Lead
Mauritius's parliament has unanimously voted to criminalise marital rape and impose harsher sentences for femicide, a reform its attorney general described as a necessary response to a wave of violent attacks against women. The new Domestic Abuse Act aims to strengthen protections for victims who, as officials acknowledged, have long gone unheard and unprotected.
Coverage comparison
Both AllAfrica and RFI — English reported the unanimous parliamentary vote and the new sentencing provisions. The two outlets presented the reform as a progressive legal step, with RFI emphasising its supportive framing. Their reporting drew on direct quotes from Attorney General Gavin Glover, including his statement to parliament: "We are refining the law, thereby ensuring that the most horrific and despicable crimes are punished for what they are."
Key claims
According to both outlets, nine women were killed in 2025 by a partner, former partner or family member, and four more have died this year. Government figures cited in the reports indicate that one in four Mauritian women has experienced gender-based violence. United Nations statistics, as reported, show that Africa has the world's highest rate of intimate partner and family-related femicide, at three victims per 100,000 women — double the rate in the Americas and six times that in Europe.
The new Domestic Abuse Act reportedly widens the definition of who can be an offender, extending protection to those in same-sex relationships. It also clearly defines economic abuse and coercive control. Sentences for murder "in aggravating circumstances where the victim was, inter alia, subject to acts of domestic abuse" now range from 15 years to life imprisonment, while marital rape carries a sentence of 10 to 45 years.
Police officers will be trained in handling domestic abuse complaints, and protection orders can now be issued on the spot, even remotely by a magistrate.
Attorney General Glover told RFI: "The situation in Mauritius left us with no alternative but to bring stronger laws to protect victims of domestic abuse. This is about the most brutal form of oppression there is: violence, rape, killing — and more importantly about the place where it hides best, the family unit."
In a separate development reported by a single outlet, Glover announced an upcoming revision of the country's definition of rape, moving towards an approach centred on positive consent. This claim has not yet been independently verified.
Context
The reform follows a case that drew public attention. On 10 December 2025, the Supreme Court sentenced the husband of 24-year-old Sheena to life imprisonment for her killing, describing her death as "a horrifying case of femicide" and noting "a deeply troubling rise in violent attacks on women by partners or former partners." Sheena had left her violent husband, but he followed and harassed her, and despite her repeated appeals to police, he abducted, brutalised and raped her three days after her last request for help, stabbing her 22 times in a sugarcane field.