A Legal Pluralist Analysis of State Protection of Women’s Child Custody Rights in Southern Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-6800/17730Keywords:
child custody, customary law, legal pluralism, gender equality, law reformAbstract
Nigeria has treaty obligations to protect and promote women’s rights. This article examines the state’s protection of women’s child custody rights in Southern Nigeria within the context of co-existing normative orders. Informed by key informant interviews, focus group discussions and a literature review, it probes the legislative and judicial approach to women’s custody rights, arguing that the statutory framework fails to support these rights, despite Nigeria’s ratification of gender equality treaties. A robust statutory framework is important because the dynamics of divorce and unequal gender relations are so powerful that claims for custody rights must occur in the strong shadow of statutory law. The article finds that Nigeria’s constitutional protection of women’s rights is alarmingly deficient for regulating social fields involving customary laws. Accordingly, it recommends law and policy reforms to enhance women’s rights.
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