For the first time in the country`s history, black women over the age of 18 were considered adults and have the same rights as all other adult citizens. Prior to independence, customary practices and repressive colonial laws had agreed to keep black women on the same legal status as minor children, regardless of age. More than fifteen years ago, Zimbabwe became a beacon for the world by passing a law abolishing women`s minority status in its various legal systems. The Legal Age of Majority Act (LAMA), passed in 1982 shortly after independence, provided that all Zimbabweans – women, men, Africans, whites – would attain full adult status at the age of eighteen, “for all purposes, including customary law”. As a product of the Independence Revolution, LAMA was revolutionary in itself in addressing the central problem of discrimination against women under African customary law: their utter inability to act as legally recognized adults capable of owning property, entering into contracts, and making legally enforceable decisions without men`s consent. In its report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 1998, Zimbabwe proudly cited LAMA and was congratulated by the Committee on its adoption. Zimbabwean women may not have been as oppressed as Saudi women, but they were in the same league in terms of legal status and ability. Among other things, Saudi women cannot apply for passports or travel abroad without the consent of their male guardians, and they can be arrested and sent home if they flee domestic violence. According to a draft law in Egypt, a woman will be able to obtain a divorce, even against the husband`s objections, in exchange for a sum of money or land to her husband, the value of which will be determined by a judge, thus avoiding the lengthy legal proceedings that are now necessary when she files for divorce. Feminist lawyer Ghada Nabil welcomed the bill but stressed that only a minority of women could benefit from it: “Most women in this position own nothing. Moreover, the law does not change the essential inequality of a system in which men can still obtain divorce by rejection, while women must go to court and prove the reasons or pay it under the new law. And now, for good news: In a remarkable victory for women lured into prostitution, a U.S.
federal court has awarded $1 million in compensation to 17 women smuggled into Florida by Mexican traffickers for prostitution. Members of the Cadena family recruited the women, some as teenagers, with the promise of jobs as nannies and cleaners. Upon arrival in the United States, they were forced to work in trailers in Florida and two other states, “serving” the men twelve hours a day, six days a week. The amount of the refund was determined on the basis of hours and working conditions. While the padlocks` lawyer insists that the family has no money to collect, the women will try to obtain a civil judgment in Mexico and find the property there. Meanwhile, most work in legal jobs in Florida, but their immigration status remains uncertain. The case led to the formation of a Justice Department working group on the exploitation of illegal immigrants. For further information: Human Trafficking Program, Global Survival Network, PO Box 73214 Washington DC 20009 United States; Tel: (202) 387-0028; Fax: (202) 387-2590; E-Mail-morhant@igc.org. The Legal Age of Majority Act (LAMA) granted majority status to women in Zimbabwe. The impact on women`s lives is explained in this booklet through cartoons.
After dealing a mortal blow to the specific case of women`s inheritance rights, the Court challenged a number of its own earlier decisions that LAMA had applied to grant women customary rights. The discussion revolved around an allegedly overly broad interpretation of LAMA. The Court noted that Parliament did not intend to eliminate male preference and grant women rights that they did not have at common law, but only to grant women civil status so that they could enter into contracts and sue. Is a pregnant girl under the age of 18 considered an emancipated minor in Zimbabwe? That is, they do not need parental consent when using maternity services? If so, to which legal instrument does it refer? Kuwaiti women will have the right to vote and hold public office if the new parliament ratifies a ministerial decree issued in May. The edict fulfills a long-standing promise of equality made by the emir after the Gulf War. Although women were not allowed to vote in the July 3 general election, enough liberal members were elected to form a majority – if their votes are added to those of members appointed by the emir – to translate the edict into law. While Kuwaiti women have been pushing for their rights since the 1960s, when the first National Assembly elections were held, the Islamist opposition was and is strong. The theme floats in irony: Kuwaiti women outnumber men as students and teachers, even at the university level; Many have professional positions and high-level jobs in business; the country is the only Gulf State to have an elected parliament; and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (with a reservation to article 7). Elsewhere in the Gulf, Qatari women went to the polls for the first time to vote in the March 1999 elections. Six women ran in local elections, in a country where most women still wear the veil and do not drive.
And in the United Arab Emirates, a woman was appointed Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Labour, the highest ranking ever appointed to a woman in that country. Giving women legal status angered many men because they saw it as a threat to patriarchy. Majority status means that women no longer depend on men for almost everything. Not being needed for everything has severely undermined male power and control. Eighteen years were recognized as the age at which people grew up and were invested with the legal capacity to perform acts with legal consequences such as elections, marriages, entering into contracts, etc. The Act was repealed by subsumption in the General Amendment Act. The law lowered the age of majority from 21 to 18. They cannot take legally binding decisions on their own.