The Constitution provides for equal treatment of men and women, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Women's Promotion works to advance such equality. However, women face discrimination, particularly in rural areas where opportunities are limited by custom, and the demands of child-rearing and subsistence farming. Women are not denied access to land, credit, or businesses, but inheritance laws also favor male heirs over females. Government officials acknowledge that polygyny is practiced commonly, although it is prohibited by law. Divorce laws generally tend to favor men in awarding custody and dividing communal assets.
Legal evidence given by women carries less weight than that given by men.
Although such marriages are prohibited by law, parents contract marriages for girls as young as 11 years of age in the forest region. The Government has affirmed the principle of equal pay for equal work, but in practice women receive less pay than men in most equally demanding jobs. The Government provides free, compulsory primary school education for 8 years. Approximately 50 percent of all eligible students are enrolled in primary school, including 66 percent of eligible boys but only 35 percent of eligible girls. It is performed on girls and women between the ages of 4 and 70.