Others regard the price a family pays, often measured in cattle, as a sign that a respectful marriage, with a favorable reaction from the bride’s parents, has been entered; they call it a sign of a husband’s commitment to care for his wife rather than a commercial transaction.
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In a move hailed by activists as a landmark step for women’s rights, Uganda banned the practice of making women repay their bride price upon divorce.
There was a gasp in the court-room when the first justice ruled against the refunding of the bride price.
The court’s ruling, however was welcomed by the campaigners who say women have had to remain in unhappy marriages because of a failure to refund the bride price. Mifumi argues that in precolonial times, bride price cemented families together and showed mutual respect and appreciation, but that today they represent little more than the buying and selling of women.
However, the ruling will also have far-reaching implications on gender relations, culture and women’s rights in Uganda.
It was the MIFUMI Project-a women’s rights organization based in Uganda-that brought the case before the court.
Mifumi said that bride price encouraged domestic violence and could lead a man to think that he had paid for his wife’s “sexual and reproductive capacity”.
In banning the practice of returning bride price, the judges said Thursday that women were not commodities being traded in the marketplace.
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Six of the seven judges said that the direct link between the bride price and domestic violence had not been proved.
