DƆNÙESÈ Data Center / Women’s Rights Laws by Country / Democratic Republic of the Congo
Central Africa · Country law profile
Democratic Republic of the Congo: women’s rights and civic space laws
The Democratic Republic of the Congo ratified the Maputo Protocol in 2008, and Article 14 of its 2006 Constitution provides the basis for parity between women and men. A 2016 revision of the Family Code (Law No. 16/008) removed the requirement for a married woman to obtain her husband’s authorisation for legal acts and introduced mutual spousal consent, while a 2015 parity law lacks binding measures to raise women’s representation. Women hold 12.8% of National Assembly seats, and the CEDAW Committee examined the DRC under its exceptional reporting procedure in early 2025 because of conflict-related sexual violence in the east. Civic space is rated repressed, with censorship, internet shutdowns and attacks on journalists linked to the M23 offensive.
At a glance
| Capital | Kinshasa |
|---|---|
| Legal system | Civil law system based on Belgian and French models, with customary law applied in family and land matters |
| Official languages | French |
Key indicators
12.8% (64 of 500)Women in National Assembly (2026)
15.6% (17 of 109)Women in Senate (2024)
60.0World Bank Women, Business and the Law 2024, legal frameworks (2024)
Regional and international treaties
| Treaty | Status | Reservations or notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maputo Protocol | Signed 05/12/2003; ratified 09/06/2008; deposited 09/02/2009 | None mentioned in SOAWR profile |
| CEDAW | Signed 17 July 1980; ratified 17 October 1986 (as Zaire) | None recorded |
| CEDAW Optional Protocol | Not signed or ratified | |
| African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child | Signed 02/02/2010; ratified 31/01/2017; deposited 08/12/2020 | None listed |
| ICCPR | Acceded 1 November 1976 | |
| Kampala Convention | Signed 02/02/2010; ratified 03/02/2022; deposited 23/02/2022 | |
| AU Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo) | Ratified 06/03/2025; deposited 27/06/2025 |
Constitution
| Constitution | Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of 2006 (as amended) |
|---|
National laws
Family and personal status
Law No. 16/008 of 15 July 2016 revising the Family Code
Removed the requirement for marital authorisation for married women to conduct business and other legal acts, and requires mutual consent of spouses for legal obligations.
Source: soawr.org
Nationality
Law No. 04/024 of 2004 on Congolese nationality
Described by the Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative as allowing any child of a Congolese national to acquire citizenship.
Source: citizenshiprightsafrica.org
Rape and sexual offences
Loi n° 06/018 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Décret du 30 janvier 1940 portant Code pénal congolais
Gives a broad definition of rape covering all forms of penetration and coercion, including psychological pressure, and punishes it with five to twenty years of imprisonment. It also criminalises sexual slavery and forced prostitution. Forced pregnancy is also a crime.
Gaps: Marital rape is not explicitly criminalised and many provisions remain untested by the courts.
Source: un.org
Access to justice and legal aid
Loi n° 06/019 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Décret du 6 août 1959 portant Code de procédure pénale congolais
Amends criminal procedure to accompany the 2006 sexual violence offences in the Penal Code.
Gaps: Court costs remain a barrier for survivors and no national legal aid framework is cited.
Source: un.org
Gender-based and domestic violence
Loi n° 06/018 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Code pénal congolais (violences sexuelles)
Serves as the main criminal law on sexual violence against women and girls in the absence of a specific domestic violence statute.
Gaps: There is no specific domestic violence law, and CEDAW experts noted in 2019 that 53 percent of women experience domestic violence or marital rape.
Source: ohchr.org
Rape and sexual offences
Loi n° 09/001 du 10 janvier 2009 portant protection de l’enfant
Applies the 2006 definition of rape to children and criminalises sexual slavery of children. It also creates specialised children’s courts.
Source: un.org
Female genital mutilation
Loi n° 06/018 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Code pénal congolais, article 174
Criminalises sexual mutilation as a form of sexual violence.
Gaps: The provision is brief and FGM is not addressed by a dedicated law.
Source: un.org
Child marriage and age of marriage
Loi n° 16/008 du 15 juillet 2016 modifiant et complétant la Loi n° 87-010 du 1er août 1987 portant Code de la famille
Sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both girls and boys, up from 15 for girls.
Gaps: Enforcement is weak and early marriage persists under customary practice.
Source: eeas.europa.eu
Harmful practices
Loi n° 06/018 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Code pénal congolais (mariage forcé)
Criminalises forcing a person into marriage, a practice often linked to customary arrangements.
Gaps: The offence is limited to persons holding parental or guardianship authority.
Source: un.org
Political participation and quotas
Loi n° 15/013 du 1er août 2015 portant modalités d’application des droits de la femme et de la parité
Implements the constitutional principle of parity and women’s rights in public and private life, and replaced the requirement of marital authorisation with joint spousal consent.
Gaps: Women held about 10 percent of National Assembly seats at the 2019 CEDAW review.
Source: legalrdc.com
Abortion and sexual and reproductive health
Loi n° 18/035 du 13 décembre 2018 fixant les principes fondamentaux relatifs à l’organisation de la santé publique
Guarantees access to contraception, gives the woman’s choice priority on family size (article 84), defines a safe motherhood package, and allows therapeutic abortion to save the woman’s life or for fetal anomalies incompatible with life (article 86).
