E.g. The National Policy on women makes the following for reaching provision, which stakeholders can
promote in their work
• Ensuring women’s access to free or low cost legal services
• Minimum age of 18 or all forms of marriage so that girls enjoy their rights to education and proper physical and mental development.
• Enactment of family protection law to criminalize acts of domestic violence or neglect.
• Review and codification of customary laws as a means of eliminating their content and application.
• Harmonisation of laws to ensure women’s rights to inheritance, custody of their children and ownership of land.
Constraints of women’s rights in the criminal law
• Some offences are gender specific so police are reluctant to prosecute
• Sexual harassment is not recognised as an offence.
• Police are reluctant to prosecute.
• The requirement for corroboration is strict.
• Prosecution must begin within two months after the offence is committed
• In some cases a person cannot be convicted on uncorroborated testimony of one witness.
There is no minimum age for marriage under both the criminal and penal codes. This leaves a gap which exposes girls to early marriage and premature sexual intercourse. Girls also stand a chance of getting the Vasico Vigina Fitula (VVF) and other infections and are not protected by some sections of the law because of the implied consent as a result of marriage.
