news
08-06-2015, 11:26 PM
In a move hailed by activists as a landmark step for women's rights, Uganda (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=news/uganda/)banned the practice of making women repay their bride price (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=news/bride-price/) upon divorce (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=divorce/).
The seven justices of the Supreme Court voted 6-1 Tuesday (http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/671888-bride-price-refund-declared-illegal.html) to abolish the practice, noting that it equated women to commodities traded in a marketplace.
Ugandan grooms typically pay their brides' families (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33800840?ocid=socialflow_twitter)with livestock upon marriage, the BBC reports. Bride price is an essential part of Ugandan wedding culture, and shows the groom's ability to take care of the bride.
A woman who wished to leave a marriage was obliged to pay back the bride price. Activists claimed that many women could not afford to do so, which made it harder to leave abusive marriages (http://www.mifumi.org/wpbp.php?page=wp.php).
International women's rights NGO Mifumi (http://www.mifumi.org/projects.php) first brought the issue of bride price to court in 2007. (http://www.mifumi.org/news_details.php?id=29) They hope to repeal the practice of bride price altogether, but see the ruling as a step forward.
"The court's pronouncement is a win for us," a Mifumi spokeswoman told the AP (http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/ugandas-top-court-bans-bride-price-refund-divorce-32918718).
Yep, smells like victory. #brideprice (https://twitter.com/hashtag/brideprice?src=hash) refund is no more. Photo courtesy of @newvisionwire (https://twitter.com/newvisionwire) pic.twitter.com/BZMaKkSCKk (http://t.co/BZMaKkSCKk)
— MIFUMI (@mifumiproject) August 6, 2015 (https://twitter.com/mifumiproject/status/629348805457117185)
Not all Ugandan families insist on a bride price. As one local media outlet reported about the wedding of a Ugandan princess to an American man, "The groom is not expected to pay any bride price since the princess is priceless (http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/637325-komuntale-introduces-fiance.html)."
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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The seven justices of the Supreme Court voted 6-1 Tuesday (http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/671888-bride-price-refund-declared-illegal.html) to abolish the practice, noting that it equated women to commodities traded in a marketplace.
Ugandan grooms typically pay their brides' families (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33800840?ocid=socialflow_twitter)with livestock upon marriage, the BBC reports. Bride price is an essential part of Ugandan wedding culture, and shows the groom's ability to take care of the bride.
A woman who wished to leave a marriage was obliged to pay back the bride price. Activists claimed that many women could not afford to do so, which made it harder to leave abusive marriages (http://www.mifumi.org/wpbp.php?page=wp.php).
International women's rights NGO Mifumi (http://www.mifumi.org/projects.php) first brought the issue of bride price to court in 2007. (http://www.mifumi.org/news_details.php?id=29) They hope to repeal the practice of bride price altogether, but see the ruling as a step forward.
"The court's pronouncement is a win for us," a Mifumi spokeswoman told the AP (http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/ugandas-top-court-bans-bride-price-refund-divorce-32918718).
Yep, smells like victory. #brideprice (https://twitter.com/hashtag/brideprice?src=hash) refund is no more. Photo courtesy of @newvisionwire (https://twitter.com/newvisionwire) pic.twitter.com/BZMaKkSCKk (http://t.co/BZMaKkSCKk)
— MIFUMI (@mifumiproject) August 6, 2015 (https://twitter.com/mifumiproject/status/629348805457117185)
Not all Ugandan families insist on a bride price. As one local media outlet reported about the wedding of a Ugandan princess to an American man, "The groom is not expected to pay any bride price since the princess is priceless (http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/637325-komuntale-introduces-fiance.html)."
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/234566821857/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/48c6aba1/sc/19/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/234566821857/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/48c6aba1/sc/19/rc/1/rc.htm)
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