12 Proposed Select Draft Articles on Nationality Rights to Ensure Gender Equality Article on nationality by marriage a. A non-citizen spouse of a citizen shall acquire the nationality of [name of State] upon registration [or upon application], on an equal basis irrespective of sex, or other personal characteristic. b. Nationality shall be conferred based on the nonnational spouse’s consent. c. The provisions of this article shall apply even if the citizen spouse is deceased, so long as the non-national spouse has not remarried to another person before the application for citizenship is made. d. Legally recognized customary marriages and religious marriages held before religious authorities shall be granted the same recognition as registered civil marriages for the purposes of nationality rights. Note: This proposed Draft Article promotes equality in the conferral of nationality on spouses so that nationality laws do not discriminate against women’s conferral of nationality on their non-citizen spouses who are foreign or stateless men. All should be able to confer nationality equally on their spouses, whether married at home or abroad. Article 9(1) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) requires States Parties to “grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality.” In addition, the CEDAW Committee, the treaty body which monitors implementation of the CEDAW, in its General Recommendation No. 32, has interpreted Article 9 of the Convention to apply to spouses. At present, over 45 States globally deny women equal rights with men in their ability to acquire, change, or retain their nationality, or to confer their nationality on non-national spouses. Additionally, the Draft Article specifies that legally recognized customary and religious marriages are treated the same as civil ones for the purpose of conferring nationality. This is important because in many States, a current lack of marriage registration may also prevent a person from conferring citizenship to a spouse or child. Under international law, any minimum age of marriage should be 18 without exception and with the full consent of both parties. Birth and marriage registration should also be required by law. Accommodations should be made to facilitate the acquisition of nationality by a woman who has citizen children, even if her marriage to a national has dissolved. This is to support the mother’s ability to reside with her children and have access to citizenship rights if she decides to exit the marriage prior to securing the nationality of the State. This is particularly important in situations of domestic violence, where the inability of a woman with citizen children to acquire nationality in instances of divorce inhibits her ability to leave a situation of abuse where she and/or her children are at risk. “GBV victims should not fear that reporting abuse or extracting themselves from an abusive marriage would impact their legal status in the country. Non-citizen women residing in their spouse’s country may fear reporting abuse or seeking divorce if they could face removal from the country, especially when they have children being raised in their spouse’s country.”2 2 Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, “Ending Gender-Based Violence Requires Equal Citizenship: The Impact of Gender Discrimination in Nationality Laws on Gender-Based Violence”, Oct. 2024, https:// www.equalnationalityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Impact-of-Gender-Discrimination-in-Nationality-Laws-on-Gender-Based-Violence_ENGLISH_FINAL_10.2024.pdf