essay

Women as owners, occupants, and managers of property in colonial western Kenya

African women & the law : historical perspectives[boston]Published In 1982 • Pages: 110-123

By: Hay, Margaret Jean.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article discusses the effects of British colonialism, 1895-1963, on women's socioeconomic status in western Kenya. It argues that male migration to towns during this period increased rural women's vulnerability to poverty. It further argues that colonial land policy, which gradually instituted private ownership of land, led to women's landlessness and economic marginalization. In the absence of the husband, women were legally reduced to mere 'care takers' of men's occupancy. Yet rural family depended on women's labor for gardening and food production.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Gender status
Real property
Gender roles and issues
Division of labor by gender
Labor supply and employment
Household
Family relationships
External relations
Basis of marriage
Property in movables
Mode of marriage
Acculturation and culture contact
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Luo
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2010
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Historian
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Teferi Abate Adem; 2009
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1968-1988
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1895-1963
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Luoland, Kenya
NotesAdditional notes
Margaret Jean Hay
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
82231480
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Luo (Kenyan and Tanzanian people)