This report analyzes the gendered impacts of inadequacies in marriage and divorce registration in six countries on the African continent. The six countries reviewed are Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Burkina Faso and Morocco, representing the different types of legal systems prominent on the continent. A review of each of these legal systems reveals a common thread: each legal system fails to adequately recognize various marriages embraced by the population and in doing so, denies women in these marriages important rights. The choice to recognize or not recognize certain marriages is not reflective of the legal traditions predominant in any nation. Rather, it likely reflects the social values of the population, as well as the development and policy goals of the state.