Rethinking the Gender-Culture-Law Nexus through the Lens of Child Marriage and Bridewealth Payment

Abstract

The effect of child marriage and bridewealth payment on women’s agency is significant for access to justice and development programming, especially in the context of the goal of peaceful and inclusive societies. As prevalent practices in sub-Saharan Africa, child marriage and bridewealth payment hugely influence the ability of women and girls to exercise their agency. Indeed, these issues stand at the intersection of an intense cultural struggle between the custodians of culture and change agents. Based on field data collected in 10 countries in Africa, notably in eastern Nigeria, this paper argues that the exercise of agency by women and girls is not a self-enforcing activity. Rather, it is shaped by factors ranging from deficient and poorly implemented legal structures to lack of resources, entrenched cultural norms, and social pressure for normative conformity. By exposing culture and law as enablers and contributors to development, the article urges policy attention to needs-based factors that motivate and constrain women’s agency.