Session
National Report
Para 71) The draft criminal code addresses offences of violence against women, including female circumcision, .... Criminal sanctions are set out for most of these offences, and the adoption of the bill will therefore afford women and girls maximum protection against violence.
Para 75) The action taken by the Government to prohibit early and forced marriage includes: • the adoption in 2022 of a national multisectoral strategy to end child marriage that brings together political and administrative decision-makers to strengthen measures to protect girls from marriage before the age of 18 years • the scaling up of information and awareness-raising campaigns to combat child marriage
Para 97) The Government is making efforts to end harmful traditional practices such as child and forced marriage, humiliating and degrading practices and force-feeding.
Para 98) Polygamy is not a harmful traditional practice. It is provided for in the Persons and Family Code. Spouses are free to choose between monogamy and polygamy. Para 99) Currently, it is not feasible to prohibit polygamy from a legal, sociocultural or religious point of view.
State under Review
National Report
Stakeholder Summary
Para 57) JS5 and BCN noted that the critical shortage of funding for education combined with attacks on schools had resulted in an alarming dropout of children, and girls were at higher risk of dropping out of school early, as they were expected to marry young.
Para 69) Several organizations expressed concern that women and girls continued to be subjected to harmful cultural practices. They noted that Mali had one of the highest world rates on Female Genital Mutilation.
Para 70) Several organizations found it regrettable that discriminatory provisions remained in national law, including provisions relating to … the age of marriage, …
Para 75) Several stakeholders were concerned at the high rate of child marriage in Mali, disproportionately affecting girls.
Stakeholder Summary
UN Compilation
UN Compilation
Para 57) The Independent Expert [on the situation of human rights in Mali] … noted that women had been subjected to forced marriages.
Para 59) CESCR was concerned that harmful practices, such as polygamy, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, remained widespread in Mali.
Para 61) UNESCO indicated that, in accordance with the Persons and Family Code, the minimum legal age of marriage was 16 years for women, which was not compatible with international law, and that such an age of marriage could undermine the right to education.