Rwanda
The data presented is a selection of current statistical information available from existing sources. The Hub will both generate new data and publish reports and analysis based on the Women’s Rights After War’s work in Rwanda.
| Law | Mechanism | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Article 9 (2003) | Legislative | Quota for women in all decision-making positions: Women are granted at least 30% of posts in decision making organs. |
| Article 76: 2°(2003) | Legislative | Twenty- four women to be elected by specific councils in accordance with the State administrative entities: Women occupy 24 of the 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. |
| Article 82 (2003) | Legislative | The Senate shall be composed by 26 Senators and at least 30% of them shall be women. |
| Law N° 27/2010 of 19/06/2010 | Legislative | At every Sector, one female member and one male member of Council shall be elected through direct and secret ballot |
| Law | Mechanism | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Law N° 59/2008 of 10th September 2008 | Legislative | Prevents and punishes Gender Based Violence Crimes in all of its forms. |
| Law N° 01/2012/OL of 02/05/2012 Organic Law instituting the Penal Code Instituting, Section 5 Article 165 | Legislative | Exemption from criminal liability for abortion: Exceptions for legal abortion included 1. rape 2. incest 3. forced marriage 4. risk to the health of the woman or the fetus, but the woman who seeks abortion submitted an order issued by a competent court to the doctor. The court where the complaint was filed heard and then decided it as a matter of urgency. |
| Law N° 01/2012/OL of 02/05/2012 Organic Law instituting the Penal Code, Section 5 Article 162 | Legislative | Self- induced abortion: Any person who carries out self-induced abortion shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year to three (3) years and a fine of fifty thousand (50,000) to two hundred thousand (200,000) Rwandan francs. |
| Law N° 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 | Legislative | Determining offences and penalties in general: Penalizes crimes related to child defilement; adultery; physical and sexual violence on his/ her spouse; concubinage; bigamy or officiating at bigamy; playing a role in forced cohabitation; harassment of a spouse; sexual harassment; fraudulent use of family property and denial, on grounds of marriage, of freedom to practice family planning |
| Law | Mechanism | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Article 26 (2003) | Legislative | Only civil monogamous marriage between a man and a woman is recognised. |
| Article 27 (2003) | Legislative | The family, which is the natural foundation of Rwandan society, is protected by the State. |
| Law N° 27/2016 of 08/07/2016 | Legislative | Governing matrimonial regimes, donations and successions – It provides equal treatment of legitimate children in succession without any discrimination between male and female children and right of the surviving spouse to take part in succession. |
| Law No. 30/2003 of 29/08/2003 | Legislative | Amending and complementing decree-law No. 01/81 of 16/01/1981 relating to the census and identity cards recognizes the right of a woman to record the child on her identity card, a right that, prior to this law, was exclusively reserved to the father of the child. |
| Law | Mechanism | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Law N° 22/99 of 12/11/1999 | Legislative | Women have the same rights to inheritance as men. It governs marital property and inheritance rights an only recognizes martial property rights arising out of civil marriages; consensual unions and polygamous marriages are not recognised. |
| Article 37 (2003) | Legislative | Every person has the right to free choice of employment. Persons with the same competence and ability have a right to equal pay for equal work without discrimination. |
| Law N° 10 of 2009 | Legislative | The labour Law grants equal pay for work equal value for men and women and sets the minimum age for employment to be 16 years old. It also provides protection for pregnant and nursing mothers by providing maternity leave for women working in the formal sector. |
| Law N° 66/2018 of 30/08/2018 | Legislative | Every employer must pay employees equal salary for work of equal value without discrimination of any kind; rights to full salary to a female employee who gives birth during 3 months of maternity leave and the breastfeeding period; working conditions for a pregnant or breastfeeding woman and prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. |
| Law | Mechanism | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (Ratified in 1981). | Legislative | An international treaty to promote and monitor women’s rights and their equality to men. |
| UNSCR 1325 Women, Peace, and Security Agenda National Action Plan, 2009 – 2012 | Legislative | United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. |
| National Gender Policy (2010) | Executive | The mission of this policy plan is to promote gender equality in various sectors. This policy is set to facilitate equality of opportunities between women and men, boys, and girls in every sector. |
| National Policy against Gender-Based Violence (2011) | Executive | The mission of this policy is to have a society free of gender based violence. |
| Law | Mechanism | Description |
|---|---|---|
| International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994)1996 Genocide Law | United Nations Security Council Resolution 955 | The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda largely indicted and tried military chiefs, local politicians, journalists, and administrative leaders who were the planners or top-level organizers of the genocide. By 2015, it indicted 93 people in total, out of which 61 were sentenced, and 14 were acquitted. |
| Organic Law No. 08/1996 (1996) | Executive | This law called for the creation of a Compensation Fund for the Victims of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. However, this fund has not been established. |
| Organic Law No. 40/2000 (2001) | Legislative | Traditional Gacaca courts and jurisdictions were set up to try low-level suspects of the genocide who could not be tried under the ICTR. |
