Women’s right of inheritance of property: Perspectives of a female lawyer from South Sudan
Posted: 18 April, 2023 Filed under: Cedonia Victor Legge | Tags: CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, Cultural barriers, inheritance of property, Institutional barriers, international human rights treaties, Land Act, legal frameworks, Maputo Protocol, patriarchal traditions, progressive laws, property, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, South Sudan, women’s rights 1 Comment
Author: Cedonia Victor Legge
Advocate and LLM scholar, University of Juba
Introduction
Women in South Sudan make up more than half the country’s population, yet they have the least influence in the society ¾ especially in the right of access to property ¾ movable and immovable. Whereas the law guarantees the right of women to inherit property, patriarchal traditions continue to deny women from inheriting property. This article discusses my first-hand experiences as a female practicing lawyer in South Sudan. I start by pointing out the legal frameworks on women’s right to own property in South Sudan. This is important to show that South Sudan has legal obligations and a duty to ensure equal access to property by women. It is also crucial for the government to address barriers placed before women in enjoying such a fundamental right. The article proceeds to examine the traditional practices that are opposed to legal frameworks guaranteeing women’s rights to inherit property. The article ends with some recommendations that I put forward to address women’s right to inherit property.
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