The erosion of women's rights and the political economy of customary law in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Crucial to the maintenance of the household in Zimbabwe are the multiple roles which women play. Women in Zimbabwe are the chief producers of agricultural foodstuffs, and they also contribute a great deal of labour to cash crop production. Women carry out the majority of unpaid work in the household, from collecting water and firewood in the rural areas, to taking care of and educating children, to providing health care to the elderly and sick.2 Women constituted one-fourth of the combatants in the liberation of Zimbabwe, and a much larger proportion of the messengers, lookouts, and weapons smugglers who participated in the war.3 The crucial role that women played in the liberation movement is reflected in a statue at Hero's Acres near Harare. The statue depicts two male combatants alongside one female, holding their weapons in victory. However, recent events in Zimbabwe seem to deny the role that women played in the liberation and continue to play in the maintenance of the household, as in the case of Magaya versus Magaya. In this recent case, the Zimbabwe Supreme Court based its judgement on customary law that