Despite constitutional prohibitions against sex discrimination and provisions for full equality, including equal pay for equal work, discrimination continues. Women experience difficulties in obtaining certain types of employment. Although they are often paid less than men, they are making modest inroads in the professions. The Constitution prohibits discrimination against women in inheritance, family, and custody matters. However, largely because of illiteracy, most women are unaware of their rights.
Women are often reluctant to seek redress of domestic disputes in the courts.
The Organization of Cape Verdean Women alleges disparate treatment in inheritance matters despite laws calling for equal rights. The Government has prepared studies of social policy priorities and legal rights for children and adolescents, and the Cape Verdean Institute for Children is being restructured in accordance with norms established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In education, the Government's priorities include extending mandatory education to 6 years for all children. In health, the Government seeks to reduce infant mortality and disease, combat drug and alcohol abuse, and discourage teenage pregnancy. Child abuse and mistreatment are continuing problems, exacerbated by chronic poverty, large unplanned families, and traditional high levels of emigration of adult men.