The Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the request of the Commission on Women's Rights, has drawn up a comprehensive report on the status of women in the various countries of the world, devoting an
entire chapter to their provisions concerning "family ties," from which we quote the following:
The states of the world go different ways in their laws and provisions concerning the position of the two spouses in the family and the relations that bind them. The provisions of some stipulate that the husband
is the family's obeyed master and its sole provider, while there are other states whose laws stipulate that the spouses are equal in rights and duties in carrying the family's banner and looking after its interests.
1 — In the Eastern countries: We begin by presenting the position of each spouse in the family among
some of the Eastern peoples.
Since no information on this subject reached the Secretariat-General from the Arab states, the Secretary-General's report contained no reference to the laws or traditions of the Arab states.
In Iran, the law provides that the husband enjoys absolute authority in his family: he commands and forbids, and on his shoulders falls responsibility for every matter, small and great.
In the Philippines, the law provides that the husband is responsible for supporting the family, while the wife is entrusted with managing the affairs of the home. It is the husband who decides the place of residence. The courts of the Philippines exempt the wife from living at her husband's side if he settles outside his country; but if he leaves his country delegated on an official government mission, then the wife must join him.
2 — In some Western countries: So much for the East. In the West, the situation differs from that in the East completely — except in a very small number of Western countries, such as Portugal, Spain, and Brazil.
In Portugal, before undertaking any work, the wife must obtain her husband's consent.
In Spain likewise, the law regards the husband as the legal representative of his wife.
Much the same principles apply in some of the Latin American states, such as Chile, Colombia, and Brazil. The husband is the head of the family, and by virtue of this position he is counted the party legally responsible for the family and the one who decides its place of residence. The law places the married woman in the rank of minors and the others who do not exercise civil rights.
As for most of the states
