Source: The Nigerian Observer                                                                                                                                                                                               "Harmful practices" means all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity.

States Parties shall commit themselves to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of women and men through public education, information, education and Communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes, or on stereotyped roles for women and men.

States Parties shall prohibit and condemn all forms of harmful practices which negatively affect the humor: rights of women and which are contrary to recognised international standards. States Parties shall take all necessary legislative and other measures to eliminate such practices, including:

a) creation of public awareness in all sectors of society regarding harmful practices through information, formal and informal education and outreach programmes;

b) prohibition, through legislative measures backed by sanction, of all forms of female genital mutilation, scarification, medicalisation and para-medicalisation of female genital mutilation and all other practices in order to eradicate them;

c) provision of necessary support to victims of harmful Practices through basic services such as health services, legal and judicial support, emotional and psychological counselling as well as vocational training to make then: self supporting;

d) protection of women who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practices or all oilier forms of violence, abuse and intolerance.

The protocol affirms and reinforces the language of CEDAW, which also requires states parties to take all appropriate steps to eliminate social and cultural patterns and practices that are discriminatory to women. The protocol's provisions on harmful practices also affirm existing provisions in the CRC and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which both prohibit practices prejudicial to the well—being of the child. The CRC requires states to take all appropriate measures "with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children." The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child requires states to "take all appropriate measures to eliminate harmful social and cultural practices affecting the welfare, dignity, normal growth and development of the child. Other global standards guaranteeing the rights to life, liberty, security of the person, and health have also been interpreted to include women's right to be protected from harmful practices.

However, in a significant advancement of women's sexual and reproductive rights, the protocol goes further than existing treaties in requiring states to prohibit, through legislative measures backed by sanctions, all forms of female genital mutilation. No other global human rights instrument expressly calls for the prohibition of FC/FGM by name. The language of the protocol also does not allow for a cultural defence of FC/FGM, whereas the African Charter arguably does.

The protocols provisions on harmful practices lay to rest arguments that customary and traditional practices can prevail over the rights is of women under the Africa Charter. Under that document, the lack of specificity on discrimination against women has left them vulnerable to arguments that "cultural values" and community norms should prevail, even when physical harm results. Since women are underrepresented in the judiciary and legal community, these arguments have rarely been rebuffed. The protocol affirms the primacy of women's rights to nondiscrimination and reproductive self—determination under regional law. It requires states to eliminate cultural and traditional practices that discriminate against women and, in this respect, the protocol makes clear what the African Charter omitted -that the legal protection of tradition ends where discrimination against women begins. The protocol further provides that "women shall have the right to live in a positive cultural context and to participate at all levels in the determination of cultural policies."
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to..

c) protect women, especially the girl-child from all forms of abuse, including sexual harassment in schools and other educational institutions and provide for sanctions against the perpetrators of such practices.

States Parties shall adopt and enforce legislative and other; measures to guarantee women equal opportunities in work and career advancement and other economic opportunities. In this respect, they shall...

c) ensure transparency in, recruitment, promotion and dismissal of women and combat and punish sexual harassment in the work place.

The protocol is unique among global human rights treaties in expressly articulating girls' and women's right to be protected from sexual harassment as a key component of their right to equality in education. The protocol also affirms women's right to be free from sexual harassment as a basic social and economic right and as a key component of their right to work.
Existing global treaties espouse the right to education and to equality in education, but do not directly address the sexual harassment faced by girls and women in attempting to exercise their right to education. With respect to sexual harassment in the workplace, global human rights treaties do not provide clear protection to women. However, international standards have been interpreted to include women's right to be protected from sexual harassment. For example, the CEDAW Committee has explicitly identified sexual harassment as a form of violence against women and has expressed concerns over high levels of sexual harassment of women, including in schools and work environments. The Human Rights Committee has also considered sexual harassment in work or education to be a form a discrimination against women.

III. Provisions Relating to Rights within Marriage
States Parties shall ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights and are regarded as equal partners in marriage. They shall enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that;
a) no marriage shall take place without the free and full consent of both parties;
b) the minimum age of marriage for women shall be 18 years;

c) monogamy is encouraged as the preferred form of marriage and that the rights of Women in marriage and family, including in polygamous marital relationships are States Parties shall enact appropriate legislation to ensure that women and men enjoy the same rights in case of separation, divorce or annulment of marriage...

1. A widow shall have the right to an equitable share in the inheritance of the property of her husband. A Widow shall have the right to continue in the matrimonial house. In case of remarriage, she shall retain this right if the house belongs to her or she has inherited it.

2. Women and men shall have the right to inherit, in equitable shares, their parents' properties.

The protocol clearly specifies 18 as the minimum age of marriage, affirming girls' and women's right to be protected from child marriage. It also provides for freedom from forced marriage and other discriminatory practices during and upon the dissolution of marriage.

The protocol surpasses current global human rights protections by prohibiting forced marriage practices and articulating a woman's right to decide herself on matters of
marriage and family. It is also the only international human rights treaty to identify monogamy as the "preferred form of marriage. These provisions clearly external the protocols reach into the spheres of Family, community, and tradition — the areas where women are most likely to experience violations of their sexual and reproductive rights.

The protocol is also unique in its articulation of widows' right to equality under international law, its express guarantees include those of a widow's automatic right to become the guardian and custodian of her children, unless contrary to their interests and welfare; and of a widow's right to remarry and, in that event, to marry the person of her choice." Widows face severe deprivations of their fundamental human rights in many regions of the world; existing global standards guaranteeing the right to equality and nondiscrimination may be interpreted to include widows' rights, but have seldom been applied to combat discriminations against widows at the national level. The sexual and reproductive rights violations faced by widows in Africa are acute; these transgressions are specifically addressed under the Protocol for the first time in a regional or global human right instrument.

