Act No. 2004-35 of 8 January 2005, authorizing the President of the Republic to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted in Maputo on 11 July 2003.

The persistence today of discrimination or harmful practices against women in Africa has revealed the limitations of the African Charter on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.

This situation led the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the African Union to adopt in July 2003 the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on Women's Rights in Africa.

This Protocol forms part of the continuity of certain key international acts, notably UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the UN action plans on the environment, human rights, the population and the Social development from 1992 to 1995.

It aims at the elimination of discrimination against women in all its forms and the implementation of strategies, information, education and communication. In this sense, the States Parties have undertaken to incorporate into their domestic legislation appropriate measures to ensure the implementation of the following principles:

Equality between men and women;

Respect for the dignity of women;

The right to life, integrity and security of women.

The Protocol also addresses the elimination of harmful practices against women. Adequate measures have already been taken at the level of certain African countries. As a result, practices such as female genital mutilation are severely punished in many African laws.

In addition, the Protocol guarantees women equal access to justice and equal protection before the law.
It also recognizes the following rights for African women:

The right to participate in political processes
Decision;

The right to peace;

The right to education and training;

Economic rights;

The right to health and control of reproductive functions;

The right to food security;

The right to adequate habitat;

The right to a positive cultural environment;

The right to a healthy and sustainable development;

The rights of the widow;

The right of succession.

Special protection is also provided for elderly women, women with disabilities and women in distress.

In order to ensure the implementation and monitoring of this Protocol, States Parties shall incorporate in their periodic reports submitted in accordance with the provisions of Article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Indications relating to legislative or other measures taken to give effect to the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the Protocol.

Any differences relating to the interpretation of the Protocol fall within the competence of the Court of Human and Peoples' Rights.

The Protocol shall enter into force thirty days after the deposit of the fifteenth instrument of ratification.

Senegal, by ratifying the Protocol, would confirm its commitment to the promotion of women's rights.

This is the economy of this bill.

The National Assembly adopted, at its meeting on Wednesday, 1 December 2004;

The President of the Republic enacts the following legislation:

Sole Article. - The President of the Republic is authorized to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted in Maputo on 11 July 2003.
This Law shall be enforced as the law of the State.

Considering that Article 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights provides for the adoption of special protocols or agreements in case of need, to supplement the provisions of the Charter, and that the Conference of Heads of States and The Government of the Organization of African Unity, meeting at its thirty-first regular session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 1995, endorsed, in its resolution AHG/ Res. 240 (XXXI), the recommendation of the African Commission on Human Rights Human and Peoples' Rights to Develop a Protocol on Women's Rights in Africa;

Considering also that article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights prohibits all forms of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion or any other form of discrimination Opinion, national and social origin, wealth, birth or any other situation;

Recognizing further that article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights calls upon all States to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and to ensure the protection of women's rights, as stipulated In international declarations and conventions;

Noting that articles 60 and 61 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights recognize regional and international human rights instruments and African practices in accordance with international standards On human and human rights, as an important reference principle for the application and interpretation of the African Charter;

Recalling that the rights of women are recognized and guaranteed by all international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Civil Rights and The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and all The others.

International conventions and covenants on women's rights as human, inalienable, interdependent and indivisible rights;

Recalling also United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on the role of women in promoting peace and security;

Noting that women's rights and its essential role in development are reaffirmed in the United Nations Environment and Development Action Plans (1992), human rights (1993), population and development (1994), And social development (1995);

Reaffirming the principle of the promotion of equality between men and women as enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, declarations, resolutions and decisions Underlining the commitment of African states to ensuring the full participation of African women in the development of Africa as equal partners;

Noting further that the African Action Platform and the 1994 Dakar Declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action and the 1995 Declaration call upon all United Nations member States that have made a solemn commitment to implement them Implement concrete measures to pay greater attention to the human rights of women in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination and gender-based violence;

Recognizing the crucial role of women in the preservation of African values based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy.

