CEDAW General Comment No. 21: Equality in Marriage and Family Relations

This General Comment analyzes three Articles (9, 15 and 16) that have special significance for the status of women in the family. In particular, the General Comment:

• Obligates States to ensure men and women have equal rights to marriage only with their free and full consent, and have equal rights of guardianship and custody of their children;
• Recognizes that women are entitled to decide on the number and spacing of their children;
• Requires that decisions to have children or not must not be limited by spouse, parent, partner or Government;
• Requires State to provide women with information about contraceptive measures and their use, and guarantee access to sex education and family planning services in order to make an informed decision about safe and reliable contraceptive measures, and;
• Encourages the abolishment of all property laws that discriminate against women and prevent the equal ownership and inheritance of property;
• Considers the minimum age for marriage to be 18 years for both males and females.

UN Document: A/49/38