South Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolution

dc.contributor.authorButton, Kirsty
dc.coverage.spatialSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-29T15:39:18Z
dc.date.available2014-09-29T15:39:18Z
dc.date.issued2014-07-23
dc.description.abstractIn being a legal pluralist state, South Africa has a system of state and customary dispute resolution forums. This paper is concerned with this system of dispute resolution forums, particularly in how marital disputes relating to the dissolution of customary marriages are mediated and resolved. It is demonstrated, through drawing upon data collected for the purposes of a larger research project, that there are serious shortcomings which exist within this system. Such shortcomings include the operation of structural constraints which limit women in their ability to access state dispute resolution forums for support in marital breakdown and the availability of some customary dispute resolution forums which appear to be under-utilised by couples experiencing marital breakdown. Another possible shortcoming within the abovementioned system is the insufficient assistance that is offered by the state, to married couples experiencing marital conflict and breakdown. This paper argues that these shortcomings prevent equitable outcomes in marital conflict and breakdown from being reached. Consequently, such shortcomings contribute to women being rendered economically vulnerable upon the dissolution of their customary marriages as they are often left to deal with marital conflict and breakdown in the context of unequal power relations which exist between spouses. This paper concludes by discussing possible solutions that could be adopted to rectify the shortcomings and help ensure that gender equality is achieved upon the dissolution of customary marriages.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationButton, K. (2014). <i>South Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolution</i> (CSSR Working Paper Series). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Families and Societies Research Unit (FaSRU). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7740en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationButton, Kirsty <i>South Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolution.</i> CSSR Working Paper Series. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Families and Societies Research Unit (FaSRU), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7740en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationButton, K. 2014. South Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolution. CSSR Working Paper No. 339. Cape Town: Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.isbn978-1-77011-326-8en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper AU - Button, Kirsty AB - In being a legal pluralist state, South Africa has a system of state and customary dispute resolution forums. This paper is concerned with this system of dispute resolution forums, particularly in how marital disputes relating to the dissolution of customary marriages are mediated and resolved. It is demonstrated, through drawing upon data collected for the purposes of a larger research project, that there are serious shortcomings which exist within this system. Such shortcomings include the operation of structural constraints which limit women in their ability to access state dispute resolution forums for support in marital breakdown and the availability of some customary dispute resolution forums which appear to be under-utilised by couples experiencing marital breakdown. Another possible shortcoming within the abovementioned system is the insufficient assistance that is offered by the state, to married couples experiencing marital conflict and breakdown. This paper argues that these shortcomings prevent equitable outcomes in marital conflict and breakdown from being reached. Consequently, such shortcomings contribute to women being rendered economically vulnerable upon the dissolution of their customary marriages as they are often left to deal with marital conflict and breakdown in the context of unequal power relations which exist between spouses. This paper concludes by discussing possible solutions that could be adopted to rectify the shortcomings and help ensure that gender equality is achieved upon the dissolution of customary marriages. DA - 2014-07-23 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 SM - 978-1-77011-326-8 T1 - South Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolution TI - South Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolution UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7740 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/7740
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationButton K. South Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolution. 2014 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7740en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentFamilies and Societies Research Unit (FaSRU)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.relation.ispartofseriesCSSR Working Paper Seriesen_ZA
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.titleSouth Africa’s system of dispute resolution forums: The role of the family and the state in customary marriage dissolutionen_ZA
dc.typeWorking Paperen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceWorking paperen_ZA
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