Bearing in mind the resolutions, declarations, recommendations, decisions, conventions and other regional and subregional instruments aimed at the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and the promotion of Equality between men and women;

" Concerned that, despite the ratification by the majority of the States Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and all other international human rights instruments, and of the undertaking Affirmed by these States to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harmful practices against women, women in Africa continue to be subjected to discrimination and harmful practices;

Strongly convinced that any practice that hinders or undermines normal growth and affects the physical and psychological development of women and girls must be condemned and eliminated;

Determinage to ensure the promotion, realization and protection of women's rights so as to enable them to fully enjoy all their human rights;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1. - Definitions:

For the purposes of this Protocol:

(a) " Constitutive Act, the Constitutive Act of the African Union;

(b) " African Charter, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights;

(c) " African Commission, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights;

(d) " " Conference of Heads of State and Government of the African Union;

(e) " Discrimination against women ", any distinction, exclusion, restriction or any differential treatment based on sex, and which have the purpose or effect of compromising or prohibiting the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by the Women, regardless of their marital status, human rights and fundamental freedoms in all areas of life;

(f) " States ", States to this Protocol;

(g) " Female ", female persons, including girls;

(h) " Nepad " New Partnership for Africa's Development, established by the Conference;

(i) " Harmful practices ", any behaviour, attitude or practice that negatively affects the human rights of women, such as the right to life, health, education, dignity and physical integrity;

(j) " AU, the African Union;

(k) " Violence against women ", all acts committed against women causing or potentially causing physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including the threat of such acts, The imposition of restrictions or arbitrary deprivation of fundamental freedoms, whether in private life or in public life, in times of peace, conflict or war.

Article 2 - Elimination of discrimination
Towards women

States shall combat discrimination against women, in all its forms, by adopting appropriate measures at the legislative, institutional and other levels. In this respect, they commit to:

(a) to include in their Constitution and other legislative instruments, if not yet done, the principle of equality between men and women, and to ensure its effective implementation;

(b) to adopt and effectively implement appropriate legislative and regulatory measures, including those prohibiting and repriming all forms of discrimination and harmful practices that endanger the health and general well-being of Women

(c) integrate the concerns of women into their political decisions, legislation, plans, programmes and activities, as well as in other areas of life;

(d) Take corrective and positive action in the areas or discrimination of law and de facto discrimination against women;

(e) support local, national, regional and continental initiatives to eradicate all forms of discrimination against women

2. States undertake to modify the patterns and patterns of socio-cultural behaviour of women and men through public education through information, education and communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of All harmful cultural and traditional practices and other practices based on the idea of inferiority or stereotyping of women and men.

Article 3 - Right to dignity

Any woman entitled to respect for the inherent dignity of the human being, the recognition and protection of her human and legal rights.

2. Every woman has the right to respect for her person and to the free development of her personality.

States shall adopt and implement appropriate measures to prohibit any exploitation of women or any degrading treatment of women.

4. States shall adopt and implement appropriate measures to ensure the protection of women's right to respect for their dignity and protection against all forms of violence, including sexual and verbal violence.

Article 4 - Right to life, to integrity
And security

1. Every woman has the right to respect for her life, her physical integrity and the safety of her person. All forms of exploitation, punishment and inhuman or degrading treatment must be prohibited.

2. States undertake to take appropriate and effective measures to:

(a) Adopting and strengthening laws prohibiting all forms of violence against women, including unwanted or forced sexual intercourse, whether in private or in public;

(b) adopt any other legislative, social, economic and other measures to prevent, suppress and eradicate all forms of violence against women;

(c) identify the causes and consequences of violence against women and take appropriate measures to prevent and eliminate them;

(d) actively promote peace education through educational and social communication programmes for the eradication of elements contained in traditional and cultural beliefs and attitudes, practices and Stereotypes that legitimize and exacerbate the persistence and tolerance of violence against women;

(e) to repress perpetrators of violence against women and to carry out programmes for the rehabilitation of women;

(f) to establish accessible mechanisms and services for the provision of information, rehabilitation and effective compensation for women victims of violence;

(g) to prevent and condemn trafficking in women, to prosecute the perpetrators of trafficking and to protect women most at risk;

(h) prohibit all medical or scientific experiments on women without their informed consent;

(i) allocate adequate and other budgetary resources for the implementation and follow-up of actions to prevent and eradicate violence against women;

(j) ensure that in countries where the death penalty is still in place, the death penalty is not imposed on pregnant or nursing women;

(k) ensure that women and men enjoy equal access to refugee status determination procedures and that refugee women enjoy full protection and benefits under international law Refugees, including their identification and other documents.

Article 5 - Eliminating harmful practices
States prohibit and condemn all forms of harmful practices that negatively affect women's human rights and are contrary to international norms. States shall take all legislative measures and other measures to eradicate such practices and in particular:

(a) make all sectors of society aware of harmful practices through information campaigns and programmes, formal and informal education and communication;

(b) to prohibit, through legislation with sanctions, all forms of female genital mutilation, scarification, medicalization and para-medicalization of female genital mutilation and all other harmful practices;

(c) provide the necessary support to victims of harmful practices by providing basic services such as health services, legal and judicial assistance, counselling, adequate supervision and professional training for victims of harmful practices. Enable them to take charge;

(d) to protect women who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practices or other forms of violence, abuse and intolerance.

