Democracy and Political Governance Chapter 3 Chapter 3 judicial status of women. The country also ratified CEDAW as far back as 1984. Section 3 of the constitution of Mauritius states that all citizens are equal and that their basic rights and freedoms must be respected. Mauritius amended its constitution in 1995 to make discrimination based on sex illegal. 134 286. Major amendments have been made to the Napoleonic Code since 1981. These have improved the status of women. A woman currently has the right to choose her profession, establish a business, open bank accounts, and apply for loans without the authorisation of her husband. She may also choose the matrimonial regime she wants. 287. Couples also share responsibility for managing the family. They have the same rights, obligations and responsibilities. They share parental authority. The welfare of the child is paramount when it comes to making decisions about his or her welfare. 288. Mauritius also passed the Sexual Discrimination Act in 2002. It eliminates all forms of discrimination against women. This law led to the establishment of the Division on Sexual Discrimination within the NHRC. 289. Mauritius passed a law against domestic violence in 1997 and amended it in 2004. It protects the victims of domestic violence. The CSAR observes that, despite this act, the number of cases of domestic violence that corroborating nongovernmental sources have reported is very high. 290. The Sexual Offences Act, which came into force in 2003, aims to enforce sanctions against sexual abuse. The intermediate tribunal can therefore impose prison sentences of 20 years on any person convicted of rape. 291. With regard to policies developed for promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, the CSAR mentions the triennial programme on “capacity building to ensure equality between the man and the woman and empowerment of the woman”. The MWRCDFW launched this programme in August 2005 with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). 292. Several institutions try to promote the participation of women in society and protect their rights. They include the National Council of Democracy and Political Governance Women (NCW). It has operated under the aegis of the MWRCDFW since 1985 to: (i) establish and maintain effective communication with women and women’s organisations; (ii) ensure that they are coordinated and help to implement and evaluate government policies on the needs of the woman; and (iii) advise and assist women to create associations for promoting literacy, dressmaking and other activities. 293. The National Council of Women Chief Executives (NCWCE) is a parastatal organisation that the National Council of Women Chief Executives Act of 1999 established. It aims to (i) promote the development and growth of women executives; (ii) provide them with an appropriate framework, a favourable business environment, and a set of incentives to improve the competitiveness of enterprises; and (iii) promote the economic independence of women. 294. The Protection of Human Rights Act of 1998 established the NHRC in 2001. The act against sex-based discrimination strengthened it in 2002. It led to the establishment of the Sexual Discrimination Control Division within the NHRC. The NHRC publishes a report every year. This uses a situation analysis to make recommendations for promoting human rights in Mauritius. The Sexual Discrimination Control Division of the NHRC received 161 complaints in 2007. They included 12 about gender-based discrimination, 11 about sexual harassment, 14 about moral harassment and 24 about general discrimination.23 Many complaints were about sexual discrimination by employers. The NHRC also observed that few women work in the private sector or occupy posts of responsibility and that the wage difference between men and women is still considerable. According to the 2007 report of the NHRC, women made up only 25 per cent of the total number of executive directors of the 44 parastatal institutions and only 12 of these institutions appoint women as chairpersons of boards. Representation of women in Parliament 295. The CSAR notes that there was a very slight improvement in the level of participation of female candidates in the 2005 elections. Even if the political parties fielded more candidates than in previous general elections, only 59 (or 8.8 per cent) of the 664 candidates were women. This is a very small percentage of the total. With such a small number of candidates, Mauritius is far from achieving the 30 per cent required by the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development of 1997. 23 - 2007 report of the NHRC. 135