The Constitution and legislation of Guinea-Bissau prohibit all forms of discrimination on the grounds of gender, race or religion. In practice, the government is not in a position to enforce the principle of non-discrimination, and violence and discrimination against women remain serious problems. Traditionally, women do most of the agricultural work, but in certain ethnic groups, they do not have access to land or property.
The Family Code of Guinea-Bissau is known to discriminate against women in various ways. The government reports that it is undertaking a review of the code, but has not provided any information on the content of the reform.
The legal age of marriage in Guinea-Bissau is 14 years for women and 16 years for men. Though precise statistics are not available, early marriage appears very frequent and it is not uncommon to see girls married at the age of 13 or 14 years.
Polygamy is a common practice. In 1994, the World Bank estimated that nearly one-third of households in Guinea-Bissau were polygamous. It is difficult to ascertain the extent to which the practice is accepted by society in general.
In Guinea-Bissau, parental authority belongs to the head of the family, typically the father. In regard to inheritance, the customary laws that govern some ethnic groups are discriminatory in that they prohibit women from inheriting property. Land is handed down from father to son or from the eldest to the youngest brother.
The physical integrity of women is not sufficiently protected in Guinea-Bissau and violence against women is commonplace (including domestic abuse, rape, incest and other forms of violence). In the absence of any legislation to prohibit it, domestic violence is widespread and often considered an acceptable means of settling family disputes; thus, the police are unlikely to intervene if called. Moreover, the authorities have not yet taken steps to address the social pressure that prevents victims of violence from filing complaints. Rape is a criminal offence, but a lack of resources makes it difficult to apply the legislation.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) or fanado is common in Guinea-Bissau. The World Health Organisation estimates that half of women in Guinea-Bissau have been subjected to FGM and the percentage rises from 70 per cent to 80 per cent in the Fula and Mandigue communities living in rural regions. All Muslim women in Guinea-Bissau are thought to have undergone some form of the procedure. A 2003 United Nations report estimated that 20 per cent to 30 per cent of women in urban areas had been subjected to the practice.
In the mid-1990s, the government of Guinea-Bissau established a National Committee against Harmful Practices to run a national awareness campaign about FGM. Five years later (1995), parliament rejected a law that would have prohibited the practice. But some progress is reported: parliament has since adopted a bill that criminalises FGM if the women dies from the procedure and is now in the process of adopting a new law (proposed in 2001) that would penalise FGM.
There is no evidence to suggest that Guinea-Bissau is a country of concern in relation to missing women.
Several factors undermine women’s ownership rights in Guinea-Bissau. In certain ethnic groups, women have no access to land, largely because of discriminatory customary laws relating to inheritance. Women’s access to property other than land and their access to bank loans are also heavily restricted in that, as heads of households, men hold sole authority over most family matters.
Very little information is available about the civil liberties of women in Guinea-Bissau, thus, it is not clear whether they have freedom of movement. There are no reported restrictions on their freedom of dress.
Afrol News (n.d.), Gender Profile: Guinea Bissau, www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/profiles/guineabissau_women.htm.
Afrol News (2006), Guinea-Bissau to Ban Female Genital Mutilation, www.afrol.com/articles/21382.
CRC (Committee on the Rights of the Child) (2002), Examen des rapports présentés par les Etats parties en application de l’article 44 de la convention, Observations finales du comité des droits de l’enfant: Guinée-Bisseau, CRC/C/15/Add.177, CRC, New York, NY.
CTNP (Comité Técnico Nacional Preparatório) (1995), Relatório Nacional sobre a Situação Socioeconómica e Política da Mulher Guineense, Bissau, CTNP pare a Conferência Mundial sobre a Mulher, pp.30. (mimeo)
ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council) (2003), Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence Against Women, E/CN.4/2003/75/Add.1, UN, New York, NY.
Everyculture.com (2007), Culture of Guinea-Bissau, http://everyculture.com/Ge-It/Guinea-Bissau.html.
UN (United Nations) (2004), World Fertility Report 2003, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, NY.
UN (United Nations) (2006a), World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision and World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, http://esa.un.org/unpp, accessed 9 October 2007.
UN (2006b), Guinée-Bissau: Rapport de mise en oeuvre du programme d’action de Bruxelles en faveur des pays les moins avancés pour la décennie 2001-2010, UN, New York, NY.
US Department of State (2007a), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea-Bissau, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington, DC.
US Department of State (2007b), International Religious Freedom Report, Guinea-Bissau, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington, DC.
World Bank (1994), Republic of Guinea Bissau Poverty Assessment and Social Sectors Strategy Review, Report No. 13155-GUB, World Bank, Washington, DC.
