UN committee urges Cape Verde to protect minors from de facto unions
The UN CEDAW committee recommended changes to the Civil Code to prevent retroactive recognition of unions involving minors.
A United Nations committee has recommended that Cape Verde amend its Civil Code to stop the retroactive recognition of de facto unions where one partner was a minor. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) made this recommendation after Cape Verde presented its tenth periodic report on October 16 in Geneva.
The CEDAW committee expressed concern that the Civil Code's recognition of de facto unions after three years of cohabitation could legitimize unions that began when a party was underage. The committee also noted that many de facto unions lack legal recognition, leaving women vulnerable in cases of separation or widowhood, and called for formal recognition procedures across all islands, ensuring women's rights to property, alimony, and housing.
The committee also voiced concern over a sharp decline in women's representation in the national government, falling from 53.3% in 2010 to 16.7% in the 2026 executive. CEDAW recommended amending the Parity Law to ensure equitable representation in executive posts and urged the archipelago to reform its Gender-Based Violence Law to explicitly criminalize political violence and online harassment against women.
Why it mattersThe UN CEDAW committee's recommendations aim to protect minors and women from legal and economic vulnerability within de facto unions and to address the declining representation of women in Cape Verde's government.