Apart from the protocol, the only other human rights instrument to specify a minimum age of marriage is the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which provides that child marriage "shall be prohibited and effective action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years.... Further, CEDAW provides that "the betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage.' However, CEDAW fails to specify 18 as the minimum age of marriage.

Women's right to equality in marriage is guaranteed under CEDAW and the African Charter, though the charter notably fails to explicitly affirm women's right to fully and freely consent to marriage. Other global human rights standards have been interpreted to include a prohibition on forced marriage practices. For example, the Committee on the Rights of the child has determined that forced marriage is both a harmful traditional practice and a form of gender discrimination. In a General Comment, the Human Rights Committee has identified women's right to free and informed choice in marriage as an element of women's right to equality.

PUTTING THE PROTOCOL TO USE: SUGGESTIONS FOR ADVOCATES
The protocol provides a strategic platform for advocates seeking to bring women's sexual and reproductive rights to the attention of citizens, organisations, governments, and policymakers throughout Africa. This section provides both advocates and policymakers with suggested guidelines on how to use the protocol to advance women's sexual and reproductive rights, both nationally and locally.

Advocate for Ratification of the Protocol
The protocol, which has received the necessary 15 ratifications, has entered into force and is a legally binding instrument on ratifying parties. To find out if a particular country has signed and ratified the protocol, visit the African Union's Web site at http://www.africa-union.org/home/welcome.htm.

Advocates in countries that have not yet signed the protocol should press their governments to sign.

Advocates in countries that have signed but not ratified the protocol can lobby their governments to complete the ratification process.

Uphold Protocol's Objectives
Once a state has ratified the protocol, that state is bound under international law to refrain from any acts that would defy the object or purpose of the protocol. As a result, any state that ratifies the treaty immediately assumes an obligation to uphold its stated objective "to ensure that the rights of women are promoted, realized and protected in order to enable them to enjoy fully all their human rights."

Article 26 of the protocol requires all states parties to "ensure the implementation of the this Protocol at national level... States parties are further required to submit periodic reports to the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Commission), which will monitor the legislative and other measures taken to ensure woman's full realization of the rights guaranteed in the protocol. In addition, states parties are required to "provide for appropriate remedies to any woman whose rights or freedoms...have been violated." The adoption or repeal of legislation, implementation of policies and programs, and enforcement by national—level courts and other mechanisms of existing legal standards can fulfill the obligations outlined in the protocol.
Reform Legislation that Hinders Women's Rights

Advocates can lobby policymakers to reform national laws in accordance with the sexual and reproductive rights guaranteed in the protocol. And in countries where national laws or constitutions require the domestication of international treaties, advocates can push their governments to incorporate the protocol into local laws and policies. National courts can then exercise jurisdiction over eases involving violations of the treaty.

Advocates working at the national level can lobby the government to amend existing laws that fail to respect the rights guaranteed in the protocol. Advocates can also lobby governments to adopt laws that will protect the rights guaranteed under the protocol. Finally, advocates can use the protocol to urge governments to pass laws that implement the rights laid out in the treaty.
Laws that protect women's rights include:

• criminal laws that penalize gender-based violence, including violence that occurs in the family and the home;

• laws, with education and outreach components, that prohibit FC/FGM;
• family laws that guarantee women's right to equality in marriage, including their right to land and property ownership during and upon the dissolution of marriage; and
• legislation that penalizes sexual harassment in schools and the workplace.

Laws that implement women's rights include:

• legislation that guarantees women the full range of reproductive health services; and
• laws that establish institutional mechanisms for monitoring women's status and adjudicating complaints concerning gender discrimination.

Examples of laws that require accompanying policies or programs include laws that address or recognize the following:
• violence against women;
• sexual discrimination against women;
• women's right to sexual and reproductive health; and
• a woman's right to abortion.
Promote National Policies and Programs that Support the Implementation of
Women's Rights

Although national laws guaranteeing women's rights are crucial for empowering women, it is equally important that governments adopt policies and programs that create the conditions necessary for women to exercise and realize their legal rights. For instance, although a state party may pass legislation decriminalizing abortion, without a policy or program that provides for safe and accessible health care during and after the procedure, the right t to abortion exists only on paper. Similarly, sexual violence may be penalized under a state's criminal law, but sexual violence cases will not be effectively reported or addressed by the courts without a policy or program to train police officers, lawyers, and judges to take this crime seriously and handle victims with dignity. Governments must therefore translate the protocol's guarantees into national laws and policies, which are backed by programs that implement the rights promised in the protocol.

To achieve this end, advocates using the protocol to help make sexual and reproductive rights a reality for African women should consider taking the following steps:

• push national and local policymakers to enact policies and programs that seek to fulfill women's rights;

• ensure support for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that serve women; and
• advise policymakers on the conditions necessary for women to effectively exercise the rights guaranteed under the protocol.

Redress Violations of the Protocol in National Courts
Article 25 of the protocol requires all states parties to "provide for appropriate remedies to any woman whose rights or freedoms...have been violated." States that have incorporated the protocol into national law can use their courts to uphold their international legal obligations to protect women's human rights. In states that have yet to incorporate the protocol into national law, courts can still play a crucial role by enforcing domestic legislation regarding reproductive rights. Advocates can bring cases before national courts to help address violations of women's sexual and reproductive rights.

Use the Protocol to Raise Public Awareness of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Treaties help advocates articulate the nature amid content of women's human rights. The language of the protocol, therefore, may be used to educate women and men, policymakers, and advocates on the meaning and significance of legal standards, entitlements, and obligations as they apply to women's rights in Africa. Because the protocol largely affirms, and in some cases surpasses, existing global standards, it can help educate and remind policymakers about their existing obligations to women.

• Nigeria