Voices of African Women

by BOND, JOHANNA

• ISBN13: 9780890891247
• ISBN10: 0890891249
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-01
• Publisher: Carolina Academic Press

Summary

Voices of African Women is a collection of essays by accomplished women's rights lawyers from Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania. In the last decade, women's human rights have been the focus of significant attention at the international level. There remains, however, a dearth of information concerning the application and relevance of international norms at grassroots levels within Africa. There are few works about women's human rights within Africa that are actually written by African women lawyers and human rights activists. This book offers a glimpse into the lives of women in Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania; it describes - in their own words - the challenges they face in implementing international human rights norms at the local and national levels.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction Overview of History and Legal Systems: Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda,
Anne Daugherty Leiter	xv
Chapter One Women's Right to Participate in Public Life	3	(72)
Chapter Introduction,
Johanna Bond	3	(9)
Legal Strategies to Increase Ugandan Women's Access to Higher Education,
Dora Kanabahita Byamukama	12	(16)
Women and Higher Education in Tanzania,
Mande Limbu	28	(12)
Implementation of Affirmative Action in Tanzania's Parliament: An Assessment of the Reserved Seats for Women,
Jane Magigita	40	(12)
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: The Women's Movement and Law Reform in Uganda from 1985-2000,
Jacqueline Asiimwe	52	(11)
Judicial Activism and Gender Rights in Tanzania: The Task Ahead,
Regina M. Rweyemamu	63	(12)
Chapter Two Violence Against Women	75	(106)
Chapter Introduction,
Johanna Bond	75	(8)
Trokosi: Twentieth Century Female Bondage-A Ghanaian Case Study,
Hilary Amesika Gbedemah	83	(13)
The Plight of Refugee Women: Protection from Sexual Violence in Refugee Camps-A Case Study of Tanzania,
Hadija Ally	96	(21)
Sexual Violence Against Women in Tanzania: A Case Study on the 1998 Sexual Offences (Special Provision) Act No. 4,
Scolastica Jullu	117	(15)
Domestic Violence: Strategies for Combating Wife Battery in Uganda,
Kulsum Wakabi	132	(15)
Marital Rape as a Form of Domestic Violence and the Need for Law Reform in Ghana,
Beatrice Akua Abrekna Duncan	147	(8)
Attitudes Toward Victims of Rape that Affect the Reporting, Prosecutions, and Convictions for Rape: The Need for Law Reform in Ghana,
Sheila N.Y. Gyimah	155	(11)
Female Genital Mutilation: Tradition or Torture?,
Fitnat N-A. Adjetey	166	(15)
Chapter Three Women's Rights within the Family	181	(86)
Chapter Introduction,
Johanna Bond	181	(9)
Polygamy, Equality, and the Gender Debate: A Comparative Study of Ghana and the United States,
Angela Dwamena-Aboagye	190	(15)
Discrimination in the Traditional Marriage and Divorce System in Ghana: Looking at the Problem from a Human Rights Perspective,
Bernice Sam	205	(13)
Comparative Study of the Status of Women under the Law of Divorce and of their Economic Status in Uganda, Britain, and Bangladesh,
Regina Lule Mutyaba	218	(14)
Rethinking Property: Women and Matrimonial Property Rights in Tanzania,
Salma Maulidi	232	(11)
Property in Marriage Relations-Its Legal Implications for Women in Uganda,
Margaret C. Oguli Oumo	243	(12)
Impact of Customary Inheritance on the Status of Widows and Daughters in Tanzania: A Challenge to Human Rights Activists,
Monica E. Magoke-Mhoja	255	(12)
Chapter Four Reproductive Health, Women's Subordination, and HIV/AIDS	267	(48)
Chapter Introduction,
Johanna Bond	267	(7)
Religious and Cultural Rights: Reclaiming the African Woman's Individuality-The Struggle Between Women's Reproductive Autonomy and African Society and Culture,
Fitnat N-A. Adjetey	274	(14)
Women and HIV/AIDS in Uganda,
Emma Ssali Namuli	288	(13)
Women's Rights and the AIDS Epidemic in Tanzania,
Maria Tungaraza	301	(14)
Chapter Five Women's Economic Empowerment	315	(76)
Chapter Introduction,
Johanna Bond	315	(8)
Women and Employment Discrimination in Uganda's Formal Sector: Facing Challenges and Forging Change,
Evelyn Nassuna	323	(14)
Women's Access to and Control over Land in Uganda: A Tool for Economic Empowerment,
Naome Kabanda	337	(12)
Ghanaian Women, the Law, and Economic Power,
Gloria Ofori-Baodu	349	(17)
Shattering the Glass Ceiling: What Women in Uganda Need to Make it to the Top,
Harriet Diana Musoke	366	(13)
Law Reform and Effective Implementation as the Means to Economically Empower the Ugandan Woman,
Sarah B. Lubega	379
Conclusion National Human Rights Commissions: Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania,
Vanessa Brocato	391	(12)
Contributors	403	(14)
Index	417