The following information was obtained during a 29 March 2000 telephone interview with the President of the Association for the Progress and Defence of the Rights of Malian Women (Association pour le progrès et la défense des droits des femmes maliennes, APDFM).

Legally speaking, Mali's marriage and guardianship code is clear: [translation] "no marriage shall occur without the consent of both spouses." In practice, however, prearranged marriage is quite common in the cities as well as in the countryside among all ethnic groups. This phenomenon is most frequent among fundamentalist Muslim [translation] "brotherhoods" [communities sharing the same belief systems].

As a result of threats of exclusion and curses from their family and society, Malian women have little opportunity to object to such marriages. This is particularly true because it is inconceivable in Malian society that a woman would apply to the courts to contest such a marriage, as doing so would amount to bringing legal action against her own parents.

Nonetheless, a few women are asking the APDFM to intervene with their parents. In these cases, members of the APDFM contact the woman's parents to try and explain the unfortunate consequences such marriages may entail. Such efforts are, however, rarely successful.

This information could not be corroborated by other sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

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 to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

Association pour le progrès et la défense des droits des femmes maliennes (APDFM), Bamako. 29 March 2000. Telephone interview with the President.

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Confidential 1999-April 2000.

Africa Research Bulletin December 1999-January 2000.

L'Autre Afrique 1999-January 2000.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. February 2000. Electronic version.

IRB Databases.

Jeune Afrique 1999-March 2000.

La Lettre hebdomadaire de la FIDH 1999-February 2000.

LEXIS/NEXIS.

New African 1999.

Le Nouvel Afrique-Asie 1999-February 2000.

West Africa 1999.

World News Connection (WNC).

Internet sites including:

Africa News Service.

Amnesty International Online.

Human Rights Watch Online.

ReliefWeb.

Search engines including:

Altavista.

Google.

Yahoo.