Article 6 - Marriage

States shall ensure that men and women enjoy equal rights and are considered equal partners in marriage. In this respect, States shall adopt appropriate legislative measures to ensure that:

(a) no marriage is concluded without the full and free consent of both;

(b) the minimum age of marriage for the girl is 18;

(c) monogamy is encouraged as the preferred form of marriage.

The rights of women in marriage and within the family, including in polygamous conjugal relationships, are defended and preserved;

(d) any marriage, in order to be legally recognized, must be entered into in writing and registered in accordance with national law;

(e) the two spouses choose, by mutual agreement, their matrimonial regime and their place of residence:

(f) the married woman has the right to retain her name, to use it as she pleases, separately or in conjunction with her husband;

(g) the married woman has the right to retain her nationality and acquire the nationality of her husband

(h) the woman has the same right as men with regard to the nationality of their children subject to provisions contrary to national laws and national security requirements;

(i) the woman and the man shall contribute jointly to the protection of the interests of the family, the protection and education of their children;

(j) during the period of marriage, women have the right to acquire, administer and manage their own property freely.

Article 7-Separation of bodies, divorce
And annulment of the marriage.

States undertake to adopt the appropriate legislative provisions so that men and women enjoy the same rights in the event of the separation of bodies, divorce and annulment of marriage.

In this respect, they ensure that:

(a) separation of bodies, divorce and annulment of marriage shall be delivered by judicial means;

(b) men and women have the same right to request the separation of bodies, divorce or annulment of marriage;

C) in the event of divorce, annulment of marriage or separation of bodies, women and men have reciprocal rights and duties towards their children. In all cases, the primary concern is to preserve the child's interest;

(d) in the case of the separation of the body, divorce or annulment of marriage, the woman and the man shall have the right to the equitable sharing of the common property acquired during marriage.

Article 8 - Access to justice and equal
Protection before the law

Women and men enjoy equal rights before the law and enjoy the right to equal protection and benefit. States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure:

(a) the effective access of women to legal and judicial assistance and services;

(b) support for local, regional and continental initiatives to provide women with access to assistance and judicial services;

(c) the creation of adequate educational structures and other appropriate structures, with particular attention to women and by sensitizing all segments of society to women's rights;

(d) the training of law enforcement agencies at all levels so that they can effectively interpret and apply equal rights between men and women;

(e) equitable representation of women in judicial and law enforcement institutions;

(f) the reform of discriminatory laws and practices to promote and protect women's rights.

Article 9 - Right to participate in the political process and decision-making.

States undertake specific positive actions to promote participatory governance and the equal participation of women in the political life of their countries, through affirmative action and national legislation; Other measures to ensure that:

(a) Women participate in all elections without any discrimination;

(b) Women are represented in parity with men and at all levels in the process;

(c) Women are equal partners of men at all levels of development and implementation of state development policies and programmes.

2. States shall ensure increased, meaningful and effective representation and participation of women at all levels of decision-making.

Article 10 - Right to peace

Women are entitled to a peaceful existence and have the right to participate in the promotion and maintenance of peace.

States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure greater participation of women:
(a) education programmes for peace and culture of peace;

(b) mechanisms and processes for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts at the local, national, regional, continental and international levels;

(c) Local, national, regional, continental and international decision-making mechanisms to ensure the physical, psychological, social and legal protection of asylum-seekers, refugees, returnees and displaced persons, in Women in particular;

(d) at all levels of the mechanisms for the management of camps and other places of asylum for asylum-seekers, refugees, returnees and displaced persons, in particular women
(e) in all aspects of the planning, formulation and implementation of post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes.

States shall take the necessary measures to significantly reduce military expenditure for the benefit of social development in general, and the promotion of women in particular.

Article 11 - Protection of women in armed conflict

The States Parties undertake to respect and uphold the rules of international humanitarian law applicable in situations of armed conflict affecting the population, especially women.

(2) States shall, in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect civilians, including women regardless of the population to which they belong, in the event of armed conflict.

3. States undertake to protect women seeking asylum, refugees, returnees or displaced persons against all forms of violence, rape and other forms of sexual exploitation and to ensure that such violence is considered to be Crimes of war, genocide and/or crimes against humanity and that the perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice before competent courts.

States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that no child, especially girls under 18 years of age, takes part in hostilities and, in particular, that no child shall be enrolled in the army.

