Customary Law, Gender Equality, and the Family

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511844294.019

18 - Customary Law, Gender Equality, and the Family

The Promise and Limits of a Choice Paradigm

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2012

Tracy E. Higgins and

Edited by

Paolo Galizzi and

Tracy E. Higgins: Affiliation:
Fordham Law School
Jeanmarie Fenrich: Affiliation:
Fordham Law School
Jeanmarie Fenrich: Affiliation:
School of Law, Fordham University, United States of America
Paolo Galizzi: Affiliation:
School of Law, Fordham University, United States of America
Tracy E. Higgins: Affiliation:
School of Law, Fordham University, United States of America

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Summary

Introduction

The legal regulation of the family under customary law is characterized by complexity within particular traditional legal systems and by diversity across the wider range of such systems within Africa. Customary law may determine the rights and obligations of spouses, the terms of marriage formation and dissolution, the implications of marriage for family membership, parental rights and obligations regarding children, custody of children upon marital dissolution, land acquisition, ownership and inheritance, and often governance structures within the community. Virtually all of these legal norms have implications for gender equality.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Future of African Customary Law , pp. 423 - 445

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844294.019 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

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