Factbox: Ten laws that unashamedly discriminate against women
By Emma Batha LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Despite a global push for greater equality 20 years ago, many countries' laws show that men and women are still far from enjoying equal rights. Here is a snapshot of some of the more blatantly discriminatory laws. MALTA: If a man kidnaps a woman, he can escape prosecution if he marries her. SAUDI ARABIA: Women are barred from driving. A 1990 Fatwa says "women's driving of automobiles ... is a source of undeniable vices". IRAN: A law passed in 2013 allows men to marry their adopted daughters from the age of 13. INDIA: The law states that sexual intercourse between a man and his wife is not rape.NIGERIA: Violence "by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife" is lawful. RUSSIA: Women are barred from 456 jobs including those of train or truck driver, steelmaker, leather cutter, firefighter, sailor or aircraft mechanic. YEMEN: A wife "must permit (her husband) to have legitimate intercourse with her when she is fit to do so" and "must not leave the conjugal home without his permission unless for a legitimate reason..." LEBANON: A rapist is not liable to prosecution if he marries his victim. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: The wife must obey the husband and "is obliged to live with her husband and follow him wherever he sees fit to reside". KENYA: The 2014 Marriage Act presumes marriages under customary or Islamic law are polygamous or potentially polygamous, regardless of the first wife's views. Sources: Equality Now, Justice for Iran (Reporting by Emma Batha, Editing by Tim Pearce)
