Chad signed the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (The Maputo Protocol) on the 6th of December 2004 but has not ratified it. Women remain largely discriminated against in Chad. Although the constitution provides equal rights for all citizens, in practice, there is a big inequality between men and women. Despite the government efforts to promote gender equality, women are still underrepresented in government and decision-making positions. The Constitution is currently suspended following the passing of President Idriss Deby in April 2021.
2015
Order No. 06/PR/2015 of 14 March 2015 on the prohibition of child marriage, ratified by Act No. 029/PR/2015 of 21 July 2015 14. The Order establishes that the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 (article 2) and it makes child marriage punishable by a term of imprisonment of 5 to 10 years and a fine of between 500,000 and 5 million CFA francs (article 4). Previously, the minimum legal age for marriage had been 15 for women and 18 for men (article 144 of the Civil Code). Those same penalties apply to any person who forces a child to marry (article 4) and to any civil, traditional or religious authority who officiates at a child marriage (article 5).
2017
2017 Penal Code, Article 341 criminalised sexual harassment and introduced penalties of imprisonment of six months to two years and a fine of 100,000 to 1,000,000 CFAF, with aggravating penalties.
2018
Constitutional Reforms (updated from 2005) includes assurance of equality before the law without distinction of origin, of race, of sex, of religion, of political opinion or of social position. Article 19 states that “Slavery, the trafficking in human beings, forced labor, physical or moral torture, inhuman, cruel, degrading and humiliating treatments, physical violence, feminine genital mutilations, premature marriages as well as other forms of debasement of the human being are prohibited.”
2018
The adoption of Law No. 22 / PR / 2018 ratifying Ordinance 12 / PR / 2018 instituting parity in nominative functions and electives in 11 decision-making bodies; sets a progressive quota of at least 30% in nominative and elective functions.
2019
Chad launched the 2019-2023 National Gender Policy Action Plan. Its first strategic objective is systematic integration of the Gender dimension in planning, budgeting, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation systems for development strategies, policies and / or programs at all levels.
References
Chad’s 2017 Penal Code is available at: https://www.droit-afrique.com/uploads/Tchad-Code-penal-2017.pdf
Chad’s 2018 Constitution is available at: https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Chad_2018.pdf?lang=en
Discussion of the 2018 Parity Law can be found on page 6 of the Beijing 25+ Country report, available at: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/csw/64/national-reviews/central_african_republic.pdf?la=en&vs=5122
Chad’s 2019-2023 National Gender Policy Action Plan is available at: https://www.unicef.org/chad/fr/media/1041/file/PLAN_D%E2%80%99ACTIONS_QUINQUENNAL_DE_MISE_EN_OEUVRE_DE_LA_POLITIQUE_NATIONALE_GENRE.pdf