Hostname: page-component-669899f699-chc8l Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-25T20:43:40.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Landless and “Childless” in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: High School Students’ Perceptions of Gendered Constitutional Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Maroyi Mulumeoderhwa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study draws on a qualitative study to examine, using the attitudes of high school male and female students, the possibilities for change in current practices concerning women's rights to inherit property and to take the custody of children in the event of divorce. The results show that male participants view their sisters as temporary residents in the family, and believe her inheritance may benefit her husband and her children who do not belong to her father's clan. Therefore, they strongly contest her inheritance right. However, a minority of boys were receptive to certain notions of women's rights and quite ambivalent about the gender status quo. Female participants, on the other hand, perceived the customary laws and patrilineal attitudes as a hindrance for women and girls to claim their inheritance's rights although the Congolese Family Code grants them such a right. Although the law grants both husband and wife this right, socio-cultural norms and customary law render women victims of violence. Both male and female participants also mentioned that in case of divorce, women are denied child custody.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 1026 - 1059
Copyright
© 2018 Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

The author would like to thank participants for enabling valuable insights into focus group discussions and interviews. Many thanks to Professors Andre Keet, Geoff Harris and the journal's anonymous reviewers for their comments on this article.

References

Adomako, Akosua A., & John, Boateng (2007) “Multiple Meanings of Manhood Among Boys in Ghana,” in Tamale, Shefer, et al., eds., From Boys to Men: Social Construction of Masculinity in Contemporary Society. Landsdowne: Univ. of Cape Town Press.Google Scholar
Agosín, Marjorie (2001) Women, Gender and Human Rights: A Global Perspective. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, Elizabeth (2000) “Beyond Homo Economicus: New Developments in Theories of Social Norms,” 29 Philosophy & Public Affairs 170–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
An-Na'im, Abdullahi (2002) Cultural Transformation and Human Rights in Africa. London: Zed Books Ltd.Google Scholar
Baker, Linda L., & Peter, Jaffe G. (2003) Youth Exposed to Domestic Violence: A Handbook for the Juvenile Justice System to Enhance Assessment and Intervention Strategies for Youth from Violent Homes. London: Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System.Google Scholar
Benninger-Budel, Carin (2000) Rights of the Child in South Africa: Violence Against Girls in South Africa. Geneva: World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED448901.pdf (accessed 6 July 2016).Google Scholar
Benschop, Marjolein (2004) “Women's Rights to Land and Property.” Paper presented to the Commission on Sustainable Development UN-HABITAT: Women in Human Settlements Development–Challenges and Opportunities, 22 April, pp. 1–7. Available at: http://www.unhabitat.org/tenure (accessed 10 September 2016).Google Scholar
Berkowitz, Alan D. (2004) The Social Norms Approach: Theory, Research, and Annotated Bibliography. Available at: http://www.alanberkowitz.com/articles/social_norms.pdf (accessed 15 June 2016).Google Scholar
Boonzaier, Floretta (2008) “‘If the Man says you Must sit, Then you Must sit’: The Relational Construction of Women Abuse: Gender, Subjectivity and Violence,” 18 Feminism Psychology 183–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, Virginia, & Clarke, Victoria (2006) “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology,” 3 Qualitative Research in Psychology 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CEDAW (2011) Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Combined Sixth and Seventh Periodic Report of States parties, Democratic Republic of the Congo. UN Doc. CEDAW/C/COD/6-7, 21 December 2011, p. 4. Available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/51dd39374.html (accessed 12 June 2016).Google Scholar
Cleaver, Frances (2002) “Men and Masculinities: New Directions in Gender and Development,” in Cleaver, F., ed., Masculinities Matter Men, Gender and Development. London, UK: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Code de la Famille (Family Code) (1999) Available at: http://www.leganet.cd/Legislation/Code%20de%20la%20famille/Table.htm (accessed 10 June 2016).Google Scholar
Dahl, Gordon B. & Moretti, Enrico (2004) The Demand for Sons: Evidence from Divorce, Fertility, and Shotgun Marriage. Working Paper 10281. Available at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w10281 (accessed 5 September 2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, Gordon B., & Moretti, Enrico (2008) “The Demand for Sons,” 75 Rev. of Economic Studies 1085–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Laura, Paola, Fabbri, & Ilo, Alphose M. (2014) “Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC Gender Country Profile.” Report Commissioned by the Swedish Embassy in collaboration with Department for International Development UK, the European Union Delegation and the Embassy of Canada in Kinshasa. Available at: http://www.lauradavis.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Gender-Country-Profile-DRC-2014.pdf (accessed 13 June 2016).Google Scholar
