Enforcing Rights and Correcting Wrongs - Asia-Pacific Regional ...

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Developed regions basic rights, regardless of their religion, race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, religion or creed and so on. Apart from Fiji, no constitution specifically protects discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. 53 However, Vanuatu’s example of criminalizing discrimination exists where the 1981 Penal Code makes discrimination a criminal offence – an unusual provision in the Pacific region. 54 2007 2004 East Asia & Paci�c 2007 23.1% Latin America 2004 & Caribbean 2007 6.9% 34.5% But no one in Vanuatu has been known to have Middle been East prosecuted 2004 for a breach of Section 150 despite& North the Africa high2007 level of discrimination against ni-Vanuatu women in both conventional and kustom law systems. 2004 South Asia Legal provisions discriminate on the basis of gender. One of the mostSub-Saharan glaring examples 2004 of how legal systems in Africa Asia-Pacific drift from2007 42.6% the principles of equality is in nationality rights, part of the foundation of citizenship Cambodia China Indonesia Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Lao People's Democratic Republic Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Timor-Leste Viet Nam Source: UNDP 2010. 2004 2007 Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia, Federated States of New Zealand Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tuvalu Vanuatu High Medium Low Negligible 10.5% 10.5% 57.9% 21% 7.4% 18.5% 74% itself. Women cannot take equal citizenship for granted as they may lose their right to retain nationality in case of a marriage to a foreign national. Figure 5 shows that 38.5% 43 per cent of countries in South 34.6% Asia deny 4% women, married to foreign nationals, their right to acquire, retain or renounce nationality. In the Pacific, 36 per cent of the countries follow 41.4% similar discriminatory 17% nationality laws. East Asia’s record in upholding women’s nationality rights is better than South Asia or the Pacific as 22 per cent countries discriminate against women12.5% married to foreign men. Based on the patriarchic notion that men are the automatic “head of the family”, it is assumed that everything should flow through 33.3% them. Some 11.1% countries deny female citizens the right to determine the nationality of children born from a foreign spouse. While foreign 48.9% 8.5% spouses of women do not have the right to obtain citizenship, male citizens do not face similar constraints. 20% 32% 32% 16% 9.4% 15.6% 53.1% 22% 75% 87.5% 12.5% 12.5% 33% 55.6% 11.1% 55.6% 40.4% 48.9% 10.6% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Figure 5: Some Countries Continue to Have Discriminatory Nationality Provisions Equal rights Unequal rights 16 Enforcing Rights and Correcting Wrongs East Asia South Asia Paci�c
Malaysia’s constitutional provision on citizenship, for example, states that a Malaysian woman married to a foreigner can only confer her Malaysian nationality on her child if the child is born in Malaysia. A Malaysian man married to a foreigner, however, can confer his Malaysian nationality on his child regardless of the place of birth. 55 To redress this legal inequity, Pakistan has amended discriminatory nationality law through 2000 amendment of its Citizenship Act 1951. The amended law allows women married to foreign nationals to determine the nationality of their children. 56 Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia, Federated States of New Zealand Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tuvalu Vanuatu Patent discrimination can also prevail through different notions on acceptable sexuality for women and men, even in the presence of explicit constitutional equality. The case of the Philippines may be seen in Box 4. Overt legal discrimination is not perpetuated against women and girls only, but also against people of other gender identities. Most of the legal systems in the Asia- Pacific criminalize same-sex relationships (Figure 6). Such relationships are considered unlawful in majority of the countries in West and South Asia. Higher courts of India and Nepal, however, have issued rulings that decriminalize same-sex relations and uphold the fundamental rights of sexual minorities. 58 In East Asia, 25 per cent of countries discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. The situation in the Pacific is far more unequal. About 64 Figure 6: Same Sex Relationships are Unlawful in Many Countries of the Region Brunei Darussalam Cambodia China Indonesia Japan Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Lao People's Democratic Republic Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Timor-Leste Viet Nam Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Iran, Islamic Republic of Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia, Federated States of Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Equal rights Unequal rights Notes: East Asia: In Indonesia, it is legal except in provinces or districts that have enacted local laws based on Sharia law (e.g. South Sumatra Province); West and South Asia: For India, such relationships are legal in the National Capital of Delhi, as a result of Naz Foundation Case 2009. Application of this judgment to other jurisdictions of India is yet to be determined. Supreme Court proceedings are pending. In Nepal, it is legal as a result of a 2007 Supreme Court ruling; Pacific: in Fiji, homosexuality has been decriminalized as a result of the 2010’s Crimes Decree. Source: Godwin 2010. Cambodia China Indonesia 4. Barriers of Laws Japan 17 Korea, Republic of Lao People's Democratic Republic Malaysia Legal Illegal South Asia Paci�c
Page 1: Enforcing Rights and Correcting Wro
Page 4 and 5: Suggested citation: Rajivan, Anurad
Page 6 and 7: Acknowledgments This paper is based
Page 8 and 9: 1. Gender Equality In Law 1.1 Backg
Page 10 and 11: 2. Assessing Gender Gaps: Snapshots
Page 12 and 13: In fact, a large number of women ar
Page 14 and 15: BOX 1: Laws and Customs Operate Aga
Page 16 and 17: discriminatory legal norms and prac
Page 18 and 19: Outside the Middle East and North A
Page 22 and 23: BOX 4. Discriminatory Legal Notions
Page 24 and 25: BOX 5. Domestic Violence Declared A
Page 26 and 27: the “education” of their wives
Page 28 and 29: 5. Barriers of Access Apart from th
Page 30 and 31: support for the spouse that he leve
Page 32 and 33: 6. Redressing Gender Barriers: Enfo
Page 34 and 35: 6.4 Addressing gender as a barrier
Page 36 and 37: HDI Rank Countries* Constitution Co
Page 38 and 39: HDI Rank Countries* Constitution Co
Page 40 and 41: Article 11 Take measures to elimina
Page 42 and 43: Table 3: Many Countries Fail to Pro
Page 44 and 45: Table 4: National Commitments to Ad
Page 46 and 47: Main Functions Countries* National
Page 58 and 59: Endnotes 1 UNDP 2010. 2 Chen and Ra
Page 60 and 61: References Abbas, Zaffar. 2004. ‘
Page 62 and 63: Commonwealth of Australia Constitut
Page 64 and 65: of East Asia: Implications for huma
Page 68: Exclusion on the basis of gender ha

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