Protection of Women against Discriminatory Laws, Policies and Practices in Nigeria: An Appraisal

Filed in Law Project Topics by on September 22, 2020

Protection of Women against Discriminatory Laws, Policies and Practices in Nigeria: An Appraisal.

ABSTRACT

Human rights are rights that have come to be guaranteed over time, to all men and women, irrespective of race or creed. These rights extend to even the unborn, in certain circumstances.

However, in many societies, women are subject to discriminatory tendencies in the form of laws, policies and practices that derogate from their human rights, simply became of their gender.

Many international instruments have been put in place to stem these negative tendencies, especially through the works of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Labour Organization (I.L.O)

In Nigeria, for instance, women tend to suffer inequalities in the social, political , economic and cultural fields. This is notwithstanding the fact that there are formal provisions on the statute books that guarantees equality to all before the law.

As the ‘grundnorm,’ all the Constitution made for Nigeria with their fundamental rights provisions envisage equality of all citizens, whether male or female.

The Thesis finds that the envisaged equality is at best formal and not actual, even though the country is a party to international conventions and instruments that provide for equal enjoyment of human rights by both genders.

Some laws, cultural practices and traditions have been fingered in restricting and derogating from the enjoyment of basic rights by women.

This thesis sets out to identify derogations from women’s rights, its effects and proffer suggestions on how to curtail these gustative tendencies, with particular reference to Nigeria.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement s v
Abstract vi
Table of Cases viii
List of Statutes ix
Abbreviation x
Table of Content xi
Bibliography 78

CHAPTER ONE : GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background To Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 7
1.3 Objectives of the Research 11
1.4 Scope of the Research 12
1.5 Research Methodology 13
1.6 Significance of the Study 14
1.7 Literature Review 15
1.8 Organizational Structure 19

CHAPTER TWO: WOMEN RIGHTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

2.1 The Concept of Human Rights 20
2.2 Origin and Philosophy of Human Rights 24
2.3 Women’s Rights as Human Rights 32
2.4 Derogations from Women’s Rights 36

CHAPTER THREE: INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS

3.1 International Instruments 40
3.2 Convention on Elimination of All Forms Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) 44
3.3 Other International Instruments 47
3.2.1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 48
3.2.2 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 50
3.3.3 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 50
3.4 Regional Instruments: African Charter of
Human and Peoples’ Rights 51

CHAPTER FOUR: DISCRIMINATORY LAWS, POLICIES AND PRACTICES AGAINST WOMEN IN NIGERIA

4.1 Overview of Discriminatory Laws, Policies and Practices 56
4.2 Discriminatory Laws 57
4.3 Discriminatory Policies and Practices 58
4.4 Consequences of Discriminatory Tendencies 60
4.5 Issues and Problems in Discriminatory Tendencies 65

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION

5.1 Summary 69
5.2 Findings 74
5.3 Recommendation 75

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to Study

Women are connected to other human beings through the biologically based activities of pregnancy, breast-feeding and heterosexual intercourse¹.

However, throughout history, women have had to struggle against direct and indirect barriers to their self-development and their full participation in social, political, economic and cultural activities of different societies.

Discrimination against women starts at birth, in the discriminatory practice of ‘son preference’.

A leading Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Nigeria, the Civil Resources Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC)² describes it as: “the practice whereby the male child is given preferential treatment over the female child.

The male child gets all the attention, with time he is the one sent to school, while the girl child remains at home” 3

Some Igbo customary law rules carry the practice further; when a father dies, they purport that it is only the son (s) that can inherit, the daughter(s) are treated as some form of chattel4:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bailey, S.H., Harris D.J., Jones, B.L (1995). Civil Liberties: Cases and Materials. Bultterworths, London, England.
Beloff, J.M (1976). Sex Discrimination: The New Law. Butterworths, London, England.
Cook, J.R. (1994). Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives. University of Pennsylvannia Press ,Philadephia, U.S.A.
Ezejiofor, G. (1964). International Human Rights: Text and Materials. Sweet and Maxwell, London, England.
Freeman, M.D.A (2001). Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (Seventh Edition). Sweet and Maxwell Ltd, London, England.
Ibrahim U., (2004). Women: Phases of Deprivation in Nigeria. GADA Constitutional Debate

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