Discrimination in the Family

The report details systemic gender discrimination in African households, highlighting the prevalence of child marriage, the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work on women, and legal and cultural barriers to equal divorce and inheritance rights.

• Child marriage remains widespread in Africa, with an estimated 23% of girls marrying before age 18 and the continent hosting 130 million child brides. While the prevalence declined by seven percentage points between 2009 and 2018, Africa's 2021 Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) score for child marriage was 41, which is worse than the global average of 36.
• The highest prevalence of child marriage is found in West Africa (SIGI score of 46) and Central Africa (45), with Niger having the highest global rate at 62%. Conversely, countries with low levels of child marriage include Algeria, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia.

APA

Yeboua, K., & Cilliers, J. (2026). Discrimination in the Family. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=16-gender&topic=04-discrimination

Chicago

Yeboua, Kouassi, and Jakkie Cilliers. Discrimination in the Family. Institute for Security Studies, 2026. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=16-gender&topic=04-discrimination.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yeboua |first1=Kouassi |last2=Cilliers |first2=Jakkie |title=Discrimination in the Family |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=21 April 2026 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=16-gender&topic=04-discrimination |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yeboua2026discrimination, author = {Yeboua, Kouassi and Cilliers, Jakkie}, title = {{Discrimination in the Family}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=16-gender&topic=04-discrimination}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }