83047 Mapping the Legal Gender Gap Women, in Accessing Business Business and the Law Environment Institutions by Mohammad Amin, Yasmin Bin-Humam, and Sarah Iqbal From a Garage to a Global Enterprise: A Woman Entrepreneur’s Story Bill Lyons/World Bank Main Findings In 1976 Anita Roddick was a young mother supporting herself and her two daughters in Brighton, England, while her husband traveled in Latin America. To provide for her family, Roddick started a business selling a range of environmentally inspired body care products.1 As Roddick put it, “I started The Body Shop in 1976 simply to create a livelihood for myself and my two daughters.”2 The World Bank’s Voices of the Poor (2000) shows that women, like men, look to entrepreneurship and employment as the best ways out of poverty. Roddick was fortunate that she lived in the United Kingdom, which started treating married women as legal entities distinct from their husbands in 1870 when it enacted the Scott Wallace/World Bank Trevor Samson/World Bank first in what would become a series of Married Women’s Property Acts.3 Before that, a woman’s legal identity was Why Does Equal Access subsumed by that of her husband’s once she married, to Institutions Matter for Women? and she could not enter a contract without his permis- sion. Nor was she entitled to keep any wages, inheritance, In addition to the challenges that all entrepreneurs face or investments, because they were the property of her in starting businesses, female entrepreneurs can face husband. It would have been impossible for a married challenges in meeting the legal prerequisites before busi- woman to start a business without her husband. Many ness registration. Some can face legal hurdles in matters countries have changed legislation on the legal capacity of as simple as traveling outside their homes or countries, married women relatively late in their legal trajectories. For choosing where to live, or making decisions for them- example, in Germany until 1957 a husband could prevent selves and their households. More direct impediments his wife from working if he deemed the work was counter might restrict women from signing contracts or require to her familial duties.4 In 16 of the economies covered by them to get permission to get jobs or pursue professions. Women Business and the Law, husbands can still stop their Without the basic ability to make decisions for themselves, wives from working. women may have fewer economic opportunities or be less competitive in business. Women may also lack access to Within ten months, by the time Roddick’s husband had the resources needed to start a business, such as finance returned to England, she had opened a second store. and banking services7 and have greater need of services Twenty years later, she had a chain of stores that were sold such as childcare and education.8 to the cosmetics company L’Oreal for one billion dollars.5 Today the Body Shop has more than 2,500 stores in 60 Single women generally have the same rights as single countries.6 And it all began with a female entrepreneur men. But in many economies when women marry, they able to pursue a business idea. legally give up some of their decision making capacity to their husbands. Though business regulations are likely to be gender neutral, family law often constrains married Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions 1 women’s ability to interact with the business environ- Rights of Married and Unmarried Women ment.9 Some regulations also make women go through To determine a woman’s legal ability to access institutions extra steps, such as requiring married women to provide in an economy, this indicator examines 10 transactions a copy of their marriage certificate to complete basic to see whether they can be conducted in the same way transactions. by men and women. Because a woman’s legal capacity is often determined by her marital status, each question is What We Measure and Why examined separately for unmarried and married women. Women, Business and the Law measures the different legal The 10 economic activities examined are getting a job, treatment of men and women in areas affecting women’s registering a business, signing a contract, opening a bank participation in economies around the world. It comple- account, choosing where to live, getting a passport, travel- ments the World Bank Group’s Doing Business dataset, ing domestically and internationally, conveying citizenship which measures regulations on domestic small and medi- to children, and becoming heads of households. These um-size companies.10 questions are designed to see how much freedom women have to function in the economy and to what extent Many activities integral to entrepreneurship were granted marriage affects that freedom. to women relatively recently. In France, married women used to require the permission of their husbands to open Because