National Report >> Eritrea, Review Documentation, 6

"Right after the independence of Eritrea, the Provisional Government undertook measures to revise the inherited colonial laws. Consequently, Proclamation No. 2/1991 (the Transitional Civil Code of Eritrea) and Proclamation No. 4/1991 (the Transitional Penal Code of Eritrea) repealed all discriminatory clauses and connotations from the colonial Civil Codes and included protective legal measures. To mention some important provisions in the Transitional Codes pertaining to the status of women: Marriage is now based on the free consent of both partners, and needs no parental consent. The age of the female partner was raised to 18 from the previous 15years; Women can enter into a contract of marriage freely;bride price and abduction were prohibited by law, irregular unions have been abolished because they don't provide any legal protection of women's right upon separation; the death penalty is commuted to life imprisonment for convicted women who may be pregnant or have children under three years of age; abortion, although still punishable under the penal code, is permitted in situations where a physician certifies that the mother would suffer grave and permanent damage due to severe physical and mental stress, or when the pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest;Rape is punishable by law with a maximum imprisonment of up to 15 years; Pornography and other indecent and obscene exposure are also punishable under the Transitional Penal code of Eritrea; and A provision of the colonial Civil Code which bluntly glorifies the husband as head of the family was repealed and replaced by a new Article which recognizes the equal power and status of the spouses. [Para 53]"