Women at the Centre: The Case of Gueguegue Community, Boane District, Mozambique

Abstract

Mozambique is known for the coexistence of the formal justice system based on codified formal laws and regulations and justice practices on the ground which draw their legitimacy from customary law, local community morale, culture, values and ethics. This case on Mozambique is based on data gathered from field research in Gueguegue, in the Boane District. This community, like many others, shows the complex ways in which women and men interact in order to maintain harmony, and the ways in which different influences, from state legislature, global norms and values in relation to women’s representation, Christianity and long-held customs and traditions are woven together to shape relationships between men and women as they practise justice on the ground.