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National Constitutions and Gender Equality
Gender Neutral Language in Constitutions
The tradition of drafting in laws in many countries, adopted from England, has been that the word 'man' is used to include woman, 'his' to include 'her' and so on. Although this is understood by lawyers, it may be unclear to citizens, and even in the minds of lawyers may induce an assumption that normality is that the Prime Minister etc. is a man. It is not very difficult to use language which does not carry this implication: sometimes 'he or she' or 'she or he' can be used, while sometimes the problem is avoided altogether by using a plural phrase such as 'citizens' instead of 'a citizen'. There is no good reason, especially in a basic document such as a constitution, which sets out the rights of all citizens, why this should not be done. In South Africa the drafters went further: they made it clear that a person of either sex could hold the office or perform the role, even when this was not required by the sentence structure: so the Constitution says for example "The Auditor-General must be a woman or a man who is a South African citizen". Secondly the Constitution consistently puts the woman before the man. Thirdly the drafters avoided the necessity ever to say 'him or her'. Fortunately in Nepali it is easier to avoid sexist language.
If you would like to read the South African Constitution, you can find the whole text at http://www.acts.co.za/constitution/index.htm.
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