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 2. Gender equality Thematic lead: Ashley Mantha-Hollands Everyone should have equal access to citizenship and be able to transmit their citizenship to their children irrespective of their sex, gender, and sexual orientation. While sex-based discrimination in citizenship law has globally declined over the past decades, it remains a cause of concern. This can be direct discrimination in the substance of the law itself, such as where the transmission of citizenship to children is not equal between men, women, or same-sex couples; or in laws that differentiate between men and women in the acquisition and retention of citizenship. Discrimination can also be indirect, which includes laws, policies, or regulations that create additional barriers for certain individuals to access or transmit citizenship but are not explicit in the citizenship law. If individuals are not equally able to transmit citizenship to their children or spouse, this can result in cases where one or both parents do not share the citizenship of their children, leading to potentially precarious situations where families are separated at borders, or, in the most severe cases, leaving children at risk of statelessness. Citizenship is thus critical for personal security and the well-being of the family unit. Additionally, citizenship often determines one’s right of entry, residency, and level of participation in political processes such as voting or candidacy rights. Inequality in access to citizenship can therefore lead to a lack of meaningful political representation. Figure 2.1 charts the extent of direct sex-based discrimination for citizenship acquisition at birth or via marriage. Over the last century, many countries have reformed their citizenship laws to eliminate direct sex discrimination. However, our study finds that direct discrimination persists in the nationality laws of 50 out of 191 countries. Most countries 2.1 SEX DISCRIMINATION IN CITIZENSHIP ACQUISITION AT BIRTH AND BY MARRIAGE, BY WORLD REGION Share and number of countries with gender discriminator y provision in citizenship law | 191 countries | 2024 54 46 42 191 No. of countries 35 44% 26% 46% 14 0% Africa Asia Europe 11% 7% Americas Oceania Sex discrimination World YES Source: GLOBALCIT Citizenship Law Dataset, v3, modes A01a, A01b, A02, A08 11 NO