Africa for Women’s Rights: Burundi

Women’s rights protection instruments ratified by Burundi :

• CEDAW: ratified in 1992
• CEDAW Protocol: neither signed, nor ratified
• Maputo Protocol: signed in 2003

Ratify!

Although Burundi has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), it has still not ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), or the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.

Respect!

The Coalition of the Campaign remains particularly concerned by: the persistence of legislative provisions that discriminate against women; the legal vacuum in the area of succession, marriage regimes and gifts; the perpetration of sexual and domestic violence with almost total impunity; and the limited access by women to education, the labour market and health care.

Some positive developments…

The Coalition of the Campaign acknowledges some positive developments relating to women’s rights in Burundi over recent years, including:

• The adoption in March 2005 of a Constitution guaranteeing the principle of equality between women and men (art. 13).
  
• The adoption in April 2009 of a new Penal Code strengthening the repression of sexual and domestic violence and sexual harassment (art. 560) and prohibiting polygamy (art. 530).
  
• The 2005 Constitution provides for a minimum of 30% of women in the Government (art. 129), in the National Assembly (art. 164) and in the Senate (art. 180). The new electoral law of 2009 provides that Communal Councils must be composed of 15 members with at least 30% women (art. 181). No similar measures have been adopted at the provincial level

But discrimination and violence persist

In Law

In Burundi, the persistence of violations of women’s human rights is encouraged by the maintenance of discriminatory legislation. For example:
The Penal Code: The voluntary termination of pregnancy is criminalised (art. 510).
The Family Code: Article 88 specipes a different minimum legal age for women to that of men and article 122 states that the man is considered to be the head of the family.
The Citizenship Code prohibits a woman from Burundi married to a foreigner from passing on her nationality to her spouse or to their children.

Customary law is recognised by law and has harmful repercussions for women’s rights, notably in the area of succession, marriage regimes and gifts. A draft Family Code guaranteeing equality on these matters has been pending since 2008.

In Practice

Violence

Despite the adoption of a repressive Penal Code, cases of sexual violence are widespread. Amicable settlements are often preferred, and encouraged by some government officials and police officers. Moreover, numerous obstacles inhibit women’s
capacity or willingness to press charges: long and costly legal proceedings, fear of stigmatisation and reprisals, generalised corruption, etc.

According to information obtained by the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB), in 2009 the great majority of cases of sexual violence were attributable to civilians (between 80 and 100%), with minors being the main victims (between 67 and 72% of cases). The perpetration of sexual violence by police officers has also been deplored by the UN Independent Expert on Burundi. According to his last report (2008), some of this violence even occurred in police premises.

Obstacles to access to education

90% of the population of Burundi live in rural areas in widespread poverty. Women are particularly vulnerable to these economic problems because of the persistence of deeply-entrenched patriarchal and stereotypical behaviour on women’s role and responsibilities. The general poverty in which women – especially rural and older women – live limits their access to adequate education, health services, social security and land and banking services.

“Poverty is taking on a feminine face in Burundi. Tackling the feminisation of poverty needs to be at the centre of current discussions, so that recently-announced gender policies and initiatives to stimulate the countryʼs economy do not leave women by the wayside,” DUSHIREHAMWE, Veilleuse No. 7

Despite the introduction of free primary education for all in 2005, there remains a large disparity between boys and girls as concerns education, particularly in secondary and higher education. In the labour market, women are discriminated against
in terms of security of employment, payment of leave entitlements and maternity allowances. The high unemployment level and the concentration of women in the informal sector also contribute to increasing their vulnerability.

Obstacles to access to health

Notwithstanding the commitment announced by the Government in 2006 to introduce free healthcare for women, in practice they have very little access to adequate health services, in particular to information on prenatal and postnatal care and family planning. The maternal mortality rate is high, notably because of the lack of obstetric care, the significant number of early pregnancies and the practice of non-medically supervised abortions. Additionally, family planning centres often lack qualified personnel. According to UNICEF, at the end of 2007 the proportion of births attended by qualified staff was only 41.1%.

Key claims

The Coalition of the Campaign calls on the authorities of Burundi to:

1. Take all necessary measures to guarantee that perpetrators of sexual and domestic violence and of sexual harassment are prosecuted and punished, in accordance with the provisions of the new Penal Code, notably by ensuring training of judges and law-enforcement personnel; by harmonising the Code of Criminal Procedure; and by adopting measures ensuring judicial independence to be guaranteed.
2. Raise people’s awareness on the provisions of the new Penal Code, in particular as concerns the repression of sexual and domestic violence and of sexual harassment.
3. Intensify efforts to encourage women’s participation in political life, by no longer considering the 30% quotas as an upper limit; by widening this measure to the nomination of provincial governors; and by encouraging women’s participation in the various local administrative bodies.
4. Improve access of women to family planning and to the use of contraceptive methods and legalizing abortion.
5. Harmonise the minimal age of marriage for women and men (art. 88) and eliminate the status of the husband as the head of the family (art. 122).
6. Guarantee women’s equality in law in matters of succession, marriage regimes and gifts, ensure its effective application, especially in rural areas, and raise awareness of the population on the provisions of this new law.
7. Amend the Citizenship Code to bring it into conformity with the provisions of Article 9 of the CEDAW Convention.
8. Take all necessary measures to guarantee equality of access of women and men to all levels of education and employment, and to eliminate deeply-entrenched patriarchal and stereotypical social behaviour regarding women’s role and responsibilities.
9. Improve access to health services and healthcare, notably by intensifying efforts to improve health infrastructures; by improving access to prenatal, postnatal and obstetrics services; and providing family planning centres with adequate resources and qualified personnel.
10. Adhere to commitments made during the Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations Human Rights Council, in particular those relating to the intensifi cation of efforts undertaken to implement the recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, the adoption of legislation guaranteeing equality between men and women, notably in the area of family
    law and succession, the adoption of measures necessary to modify the Family Code, and the intensification of work on the equality of the sexes, notably as concerns the rights of women to inheritance and to property.
11. Ratify the Maputo Protocol and the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.
12. Implement all the recommendations made by the CEDAW Committee in April 2008.
    

Principal Sources

• Focal Points: Ligue ITEKA
• Dushirehamwe, www.dushirehamwe.org
  
• Centre de paix pour les femmes (CPF), Interview of Perpetue Kanyange, CPF President, www.africa4womensrights.org
  
• Recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, April 2008
  
• United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB)
  
• Interim Report of the United Nations Independent Expert charged with examining the situation of human
  rights in Burundi, August 2008
  
• UNICEF

See also

• The Africa for Women’s Rights Campaign’s Blog
• Www.ligue-iteka.africa-web.org
• Burundi

The Ligue ITEKA was created in 1991. Its vision is that of a united and democratic Burundi, in which peace and security hold sway and are solidly grounded in law. Its mission is to defend and promote human rights and to guard against their violation. The ITEKA League has sections in all of the country’s 17 provinces. It has eight specialised commissions, including the Commission on Women and Children.