The African Women Protocol as Supplemental to the African Charter and Other Human Rights Instruments: A Brief Analysis

Abstract

The African women’s Rights Protocol was adopted in July 2003 and came into force in November 2005 as a response to widespread human rights violations sustained by women in Africa. The purpose of this article was to succinctly canvass the issue of whether the Protocol is able to remedy the inadequacies of the African Charter and other human rights instruments in terms of guaranteeing the rights of African women. The article found out that the Protocol is a landmark treaty in a number of respects either by conferring new rights or broadening the scope of rights of women in existing treaties. Specific areas to which the Protocol has added value to the existing human rights instruments include violence against women, harmful practices, women’s reproductive rights and HIV/AIDS. In some cases, however, the Protocol is found to contain protections below the existing treaties as can be exemplified by its failure to expressly recognize the right of women to vote or to participate at the international level and the right of women to an equal share of the common property at the time of dissolution of marriage. In terms of establishing a treaty monitoring body to improve states’ compliance with their treaty obligations, the Protocol has not come up with a distinct body as opposed to CEDAW and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The article contended that cultural and religious practices as well as lack of universal ratification could hamper the smooth implementation of the Protocol. To overcome these setbacks, the article, inter alia, recommended that the Protocol should be ratified by the remaining states with minimum possible or no reservation(s) and cultural and religious resistance should be lessened through continuous awareness creation and dialogue.