essay

Who is a wife?: legal expressions of heterosexual conflicts in Ghana

female and male in west africa • London • Published In 1983 • Pages: 144-155

By: Vellenga, Dorothy Dee.

Abstract

The Akan have as many words for marriage as the Eskimo do for snow. Marriages varied according to the differences in lineage involvement, gift exchanges, rituals, and statuses. The passing of the 1884 Marriage Ordinance Act attempted to set a standard for monogamous marriage and spousal inheritance of self-acquired property, however only ten percent of marriages followed this pattern. Conflict over inheritance often ended up in court where officials tried to determine whether or not a spouse was a true and therefore legal wife. Women began to organize in the 1950's to change the distinction between ‘wife’ and ‘non-wife’ in order to protect the interests of all women and children. The results were the passage of a Maintenance of Children Bill in 1965 and a new divorce law in 1971.

HRAF PubDate

2000

Region

Africa

Sub Region

Western Africa

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Social Scientist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Ian Skoggard ;1999

Field Date

Not Specified

Coverage Date

1884-1971

Coverage Place

Fanti; Ghana

Notes

Dorothy Dee Vallenga

For bibliographical references see source 56: Anonymous

LCCN

82020767

LCSH

Akan (African people)