A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

practice of female genital mutilation. 388
Such steps could include data gathering
and dissemination, involving public
figures and community leaders in
shifting societal attitudes toward
eliminating this practice, use of
educational and training programs, and
incorporation of appropriate strategies
in national health policies. 389
• The Government of Liberia should
ensure the protection of the human
rights of widows by, among other
things, ensuring that: 1) they are not
subject to inhuman, humiliating,
or degrading treatment; 2) upon a
husband’s death, the widow becomes
the guardian and custodian of her
children subject to the best interest
of the child; 3) a widow has the right
to remarry a person of her choosing;
and 4) widows have the “right to an
equitable share in the inheritance”
of the husband’s property including
continued residence in the matrimonial
home. 391
• The Government of Liberia should ensure the elimination of discrimination against women
in all matters relating to marriage and family relations. 392
• The Government of Liberia should ensure that national laws comply with standards set
forth in the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa, including setting forth a minimum age of 18 years to marry, encouraging
of monogamous marriages, promoting and protecting women’s rights in polygamous
marriages, and providing for the written registration of all marriages for purposes of legal
473
Chapter Fourteen
Potential Implementation Strategy:
De Jure Protection of Women’s Rights in Marriage
When drafting or modifying legislation to eliminate
discrimination against women, the Government of
Liberia may wish to consider Mozambique’s Family
Law (2005) as a potential model for women’s
protecting human rights in marriage. Some of the
measures that the Family Law codifies include the
following:
- Raising the minimum age of marriage for girls to
18
- Permitting women to seek divorce in cases of
domestic violence or infidelity
- Legally recognizing customary or non-formal
traditional marriages
- Ensuring the right of women to create and
enforce prenuptial agreements
- Protecting the right of women to work outside
the home without the permission of a husband or
male relative
- Ensuring the right of women to buy, own, and
manage property or other financial assets
- Promoting the sharing of authority as head of
household between men and women. 390
Potential Implementation Strategy: Long-distance Skills Training
The Gobi Women’s project, which took place in Mongolia, broadcasted radio programs as a means of
providing informal skills training to women long-distance. The topics, based on a needs assessment conducted
in coordination with communities, included survival tools (making saddles, boots, etc., producing
wool), health issues (family planning, first aid, nutrition), and commercial skills (price negotiating, handling
money). Programs were broadcast twice a week at times most convenient for the women. If women
were unable to tune in at that time, learning centers offered tapes of the program. Visiting teachers
would come and answer any questions; guidance booklets were also provided. 394