these 10 actions work in concert, together they bank accounts. In 1943, a reform allowed married women provide an overall picture of women’s legal ability to func- who had separate assets and separate professions from tion independently in the business environment. A sample their husbands to open bank accounts without their of how these activities interact is shown in figure 1. husbands’ consent. In 1965, the law was equalized stipu- lating that each spouse had the right to open accounts in Division of Responsibility in Marriage their own name and to freely dispose of the assets in those This indicator examines the division of rights and respon- accounts.11 sibilities between husbands and wives in a household, and The Accessing institutions indicator measures the extent reflects the amount of autonomy women have both within to which the law allows men and women the same legal and outside the home. ability to participate in the economy by providing them Three areas are examined: whether women can convey with equal opportunities to interact with the private and nationality to non-national spouses in the same way as public sectors. It does so by examining three areas. men, if wives are legally required to obey their husbands, FIGURE 1 A WOMAN’S QUEST TO GET A JOB OR START A BUSINESS Needed if the Needed to live work entails where the jobs Final goal Ė Travel outside travel Ė Confer are Ė Sign a contract the home citizenship Ė Open bank Ė Travel outside Ė Choose where Ė Get a job without on children account the country to live permission Ė Get a passport Ė Be head of Needed so household Needed for Needed to be getting a able to work children can attend public formal job and school and keeping the Ė Register a business receive health income without permission services Final goal Source: Women, Business and the Law 2012. 2 Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions and whether married couples share the legal responsibility In addition to the economic implications of a woman’s for financially maintaining families. The ability to convey legal inability to interact with the business environ- nationality to a non-national spouse has implications for ment, gender equality is a central tenet of international the ability of the non-national spouse to work domesti- human rights. Several areas overlap between the United cally. Thus, it can influence a couple’s livelihood and their Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of choice to remain in a country. There are also ramifications Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Women, for the nationality of children if only fathers are able to Business and the Law’s Accessing institutions indicator pass on citizenship. (table 1). The legal requirement that wives obey their husbands can Gender Differences in Institutional Access: Main Findings influence a wife’s decisions because her husband might be Where Do We Stand? able to stop her from working or from conducting certain transactions. Similarly, the question of who is responsible Regional variations are clear in women’s access to institu- for family expenses, the couple or solely the husband, tions. OECD and Eastern Europe and Central Asia have points to differing allocations of roles within the family. equal legislation in this regard, as do most economies The World Bank’s World Development Report 2012 highlights in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a few notable the limited progress towards more comprehensive legal exceptions. Although customary law is recognized in Latin agency for women.12 America and the Caribbean, nowhere is it exempted from constitutional provisions on nondiscrimination. East Asia Constitutional Rights and the Pacific is equal on women’s ability to get a job The final part of the indicator examines constitutional independently of their husbands, and generally equal for rights on nondiscrimination and gender equality, and looks passports and citizenship (Malaysia is the exception), as at the sources of law in an economy. The indicator consid- well as head of household stipulations (Indonesia is the ers whether there is a nondiscrimination clause on gender exception). South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa differenti- in constitutions and examines constitutional guarantees ate between men and women in a variety of areas, though on gender equality. It also examines whether customary the Middle East and North Africa has the most legal differ- or personal law are valid sources of law and subject to ences based on gender across all areas measured within constitutional provisions on nondiscrimination and equal- the indicator. ity. Where customary or personal law are not subject to constitutional provisions on nondiscrimination or equality, Passports and Citizenship or in the rare instances where no such provisions exist, The Middle East and North Africa has