African Advocates: UNGA81 Family Values Eroding Women's Rights in Africa

• African women's rights advocates warn that appeals to "family values," culture, religion, and national sovereignty are undermining protections for women and girls.
• This warning comes ahead of UNGA81, as experts examine anti-rights mobilization impacting gender equality and sexual and reproductive health.
• Dr. Robert Eno of the African Court clarified that a proposed African Charter on "family sovereignty and values" is not on the AU Assembly's agenda and faces a lengthy process.
• Rehema Namukose of Musawah noted that anti-rights actors exploit "family protection" language to delay women's rights reforms while promoting restrictive bills, citing Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda.
• Musawah is challenging these narratives by developing egalitarian Islamic arguments for women's rights and training legal professionals and activists.

African women’s rights advocates have issued a stark warning regarding an escalating trend where appeals to “family values,” cultural norms, religious doctrines, and national sovereignty are being weaponized to erode established protections for women and girls.

African women’s rights advocates have issued a stark warning regarding an escalating trend where appeals to “family values,” cultural norms, religious doctrines, and national sovereignty are being weaponized to erode established protections for women and girls. This critical alert was sounded in the lead-up to the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81), as experts in human rights and civil society organizations convened to scrutinize the burgeoning anti-rights mobilization and its potential ramifications for gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, and overall human rights accountability.

The discussions highlighted a concerted effort to roll back gains in gender equality. Participants underscored the urgent need for enhanced public engagement and robust accountability mechanisms to counteract these regressive forces. A specific focus of these deliberations was a session titled SHE & Rights, which delved into the strategic deployment of family, cultural, and religious narratives within political and legal discourse.

This pivotal session was collaboratively organized by the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI) and CNS. Key co-hosts included the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), and the Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health, Gender and Development Justice (APCAT Media), bringing together diverse perspectives on this pressing global issue.

Dr. Robert Eno, Registrar of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, provided crucial insights into the legal and institutional challenges. He clarified that there is currently no indication that a proposed African Charter on “family sovereignty and values” is slated for review by the African Union Assembly. Dr. Eno further emphasized that this draft charter did not originate from the African Union itself and would necessitate a protracted institutional process before it could ever reach the Assembly for consideration. He expressed skepticism that such an instrument would advance to the AU Assembly by February 2027.

Despite the current procedural hurdles for this specific charter, Dr. Eno cautioned against complacency, stressing that the underlying concern extends far beyond the fate of any single legal instrument. He articulated that the broader societal contest revolves around fundamental questions: how societies define and comprehend family, culture, religion, equality, and human dignity. He pointed to the persistence of discriminatory laws globally that continue to adversely affect women and girls, citing examples such as unequal inheritance rights, restrictions on divorce, and the failure in some jurisdictions to legally recognize marital rape.

Adding to this perspective, Rehema Namukose, Senior Regional Programme Officer for sub-Saharan Africa at Musawah, observed that anti-rights actors are increasingly co-opting the language of family protection to impede reforms beneficial to women. She noted a pattern where legislation designed to advance women’s rights in areas like marriage, divorce, and custody faces delays in various countries, while, conversely, restrictive “family protection” bills gain political momentum, sometimes bolstered by external far-right funding. Namukose specifically referenced developments in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, where political and legislative actions could curtail bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive rights, simultaneously delaying reforms crucial for women’s equal rights in marriage, divorce, and custody. She further connected this framing to harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, as well as the economic disadvantage women face due to unpaid care work and unequal property and inheritance rights. In certain Muslim family-law systems, she highlighted how concepts like “male guardianship” and “male authority” can be codified, rendering women’s rights conditional on obedience.

Namukose argued that the rhetoric of “family values,” “cultural integrity,” “sovereignty,” and “national cohesion” is often deployed not to genuinely protect families, but rather to entrench and preserve patriarchal power structures. This strategic use of language, she explained, serves to justify discrimination and maintain existing hierarchies, impacting women’s autonomy and equality in profound ways.

Echoing this sentiment, Samah Hadid, Global Executive Director of Musawah, warned that the anti-rights movement is becoming increasingly coordinated and better resourced. She emphasized that religion, culture, and tradition are being progressively utilized to rationalize discrimination and to reinforce patriarchal control, both within private households and in public life. Hadid noted that religious language is frequently instrumentalized to police women’s behavior and choices.

In response to these challenges, Musawah is actively working to counter such arguments from within Muslim legal and religious traditions. Their strategy involves developing egalitarian Islamic arguments that robustly support women’s rights, alongside training activists, lawyers, and judges to effectively employ these arguments in their work. To strengthen these efforts, Namukose called for enhanced collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including legal networks, faith communities, survivors, policymakers, and civil society organizations, to collectively address and resist the rollback of women’s rights.

Source: Original reporting via CNS