What Works for Women and Girls

also widely used worldwide and particularly in countries previously under British colonial rule,gives precedence to case-law, or decisions made by judges, over legislation (JuriGlobe, 2009).Many countries use mixed systems in which customary and religious laws often exist ascomponents of legal civil or common legal systems. These mixed domains can incorporatediscriminatory views against women. Nigeria, for example, has three legal systems with threerivaling jurisdictions: common law, customary law, and Sharia (Muslim) law (JuriGlobe, 2009).A study by UNIFEM found that the three systems make it difficult to protect women’s rights.Customary courts were found particularly problematic because they “administer ‘justice’ basedon local social norms, beliefs and practices, resulting in significant variation in customary lawand its implementation from one locality to another… to the disadvantage of women” (UNIFEM,2006). These sorts of nuances should be taken into account in any legal reform process.Marriage and divorce laws and inheritance and property rights are areas of particularimportance for women and require specific action to change the legal norms that keep womenunequal to men in the eyes of the law.Marriage and Divorce Laws Need to Protect WomenMarriage is not a protective factor for reducing risk of HIV transmission. [See Chapter 3.Prevention for Women] Marriage laws, including those related to forced marriages, childmarriages, polygamy, and divorce, are needed to protect women. Laws protecting wives fromviolence and non-consensual sex, for example, can help protect women from HIV transmission.For example, in Sierra Leone, “only rape of a virgin is seen as a serious crime. Rape ofa married woman or a non-virgin is often not considered a crime at all…” (HRW, 2003a: 65).“With the exception of South Africa, sexual violence laws around the continent fail to recognizerape in marriage as a crime. In countries such as Ghana and Kenya, consent to sex is consideredto be implied by marriage, so a husband cannot rape his wife by definition” (HRW, 2003a:80). The 1999 Federal Constitution of Nigeria discriminates against women. “It encourageschild marriage when it proclaims ‘every woman who is married shall be regarded as an adult,’while it also encourages spousal abuse when it says that ‘wives may be corrected providedgrevious harm is not committed’” (UNIFEM 2006: 11). Women’s inability or difficulty inobtaining divorce, often coupled with men’s ease with divorce, has serious implications forprotection of women from HIV transmission. Women’s lack of legal rights within marriage isoften compounded with custody and maintenance arrangements and lack of property rightsupon divorce.Women’s Inheritance and Property Rights Must Be Secured“Research and intervention strategies are just beginning to consider the role that women’sproperty ownership and inheritance rights might play in potentially breaking the cycle of AIDSand poverty. There is growing evidence to suggest that where women’s property rights areupheld, women acting as heads and/or primary caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected householdsare better able to manage the impact of AIDS. Additionally, preliminary evidence indicates thatsuch rights may help prevent further spread of HIV/AIDS by promoting women’s economicWHAT WORKS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS311