Enforcing Rights and Correcting Wrongs - Asia-Pacific Regional ...
Enforcing Rights and Correcting Wrongs - Asia-Pacific Regional ...
Enforcing Rights and Correcting Wrongs - Asia-Pacific Regional ...
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Developed regions<br />
basic rights, regardless of their religion, race, place of<br />
origin, political opinions, colour, religion or creed <strong>and</strong><br />
so on. Apart from Fiji, no constitution specifically protects<br />
discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. 53<br />
However, Vanuatu’s example of criminalizing discrimination<br />
exists where the 1981 Penal Code makes<br />
discrimination a criminal offence – an unusual provision<br />
in the <strong>Pacific</strong> region. 54 2007<br />
2004<br />
East <strong>Asia</strong> & Paci�c<br />
2007 23.1%<br />
Latin America 2004<br />
& Caribbean 2007 6.9%<br />
34.5%<br />
But no one in Vanuatu has been<br />
known to have Middle been East prosecuted 2004 for a breach of Section<br />
150 despite& North the Africa high2007 level of discrimination against<br />
ni-Vanuatu women in both conventional <strong>and</strong> kustom<br />
law systems. 2004<br />
South <strong>Asia</strong><br />
Legal provisions discriminate on the basis of gender. One<br />
of the mostSub-Saharan glaring examples 2004 of how legal systems in<br />
Africa<br />
<strong>Asia</strong>-<strong>Pacific</strong> drift from2007 42.6%<br />
the principles of equality is in<br />
nationality rights, part of the foundation of citizenship<br />
Cambodia<br />
China<br />
Indonesia<br />
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of<br />
Korea, Republic of<br />
Lao People's Democratic Republic<br />
Malaysia<br />
Mongolia<br />
Myanmar<br />
Philippines<br />
Singapore<br />
Thail<strong>and</strong><br />
Timor-Leste<br />
Viet Nam<br />
Source: UNDP 2010.<br />
2004<br />
2007<br />
Bangladesh<br />
Bhutan<br />
India<br />
Maldives<br />
Nepal<br />
Pakistan<br />
Sri Lanka<br />
Australia<br />
Fiji<br />
Kiribati<br />
Marshall Isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
Micronesia, Federated States of<br />
New Zeal<strong>and</strong><br />
Papua New Guinea<br />
Samoa<br />
Solomon Isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
Tuvalu<br />
Vanuatu<br />
High Medium Low<br />
Negligible<br />
10.5% 10.5%<br />
57.9% 21%<br />
7.4% 18.5% 74%<br />
itself. Women cannot take equal citizenship for granted<br />
as they may lose their right to retain nationality in case<br />
of a marriage to a foreign national. Figure 5 shows that<br />
38.5% 43 per cent of countries in South 34.6% <strong>Asia</strong> deny 4% women,<br />
married to foreign nationals, their right to acquire, retain<br />
or renounce nationality. In the <strong>Pacific</strong>, 36 per cent of<br />
the countries follow 41.4% similar discriminatory 17% nationality<br />
laws. East <strong>Asia</strong>’s record in upholding women’s nationality<br />
rights is better than South <strong>Asia</strong> or the <strong>Pacific</strong> as 22 per<br />
cent countries discriminate against women12.5% married to<br />
foreign men. Based on the patriarchic notion that men<br />
are the automatic “head of the family”, it is assumed that<br />
everything should flow through 33.3% them. Some 11.1% countries<br />
deny female citizens the right to determine the nationality<br />
of children born from a foreign spouse. While foreign<br />
48.9%<br />
8.5%<br />
spouses of women do not have the right to obtain<br />
citizenship, male citizens do not face similar constraints.<br />
20% 32% 32% 16%<br />
9.4% 15.6% 53.1% 22%<br />
75%<br />
87.5%<br />
12.5% 12.5%<br />
33% 55.6% 11.1%<br />
55.6%<br />
40.4% 48.9% 10.6%<br />
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%<br />
Figure 5: Some Countries Continue to Have Discriminatory Nationality Provisions<br />
Equal rights Unequal rights<br />
16 <strong>Enforcing</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Correcting</strong> <strong>Wrongs</strong><br />
East <strong>Asia</strong><br />
South <strong>Asia</strong><br />
Paci�c