ZIMBABWE: Setback for women's rights

Women's rights in Zimbabwe have been "set back by 20 years" following a supreme court decision stripping a woman of
her inheritance rights, civil liberties activists told IRIN.

Last month, in the case of Magaya vs. Magaya, Vennia Magaya lost her inheritance battle when the court in a 5 to zero decision gave the estate of her deceased father to her half-brother. Magaya took her case to the supreme court after her brother evicted her from her father's house.

A human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe told IRIN on Thursday that "women's rights have taken a large step backwards." She added: "There are fears that this case could set a precedent. We could see a sharp rise in such cases of women being evicted from their homes once their fathers or husbands have died. The question is, where do they go? The supreme court is the highest court in the land. To challenge it would mean a constitutional challenge in itself."

The lawyer said that the judges' decision was "probably based on a clause in the constitution which relates to customary law." She said that in terms of Zimbabwean customary law, women's right of inheritance are not recognised, contradicting the 1982 Majority Age Act which states that a woman over the age of 18 cannot be treated as a minor. She said the court's decision was difficult to understand in light of the history of women in the struggle for independence.

In their ruling, the judges said women should not be considered adults, but given the status of "junior males." Justice Simbarashe made specific reference to the 1982 act and said it had been interpreted too broadly and given rights to women they never had under customary law.