Women's Rights and Gender Equality in West African Legal Systems: Progressive Legislation, Persistent Discrimination, and Pathways to Empowerment

Abstract

Gender inequality remains deeply entrenched in West African societies despite constitutional commitments to equality, ratification of international women's rights instruments, and legislative reforms addressing discrimination. This research paper examines legal frameworks governing women's rights and gender equality across West Africa, analyzing the complex interplay between statutory law, customary law, religious law, and social practice. The study investigates constitutional equality guarantees, family law governing marriage, divorce, and inheritance, laws addressing gender-based violence, women's economic rights including property ownership and employment, political participation and representation, and reproductive rights. Through comparative analysis of legal regimes in countries including Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Mali, this research identifies patterns of formal legal equality undermined by customary and religious laws that perpetuate discrimination, inadequate implementation and enforcement of protective legislation, and limited access to justice for women facing rights violations. The paper examines critical issues including child marriage, female genital mutilation, domestic violence, discriminatory inheritance practices, polygamy, and women's exclusion from land ownership and political leadership. Employing feminist legal theory, doctrinal analysis, and empirical case studies, the research reveals that legal pluralism enables discrimination as women navigate between statutory protections and customary/religious norms that subordinate them. The paper explores reform strategies including harmonizing plural legal systems to eliminate discriminatory provisions, strengthening enforcement mechanisms, enhancing women's legal literacy and access to justice, supporting women's movements advocating for rights, and transforming discriminatory social norms through education and male engagement. The study concludes that achieving substantive gender equality requires not merely enacting progressive legislation but addressing underlying patriarchal structures, power relations, and cultural practices that perpetuate women's subordination.