Chapter three: Democracy and good political governance • That the mandate of the DCEO be revised so that it performs functions that are commensurate with its capabilities. This could involve making it specialise in corruption while economic offences are dealt with by a specialised entity. (Government of Lesotho, OAG, PAC, DCEO, the ombudsman, international cooperating partners) Objective 7: Promote and protect the rights of women 82 i. Summary of the CSAR 277. Lesotho has signed and ratified the majority of international and regional human rights instruments that protect and promote women’s rights. The country’s Vision 2020, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the PRS programme all espouse the need for women’s rights and gender equality as a critical requirement for development. The CSAR concedes that the government of Lesotho has made various efforts to domesticate some of the provisions of international instruments, but points out that several are still outstanding, ascribing this situation to the fact that the country “remains traditionalist when it comes to human rights issues and the application of customary laws”. 278. Measures for the promotion and protection of women’s rights include legal measures, institutional and administrative frameworks, and policy frameworks. 279. The constitution of Lesotho (1993) contains a bill of rights in chapter II which sets out, in section 1 (o), the right to equality and, in 1 (n), the right to freedom from discrimination. Discrimination is also prohibited in sections 18 (1) and (3). In strong contrast to these measures, though, stands section 18 (4) (c), which condones discrimination on the basis of culture as far as it concerns women and girl children. Such section allows for discrimination against them under custom on the ground of gender. Lesotho has made a reservation to CEDAW in this regard. This reservation is rebutted in terms of sections 26 (1) and (2) of the constitution, which commit the country to policies that would promote “a society based on equality and justice for all citizens regardless of … sex … ”. 280. The CSAR points to a number of areas in which discrimination against women still persists. Among these is the fact that women in the textile industry are entitled to only two weeks’ paid maternity leave (as opposed to six weeks’ paid maternity leave for other female employees) and that nonpermanent female civil servants are not entitled to maternity leave. 281. According to the CSAR, the adoption of the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act of 2006 is an important step forward in the promotion of gender equality, as it secures women’s sexual and reproductive rights, as well as their sexual autonomy. The Act abolishes the absolute marital power of the husband. The country survey reports that there is general agreement that the reproductive and health rights of women and men are protected equally, though women with disabilities believe that they do not enjoy the same rights as capable women do owing to social stigma and the fact that they are excluded from certain forms of information dissemination and service provision. 282. Because Lesotho has traditionally been a patriarchal society, powers and real rights devolved along the male line, which has had severe consequences for women. However, a number of Acts and policy frameworks have, over time, been amended or adopted in order to address these