In April 2008, Zimbabwe ratified the African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), which contains a number of critically important provisions on property rights for women and widows. The protocol specifically mentions the right of equal protection and benefit of the law (article 8), and states parties are required to take "appropriate legal measures to ensure that widows enjoy all human rights."111 Article 6 of the protocol requires that "every marriage shall be recorded in writing and registered in accordance with national laws, in order to be legally recognized," and article 7 states explicitly that when a marriage ends, "women and men shall have the right to an equitable sharing of the joint property deriving from the marriage."112 Specific rights in widowhood include equitable rights to property, as well.113 Article 25 also requires states to provide appropriate remedies for violations of the rights in the protocol.114 As a party to the protocol, Zimbabwe agreed to protect widows from discrimination— including abuses like property grabbing—and is required to reform all discriminatory laws and practices to promote and protect the rights of women.115 The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights reinforced these rights through resolution 262, adopted in 2013, which calls for a series of measures to protect women’s rights to land and productive resources. It calls on states to: Ensure widows’ right to inheritance, including the right to inherit the movable and immovable property of their husbands, as well as their right, irrespective of the matrimonial regime, to continue to live in the matrimonial house.116 111 Ibid., art. 8. 112 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted by the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, Maputo, September 13, 2000, CAB/LEG/66.6, entered into force November 25, 2005, arts. 6 and 7(d). 113 Ibid., arts. 20 and 21(1). 114 Ibid., art. 25. 115 Ibid., arts. 2 and 8(f). 116 Resolution 262 on Women’s Right to Land and Productive Resources, adopted by the 54th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Banjul, November 5, 2013, http://www.achpr.org/sessions/ 54th/resolutions/262/, (accessed September 29, 2016). 43 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JANUARY 2017