Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home Africana Periodical Literature Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Woman is King, Man a Mere Child: Some Notes on the Socio-Legal Position of Women among the Anufom in Northern Togo
Author:Baerends, Els A.ISNI
Year:1990
Periodical:Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law
Issue:30-31
Pages:33-75
Language:English
Geographic term:Togo
Subjects:Anufo
customary law
family law
women
Cultural Roles
Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights
Status of Women
Sex Roles
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.1990.10756423
Abstract:This article analyses some aspects of the sociolegal position of women among the Anufom of northern Togo. It is based on data collected during fieldwork carried out in 1969-1972 and 1977-1978. The author first notes the danger that unwritten customary laws may render women's rights invisible because of the male bias in Anufo ideology, which is reflected in rulemaking. She then goes on to analyse women's position in the system of marriage exchange, women's strategies in general, and particularly their strategies in cases of marital conflict. She shows the adaptations women make in situations where their rights are not formalized but where broad social changes are exerting certain pressures and tensions to challenge the status quo. In the area of arranged marriages, innovative ways of escaping from unwanted unions are commonplace. The customary dispute resolution system among the Anufom, the chief's court, is rarely used by women for marital conflicts, but a reflection of changing Anufo society is the emergence of the State court, which at least offers women the possibility of obtaining divorce or resisting a marriage arranged without consent. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum.
Views
Cover