通过家庭法改革释放妇女的经济权利：五个地区案例研究的教训

Hyshyama Hamin**, Julia Braunmiller*, Antonia Kirkland**T his Policy Brief draws on case studies from Chile, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, and Nepal to showthe impact of family law on women’s economic opportunities. The Brief finds that family lawreforms are key to expanding women’s access to property and economic decision making, yetprogress is constrained by discriminatory social, religious, and cultural norms. Women’s rightsgroupsare pivotal in advancing reforms,but patriarchal and religious barriers impede effectiveimplementation. The Brief calls for sustained global partnerships and international support to promote legalequality within families, highlighting its importance for achieving gender equality and inclusive economicgrowth. child custody, and marital property are shaped by historicallegacies, colonial influences, religion, and social dynamics.Spousal obedience rules and restrictions on women’s legalcapacity in areas such as employment, travel, and assetmanagement restrict women’s economic opportunities. Forexample, according to Women, Business and the Law 2026data, 22 economies globally do not grant women equal rightsover immovable property and 43 economies do not grantequal inheritance rights to male and female surviving spouses(World Bank 2026). Removing legal, social, and economic barriersisurgent for achieving gender equality,sustainabledevelopment,and economicgrowthPublic Disclosure Authorized Equality in family law is a human rights obligation underinternational frameworks, and the Brief “Changing Laws,ChangingLives:Family Law Reform as a Catalyst forEconomic Prosperity” published in this series has shown howover50 years,legal reforms providing equal rights inmarriage, divorce, inheritance, and decision-making abouthousehold matters enabled more than 600 million women toaccess better economic opportunities (Behr and Braunmiller2025). Since the 1970s, the number of economies withnational-level equal family laws has risen from 37 to 85,however, the pace of reforms has slowed, as the remainingdisparities—particularly in women’s inheritance and maritalproperty rights—are resistant to reform due to deep-rootedsocial, religious, and cultural norms. This subsequent Briefexplores factors that influence women’s economic rights andempowerment,drawingpracticallessonsandevidence—basedon stakeholder interviews—from legalreforms undertaken across diverse regions.Public Disclosure Authorized Lifting legal restrictions can:(1)increase women’s bargaining and decision-making position within the household;(2)provide women with control over economic and financialresources; and(3) lead to shifts in societal perceptions and social normsthatsupport women’s access to employment andentrepreneurship (Behr and Braunmiller 2025). This Brief looks at reforms (and their impact) in fivecountries—Chile,Kenya,Malaysia,Morocco,andNepal—wherechanges strengthened women’s economicrights, showcasing a variety of geographical, social, legal,religious, and political contexts and drawing on reliableaccounts from experts, including local judges and women’srights advocates. Reforms boost economies, while discriminatoryfamily laws limit women’s opportunities Whether codified in religious family laws (as in Malaysiaand Morocco) or in civil laws (as in Chile, Nepal, and The laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance, guardianship, Kenya), women’s property rights are usually tied to theirmarital status and conditions of divorce. Four countriesexamined in this Brief maintain some form of genderinequality in inheritance rights: in Morocco and Nepal theserestrictions affect most women, while in Kenya and Malaysiathey apply to specific religious groups. Gaps between law andpractice also persist, as women continue to face legal battlesfor recognition of unpaid care and other nonmonetarycontributions, despite legal provisions guaranteeing theirrights (Table 1). patriarchal norms hinder effective implementation of laws. Women’s rights groups play a pivotal role indriving reforms Family law reform advances when grounded in evidenceand research, and notably through sustained advocacy bywomen’s rights groups (Behr et al. 2024). Cases from Chile,Kenya, Morocco, and Nepal highlight these groups’ effectivetactics: invoking constitutional provisions, pursuing strategiclitigation,and aligning with regional and internationalstandards. Egalitarian family law reform “may be the most crucialprecondition for empowering women economically” (Htunet al. 2019). For example, in Kenya, a study showed that thereform of the Law of Succession is linked to women’s greaterbargaining power within the household, higher educationalattainment, improved prenatal and delivery care, reducedlikelihood of female genital mutilation, and delayed marriageand childbearing (Harari 2016). In Nepal, legal reforms haveprovided widows with access to marital assets, helping themsupport themselves and their families financially. Civil society groups continue to push for reform