The dilemma of gender inequality in the delict of seduction: A Zimbabwean perspective and some lessons from South Africa

Abstract

In Zimbabwe, the delict of seduction has two species, namely seduction under common law derived from Roman-Dutch law and seduction under customary law. The universal feature in these species is that they were both conceived in patriarchal societies marred with gender inequalities. These inequalities were exhibited, inter alia, in stiffer sexual mores being imposed on women. In these societies, men allotted property rights to themselves over the sexuality of women who were perpetually under their tutelage. Conceptually, it is argued that the delict of seduction is a legal incarnation of these gender inequality-stricken notions. This paper unmasks the plethora of prejudices, challenges and gender inequalities which are engineered by the delict of seduction during litigation and draws on hegemonic masculinity in patriarchal societies as a theoretical framework.