Legal Development and the Democratization of Human Rights in Post-modern Africa: A Case for the Legal Regulation of Cultural Violence Against Girls

Abstract

The problem of cultural violence against girls in Nigeria has been discussed at length. A number of scholars have conducted empirical studies, others developed theories and tools to be used in measuring and monitoring improvement on eliminating specific cultural practices. This scholarship is vitally important. They launch feminist and other anthropological works into an arena of anti-violence work which without a doubt have a significant impact and far-reaching repercussions for girls who experience violence in Nigeria. Yet, despite the systemic change over the past years, the problem of violence against girls in Africa, more specifically Nigeria, is still persistent within cultural communities. Building on the important foundational works of these authors, my dissertation analyses this problem from a different perspective. This thesis identifies several governance gaps within the Nigerian legal framework that needs to be addressed before existing legal mechanisms can adequately address the problem of violence against girls. To ensure a proper examination of the different dimensions and changing patterns of cultural violence against girls, the dissertation focuses on the practice of child marriages within Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria. The complexity of the issues addressed in this dissertation required a variety of theoretical tools to unpack the different fields of inquiry. The dissertation uses a critical legal studies and feminist framework in studying the problem of cultural violence against girls in Nigeria. It also uses textuality, a method of inquiry within Dorothy Smith’s feminist socio-legal methodology, to investigate the text-based organization of social policy in Nigeria to ultimately reveal a legal and political system used as an instrument for consolidating power and legitimizing anti-women principles as traditional values. Using these tools, the thesis analyzed the complexity of the problem of cultural violence through a focus on co-existing institutional frameworks, that is, formal and informal legal structures and the roles they play in shaping the experiences of girls within cultural communities.