Journal of Law and Criminal Justice

Unlocking the Dilemmas: Women’s Land Rights in Tanzania
Leonard G. Magawa, Prof. Michelo Hansungule

Abstract
In this article, a brief overview of how women‟s land rights are protected in Tanzania is provided. The overview of the legal framework presented in this article focuses on four main areas of law: property law, inheritance law, matrimonial law, and human rights law. The rationale for presenting these areas of law is to underscore the context under which women‟s land rights are protected in Tanzania. On one side, the existing literature promotes the establishment of legal regime that protects women‟s land rights. The assumption of this position is that once there are laws for the protection of women‟s land rights, women will be able to enjoy and realise their land rights. On the other side of the equation is that there is a general trend of condemning some of African traditions and culture which are responsible for thwarting women‟s land rights in Africa and Tanzania in particular. Some African traditions and culture are deeply rooted in African societies. As such, African traditionalists continue to adhere to African tradition and culture. The requirement to comply with both statutory rules and African traditions and culture creates situations of dilemmas. Despite having a legal framework which protects women‟s land rights in Tanzania, the existence of dilemmas within the legal system itself and in the African traditions pose challenges which affect negatively women‟s land rights in Tanzania. The existence of dilemmas makes the enjoyment and realisation of women‟s land rights in Tanzania to be difficult and challenging. Despite the legal reform in Tanzania, which took place in 1990s and early 2000s, women in Tanzania are still struggling to enjoy and realise their land rights. Thus, the purpose of this article is to identify the specific dilemmas, which undermine the protection of women‟s land rights in Tanzania. Furthermore, this article examines Tanzania laws which are designed to protect women‟s land rights. We argue that the existence of dilemmas in law, African traditions, and customs affect negatively the enjoyment and realisation of women‟s land rights in Tanzania. We conclude that the existence of a legal framework for the protection of women‟s land rights is not an end in itself; rather efforts should be made to eradicate or reduce the dilemmas, which compromise the enjoyment and realisation of women‟s land rights in Tanzania.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jlcj.v6n2a1