Studies show that most countries tend to take freedom of movement for granted (European

Parliament, 2020). As such, people, especially women, are limited on where to go, stay, or travel.
Women mostly make attempts to communicate their grievances, but they are challenged by the
existing discriminatory and customary laws within their countries. Studies find that in more than
50 countries, women's freedom of movement is limited by customary and discriminatory laws,
and there yet to introduce reforms to address this issue (European Parliament, 2020). Therefore,
to women, it may become impossible to address their concerns or protest against discrimination
since such actions are not allowed in their countries. Also, in some countries, women cannot
travel outside or apply for a passport the same way as men. For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa,
most countries have legal restrictions on women's mobility. Most of them restrict women from
traveling their countries or choose to live freely as men do. Therefore, communicating their
grievances might bear fruits since the laws governing their countries believe that it is right for
women not to roam freely; thus, they should stay at their homes if possible. Also, in many
homes, women must seek permission from their husbands or any head of the family before
traveling away. In addition to the restrictions by their husbands, expectations of domestic care tie
them to their homes.
Customary laws view men as the head of the family and women as home caretakers.
Therefore, women are subject to domestic roles such as taking care of the children, cooking for
their families. Therefore, in such a society, women might feel discriminated against, but all they
can do is remain resilient and continue with the domestic roles. Women in these societies try to
claim that domestic roles should be shared responsibility, but traditions limit their ability to
communicate such claims. In some countries, women even do not get a chance to work in
industries or at other places; they are tied to domestic roles. Studies find that about 74 countries
worldwide make it impossible for women to work in the same industries as men (European
Parliament, 2020). Women in most countries use social media to communicate their concerns
against discrimination while demanding equal treatment to men. However, in many cases, their
effort is not rewarded since their home countries rarely implement reforms that favor their
concerns.
Women, in some cases, use courts whenever they feel like their rights and freedoms are
violated. Courts recognize that most discriminatory laws are against international human rights
treaties such as the Maputo Protocol and CEDAW. However, some countries continue to use
these laws when deciding the fate for women. For instance, a Tanzanian court denied a widow's
right to inherit her matrimonial home following the death of her husband (Msuya, 2019). This
widow tried to communicate her concerns through the court of appeal, but her efforts were
discouraged since, at last, she was ordered to leave the matrimonial home. This shows that
society is still biased when it comes to treating women right. Therefore, in addition to
discriminatory and customary laws, magistrates and judges play a huge role in promoting the
discrimination of women. In many cases, the judiciary fails to interpret customary laws under
human rights norms and disregard biased customary norms.
Women in the modern world have found that the best way to escape and fight
discrimination is by joining support groups to air their issues. However, these support groups
require finances to function and help women air their concerns effectively. However, poverty
and lack of funding have held back progress on reform of laws discriminating against women's
rights and freedom. Many developing and underdeveloped countries have limited resources to
carry out the reforms. Poverty makes the government focus on other major issues such as
security rather than carry out reforms on inequality and discrimination against women (European
Parliament, 2020). Also, in many countries majority of women are not employed; therefore, they
must rely on their husbands for money. As such, they receive enough money just for taking care
of the family but not to take part in other things. Therefore, it becomes impossible for women to
form movements against discriminatory and customary laws. Also, their freedom of movement is
limited since they lack their own money to travel or live freely the same way as men. In other
words, a woman must wait for his husband to give her money and permission to travel away
from home. This appears so oppressive since women too deserve to have their own money so
that they may not rely on their husbands all the time. In other words, doing unpaid domestic
work limits their freedom of movement.  