the most inequal- there is no constitutional recourse for women where there ity among regions when it comes to married women is gender discrimination in the law. applying for passports. Married women in the region are BOX 1 MY MOM IS JORDANIAN AND HER CITIZENSHIP IS MY RIGHT Ten economies in the Middle East and North Africa (out of 14 covered) do not allow married women to convey citizenship to their children (only Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia allow them to do so). When women cannot convey citizenship to their children, children may not have the right to access government health insurance or go to public universities at subsidized rates, causing them to pay higher rates for health care and education, if they can access it at all. Later in life, the children will face hurdles in obtaining residency permits, and sometimes security clearances, in order to get work permits and remain in the country. Nima Habashna, a Jordanian woman married to a Moroccan husband lives in Jordan and is the mother of six children. She is also the only Jordanian citizen in her family. To raise awareness around the issue she created a Facebook page entitled, “My Mom Is Jordanian and Her Citizenship Is My Right”. Jordan’s Information and Research Center (IRC) estimates that approximately 66,000 such couples live in Jordan. Source: New York Times. 2011. “In Jordan, a Struggle for Gender Equality.” Information and Research Center, King Hussein Foundation. 2011. “Children of Jordanian Mothers, Foreign Fathers Suffer Social Exclusion.” Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions 3 usually required to get their husbands’ permission to get In South Asia, Bangladesh and Pakistan do not allow passports or to provide the names of their spouses and married women to get passports in the same way as men.13 copies of their marriage certificates. Saudi Arabia is the Nepal restricts the passage of citizenship to children by both only covered economy in the region where unmarried married and unmarried women. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, women cannot apply for passports without permission Nepal, and Pakistan have inequalities on the passage of from a male guardian. In almost all Middle Eastern and citizenship to spouses by women. North African economies, women cannot convey citizen- ship to their foreign spouses, and in just over 70% married In Latin America and the Caribbean, only Honduras impos- women cannot confer citizenship on their children in the es restrictions on conveying citizenship to spouses. Wives same way as married men. must take on the citizenship of their husbands.14 Only if a treaty exists between economies for dual nationality, can The requirement that women provide their marriage women keep their Honduran citizenship and pass that on certificates or the names of their spouses when applying to their husbands if they are Honduran by birth. Men are for passports also occurs in one-quarter of the economies not obligated to take on the nationality of their wives.15 in Sub-Saharan Africa covered by this report. Citizenship issues for spouses and children are also prevalent in the In the economies covered in East Asia and the Pacific, region, with almost half of the economies restricting the women and men generally have the same ability to apply passage of citizenship by women to their non-national for passports, but inequalities remain on citizenship laws spouses, and just under one-fifth restricting the passage in Malaysia. Malaysian women can only confer their of citizenship to children by married women. nationality on their children if they are born in Malaysia. And only Malaysian men can convey citizenship to their spouses. TABLE 1 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN AND WOMEN, BUSINESS AND THE LAW’S ACCESSING INSTITUTIONS INDICATOR CEDAW Article Women, Business and the Law Question Freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex (Art. 2) Ť 2Ť3'#1#ŤŤ-.-Ĭ"(2!1(,(-3(.-Ť!+42#Ť!.5#1(-%Ť%#-"#1Ť.1Ť2#7Ť(-Ť3'#Ť ĖŤ constitution? Equal rights with respect to nationality (Art. 9) Ť -ŤŤ6.,-Ť!.-$#1Ť!(3(9#-2'(/Ť.-Ť'#1Ť!'(+"1#-Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť ĖŤ  as a man? -ŤŤ6.,-Ť!.-5#8Ť!(3(9#-2'(/Ť3.Ť'#1Ť-.-Ĭ-3(.-+Ť2/.42#Ť(-Ť3'#Ť ĖŤ Ť same way as a man? Equality in all areas of economic and social life (Art. 13) Ť -ŤŤ6.,-Ť%#3ŤŤ). Ť.1Ť/4124#ŤŤ31"#Ť.1Ť/1.$#22(.-Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť ĖŤ  way as a man? ĖŤ -ŤŤ6.,-Ť2(%-ŤŤ!.-31!3Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť2ŤŤ,-Ě ĖŤ -ŤŤ6.,-Ť1#%(23#1ŤŤ 42(-#22Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť2ŤŤ,-Ě ĖŤ -ŤŤ6.,-Ť./#-ŤŤ -*Ť!!.4-3Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť2ŤŤ,-Ě Equality before the law and legal capacity identical to that of men ĖŤ -ŤŤ6.,-Ť//+8Ť$.1ŤŤ/22/.13Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť2ŤŤ,-Ě (Art. 15) -ŤŤ6.,-Ť315#+Ť.432("#Ť3'#Ť!.4-318Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť2ŤŤ ĖŤ Ť man? ĖŤ -ŤŤ6.,-Ť315#+Ť.432("#Ť'#1Ť'.,#Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť2ŤŤ,-Ě ĖŤ .