Dworkin, Shari L., et al. (2012a) “Impact of a Gender-Transformative HIV and Antiviolence Program on Gender Ideologies and Masculinities in Two Rural, South African Communities,” 16 Men and Masculinities 181–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dworkin, Shari L., et al. (2012b) “Men's Perceptions of Women's Rights and Changing Gender Relations in South Africa: Lessons for Working with Men and Boys in HIV and Antiviolence Programs,” 26 Gender & Society 97–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elster, Jon (1989) “Social Norms and Economic Theory,” 3 J. of Economic Perspectives 99–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewelukwa, Uche U. (2002) “Post-Colonialism, Gender, Customary Injustice: Widows in African Societies,” 24 Human Rights Q. 424–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO (2010) Genre et Droit à la Terre. Comprendre les Complexités, Adapter les Politiques [Gender and Land Rights. Understanding Complexities, Adapting Policies]. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/al059f/al059f00.pdf (accessed 9 August 2016).Google Scholar
FAO, International Land Coalition (ILC), and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (2004) Rural Women's Access to Land and Property in Selected Countries. Progress Towards Achieving the Aims of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, FAO Gender and Population Division, IFAD Technical Advisory Division, and ILC, Rome.Google Scholar
Faray-Kele, Marie & Matundu, Mbambi A. (2010) Gender Inequality and Social Institutions in the DR Congo. WILPF (Women's International League for Peace and Freedom) (2010). Available at: http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/hrinst_genderinequalityinthedrc_wilpf_december2010english_0.pdf (accessed 13 October 2016).Google Scholar
Giovarelli, Renée (2006) “Customary Law, Household Distribution of Wealth, and Women's Rights to Land and Property,” 4 Seattle J. for Social Justice 801–33.Google Scholar
Grewal, Inderpal (1998) “On the New Global Feminism and the Family of Nations: Dilemmas of Transnational Feminist Practice,” in Shohat, E., ed., Talking Visions: Multicultural Feminism in a Transnational Age. New York: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Grewal, Inderpal (2008) “Postcoloniality, Globalization, and Feminist Critique. Special Book Review Forum on Human Rights and Gender Violence,” 110 American Anthropologist 517–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagman, Brett T., Nora, Noel E., & Patrick, Clifford R. (2007) “Social Norms Theory-Based Interventions: Testing the Feasibility of a Purported Mechanism of Action,” 56 J. of American College Health 293–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henrysson, Elin, & Fullerton, Joireman S. (2009) “On the Edge of the Law: Women's Property Rights and Dispute Resolution in Kisii, Kenya,” 43 Law & Society Rev. 39–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgson, Dorothy L. (2002) “Women's Rights as Human Rights: Women in Law and Development in Africa,” 49 Africa Today 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgson, Dorothy L. (2011) “Introduction: Gender and Culture at the Limits of Rights,” in Dorothy, Hodgson L., ed., Gender and Culture at the Limits of Rights. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, Peter J., & Tomas, Weiss G. (2018) Humanitarianism, War, and Politics: Solferino to Syria and Beyond. Lanhan, Boulder, New York, and London: Rowman & Littefield.Google Scholar
Izumi, Kaori (2007) “Gender-Based Violence and Property Grabbing in Africa: A Denial of Women's Liberty and Security,” 15 Gender & Development 11–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joireman, Fullerton S. (2008) “The Mystery of Capital Formation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Women, Property Rights and Customary Law,” 36 World Development 1233–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, William K. (1994) “A Theory of Social Norms,” 3 Univ. of Illinois Law Rev. 545–96.Google Scholar
Kafumbe, Luyirika A. (2010) “Women's Rights to Property in Marriage, Divorce, and Widowhood in Uganda,” 11 The Problematic Aspects. Human Rights Rev. 199–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, Daniel, & Dale, Miller T. (1986) “Norm Theory: Comparing Reality to Its Alternatives,” 93 Psychological Rev. 136–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kameri-Mbote, Patricia G. (2002) “Gender Dimensions of Law, Colonialism and Inheritance in East Africa: Kenyan Women's Experiences,” 35 Verfassung und Recht in Übersee/Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America 373–98.Google Scholar
Kent, Allison D. (2007) “Custody, Maintenance, and Succession: The Internalization of Women's and Children's Rights Under Customary Law in Africa,” 28 Michigan J. of International Law 507–38.Google Scholar
Kroshus, Emily, et al. (2015) “Social Norms Theory and Concussion Education,” 30 Health Education Research 1004–1013.Google ScholarPubMed
Kubeka, Makhosazana A. (2008) “Exposure to Violence at Home: A Qualitative Exploration of Experiences and Perceptions of Black Adolescents in South Africa,” 39 South African Rev. of Sociology 282–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susana (1997) “Impact of Privatization on Gender and Property Rights in Africa,” 25 World Development 1317–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitt, Peggy, & Engle, Merry S. (2011) “Making Women's Human Rights in the Vernacular: Navigating the Culture/Rights Divide,” in Dorothy, Hodgson L., ed., Gender and Culture at the Limits of Rights. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Macia, Manuel, Pranitha, Maharaj, & Ashley, Gresh (2011) “Masculinity and Male Sexual Behaviour in Mozambique,” 13 Culture, Health and Sexuality: An International J. of Research, Intervention and Care 1181–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maoulidi, Salma (2011) “Between Law and Culture: Contemplating Rights for Women in Zanzibar,” in Dorothy, Hodgson L., ed., Gender and Culture at the Limits of Rights. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Marcus, Rachel & Caroline, Harper (2014) Gender Justice and Social Norms – Processes of Change for Adolescent Girls. Towards a Conceptual Framework. Vol. 2. Overseas Development Institute.Google Scholar