In most countries today, women have joined political parties while others have been
elected as representatives in the government. Therefore, women have been using these
representatives to raise concerns against discrimination. In some countries, the presence of
women in the government has led to the promotion of gender-sensitive policies. Women
representatives in some countries pressure the government to formulate policies that increase
women's participation in decision-making processes. Despite the progress and achievements,
especially in political representation, they still face major obstacles and challenges that limit their
ability to communicate their concern. For instance, in many countries, development policies such
as poverty reduction strategies mainly do not acknowledge power and income difference
between men and women, thus interfering with programs against inequality. These
representatives might be the voice of women in society, but their opinions are mostly
disregarded. As such, it becomes difficult for women representatives to propose reforms in a
government in which men are the majority. In addition, women still have limited opportunities in
trade and industry. Therefore, they are less likely to equal men in terms of income and power.
Therefore, less income and lower power mean that their voice is lower.
Social challenges, as they appear, are harder and more insidious to quantity, and some
may take some rules imposed by communities or authorities even without a basis in law. In the
current world, communication has been made easy by the development of technology. For
instance, today, people do not need to go to the streets demonstrating for their rights and
freedoms, but they can use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to raise their
concerns. However, when it comes to gender inequality, it has become almost impossible to push
reforms using such platforms. Some countries still maintain laws that prohibit women from
going out in public without being accompanied by a male family member. As such, these women
cannot go the places they want without requesting accompaniment or permission. Social norms
such as limited education to women make them suffer from discrimination against their rights
and freedom (Choudhry et al., 2019). For instance, a low level of education may limit their
freedom to move within and outside the borders of their countries. Low-level-educated women
usually find themselves in early marriages and end become victims of oppression and
discrimination from their husbands.
Campaigns to empower women have been used as a tool against women's rights and
freedom violations. Women empowerment campaigns have an aim to unite women in protest
against gender inequality. However, the efforts of these campaigns have been shattered by
factors such as lack of decent work and control over property or ownership. Decent work is
directly related to women's empowerment since it means the woman can have access to resources
and income (Choudhry et al., 2019). Some customary laws make it hard for women to find
decent work other than a home caretaker. Therefore, without decent work, women fail to acquire
enough resources and funds to campaign against the violation of their rights and freedoms.
Studies find that in most countries in the Middle East, South Saharan Africa, and North Africa,
there is a huge gender disparity in high-quality jobs (Choudhry et al., 2019). Women, therefore,
have limited labor opportunities available within the community. In some countries, the
governing laws do not promote women's access and control over the property. Access and
control over property mean that the women receive honor from family members, have the
authority to make decisions, and there is non-restricted mobility. However, women have limited
access to resources due to the prejudiced customary and legal laws strengthening gender
disparities.

 
References 
Choudhry, A. N., Mutalib, R. A., & Ismail, N. S. A. (2019). Socio-cultural factors affecting
women economic empowerment in Pakistan: A situation analysis. International Journal of
Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(5), 90-102.
European Parliament. (2020). Discriminatory Laws Undermining Women's Rights.
Europarl.Europa.eu.  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2020/603489/
EXPO_IDA(2020)603489_EN.pdf.
Jad, I. (2018). Claiming feminism, claiming nationalism: Women's activism in the occupied
territories. In The Challenge of Local Feminisms (pp. 226-248). Routledge.
Khalil, U., & Mookerjee, S. (2019). Patrilocal residence and women's social status: evidence
from South Asia. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 67(2), 401-438.
Kiye, M. E. (2021). Customary Law in Anglophone Cameroon and the Repugnancy Doctrine:
An Insufficient Complement to Human Rights. Fahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 42(2).
Matanga, R. J. (2018). Perceptions of women's freedom of movement in the Avenues suburb in
Zimbabwe (Doctoral dissertation).
Msuya, N. H. (2019). Challenges surrounding the adjudication of women's rights in relation to
customary law and practices in Tanzania. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal (PELJ), 22(1),
1-29.
Pennington, A., Orton, L., Nayak, S., Ring, A., Petticrew, M., Sowden, A., ... & Whitehead, M.
(2018). The health impacts of women's low control in their living environment: a theory-based
systematic review of observational studies in societies with profound gender discrimination.
Health & place, 51, 1-10.