Nine year-old Roy Miranda Martínez from Costa Rica has a plan: “The day I get my papers (birth certificate), I want to apply for a grant and go to school – just like my brothers. This brings a lot of joy.” © UNHCR/Lucas Iturriza. 2.2 Cultural and practical barriers impeding women from registering the birth of their children In countries with prevailing patriarchal norms, the law may allow both men and women to register a child’s birth, but cultural practices may dictate that only the male head of household can do so. Such customs may be compounded by discriminatory attitudes on the part of registrars and/or poor civic awareness. Mothers may be asked by registrars to provide legal proof of marriage or the father’s identity card – even where these are not required by law – or may be refused access to birth registration procedures altogether. Unmarried women may also not register a child’s birth on account of prevailing social norms that are unaccepting of children born outside wedlock. In some contexts, hospitals may refuse unwed pregnant women entrance and/or birth notification services. In some countries, unmarried women may be reluctant to register the births of their children because the civil registry specifically makes record of the fact that they are single mothers. In other contexts, registration of children born out of wedlock can be done through the courts, but the procedure may be difficult and opaque and may involve an investigation undertaken by State authorities to determine who the father is, which carries with it the risk of social stigmatization. Finally, in some settings women may also mistakenly believe that children’s births can only be registered if the parents are married. Culture is often invoked as a justification for discriminatory policies against women’s ability to register the birth of their children. In Malaysia’s complex legal system, which encompasses Islamic, civil and customary law, a child is considered illegitimate if born out of wedlock. Mothers of children deemed illegitimate are often deterred from registering their children out of fear that they will be discriminated against or stigmatized by society if they hold a birth certificate without the father’s name. B AC KG R O U N D N O T E O N S E X D I S C R I M I N AT I O N I N B I R T H R E G I S T R AT I O N 11