In practice the Government often favors individuals on the basis of ethnic and tribal affiliation, social status, and political ties. Societal discrimination against women, strongly rooted in traditional society, is endemic, although the situation is improving. There are no legal restrictions on the education of girls and women. The law provides that men and women receive equal pay for equal work. In practice polygyny is very rare among Moors but common among other ethnic groups.
Arranged marriages are also increasingly rare, particularly among the Moor population.
Family and tradition Human rights monitors and female lawyers report that physical mistreatment of women by their husbands is rare. The police and judiciary occasionally intervene in domestic abuse cases but women in traditional society rarely seek legal redress, relying instead upon family and ethnic group members to resolve domestic disputes. The incidence of reported rape is low. It occurs, but newspaper accounts of attacks are rare. Women have legal rights to property and child custody, and, among the more modern and urbanized population, these rights are recognized.