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Global Women’s Leadership Project - UN Women’s Family Law Database: Home

International clearinghouse of information on laws that govern women’s status in the family.

Global Women's Leadership Project

The Global Women’s Leadership Project (GWLP), developed under the auspices of Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, has created a clearing house of information on laws that govern women’s status in the family, as the first phase of the UN Women’s Family Law database.
This is the first mapping of its kind that goes beyond the boundaries of traditional family law to examine the entire legal system of a country to identify the law’s subtle and powerful impact on a woman’s status in her family. Provisions that govern and control a woman’s relationship to her family inform her political, economic and social status. These unequal provisions are found in the laws governing property, inheritance, custody, guardianship, marriage, divorce, residence, citizenship, domicile, age of marriage, guardianship, female genital mutilation (FGM), “husband obedience “ and sex-selective laws, among others. In many countries around the world, family law is a locus of gender discrimination and magnifies the unequal status of women in the public sphere and limit their opportunity to participate in public life, whether political, economic or social. 
The GWLP is one of the first efforts to map the panoramic sweep of laws that regulate a woman’s role in the family and society. The first phase of the database covers the 54 African countries; the 19 civil law countries in Latin America* and 32 states of Mexico; the 51 independent states of Europe; Israel; India; Pakistan; and Lebanon. The research on the Middle East is ongoing.

*Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela

Project Leadership

Project Director
Rangita de Silva de Alwis
Associate Dean of International Affairs
Global Adviser, UN SDG Fund
UN Women Advisor
Beatrice Duncan, PhD
Rule of Law Advisor (Justice and Constitutions) and Focal Point on Indigenous Issues and Minorities
Program Coordinator
Kait Johnstone

Field Researchers and Student Fellows

Africa – Amanda Nasinyama, LLM ’17

Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia – Meroua Zouai, L’20

Asia - Amal Sethi, SJD Candidate

Europe – Georgia Strati

Israel - Talya Djemal, LLM’18 & Ortal Mendelawe, LLM’18

India - Teresa Akkara, L’18 & Akila Sarathy, L’18

Latin America - Gabriella Goncalves, LLM’17

Lebanon – Joelle Hageboutros L’21 

Pakistan - Arhama Rushdi, L’18

Turkey - Rana Ozer, LLM’18

Accessing the Database

The data is currently accessible as a Google document. Click here to access.

Research Map

Indicators

Gender Equality Law, Age of Marriage, Freedom of Marriage, Obedience and Chastisement, Citizenship (spouse), Head of Household Status, Decisionmaking Powers, Separation and Divorce, Custody and Guardianship, Legitimacy of Children, Citizenship (children), Freedom of Movement, Right to Work, Contract and Business Rights, Property Rights, Taxation,  Customary and Personal Law, Language, Inheritance, Genital Mutilation, Desertion or Abandonment of Wives and Children/ Non-fulfilment of Family Responsibilities, Adoption, Land Tenure/Rural Lands/Land Proclamation, Social Security, Breastfeeding, Parental Leave, Supply of Goods and Treatment, Land Use, Children’s Laws, Administration of Estates, Land Title, Trafficking, Egg Donation, Religion/Personal Laws, Child Marriage, Abortion/ Sex Selective Abortion, Jurisdiction, Sexual Harassment and Violence