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1995, the government has never submitted a report on implementation of its provisions to the UN Committee in charge of monitoring its application (CEDAW Committee). Côte d’Ivoire has not ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) or the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.
Sources
- Focal Points: WILDAF-Cote D'Ivoire
- Ligue pour la défense des droits de l’Homme (LDH)
- Recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, July 2005
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, www.ipu.org
- Amnesty International, www.amnestyinternational/cote_d'ivoire
- UNCIFEF, www.unicef.org
- The Africa for Women's Rights campaign
- WILDAF
The Women, Business and the Law
Where are laws equal for men and women? 
The Women, Business and the Law report presents indicators based on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as entrepreneurs and employees. Several of these indicators draw on the Gender Law Library, a collection of over 2,000 legal provisions impacting women's economic status. This report does not seek to judge or rank countries, but to provide information to inform discussions about women’s economic rights. Covering 128 economies, Women, Business and the Law provides data covering 6 areas: accessing institutions,using property, getting a job, dealing with taxes, building credit, and going to court.Read more about the methodology.
For detailed information on Cote D'Ivoire, please visit the Women, Business and
the Law Cote D'Ivoire page.
