In Botswana, Edith Mmusi and her 3 sisters (all over 65 years) were being evicted from their parents house by their nephew. The son of the family was to inherit the property, but passed away and promised the property to his half-brother. The half-brother's son (the nephew) had taken the women to court claiming the property as his own inheritance due to customary law. Since women were not permitted to inherit property, they lost the court case. After appealing the court decision, they lost the appeal as well. It seemed gloomy, but they did not give up. The next step the women took was civil court. Luckily, the women actually won this case on the grounds that it was discriminatory. The women won the case and kept their house, but still there was no changes in regards to the customary law. The nephew complained that his country's culture disrespected and undermined. There is no doubt in my mind that the women deserve the property. It almost seems ridiculous that someone could think they could come in and just take the roof from right over your head, especially since that is Mmusi's parents house. It's sickening how the nephew had no consideration for his aunts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19924723
Something that we forget is not everyone has been given the equality that has been granted the States. We only see such indifference in 3rd world countries, where men still maintain their "rights" and women are still thought of as "property" and not as a person or as a human.
ReplyDeleteMany people in the US are all about family, myself included, so I find this whole things disgusting. Women have no less worth than men, no matter what their culture says, and I'm glad the civil court got it right.
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