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 2.5 SEX DISCRIMINATION IN CITIZENSHIP LAW, BY POLITICAL REGIME Mean (autocracy) = 0.9 | Mean (democracy) = 0.1 | 179 countries | 2024 89% Share of countries Autocracy Democracy 56% 21% 9% 0 1 2 14% 8% 0 3 1 1% 1% 2 3 Number of discriminatory modes present in a country Source: GLOBALCIT Citizenship Law Dataset, v3, modes A01a, A01b, A02, A08 | V-DEM v2x_regime Figure 2.5 represents the number of direct sex discriminatory citizenship provisions present in the citizenship law of a state by regime type (democracy or autocracy). Countries with more sex discriminatory citizenship laws are generally more autocratic than democratic. This does not mean that all autocratic countries have discriminatory laws. In fact, our data show that many autocracies do not have direct discrimination in their citizenship laws. Nevertheless, it does show that there is less direct sex discrimination in citizenship laws in countries that are democratic. Beyond the law This section of the report has primarily focused on sex discrimination that is explicit in a state’s citizenship law. Even so, discrimination may also occur in the constitution or in the family law of a state (such as with the right to same-sex marriage or adoption), thus influencing citizenship acquisition or transmission. In addition, discrimination in the law, policies and procedures that states use to implement their citizenship law can indirectly discriminate against certain groups. This would include cases where requirements for citizenship are more challenging for one group to fulfil than others. For example, naturalisation requirements that overemphasise economic requirements could negatively impact female applicants, as 16 women often do not share in the same material wealth or are offered the same economic/educational opportunities as men. Another relevant example is where administrative and legal documents do not allow individuals to self-identify their gender, or their sex designation cannot be changed on their official documentation after birth (for example, on a birth certificate). Less than 30 countries globally have adopted a third gender identity marker (“X”) on passports or other citizenship-related documents. Countries that do not allow or recognise a nonbinary identity marker or do not allow individuals to update their gender identity/sex designation create additional barriers and risks for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people in the acquisition or transmission of citizenship. One of the challenges going forward in pushing for equal access in citizenship law will be to widen the scope of what we understand as gender-based discrimination. First, this should be beyond the binary of women in relation to men and include other gender identities and sexual orientations. And second, it should capture the discrimination that occurs indirectly in adjacent legal or policy fields that can affect the acquisition or transmission of citizenship, such as in parental establishment policies that do not legally recognise certain types of parenthood.