Gaps: Article 85 bans abortion as family planning; wider grounds in the ratified Maputo Protocol, including rape, are not reflected in this law.
Source: leganet.cd
Abortion and sexual and reproductive health
Loi n° 08/011 du 14 juillet 2008 portant protection des droits des personnes vivant avec le VIH/SIDA et des personnes affectées
Protects people living with or affected by HIV against discrimination and guarantees their access to care.
Source: legalrdc.com
Girls’ education
Loi-cadre n° 14/004 du 11 février 2014 de l’enseignement national
Organises universal access to education and allows pregnant girls to continue their studies.
Gaps: In 2019 more than three million school-age children were out of school and families still paid school costs.
Source: ohchr.org
Labour and maternity
Loi n° 16/010 du 15 juillet 2016 modifiant et complétant la Loi n° 015-2002 portant Code du travail
Lifts the ban on night work for women and lets pregnant women suspend their employment contract without losing their job.
Gaps: Most women work in the informal sector, outside the protection of the code.
Source: eeas.europa.eu
Trafficking
Loi n° 06/018 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Code pénal congolais, article 174 j
Criminalises trafficking and exploitation of persons for sexual purposes.
Gaps: The provision does not define trafficking and the DRC has no comprehensive anti-trafficking statute.
Source: un.org
Data protection
Ordonnance-loi n° 23/010 du 13 mars 2023 portant Code du numérique
Contains a title on the protection of personal data and creates a personal data protection authority.
Source: lexing.be
Online violence and cybercrime
Ordonnance-loi n° 23/010 du 13 mars 2023 portant Code du numérique
Sets out offences committed through digital systems as part of the first comprehensive digital code.
Source: lexing.be
Women and girls with disabilities
Loi organique n° 22/003 du 3 mai 2022 portant protection et promotion des droits des personnes vivant avec handicap
Protects and promotes the rights of persons with disabilities, including women and girls.
Source: legalrdc.com
Human rights defenders
Loi n° 23/027 du 15 juin 2023 relative à la protection et à la responsabilité du défenseur des droits humains en République démocratique du Congo
Creates a national legal framework recognising and protecting human rights defenders.
Gaps: The ministerial order needed to implement the law was still pending in February 2025.
Source: fr.allafrica.com
Civic space
| CIVICUS Monitor rating | Repressed (score 26, CIVICUS Monitor 2025 findings) |
|---|---|
| Notes | CIVICUS documented censorship, internet shutdowns and targeting of journalists during the M23 offensive in the east; in 2022 it reported journalists imprisoned, attacked and killed under martial law. |
Recent developments
- 21 July 2026. UN experts called for an end to torture by M23 in eastern DRC.
- June 2026. UN Commission warned of an exceptionally grave human rights situation in eastern DRC.
- 27 June 2025. DRC deposited its ratification of the AU Malabo Convention.
- February 2025. CEDAW Committee published concluding observations on the DRC under its exceptional reporting procedure.
Reforms recommended
Reforms recommended by the African Commission, UN treaty bodies or national organisations, as reported in the sources below.
- Ratify the CEDAW Optional Protocol.
- Adopt binding parity measures, such as list placement rules and sanctions, to implement Article 14 of the Constitution.
- Align the Penal Code with Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol so that safe abortion services are legally clear for survivors of sexual violence.
Being verified. RFLD is checking the laws on the following topics against official texts and will add them to this page: sexual harassment, inheritance and succession, land and property, social protection, older persons, same-sex relations. Corrections and documents are welcome at programs@rflgd.org.
African Union treaties
Status of 29 African Union treaties as recorded in the official AU status lists published by the African Union Commission. The date of each list is shown: a ratification deposited after that date may not appear yet. 7 of the 13 human rights and governance treaties below are ratified.
Other AU treaties (16)
Sources (22)
- data.ipu.org · women ranking
- wbl.worldbank.org · WBL2024 Economy Scores
- au.int · 37077 sl PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEO…
- un.org · CEDAW Ratification Table IV 8.en
- treaties.un.org · iv 8 b.en
- au.int · 36804 sl AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF THE…
- treaties.un.org · IV 4.en
- au.int · 36846 sl AFRICAN UNION CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION AND …
- au.int · 29560 sl AFRICAN UNION CONVENTION ON CYBER SECURITY AND P…
- soawr.org · democratic rep of congo
- citizenshiprightsafrica.org · democratic republic of congo
- monitor.civicus.org · africa
- monitor.civicus.org · africa
- ohchr.org · democratic republic congo
- dataprotection.africa · democratic republic of congo council of ministers authori…
- un.org · UN legal analysis of SGBV prosecution in the DRC
- ohchr.org · OHCHR summary of CEDAW review of the DRC, July 2019
- eeas.europa.eu · EU Country Gender Profile DRC 2022
- legalrdc.com · LegalRDC civil law texts
- leganet.cd · Leganet text of Loi n° 18/035
- lexing.be · Lexing note on data protection in the DRC
- fr.allafrica.com · AllAfrica report on CNDH call, February 2025
Other countries in Central Africa
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Information verified as of October 2026. This page is for information and advocacy and is not legal advice. Laws change: check the official text before relying on it. Part of the DƆNÙESÈ Data Center of the Women Leaders Network for Development (RFLD). See also the Maputo Protocol Hub and the Maputo Barometer.