AWD Report 2020
1. WOMEN’S RIGHTS MECHANISMS
The Maputo Protocol includes an explicit definition of discrimination against women and girls that is missing in the African Charter.
1.1. The Maputo Protocol The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted in 2003. Often referred to as “the Maputo Protocol,” it owes its name to the capital city of Mozambique where it was adopted. Its adoption was a landmark decision of the AU and its Member States as it provides a binding comprehensive legal framework on women and girls’ civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural rights. The Protocol builds on provisions on gender equality in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, also called “the African Charter.” This document, which was adopted in 1981 and came into force in 1986, serves as the “parent treaty” of the Maputo Protocol and laid out the foundation of the African Human Rights System. The Maputo Protocol includes an explicit definition of discrimination against women and girls that is missing in the African Charter. The Protocol states that, “Discrimination of women means any distinction, exclusion or restriction or any differential treatment based on sex and whose objectives or effects compromise or destroy the recognition, enjoyment or the exercise by women, regardless of their marital status, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all spheres of life.” The Protocol defines women as “persons of female gender, including girls.” The Maputo Protocol is a progressive and innovative document that is the outcome of an African-led process. It captures the various challenges facing African women and girls on a daily basis and offers a diverse range of rights to African women and girls. It is the first human rights instrument globally to refer explicitly to HIV and AIDS. It is innovative in legally prohibiting FGM, providing legal protection from VAW, in both public and private spheres and at times of peace and war. Moreover, the Protocol recognises access to safe abortion, under specific conditions, as a human right for women and girls. It therefore offers the blueprint for women and girls’ rights in Africa.
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