#2Ť3'#Ť!.-23(343(.-Ť%41-3##Ť#04+(38Ť #$.1#Ť3'#Ť+6ĚŤ Equality in all matters relating to marriage and family relations Ť -ŤŤ6.,-Ť #ŤĜ'#"Ť.$Ť'.42#'.+"ĝŤ.1ŤĜ'#"Ť.$Ť$,(+8ĝŤ(-Ť3'#Ť ĖŤ  (Art. 16) same way as a man? ĖŤ -ŤŤ6.,-Ť!'..2#Ť6'#1#Ť3.Ť+(5#Ť(-Ť3'#Ť2,#Ť68Ť2ŤŤ,-Ě ĖŤ 1#Ť,11(#"Ť6.,#-Ť1#04(1#"Ť 8Ť+6Ť3.Ť. #8Ť3'#(1Ť'42 -"2Ě .Ť,11(#"Ť!.4/+#2Ť).(-3+8Ť2'1#Ť+#%+Ť1#2/.-2( (+(38Ť$.1Ťǫ--!(++8Ť ĖŤ Ť maintaining the family expenses? 4 Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and OECD high- Permission to Work income economies there is no differentiation between In Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East men and women in the area of passports and citizenship. and North Africa husbands can restrict their wives from pursuing trades or professions, with 20% of economies in Domestic and International Travel South Asia, 29% in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 36% in the In the Middle East and North Africa married women Middle East and North Africa doing so. cannot travel outside their homes in the same way as In the Middle East and North Africa the restrictions married men in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, include a loss to the right of maintenance16 if a woman and Yemen. These 3 economies also require married works without the permission of her husband. The same is Main Findings women to obtain permission to travel internationally, as true in Jordan and Syria. Kuwaiti law states that husbands does the Syrian Arab Republic—where husbands can stop should not forbid their wives from working outside the their wives from traveling internationally by submitting home unless it undermines family interests. Similar laws their names to the Ministry of the Interior. Saudi Arabia is exist in Iran and the United Arab Emirates. In Sub-Saharan the only economy in the region where unmarried women Africa, where applicable, the restriction is phrased such cannot travel internationally in the same way as unmarried that women can work if their husbands do not object, men. based on the interests of the family. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan is the only economy that In some instances the head of the household may also be restricts women’s freedom of movement. Married women legally owed obedience by his family. However, the formal cannot travel outside their homes in the same way as designation of head of household entitles the bearer to a married men. To travel internationally, unmarried women much broader set of rights, including those pertaining to require the permission of their fathers, while married interactions with government institutions. women require the permission of their husbands. No economies in any other region restrict the ability of women to travel domestically or internationally. FIGURE 2 DIFFERENCES IN HOW WOMEN GET PASSPORTS AND CONVEY CITIZENSHIP Passports and Citizenship 100% Latin America & Caribbean 90% 80% East Asia & Pacific Percentage of Economies 70% 60% 50% Sub-Saharan Africa 40% 30% South Asia 20% 10% Middle East & North Africa 0% Married Unmarried Married Woman cannot woman cannot woman cannot woman cannot convey citizenship apply for a confer citizenship confer citizenship to her non-national passport in the on her children in on her children in spouse in the same same way as a the same way the same way way as a man man as a man as a man Source: Women, Business and the Law 2012. Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions 5 Head of Household and Family Obligations has the highest proportion of economies with the separate The most pervasive restrictions on where women cannot legal requirement that wives obey their husbands (8 of 14 legally be designated the head of household are in the of the economies covered).17 Three economies covered in Middle East and North Africa, followed by Sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa also have such a separate legal stipu- Africa (figure 3). lation: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Sudan. In the Middle East and North Africa the proportion of In Latin America and the Caribbean, only Chile and economies where the head of household designation Honduras stipulate that husbands are the heads of house- is solely the provenance of the husband correlates with holds. Couples are jointly responsible for providing finan- the proportion of economies where the husband is solely cially for their families, and wives are not legally obliged to legally responsible for family finances. This correlation obey their husbands. does not hold in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the majority of In South Asia, only India restricts married women from economies in the Middle East and