The Chilean Parliament has approved a law that puts an end to long-standing discrimination against women who, unlike men, had to wait 270 days before being able to remarry after their divorce or widowhood to dispel doubts about the paternity of possible children.
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This law, which amends the civil code, was approved on the evening of Tuesday 1 September by the deputies and still has to be promulgated by the conservative president Sebastian Piñera.
“
This law puts an end to one of the most unjust discriminations of the civil code.
Women were under the seal of suspicion,
”said Minister for the Status of Women, Monica Zalaquett.
The text in force until then dated back to the 19th century. It provided for a period of 270 days, or nine months, during which widows or divorced women could not remarry in order to dispel any doubts about the paternity of descendants and thus guarantee the rights and obligations in matters of property and inheritance. Paternity can now be easily determined by DNA testing.
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