Article 12 - Right to education and training

States shall take all appropriate measures to:

(a) Eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and ensuring equal opportunities and access to education and training;

(b) to eliminate all stereotypes perpetuating such discrimination in textbooks, educational programmes and the media;

(c) to protect women, in particular the girl child from all forms of abuse, including sexual harassment in schools and other institutions, and to provide for sanctions against the perpetrators of such practices;

(d) to benefit women victims of sexual abuse and harassment of counselling and rehabilitation services;

(e) integrate gender and human rights education at all levels of school curricula, including teacher training.

2. States shall take specific specific measures in order to:

(a) Promoting women's literacy;

(b) To promote the education and training of women at all levels and in all disciplines and in particular in the fields of science and technology;

(c) promote the enrolment and retention of girls in schools and other training centres and the organization of programmes for girls who leave school early.

Article 13 - Economic rights and social protection

States shall adopt and implement legislative measures and other measures to ensure equal opportunities for women in employment, career advancement and access to other economic activities. To this end, they undertake to:

(a) promote equality in access to employment;

(b) to promote the right to equal pay for men and women for jobs of equal value;

(c) Ensure transparency in the recruitment, promotion and dismissal of women, combat and punish sexual harassment in the workplace;

(d) to guarantee women the freedom to choose their employment and to protect them from exploitation and violation by their employers of their fundamental rights, as recognized and guaranteed by the conventions, laws and regulations Vigor;

(e) To create the conditions for the promotion and support of women's business and economic activities, particularly in the informal sector;

(f) To create a system of protection and social insurance for women working in the informal sector and to make them aware of them;

(g) To establish a minimum age for work, to prohibit the work of children who have not attained this age and to prohibit, combat and suppress all forms of exploitation of children in particular of the girl child;

(h) take appropriate measures to enhance women's domestic work;

(i) ensuring adequate and pre-and post-natal maternity leave for women both in the private and public sectors;

(j) ensuring equality in the taxation of women and men;

(k) to recognise employed women, the right to benefit from the same benefits and benefits as those allocated to employed men in favour of their spouses and children;

(l) recognize the primary responsibility of both parents in the education and development of their children, a social function in which the State and the private sector have secondary responsibility;

(m) take appropriate legislative and administrative measures to combat the exploitation or use of women for the purpose of pornographic or degrading advertising for their dignity

Article 14 - Right to health and control
Reproductive functions

States shall ensure respect for and promotion of women's rights to health, including sexual and reproductive health. These rights include:

(a) the right to control their fertility;

(b) the right to decide on their maternity, the number of children and the spacing of their children;

(c) the free choice of contraceptive methods;

(d) the right to protect and be protected against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS;

(e) the right to be informed of their health status of their partner's health status, in particular in the case of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognized standards and practices;

(f) the right to education on family planning;

I. States shall take all appropriate measures to:

(a) Ensure women's access to adequate health services at affordable and reasonable distances, including information, education and communication programmes for women, especially in rural areas;

(b) Provide women with pre and post-natal and nutritional services during pregnancy and lactation and improve existing services;

(c) to protect the reproductive rights of women in particular by allowing safe abortion in the event of sexual assault, rape, incest and when the pregnancy endanges the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother Fetus.

Article 15 - Right to food security

States provide women with the right of access to a healthy and adequate diet. In this respect they shall take the necessary measures to:

(a) provide women with access to safe drinking water, domestic energy sources, land and food production facilities;

(b) Establish adequate supply and storage systems to ensure food security for women.

Article 16 - Right to adequate habitat

Women have the same right to access to housing and acceptable housing conditions in a healthy environment. To this end, States shall ensure that women, irrespective of their marital status, have access to adequate housing.

Article 17 - Right to a positive cultural environment

1. Women have the right to live in a positive cultural environment and to participate in the determination of cultural policies at all levels.

2. States shall take all appropriate measures to strengthen the participation of women in the development of cultural policies at all levels.

Article 18 - Right to a healthy and sustainable environment

1. Women have the right to live in a healthy and sustainable environment.

2. States shall take the necessary measures to:

(a) Ensure greater participation of women in the planning, management and preservation of the environment and the wise use of natural resources at all levels;

(b) promote research and investment in the field of new and renewable sources of energy and appropriate technologies, including information technology and facilitate access to and control of women;

(c) to promote and protect the development of women's knowledge in the field of indigenous technologies;

(d) regulate the management, processing, storage and disposal of household waste;

(e) ensure that appropriate standards are met for the storage, transport and disposal of toxic waste.