Merry, Sally E. (2006) Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Local Justice. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
MONUC (2010) UN Mission in the DRC Country Profile. Available at: http://monuc.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2171 (accessed 12 September 2016).Google Scholar
Mwambene, Lea (2012) “Custody Disputes Under African Customary Family Law in Malawi: Adaptability to Change?” 26 International J. of Law, Policy and the Family 127–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nnadil, Ine (2013) “Son Preference - A Violation of Women's Human Rights: A Case Study of Igbo Custom in Nigeria,” 6 J. of Politics and Law 134–41.Google Scholar
Peter, Huang H., & Ho-Mou, Wu (1994) “More Order Without More Laws: A Theory of Social Norms and Organizational Cultures,” 10 J. of Law, Economics & Organization 390–406.Google Scholar
Peters, Julie, & Andrea, Wolper (1995) Women's Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Raday, Frances (2003) “Culture, Religion, and Gender,” 1 International J. of Constitutional Law 663–715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rebouché, Rachel (2006) “Labor, Land, and Women's Rights in Africa: Challenges for the New Protocol on the Rights of Women,” 19 Harvard Human Rights J. 235–56.Google Scholar
Sack, Laura (1992) “Women and Children First: A Feminist Analysis of the Primary Caretaker Standard in Child Custody Cases,” 4 Yale J. of Law and Feminism 291–328.Google Scholar
Sathiparsad, Reshma (2006) Gender Violence and Masculinity: A Study of Rural Male Youth. PhD dissertation, Faculty of Education, Univ. of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Google Scholar
Scholly, Kristen, et al. (2005) “Using Social Norms Theory to Explain Perceptions and Sexual Health Behaviors of Undergraduate College Students: An Exploratory Study,” 53 J. of American College Health 159–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schultz, Wesley P., et al. (2016) “The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms,” 18 Association for Psychological Science 429–34.Google Scholar
Scully, Pamela (2011) “Gender, History, and Human Rights,” in Dorothy, Hodgson L., ed., Gender and Culture at the Limits of Rights. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Sen, Gita, Ostlin, P., & George, A. (2007) “Unequal, Unfair, Ineffective and Inefficient: Gender Inequality in Health. Why it Exists and How we Can Change It.” Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Available at: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/csdh_media/wgekn_final_report_07.pdf (accessed 6 July 2016).Google Scholar
Syn, Juliette & Paluku, Mastaki C. (2015) Improving Women's Access to Land in Eastern DRC: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities. Learning from Emerging Practices. Report no 4 HS/14/15E. United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-Habitat. Available at: http://www.gltn.net/jdownloads/GLTN%20Documents/improving_womens_access_drc.pdf (accessed 8 September 2016).Google Scholar
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) (2012) African Women's Rights Observatory, Democratic Republic of Congo. Available at: http://www1.uneca.org/awro/CountrySpecificInformationDRC.aspx (accessed 9 August 2016).Google Scholar
UNFPA: United Nations Population Fund (2006) Etat des Lieux sur la Situation des Violences Sexuelles et les Capacités des Intervenants au Nord et au Sud-Kivu. DRC: UNFPA.Google Scholar
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (USAID) (2006) Linking Gender-Based Violence Research to Practice in East, Central and Southern Africa: A Review of Risk Factors and Promising Interventions. United States Agency for International Development.Google Scholar
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (USAID) (2010) “Property Rights and Resource Governance Country Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo.” Available at: http://landwise.resourceequity.org/record/1298 (accessed 10 July 2016).Google Scholar
Vicsek, Lilla (2007) “A Scheme for Analyzing the Results of Focus Groups,” 6 International J. of Qualitative Methods 20–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wengi, Okumu J. (2015) Women's Law and Grassroots Justice in Uganda. Nairobi: Law Africa Publishing Ltd.Google Scholar
Women for Women International (2014) “Women Inherit Wrappers, Men Inherit Fields” : The Problem of Women's Access to Land in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.” Research Report. Available at: http://www.womenforwomen.org.uk/sites/default/files/WfWI_DRC_Research_Report.pdf (accessed 16 October 2016).Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2009) Violence Prevention the Evidence. Changing Cultural and Social Norms Support Violence.Google Scholar
Wyrod, Robert (2008) “Between Women's Rights and Men's Authority. Masculinity and Shifting Discourses of Gender Difference in Urban Uganda,” 22 Gender & Society 799–823.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wyrod, Robert (2016) “When Rights Come Home: The Intimate Politics of Women's Rights in Urban Uganda,” 7 Humanity International J. of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development 47–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar