Legal > Nationality and status of women : statements presented by international women's organisations : (supplement no. 2)

[Communicated to the Assembly,
the Council and the Members
of the League.]
i-l'J 'V; 2 . (it'])
Official No. : A. 19 (b). 1935. V.
Geneva, September 11th, 1935.
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
NATIONALITY AND STATUS OF WOMEN
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S
ORGANISATIONS
(Supplement No. 2)
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS’ INTERNATIONAL
COMMITTEE OF TRADE UNION WOMEN.1
It has been very satisfactory to note the considerable amount of progress which has
been achieved since the war in the way of the political, civil, economic and social rights
of women, and in a number of international fields of political, economic and social life.
In some countries, women have attained complete political equality, in others they
have also attained complete equality in the way of civil rights. It cannot be denied, however,
that in many countries — even those which are considered to be the most enlightened and
advanced in the political and social fields — this evolution towards equality between
the sexes has not proceeded at the pace set immediately after the war. On the contrary,
in some countries, differential treatment and discrimination between the rights of men and
women are still practised to such an extent that they arouse indignation each time the
attention of public opinion, and especially that of women, is drawn towards them.
Political and Civil Emancipation.
There is a steady increase in the number of women who are struggling for their political
and civil emancipation, and their efforts to attain equality continuously find more support
among the whole body of public opinion, men as well as women.
The International Committee of Trade Union Women notes that the League of Nations
is again taking up this question by placing the problem of the nationality and the general
status of women on the Agenda for the Assembly.
The International Committee of Trade Union Women, in complete agreement with
the International Federation of Trade Unions of which it forms a part, holds that:
(a) The married woman should have the right of option either to keep her own
nationality or to take her husband’s nationality, and that the nationality of a woman
shall not be changed for the sole reason of (i) her marriage, (ii) a change in the nationality
of her husband made during the marriage.
(b) The right of the woman to repatriation — i.e., the right of the re-acquisition
of former nationality, in consequence of the dissolution of the marriage by legal
separation or by the death of the husband, which right already exists in many countries
— should be made general by international agreement.
(c) In order that women ignorant of the law shall also be in a position to benefit
from the laws, women must everywhere be informed of the legal position upon marriage,
as well as in the event of a change of nationality on the part of the husband, and their
declaration demanded.
1 The letter transmitting this document to the Secretary-General states :
[Translation.]
“ In this memorandum, the International Federation of Trade Unions’ International Committee of Trade
Union Women has put forward the point of view and expressed the wishes of nearly two million wage-
earning women occupied in industry, commerce and transport, who adhere to the Federations which
constitute the International Federation of Trade Unions.”
Series of League of Nations Publications
V. LEGAL
1935. V. 8.
S. d. N. 1.255 (F.) 1.200 (A.) 9/35. — Imp. de la T. de G.