Married women are required by law to obey their husbands in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Married women are required by law to obey their husbands was 1 (1=yes; 0=no) in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Married women are required by law to obey their husbands in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1970–2023
Source: Women, Business and the Law; World Bank – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in (1=yes; 0=no).
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 1 (1=yes; 0=no) for married women are required by law to obey their husbands in 2023. That is the highest value across all 54 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over five years.
Over the whole period, married women are required by law to obey their husbands in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 1 (1=yes; 0=no) in 1970 and was at its lowest, 0 (1=yes; 0=no), in 1988.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 1st out of 188 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Married women are required by law to obey their husbands in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | (1=yes; 0=no) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1971 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | -100.0% |
| 1989 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1990 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1991 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1992 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1993 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1994 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1995 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1996 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1997 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1998 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 1999 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2000 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2001 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2002 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2003 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2004 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2005 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2006 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2007 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2008 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2009 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2010 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2011 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2012 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2013 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2014 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2015 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2016 | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2017 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | — |
| 2018 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | +0.0% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 1 (1=yes; 0=no) is above the median for low income countries, which is 1 (1=yes; 0=no), 1.0× the median. (24 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 1 (1=yes; 0=no) is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1 (1=yes; 0=no), 1.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8 (1=yes; 0=no) | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 10 |
| 1990s | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 10 |
| 2000s | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3 (1=yes; 0=no) | 0 (1=yes; 0=no) | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 10 |
| 2020s | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 1 (1=yes; 0=no) | 4 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
- 1 Albania 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Algeria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Angola 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Antigua and Barbuda 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Argentina 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Armenia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Australia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Austria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Azerbaijan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Bahamas 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Bangladesh 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Barbados 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Belarus 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Belgium 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Belize 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Benin 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Bhutan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Bolivia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Botswana 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Brazil 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Bulgaria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Burkina Faso 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Burundi 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Cambodia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Cameroon 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Canada 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Cape Verde 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Central African Republic 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Chad 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Chile 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 China 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Colombia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Comoros 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Congo 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Costa Rica 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Cote d'Ivoire 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Croatia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Cyprus 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Czechia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Denmark 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Dominica 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Dominican Republic 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 East Timor 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Ecuador 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 El Salvador 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Eritrea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Estonia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Eswatini 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Ethiopia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Fiji 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Finland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 France 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Gabon 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Gambia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Georgia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Germany 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Ghana 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Greece 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Grenada 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Guatemala 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Guinea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Guinea-Bissau 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Guyana 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Haiti 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Honduras 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Hong Kong 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Hungary 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Iceland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 India 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Indonesia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Ireland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Israel 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Italy 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Jamaica 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Japan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Kazakhstan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Kenya 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Kiribati 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Kyrgyzstan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Laos 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Latvia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Lebanon 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Lesotho 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Liberia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Libya 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Lithuania 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Luxembourg 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Madagascar 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Malawi 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Maldives 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Malta 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Marshall Islands 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Mauritius 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Mexico 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Micronesia (country) 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Moldova 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Mongolia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Montenegro 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Morocco 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Mozambique 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Myanmar 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Namibia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Nepal 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Netherlands 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 New Zealand 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Nicaragua 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Niger 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Nigeria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 North Macedonia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Norway 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Oman 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Pakistan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Palau 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Panama 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Papua New Guinea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Paraguay 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Peru 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Philippines 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Poland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Portugal 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Puerto Rico 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Romania 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Russia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Rwanda 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Saint Lucia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Samoa 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 San Marino 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Sao Tome and Principe 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Senegal 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Serbia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Seychelles 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Sierra Leone 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Singapore 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Slovakia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Slovenia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Solomon Islands 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Somalia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 South Africa 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 South Korea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 South Sudan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Spain 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Sri Lanka 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Suriname 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Sweden 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Switzerland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Syria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Tajikistan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Tanzania 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Thailand 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Togo 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Tonga 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Trinidad and Tobago 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Tunisia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Turkey 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Uganda 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Ukraine 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 United Arab Emirates 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 United Kingdom 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 United States 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Uruguay 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Uzbekistan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Vanuatu 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Venezuela 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Vietnam 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Zambia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
- 1 Zimbabwe 1 (1=yes; 0=no) compare
More gender data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Child population (UN estimates and projections) 59,241 (2030)
- Child population (UN estimates and projections) (0-14), annual growth 2.48 % change on previous year (2030)
- Population 72,291 (2030)
- Working-age population (UN estimates and projections) 72,291 (2030)
- Population (UN estimates and projections), annual growth rate 3.47 % change on previous year (2030)
- Age population, age 00, female, interpolated 2.15 million (2025)
- Age population, age 00, male, interpolated 2.18 million (2025)
- Age population, age 01, female, interpolated 2.08 million (2025)
- Age population, age 01, male, interpolated 2.11 million (2025)
- Age population, age 02, female, interpolated 2.02 million (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is married women are required by law to obey their husbands in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Married women are required by law to obey their husbands in Democratic Republic of Congo was 1 (1=yes; 0=no) in 2023, according to Women, Business and the Law; World Bank – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest married women are required by law to obey their husbands recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 1 (1=yes; 0=no) in 1970.
- What is the lowest married women are required by law to obey their husbands recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 (1=yes; 0=no) in 1988.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for married women are required by law to obey their husbands?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 1st out of 188 countries with data for 2023.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
- The figures come from Women, Business and the Law; World Bank – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Married women are required by law to obey their husbands. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 54 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
This indicator captures whether family law includes any provision requiring a married woman to obey her husband or penalizing her for disobedience, such as loss of maintenance rights.