Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

Sources indicate that the Republic of Djibouti ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1998 (OECD 27 Nov. 2014, 44; UN Oct. 2011, 1). The CEDAW provides the following:

Article 15

1. States Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.

…

4. States Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile. (UN 18 December 1979)

In its report submitted to the UN under article 18 of CEDAW in 2010, Djibouti's Ministry for the Advancement of Women reported that "[u]nder domestic legal norms, there is no prohibition on the freedom of Djiboutian women to move freely from place to place" (UN 16 Apr. 2010 para 560). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Association for Respect of Human Rights in Djibouti (Association pour le respect des droits de l’homme à Djibouti, ARDHD), a Paris-based association promoting human rights and democracy in Djibouti (ARDHD 30 May 2012), indicated that there were no legislative obstacles preventing a woman from travelling alone, and that there are no requirements for her to have to be accompanied by a man (ARDHD 23 Mar. 2017).

According to a 2015 World Bank report, entitled Getting to Equal: Women, Business and the Law 2016, in Djibouti, both married and unmarried women can apply for a passport, apply for an ID card, travel outside of the country, travel outside their home, and choose where to live, the same way as men (World Bank 9 Sept. 2015, 114). In its 2011 MENA Gender Equality Profile on Djibouti, UNICEF similarly indicates that "[a] woman does not need the permission of her husband or guardian in order to obtain a passport" (UN Oct. 2011, 2). Similarly, the ARDHD representative indicated that women do not need consent from their father or husband to apply for a passport or to travel (ARDHD 23 Mar. 2017). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative from the Djiboutian Observatory for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights (Observatoire djiboutien pour la promotion de la démocratie et des droits de l’homme, ODDH), an organization that promotes democracy and human rights in Djibouti (La Voix de Djibouti 15 Apr. 2012), similarly stated that neither the law nor common practice requires women in Djibouti to obtain authorization from their husbands to travel (ODDH 22 Mar. 2017). The same source added that women [translation] "travel freely where they want, when they want, and can obtain a passport by themselves" (ODDH 22 Mar. 2017).

However, the 2011 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Djibouti notes in the section entitled "Discrimination Against Women in Marriage and Family Relations" that, under Article 31 of the Family Code, "the husband is the head of the family whose prerogative the wife must respect" (UN 28 July 2011, para. 36).

In its 2016 Freedom in the World report for Djibouti, Freedom House states that "[t]hough the law provides equal treatment for all Djiboutian citizens, … [w]omen face discrimination under customary practices related to inheritance and other property matters, divorce, and freedom of movement" (Freedom House 2016). In a 2014 document entitled Women in Public Life. Gender, Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa, which is the brochure for the report Women in Public Life. Gender, Law, and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa (OECD n.d.), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicates that in Djibouti "the wife is subject to her husband in all aspects of life and has the duty to obey him; the husband can limit her freedom of movement" (OECD 2014, 28). The OECD also states in the full-length version of the report that women in Djibouti "are not allowed to travel abroad without the permission of an adult male relative" (OECD 27 Nov. 2014, 149).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Association pour le respect des droits de l'homme à Djibouti (ARDHD). 23 March 2017. Correspondence from the President to the Research Directorate.

Association pour le respect des droits de l'homme à Djibouti (ARDHD). 30 May 2012. "Association pour le respect des droits de l'homme à Djibouti. Histoire du site." [Accessed 6 Apr. 2017]

Freedom House. 2016. "Djibouti." Freedom in the World 2016. [Accessed 24 Mar. 2017]

Observatoire djiboutien pour la promotion de la démocratie et des droits humains (ODDH). 22 March 2017. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 27 November 2014. Women in Public Life: Gender, Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa. [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). [2014]. Women in Public Life. Gender Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa. [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). N.d. [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

United Nations (UN). October 2011. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Djibouti." MENA Gender Equality Profile. Status of Girls and Women in the Middle East and North Africa. [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

United Nations (UNN). 28 July 2011. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Djibouti. [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

United Nations (UN). 16 April 2010. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Combined Initial, Second and Third Periodic Reports of States Parties:Djibouti. (CEDAW/C/DJI/1-3) [Accessed 27 Mar. 2017]

United Nations (UN). 18 December 1979. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

La Voix de Djibouti. 15 April 2012. "Naissance de l'Observatoire djiboutien pour la promotion de la démocratie et des droits de l'homme (ODDH)." Edition No 115 [Accessed 6 Apr. 2017]

The World Bank. 9 September 2015. Women Business and the Law 2016: Getting to Equal. [Accessed 27 Mar. 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Djibouti – Embassy in Washington, DC.

Internet sites, including: Djibouti – Embassy in Brussels, Embassy in Washington, DC, Embassy in Switzerland, Présidence de la République; Factiva; Freedom House; La Nation; United Nations – Refworld; World Bank.