North Africa, men becoming heads of households. It is also the only econo- are entirely responsible for providing financially for their my covered where unmarried women face differentiation families. Any separate earnings of the wife are her own in becoming heads of households. Other family dynamics (figure 4). include that husbands are responsible for the financial In addition to having the highest rates of male head of maintenance of their families in Bangladesh and Pakistan. household stipulations, the Middle East and North Africa FIGURE 3 HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD DESIGNATIONS Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Husband is head of household 14% 43% 14% No differentiation in head of houselhold rules 57% 71% Information unavailable Source: Women, Business and the Law 2012. FIGURE 4 WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR FAMILY FINANCES? Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa 9% Couples share financial responsibility 21% Husband is responsible for family finances 79% 91% Source: Women, Business and the Law 2012. 6 Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions In East Asia and the Pacific, only Indonesia restricts while Canada requires that customary law conform to married women from becoming heads of households and nondiscrimination provisions in the constitution. stipulates that husbands are solely responsible for finan- cially providing for the family. But Indonesia does not have In the Middle East and North Africa customary and an explicit legal provision that wives obey their husbands, personal law are not required to conform to constitutional putting it in the same category as other East Asian and provisions on nondiscrimination (figure 6).18 Pacific economies. In this context it is useful to consider which economies In Eastern Europe and Central Asia as well as OECD econ- lack nondiscrimination provisions for gender in their omies, there is either gender equality in the designation constitutions. Some countries, such as Norway, do not Main Findings of the head of household or the designation is not utilized. cover it in their constitutions, but in gender equality acts. Couples are jointly responsible for family finances, and In the Middle East and North Africa 79% of the covered there are no legal provisions mandating that wives obey economies do not have nondiscrimination clauses that their husbands. mention gender in their constitutions.19 Though South Asia has a high rate of recognition of customary or religious law, all the economies covered have nondiscrimination clauses Gender and Constitutions that include gender as a protected category. Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the only region where neither customary nor personal law is recognized in any In Sub-Saharan Africa more than 70% of economies constitution (figure 5). Among OECD economies, Canada covered recognize customary or religious law as valid and Israel recognize customary law as a valid source of sources of law, and over 90% have constitutional provi- law under their constitutional regimes. Australia’s legal sions banning discrimination based on gender. Most of system draws on certain principles not enumerated in the the economies recognizing customary or religious laws Constitution and codified elsewhere (as for example in the require that such laws not violate Constitutional provisions Sex Discrimination Act of 1984), to prevent discrimination, on nondiscrimination, but in 9 economies the constitution FIGURE 5 RECOGNIZING CUSTOMARY OR RELIGIOUS LAW AS VALID UNDER THE CONSTITUTION 90% 80% 70% Percentage of economies 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Latin America East Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Midde East & South Asia & Caribbean & Pacific North Africa * High-income OECD has been omitted from this chart because only 2 economies recognize customary or religious law. In Europe and Central Asia no economies recognize customary or religious law. Source: Women, Business and the Law 2012. Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions 7 does not stipulate that customary law is bound by consti- Under Kenyan customary law, upon death homes revert tutional constraints. to husbands’ families and wives are no longer entitled to live there. Under the new constitution, there is equality Gender Differences in Institutional Access— before, during and after marriage and customary law that Where and How is it Changing? is contrary to this is void, though implementing legislation is still being enacted.21 Family law tends to be the main source of restrictions on women’s legal capacity to interact with the business Kenya’s new constitution resulted due to political upheaval, environment.20 Due to social and cultural factors, it is also though constitutional reform with an eye toward women’s one of the areas where change is slowest. For example, rights had been ongoing for decades.22 Previous attempts between June 2009 and March 2011, Women, Business and at promoting women’s rights had been hampered by the the Law found that 20 economies reformed in the Getting fact that their passage would have required constitutional a job indicator—covering labor law for women. But only amendments because customary practices were exempt two economies—Kenya and Tunisia—reformed in the from nondiscrimination.23 Accessing institutions indicator. Tunisia Kenya Citizenship inequalities persist throughout the Middle Kenya’s 2010 constitution eliminated gender differences in East and North Africa and have proved difficult to change. passing citizenship to spouses and children, entitled every Tunisia moved toward gender equality in the 1950s and Kenyan to a passport as well as all registration and identity 1990s. In the Maghreb, citizenship traditionally flowed documents, guaranteed freedom of movement in and out through fathers. In 1993—largely due to advocacy by of Kenya for all citizens, and no longer exempted custom- women’s associations—Tunisia broke with this concept by ary law from constitutional nondiscrimination provisions. allowing mothers to pass citizenship on to their children24 if the father was unknown, lacked a citizenship, or was of unknown citizenship.25 FIGURE 6 CUSTOMARY OR RELIGIOUS LAW EXEMPT FROM NONDISCRIMINATION 100% 90% 80% 70% Percentage of economies 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia East Asia Midde East & & Pacific North Africa * In Latin America and the Caribbean, no customary or religious laws are exempt from nondiscrimination provisions. Source: Women, Business and the Law 2012. 8 Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions Children born outside the country could obtain citizen- Gender Differences in Institutional Access— ship through their mother if the parents made a request Why Does it Matter? on behalf of the child, or the child made the request with For a particular economy, the more restrictions on a the approval of both parents.26 So instances arose where woman’s ability to function in the legal environment women fleeing domestic violence abroad returned to (as measured by the subset of questions encompass- Tunisia, only to be hampered in attempting to pass citizen- ing the rights of married and unmarried women), the ship to their children.27 In 2010, all of that changed when lower that economy’s rate of female to male labor force the Nationality Code was amended to allow Tunisian citi- participation.29 zenship to be granted to a child born either of a Tunisian father or mother, regardless of the child’s birthplace.28 Of Main Findings Taken together, the questions are a proxy for women’s all the other economies covered in the region, only Algeria, agency because they capture how much autonomy Egypt and Morocco allow married women to convey citi- women have to function in the business environment. zenship to their children in the same way as married men. Because these areas function interdependently they are reflected as a composite indicator, in which each area is FIGURE 7 THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENTIAL LEGAL TREATMENT 30 MNG Female to total employees (%, residuals) 20 MDA KGZ TJK GHA UKR BLR 10 PHL KAZ EST VNM BGR RWA VINNVA GEOALGEON BUS LIU POL UZB SRB ROM IDN TZA BRA SDK PRYSITAZE 0 NIC UGA KEN CTNOMD MLX URY HRV LCU HUN BDI GIN BOL BTFZAF HND MOZ NGA PLR PAN ZMB CZENPL CRI -10 SVN SEN TUR CHL ARG -20 MRT YEM -30 -1 0 1 2 3 4 Gender disparity (residuals) Source: Enterprise Surveys, Women, Business and the Law 2012. Note: The figure is a partial scatter plot of residuals of 66 economies controlling for GDP per capita (2009 values, PPP adjusted and at constant 2005 prices). Gender disparity means number of inequalities for women. Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions 9 equally weighted. While these laws measure the de jure REFERENCES situation, it is possible that they reflect the de facto real- Amin, Mohammad. 2012. “Gender Disparities in Laws and ity. As figure 7 shows, the percentage of women among Female Employment.” Enterprise Analysis Unit, employees decreases sharply with greater differences FPDEA, World Bank. between how men and women are treated under the law. Arafaoui, Jamel. 2010. “Proposed Tunisia citizenship When women can make their own decisions, they may be Law Abolishes Paternal Veto Right.” more likely to work. h t t p : //a l a r c h e e f . c o m /a r t i c l e s /d e t a i l s . asap?articleID=14603&word= Conclusion Cassirer, Naomi, and Laura Addati. 