Harmful traditional practices

This case represented the first trial and conviction for female genital mutilation in Ireland. The accused were originally from a French-speaking African country, and were charged and convicted with female genital mutilation and neglect of their daughter in relation to the same incident. At the time of the offence, the girl was under two years old, and her injuries were discovered when her parents brought her to the Accident and Emergency Department of an Irish hospital due to uncontrollable bleeding.

In Dr. G.M. Natarajan v. State, the Supreme Court considered a case in which a woman, harassed by her husband and in-laws for additional dowry, committed suicide by jumping into a well with her infant daughter within seven years of marriage. The trial court had acquitted the accused for lack of evidence.

This law defines “customary marriage” as the marriage between a man and a woman performed according to the tribal tradition of their locality and provides that a wife’s rights and duties within a customary marriage are the same as a wife’s rights and duties in a statutory marriage (a statutory marriage is a civil marriage license under the Domestic Relations Law).  §2.1 provides that all customary marriages are legal, and the duties and liabilities of the statutory wife shall be accorded to all customary wives.

Lerionka Ole Ntutu was survived by multiple wives, sons, and daughters.  After his sons filed an application asking the High Court to issue to them the letters of administration to administer their father’s estate, their sisters and stepsisters filed an objection and claimed their inheritance.  The sons contested the objection, arguing that the distribution of their father’s estate was governed by Masai customary law, which did not recognize the right of daughters to claim an inheritance from their father’s estate.  The judge in the first instance found that, because Ntutu wa

Although great strides have been made in breaking down the barriers that have previously kept women from being able to have the same rights and privileges to work in the legal profession that men enjoy, there is still progress to be made.

This memorandum examines the exploitation of child domestic workers in Bangladesh and the ties between child domestic labor and trafficking.

The appellant arrived in the UK in March 2003, aged 15, and claimed asylum on the basis that she would be at risk of subjection to female genital mutilation if she was returned to Sierra Leone.   The House of Lords held that women in societies who practiced female genital mutilation were 'members of a particular social group' for the purposes of the Refugee Convention and affirmed that FGM was considered a form of torture.  

The Gender Equality Act promotes gender equality for men and women in all parts of society, and seeks to prohibit and provide redress for sex discrimination, harmful practices (including social, cultural, or religious practices that are physically or sexually harmful) and sexual harassment. Under the Act, persons (and the government) are prohibited from treating people less favorably than they would otherwise due to sex. The law defines and criminalizes sexual harassment, including workplace harassment.