Status of Women in Private Law

Before the feminist movement began, women all over the world were victims of much discrimination in private law. The feminists very early began urging reforms, and fairly quickly succeeded in getting most of the rules dis criminating against unmarried women removed. It has proved much more difficult to obtain amendments in the law concern ing the status of married women. But it is not only women now who are working to obtain equality. The United Nations has been especially active in this field in many ways. Some of the main problems dealt with in this article are the protec tion of women's rights when marriages are contracted (form and minimum age) and when marriages are dissolved (for example, grounds for divorce must be the same for both sexes). Under the subhead "Property Rights," the advantages of sepa rate property systems and community property systems are discussed, and the need to protect housewives who have no separate income is stressed. The rules concerning the spouses' responsibility for support of the family are discussed with reference to the report of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and Scandinavian law. It is emphasized that this problem is of central importance when the role of women in the modern world is discussed.