Equality for women has been on the rise and it is safe to say that there has never been a better time to be female! Having said that, there are still some practices and laws from around the globe that will leave you completely furious! Here are the 8 most shocking we found!
India: Where husbands can rape their wives with no consequences
Can rape ever be justified? The answer should be an emphatic “no”. Except that in India, along with approximately 49 other countries, there is an exception: when the perpetrator is married to the victim.
Two years ago, the United Nations recommended the country criminalise marital rape. The government responded by arguing that such a law was incompatible with the understanding of marriage in the country.
“The concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors, such as levels of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs and mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament,” the government explained in a press release at the time. A survey by the Hindustan Times revealed that most Indians don’t agree with this stance.
Russia: Where domestic violence isn’t necessarily a crime
Can rape ever be justified? The answer should be an emphatic “no”. Except that in India, along with approximately 49 other countries, there is an exception: when the perpetrator is married to the victim.
Two years ago, the United Nations recommended the country criminalize marital rape. The government responded by arguing that such a law was incompatible with the understanding of marriage in the country.
“The concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors, such as levels of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs and mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament,” the government explained in a press release at the time. A survey by the Hindustan Times revealed that most Indians don’t agree with this stance.
United States: Where rapists can claim parental rights
It takes a brave person to follow through with a pregnancy that resulted from rape. And yet as difficult as that decision is, it’s estimated that of the 17,000-32,000 women who are raped and impregnated in the US each year, around 32% to 50% of them keep the babies.
If any of those women are unlucky enough to live in Maryland, Alabama, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming or New Mexico, they might find themselves in a custody battle with their attacker. That’s because unlike the rest of the US, these seven states have no laws blocking rapists from claiming parental rights.
The issue made headlines again in April when Maryland failed to pass a law that would have protected rape victims who decided to keep their babies.
Sudan: Where girls as young as 10 years old are forced into marriage
The most important thing a child should have to worry about is whether they will have their homework finished on time.
Not so for girls in Sudan, where 1 in 3 of them are married before they turn 18. In fact, the law even allows for girls as young as 10 to be married off by their guardian, as long as they have the permission of a judge. That makes it the lowest legal age of marriage in Africa, a continent where the problem is already relatively widespread.
The charity Girls not Brides does note that Sudan is part of an African Union campaign to end child marriage, but so far the laws have not been changed.
Iran: Where wives need permission to travel abroad
Remember how frustrating it was as a child when you had to get your parents’ permission for everything? Welcome to the life of a married woman in Iran. Not only do women need a notarized permission slip from their husband to apply for a passport, they also need their spouse’s approval before leaving the country.
These sexist laws were cast into the spotlight two years ago when the captain of the country’s female soccer team wasn’t able to travel to an international tournament, after her husband refused to sign a permission slip allowing her to renew her passport.
