T H E G L O B A L S TAT E O F C I T I Z E N S H I P Marriage-based acquisition of citizenship Sex discrimination in a global context Direct sex discrimination is most common in citizenship laws pertaining to marriage acquisition, as we find this present in 43 countries. In these cases, only women acquire their spouses’ citizenship (17% of countries), or the requirements are different for the two sexes in transferring citizenship to their spouse (5% of countries). These data do not cover the cases where spousal transmission is not possible for same-sex couples, as this limitation tends to be embedded in legal areas such as the family law of the state or in the constitution. Discrimination in spousal transfer is far greater if expanded to include these adjoining legal areas. In 110 countries, same-sex marriage or registered partnerships between same-sex couples are illegal, and there are a further 36 countries where same-sex marriage is unrecognised, only allowed in cases of foreign marriages, or considered unregistered cohabitation. Based on these figures, if including same-sex couples, there are at least 146 countries where there is no equal access in spousal transfer of citizenship. Figure 2.4 visualises the share of the world population affected by direct sex discrimination in the law, i.e., where there is discriminatory legislation that differentiates between men and women. The largest population living in countries with sex discriminatory citizenship laws is on the African continent (53%). In Asia, 20% of the population lives in countries with sex discriminatory citizenship laws. By comparison, only 2% of the population of the Americas lives in such countries, while direct sex discrimination has been eliminated in Europe and Oceania. In reality, the number of individuals living under discriminatory citizenship regimes is much higher if we consider cases of indirect discrimination or discrimination that occurs in a related legal area affecting citizenship acquisition (e.g., family law). 2.4 LIVING UNDER SEX DISCRIMINATORY CITIZENSHIP LAW Share of af fected population, globally and by world region | 2024 Population size (in billions) 4.72 B 8.02 B 22% 1.47 B 1.03 B 20% 0.74 B 53% Asia Sex discrimination Africa 0.04 B 2% 0% 0% Americas Europe Oceania YES NO Source: GLOBALCIT Citizenship Law Dataset, v3, modes A01a, A01b, A02, A08; World Development Indicators 14 World