ground that the conduct of the Respondent is reprehensible allows such cruelty to occasion divorce. Such cruelty could be physical, emotional (psychological) and economic. In Bibilari vs Bibilari (2011)(supra) the court held that cruelty, though not specifically made a ground for divorce under Section 15(2) of MCA, a court can hold that a marriage has broken down irretrievably on the ground that one of the spouses has been cruel to the other. Marital rape, which is not a crime in Nigerian jurisprudence by reason of Section 6 of the Criminal Code Act, is now being given extensive interpretation by the courts that a rapist must be declared as one even in matrimony. The ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa by Nigeria secured its obligation to fulfil all conditions therein stated. Towards this, the country is building on the CEDAW Bill which is an executive bill before the Parliament for parliamentary procedures.  Challenges Though between 2014 and 2016 there has been a remarkable improvement in the generation and use of gender disaggregated data by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Planning Commission, the absence of such data in other sectors of the economy, society and justice system is a constraint to the achievement of equality of women and men before the law, depriving gender actors evidence to argue for affirmative action and gender specific concessions and interventions as a strategy for attaining gender equality. There is need to have useful data on the prevalence and pattern of violence against women and discriminatory practices in the various parts of the country and the contribution of women in the informal sector of the economy. 47