Article 19 - Right to sustainable development

Women have the right to the full enjoyment of their right to sustainable development. In this respect, States shall take all appropriate measures to:

(a) introduce the gender dimension into the national development planning process;

(b) Ensure equitable participation of women at all levels of design, decision-making, implementation and evaluation of development policies and programmes;

(c) promote access and control by women of productive resources such as land and guarantee their right to property;

(d) To promote women's access to credits, training, skills development and extension services in rural and urban areas to ensure better living conditions and reduce their poverty levels;

(e) To include women-specific human development indicators in the development of development policies and programmes;

(f) Ensure that the negative effects of globalization and the implementation of trade and economic policies and programmes are minimized for women.

Article 20 - Right of the widow

States shall take appropriate legal measures to ensure that the widow enjoys all human rights, through the implementation of the following provisions:

(a) the widow is not subjected to inhuman, humiliating or degrading treatment;

(b) after the death of the husband, the widow becomes ex officio the guardian of her children, unless that is contrary to the interests and well-being of the latter;

(c) the widow has the right to remarry to the man of her choice.

Article 21 - Right of succession

1. The widow has the right to a fair share in the inheritance of her spouse's property. The widow has the right regardless of the matrimonial regime, to continue to live in the matrimonial home. In the event of remarriage, it shall retain this right if the domicile belongs to it in its own right or has been devolved to it.

2. Like men, women have the right to inherit property from their parents in fair share.

Article 22 - Special protection of older women

The States undertake to:

(a) to ensure the protection of older women and to take specific measures relating to their physical, economic and social needs and their access to employment and vocational training;

(b) To ensure the protection of older women from violence, including sexual abuse and discrimination based on age, and to ensure the right to be treated with dignity.

Article 23 - Special protection for women with disabilities

The States Parties undertake to:

(a) to ensure the protection of women with disabilities, in particular by taking specific measures in relation to their physical, economic and social needs to facilitate their access to employment, vocational training and their participation in the Decision-making;

(b) Ensure the protection of women with disabilities against violence, including sexual abuse and discrimination on the basis of disability and ensure their right to be treated with dignity.

Article 24 - Special protection for women in distress

The States undertake to:

(a) To ensure the protection of poor women, women heads of the family, women from marginalized populations and to provide them with a framework adapted to their condition and in relation to their physical, economic and social needs;

(b) ensure the protection of women who are in pregnancy or breastfeeding by providing them with a framework adapted to their condition and the right to be treated with dignity.

Article 25. - Repairs

The States undertake to:

(a) to ensure appropriate reparation to any woman whose rights and freedoms, as recognized in this Protocol, are violated;

(b) ensure that such repairs are determined by the competent judicial, administrative and legislative authorities or by any other competent authority provided for by law.

Article 26 - Implementation and monitoring

States shall ensure the implementation of this Protocol at national level and incorporate in their periodic reports submitted in accordance with the terms of Article 62 of the African Charter, indications of legislative or other measures They have taken for the full realization of the rights recognized in this Protocol.

2. States undertake to adopt all necessary measures and to allocate adequate and other budgetary resources for the effective implementation of the rights recognised in this Protocol.

Article 27 - Interpretation

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to the interpretation of this Protocol arising out of its application or implementation.

Article 28 - Signature, ratification and accession

(1) This Protocol shall be subject to the signature and ratification of States and shall be open for accession in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.

2. Instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with the Chairman of the Commission of the African Union.

Article 29 - Entry into force

This Protocol shall enter into force thirty days after the deposit of the fifteenth instrument of ratification.

(2) In respect of each State Party acceding to this Protocol after its entry into force, the Protocol shall enter into force on the date of the deposit by that State of its instrument of accession.

3. The Chairman of the Commission of the African Union shall notify the member States of the African Union of the entry into force of this Protocol.

Article 30 - Amendment and revision

1. Any State Party may submit proposals for amendment or revision of this Protocol.

2. Proposals for amendment or revision shall be submitted, in writing, to the Chairman of the AU Commission, who shall communicate them to the States Parties within 30 days of the date of receipt.

The Conference of Heads of State and Government, after the opinion of the African Commission, shall consider these proposals within one year of notification to the States Parties, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article.

4. Proposals for amendment or revision shall be adopted by the Conference of Heads of State and Government by a simple majority.

5. The amendment shall enter into force, for each State Party having accepted it, thirty days after receipt by the Chairman of the AU Commission of the notification of such acceptance.

Article 31 - Status of this Protocol

Nothing in this Protocol shall affect provisions which are more favourable to women's rights contained in the national laws of the States or in any other conventions, treaties or regional, continental or regional agreements Applicable in these States.

Rule 32 - Transitional Provision

Pending the establishment of the African Court of Human and Peoples'Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has jurisdiction to hear disputes relating to the interpretation of this Protocol and arising out of Its application or implementation.

Adopted by the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Conference of the Union

Maputo, 11 July 2003