2007. “Expanding Women’s Employment Opportunities: Informal Change is occurring, but it is happening slowly, and much Economy Workers and the Need for Childcare.” remains to be done. Changes in women’s rights in one International Labour Organization, Geneva, economy or in one legal system can catalyze legal reform Switzerland. in others. The passage of the Married Women’s Property Charrad, Mounira M. 2007. “Tunisia at the Forefront of the Acts in the United Kingdom paved the way for similar Arab World: Two Waves of Gender Legislation.” legislation granting married women equal legal capacity 64 Walsh. & Lee L. Rev. 1513. within many common law legal jurisdictions. International Colomer, André. 1966. “Le nouveau régime matrimonial human rights treaties have also been a major catalyst for légal en France (Loi n° 65-570 du 13 juillet change in this area, with several OECD economies such as 1965)”. Revue Internationale de Droit Comparé. Vol. Austria, France, and Germany reforming their family codes 18 N°1 pp. 61-78. in the 1970s as a result of CEDAW. And as Kenya has Dethloff, Nina. 2001. “Reform of German Family Law—a recently shown, as societies undergo social change, the Battle against Discrimination”. European Journal opportunity to pursue legal reform for women can arise. of Law Reform. 3 (221). The data indicate that the most emphasis for legislative IFC. 2011. “Strengthening Access to Finance for Women- reform should occur in South Asia, Sub-Saharan African, Owned SMEs in Developing Countries.” October and the Middle East and North Africa. In the Middle East 2011. Washington, D.C.: IFC. and North Africa unequal access to institutions correlates Kameri-Mbote, P. and M. Nzomo. 2003. “Gender Issues with lower rates of female labor force participation. In the in the Draft Bill of the Constitution of Kenya: remaining regions, while there is generally equality on the an Analysis.” IELRC Working Paper. Geneva, books, implementation of the law can remain a challenge. Switzerland. 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World Bank. 2012b. “Gender Equality and Development.” Washington, D.C.: The World Bank Group. 10 Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions ENDNOTES 14 Civil Code of Honduras, Art. 48. 1 http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/famousentrepreneurs/p/ 15 Constitution of Honduras, Art. 24(6). anitaroddick.htm. 16 Maintenance is the husband’s obligation to maintain his wife by 2 http://www.anitaroddick.com/aboutanita.php. providing essentials including food and clothing. 3 See United Kingdom Married Women’s Property Act, 1870. 17 Information is unavailable for Kuwait and Oman. 4 Dethloff. 2001. 18 Women, Business and the Law’s methodology requires there to be an 5 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14442261. explicit constitutional provision invalidating customary law should it be contrary to the Constitution. Otherwise, for the purpose of the 6 http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/about-us/aboutus_company. aspx. indicator, customary law is considered to be a valid source of law even if it violates constitutional provisions on nondiscrimination. Main Findings 7 Lack of collateral often deters women from approaching banks for financing. Women may also need the permission of a male 19 Of these economies, only Saudi Arabia lacks a provision on family member to open bank accounts or get the identification equality before the law. documents needed to open them (such as national identity cards 20 UN Women. 2011. or passports). World Bank. 2011. 21 Nesoba. August 31, 2011. 8 Cassirer, Naomi, and Laura Addati. 2007. 22 Kameri-Mbote. and Nzomo. 2003. 9 U.N. Women. 2011. 23 Id. 10 World Bank Doing Business, 2012. 24 Charrad. 2009. 11 Colomer. 1966. 25 Code de la Nationalité, Art. 6. 12 Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) deals with eliminating 26 Code de la Nationalité, Art. 12. discrimination against women in all matters related to marriage 27 Arafaoui. 2010. and family relations. Twenty-nine countries that are party to the Convention have entered reservations to Article 16, pointing to the 28 Code de la Nationalité Tunisienne. difficulty of changing relations within the family. 29 Amin. 2012. 13 In Bangladesh and Pakistan, married women must include their husband’s names in their application forms, and provide marriage certificates. This note presents research to encourage the exchange of ideas on women’s economic participation and the law. The data utilized are current as of March 2011. Any reforms occurring after this date will be covered in the next round of data collection for the Women, Business and the Law report. The note carries the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this note are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. Financial support from the UK’s Department For International Development is gratefully acknowledged for the production of the note. For more information visit wbl.worldbank.org. For media inquiry, please contact: Nadine S. Ghannam, Phone +1 202-473-3011, email: nsghannam@ifc.org. Mapping the Legal Gender Gap in Accessing Business Environment Institutions 11