In April 2009 Rwanda promulgated the Law on the Prevention, Protection, and Punishment of Any Gender-Based Violence, the country’s first comprehensive legislation on violence against women. This bill addresses spousal violence, marital rape, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of children in its definition of gender-based violence, and lists the occurrence of such violence as grounds for divorce. This law is a result of a legislative process that began in 2003 to combat a pervasive problem.
The male/female sex ratio for the working age population (15-64) in 2013 is 0.99 while the ratio at birth is 1.03.
Where the 1999 Inheritance Law established legal rights for the inheritance of land and other property, the 2005 Organic Land Law formally abolished customary law where it governed land rights. The 2005 Law also encourages long tenure security through long-term (99 year) leases and land registration, and is actively encouraging joint titling of land. Women are involved in the coordination and registration process. But despite gaining a certain level of independence and legal protection since the genocide, women still face difficulties accessing property. A 2010 qualitative study by the Rwanda Women Network and Makerere Institute of Social Research found women’s legal rights to land are undermined by the continuation of discriminatory practices, due to the negative attitudes towards women’s land rights in Rwanda.
Married women face some restrictions in regard to choosing where they wish to live, as they are legally required to live in the same house as their husband. According to the 2007 CEDAW report, there are no other legal restrictions on women’s freedom of movement in Rwanda.
As a way to empower women socially and economically, KenTel, Rwanda Telecentre Network and Southern Africa Telecentre Network implemented a digital literacy programme targeting women in rural and urban areas. Known as the Telecentre Women Campaign, the initiative aimed to empower disadvantaged women with ICT knowledge for personal growth and greater opportunities. As a result, from July to November 2013, 300 women from Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia gained basic knowledge of ICT to help them improve their businesses and employment.
 Article 83, Family Code in CEDAW (2007), p.63  CEDAW (2007), p.13  CEDAW (2007), p.43  Constitution, articles 9 (4), 76, 82 ; The Quota Project (2013)  The Quota Project (2013)  IPU (2010)  WVS (2007), Question V61  ILO (n.d.)  Telecentre Women, http://women.telecentre.org/?page_id=224