Legal Grounds I

Reproductive and Sexual Rights in African Commonwealth Courts

in English, 93 pages,
Center for Reproductive Rights & Int'l Program on Reproductive and Sexual Health Law, U.Toronto, February 2005
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Summaries of 59 cases.
This publication provides a crucial starting point for women’s rights advocates and jurists who need access to information about courts across the African Commonwealth, which refers to sub-Saharan African countries that were colonized by the British and share a legal system based on English common law. This report should serve as a wake-up call that we must not dismiss the role of the courts and judiciary in furthering women’s rights. Women’s rights activists should feel comfortable borrowing legal strategies from distant jurisdictions to press courts in their area to interpret national and international standards for the benefit of women. In turn, courts will become sensitized and increasingly responsive to these rights as more cases are filed.