Marital Rights of Women: Assessing the Culture of Bride Price among Bench People; The Case of Semen Bench Woreda.
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Date
2018-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study assesses and evaluates marital rights of women the case of bride price among Bench people the case of Semen Bench Woreda of Bench- Maji Zone in SNNPR. This people accept and practice the culture of Tilosh during marriage as an important aspect of recognizing marriage and any marriage that does not involve the payment of bride price failed to get the recognition of the society. In order to address the objectives of this study, qualitative method of in-depth interview and focus group discussion were utilized for primary data gathering. Three Kebeles from the study Woreda were purposively selected using purposive, non probability sampling technique and a total of 59 respondents are participated in this study. Married men and women, young girls and boys, elders, clan leaders, traditional spiritual leaders, gender office experts, public prosecutors as well as NGOs working in the study area were included. The findings of the study show that, there are various cultural practices among Bench community that undermine the marital rights of women and girls. Among these cultural practices, Tilosh takes primacy. As a result of this practice, women face multifaceted violation of rights within marriage. The finding of the study show that, women‟s marital rights are violated by the customary practice of Tilosh especially the right to education, access to reproductive health right, the right to property, access to legal divorce and decision making role within household are the major ones. The study also finds the customary practice of Tilosh is the cause for polygamous marriage, widow inheritance and women labor exploitation within marriage. Another finding of the study was the absence of strong and coordinated administrative measure and resistance from elders and traditional spiritual leaders still the practice continue and severely affects women and girls marital rights in the study area. Thus, the study recommended that, all the stakeholders could be responsible to solve the problems of women that are caused by the cultural practice of Tilosh through effective and efficient awareness creation education among the community about the harmfulness of the practices on women and girls.
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marital rights of women,Bench- Maji Zone