United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, Online Edition. Estimates 2024.
(1) Adopt legislation criminalizing all forms of physical, psychological, economic and sexual violence against women, including marital rape, and define rape based on lack of consent rather than penetration or use of force; (2) Ensure that all perpetrators of acts of gender-based violence against women are prosecuted and adequately punished by a competent court, that victims and witnesses receive protection and that victims are adequately compensated; (3) Ensure the availability and accessibility of shelters for women who are victims of gender-based violence throughout the State party, strengthen and adequately fund support services for victims and ensure that staff are trained and the quality of services is regularly monitored; (4) Systematically collect statistical data on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and sentences imposed in cases of gender-based violence against women, disaggregated by age, disability, region and the relationship between the victim and perpetrator.
(1) Expeditiously adopt a comprehensive strategy to eliminate discriminatory stereotypes and all harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation, child and/or forced marriage and polygamy, and ensure that support services and rehabilitation programmes are readily established for victims; (2) Raise awareness among traditional and religious leaders, parents, teachers, women and the general public about the criminal nature and devastating impact of harmful practices on the lives of women and girls and provide systematic training to judges, prosecutors, the police and other law enforcement officers on the strict application of criminal law provisions prohibiting harmful practices, with a view to ensuring that perpetrators of such criminal acts are brought to justice.
(1) Abolish the requirement of completion of national service for the registration of marriage; (2) Combat the root causes of child marriage and ensure the application and implementation of articles 581 and 607 of the Transitional Civil Code, which set the minimum age for marriage for both sexes at 18 years and criminalize violations; (3) Amend the Transitional Civil Code and discourage and prohibit polygamy, and ensure the protection of the economic rights of women in existing polygamous marriages; (4) Repeal customary and religious law provisions that are incompatible with the above-mentioned provisions prohibiting child marriage and polygamy; (5) Ensure that the jointly owned property of women and men is registered in the name of both partners from the outset; (6) Ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights to inheritance and as testators, heirs or beneficiaries, including in Muslim communities; (7) Provide systematic training on women's equal rights in marriage and upon the dissolution of marriage, as well as training on women's equal inheritance rights, for the judiciary, customary and religious judicial officers and traditional and religious leaders.
(1) Enact and enforce national anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling legislation and implement national strategies and national plans to combat such crimes; (2) Conduct prompt and impartial investigations into cases of trafficking in women and girls and ensure that perpetrators of trafficking are adequately punished and that victims of trafficking have access to free legal aid, accessible shelters and psychosocial support and have the possibility to return to the territory of the State party; (3) Strengthen efforts to raise awareness about the criminal nature and risks of trafficking in women and girls and provide training to the judiciary, law enforcement officers and border police on the early identification of women and girls who are victims of trafficking and ensure their referral to appropriate services; (4) Systematically collect information and data on trafficking in women and girls, as well as on women in prostitution, disaggregated by age, nationality and ethnic group, and conduct research into the root causes of those phenomena in order to inform laws and policies to combat trafficking in persons.
The Constitution does not address violence against women and girls, but it enshrines gender equality and non-discrimination.
Eritrea lacks a comprehensive EVAW law. Serious forms of violence like rape and FGM are criminalized, but critical gaps remain, including the lack of legal recognition for marital rape, absence of domestic violence statutes, and no specific harassment laws.
Eritrea does not yet have a National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Girls.