Romantic relationship in Gabon

Partner choice and dating in Gabon usually take place privately or through family, customary or religious settings. No public state dating or matching institution has been identified. Couples may become fiancés, live together, marry through customary practice, register a civil marriage, hold a religious ceremony or combine several of these paths. A civil marriage is registered at a mairie or centre d'état civil. The couple generally applies at the civil-status office connected with their residence or place of stay, publishes the marriage notices and receives a publication certificate. The marriage should take place within one month after that certificate. Two adult witnesses attend, and the marriage record states whether the couple chooses monogamy or polygamy and identifies the matrimonial regime. Local civil-status fees vary, and no single national fee schedule has been confirmed. Both partners generally need to be at least 18. A presidential or Court of Cassation dispensation may apply for a serious reason. Personal consent is required; violence or threats can invalidate the marriage. A non-consensual customary marriage or a marriage below the lawful age is criminally punishable. The 2024 Constitution describes marriage as a union between two people of different sexes. Same-sex sexual relations have been decriminalized since 2020, but no equivalent civil marriage path for same-sex couples has been identified. Formal marriage creates duties of shared life, respect, protection, fidelity, mutual support and assistance. Spouses jointly manage the household and family, choose the marital home together, and contribute to household expenses according to their means. Each spouse may pursue a profession and maintain a personal bank account. When danger or violence exists, a court can allow a spouse to live separately with the children for protection. A marriage may be monogamous or polygamous when the couple makes that choice in the civil record. The EDSG 2019–2021 reported that 6% of women aged 15–49 in a union had a co-wife and 5% of men aged 15–49 had at least two wives or partners, lower than earlier reported levels. These figures describe population patterns, not an individual couple's legal status. Union libre describes cohabitation as a couple without marriage. It can acquire legal effects after more than two consecutive years when neither partner is otherwise married, subject to the applicable proof requirements and exceptions, including a presentation of the woman to the man's family or parents. It does not automatically create a community of property or all the mutual duties of marriage. After more than two years, reciprocal medical assistance may apply with limitations, and unpaid contributions to the household may support compensation when the relationship ends. A liaison irrégulière is a sexual relationship without a shared household and generally has no legal effect. EDSG 2019–2021 figures for women aged 15–49 recorded 31.2% living together, 17% married, 41.3% never married, 48.2% married or living in a union, 9.2% separated or not living together, 0.4% divorced and 0.9% widowed. Partners can obtain sexual and reproductive health services through Ministry of Health structures and UNFPA-supported channels. Available methods include condoms, pills, injectables, implants and intrauterine devices. In 2021, 33% of women in unions had an unmet family-planning need; modern contraceptive use was 17%, compared with 24% in 2012. The reported methods included male condoms at 12% and pills at 2%; among sexually active women outside a union, condom use was 28%. QG Jeune provides information, listening and service access, and 2024 mobile clinics reached 12,690 adolescents and young people and distributed 3,800,000 condoms. Law 006/2021 covers physical, sexual, psychological, property-related and economic violence by a current or former spouse, concubin or de facto partner, whether or not the partners share a home. It includes marital rape and domestic violence. Protection centres were legally established by a 2021 decree, while a single nationwide hotline, standard cost and fixed access time have not been confirmed. Repudiation is prohibited. Either spouse may seek a court divorce, or both may apply by mutual consent. Grounds can include adultery, at least one year of imprisonment for an intentional offence, severe abuse or injury, chronic alcohol or drug use, breach of monogamy, family violence, a serious breach of marital duties, declared absence or factual separation for three years. A mutual-consent agreement is reviewed and approved by a judge. Divorce proceedings are court-based, require personal appearance, may include provisional protection measures and must be transcribed in the civil register. Legal separation without divorce is also possible. Ending union libre does not automatically trigger a divorce procedure or a community-of-property regime.