Bridewealth and Female Consent: Marriage Disputes in African Courts, Gusiiland, Kenya

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Periodical article

Title:	Bridewealth and Female Consent: Marriage Disputes in African Courts, Gusiiland, Kenya
Author:	Shadle, Brett L.
Year:	2003
Periodical:	The Journal of African History
Volume:	44
Issue:	2
Period:	July
Pages:	241-262
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	Gusii customary law family law customary courts bridewealth Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Women's Issues Law, Human Rights and Violence colonialism History and Exploration Cultural Roles Historical/Biographical Marital Relations and Nuptiality Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/4100865
Abstract:	From the early 1940s Gusiiland (Kenya) underwent a series of transformations that pushed bridewealth to unheralded levels. As a result, many young couples could not afford a proper marriage and eloped. Some fathers forced their daughters into marriages with men wealthy enough to give cattle; many of these women ran off instead with more desirable men. In the hundreds of resulting court cases, Gusii debated the relative weight to be given to bridewealth, parental approval and female consent in marriage. Young people did not reject marriage, but fought against senior men who would ignore women's wishes. Gusii court elders usually agreed with fathers and husbands but also believed that female consent did carry some significance. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]