LONDON, Feb 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Despite a global push for greater equality 20 years ago, many countries' laws show that men and women are still far from enjoying equal rights. Here is a snapshot of some of the more blatantly discriminatory laws.
MALTA: If a man kidnaps a woman, he can escape prosecution if he marries her.
SAUDI ARABIA: Women are barred from driving. A 1990 Fatwa says "women's driving of automobiles ... is a source of undeniable vices".
IRAN: A law passed in 2013 allows men to marry their adopted daughters from the age of 13.
INDIA: The law states that sexual intercourse between a man and his wife is not rape.
NIGERIA: Violence "by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife" is lawful.
RUSSIA: Women are barred from 456 jobs including those of train or truck driver, steelmaker, leather cutter, firefighter, sailor or aircraft mechanic.
YEMEN: A wife "must permit (her husband) to have legitimate intercourse with her when she is fit to do so" and "must not leave the conjugal home without his permission unless for a legitimate reason..."
LEBANON: A rapist is not liable to prosecution if he marries his victim.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: The wife must obey the husband and "is obliged to live with her husband and follow him wherever he sees fit to reside".
KENYA: The 2014 Marriage Act presumes marriages under customary or Islamic law are polygamous or potentially polygamous, regardless of the first wife's views.
Sources: Equality Now, Justice for Iran
(Reporting by Emma Batha, Editing by Tim Pearce)
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