Attitude Toward Lobola in Remarriage Following Divorce in African Communities

Lobola is central to the process of marriage in many African communities. It is an old tradition that historically entailed a gift from the bridegroom’s family to the bride’s family. In some African societies, determinants of lobola include a range of factors, such as the bride’s educational, financial, and social status, the bride’s age, number of children and whether the bride has had any history of divorce. However, attitude toward remarriage and payment of lobola to a divorced woman is often characterized by skepticism. In most instances, the worth of pride price to be paid to the divorced woman’s family is often devalued, decreased, deemed unacceptable, and frowned upon, while male divorcees do not face such prejudices. Overtly or covertly, the social conviction seems to be that there should not be payment of lobola in remarriage after divorce. Consequently, the decision to remarry postdivorce remains particularly difficult for most Black African women due to the stigma attached to divorce. In contrast, men still enjoy the right to divorce and remarry with little or no prejudice. Using bargaining theory, this article examines the body of literature on cultural attitudes toward the payment of lobola following divorce in South Africa. The article argues that the payment of lobola is fundamentally patriarchal and perpetuates most of the social tribulations and marginalization practices against women.


3 Background and Context of the Research Problem
Marriage was and is still considered one of the most important institutions in African communities (Makwanise and Masuku 2016). As such, many African communities have established traditions to regulate marriage (Chitakure 2021). One such cultural practice is the payment of lobola. Marriage is considered a covenant between two families serving as a structural link of formerly unknown parties. This covenant is sealed by the payment of lobola to the in-laws when the bride and groom marry (Moono et al. 2020;Mujinga 2020). Lobola remains one of the sacrosanct (Rudwick and Posel 2015), age-old cultural practices (Sennott et al. 2021). Although lobola is widely practiced by many Black African communities in various African countries, such as South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Lesotho (Parker 2015), each ethnic group has its own unique customs specific to a particular location (Jakimow 2013;Rudwick and Posel 2015). Historically, in most African communities, the custom of lobola involved the provision of marriage payments in cattle or cash, from the groom's family to the parents of the bride (Moono et al. 2020;Posel et al. 2011). The transfer of cattle from the relatives of the bridegroom to those of the bride serves to legitimize the marriage and to ensure certain conjugal rights and privileges. The most important of these rights is that the children of the marriage legally belong to the father's lineage group (Parker 2015).
In the African context, for a marriage to be recognized and respected by the family, the clan and the entire community, it is imperative that the exchange of lobola should take place (Gunga 2009). The custom is understood as symbolizing a man's masculinity and his role as an economic provider (Rudwick and Posel 2015). Conversely, lobola is a vital cultural process in which the groom and his clan pay respect to the bride's family by presenting gifts that are normally in the form of livestock and beads (Mwamanda 2016). The latter is viewed as uniting the bride and groom's families and serves as a token of appreciation for the wife to be. This is also meant to seal a covenant between the bride and groom's families, thus fulfilling cultural obligations attendant to the marriage practices in the South African context (Montle 2020).
Like any other cultural practices, lobola has its origins. However, similar to Chitakure (2021), it is acknowledged that documenting the origin of lobola will not only be a difficult task but also an almost impossible activity largely because of a lack of written records of early African history. Suffice to indicate that consistent with many other oral traditions, lobola is a subject of fierce debate and contestations (Akurugu et al. 2021). However, there is a consensus that the practice has evolved through space and time, and in its current form, it is markedly different from its original conceptualization (Munshi 2017). History records that lobola was commonly paid in the form of material items, such as cattle or other animals and some jewelry, cowries, local brew or bags of maize (Kojo et al. 2020). Inevitably, the function and role of lobola are interpreted differently across many societies where the practice exists.
Researchers argue that these items traditionally serve as a token of appreciation to the bride's family for bearing a wife and thus compensating for the economic costs that the family incurred in raising their daughter (Moono et al. 2020). Lobola therefore further accords the relationship or union formal recognition and joins not only the couple together, but also the two families (Kojo et al. 2020). On the other hand, critics interpret this practice as a transaction that degrades women and condemns them to the position of acquired property with limited freedom and rights. Nonetheless, there is a widely held belief that lobola has lost much of its traditional significance across many communities with the introduction of cash as a bride price (Kojo et al. 2020). Critics of the lobola practice contend that cash symbolizes sale where women become objects of the sale.
Although marriage is still perceived as an important institution, it appears to be under siege due to the rising rates of divorce (Makwanise and Masuku 2016). There is significant evidence that divorce has become a common phenomenon in today's community (Cherchye et al. 2021). Despite this, divorce is still perceived as a negative social occurrence. Thus, people's attitudes toward remarriage and payment of lobola following divorce are often characterized by skepticism. Equally, the decision to divorce is deemed unacceptable, and it is often condemned because marriage is perceived as a covenant. Hence, there is a pervasive perception that there should be no remarriage after divorce, despite evolving circumstances. Consequently, the decision to remarry postdivorce remains particularly difficult for most Black African women due to the stigma attached to divorce. In contrast, men still enjoy the liberty to remarry without prejudice.
This article argues that similar to the market stock exchange, the lobola places a monetary value on a woman. One of the key determinants that is likely to affect the bride price-the share price as in the stock exchange-is postdivorce remarriage. The remainder of the article is structured as follows: The next section reconceptualizes the lobola phenomenon in the context of this paper. The theoretical foundations that guide the study are then presented. Next, the methodology utilized in crafting the article was described. The literature review examines the conflicting themes on lobola and the currency of the disparate views. The final section provides a discussion and conclusion to the article.

Conceptualizing Lobola
The cultural practice of lobola or bride price varies according to different locations and ethnic affiliations. In South Africa, for instance, the bride price is referred to as magadi or mahadi in the Sesotho languages and lobola in the Nguni languages (Bogopa 2010). In other African countries, such as Zimbabwe, the payment of lobola is referred to as roora among the Shona people (Mawere and Mawere 2010). The equivalent of lobola among the Dagaaba cultural group of Ghana is kyeuri (Akurugu et al. 2021: 2).Lobola is also mentioned in the Bible (Exodus 22, verses 16-17). These verses recount the laws of God to the children of Israel, which state that if a man commits fornication with a virgin, then he would be required to marry the girl and pay the girl's father a bride price. Some authors employ the term "bride wealth" to avoid the negative connotation of lobola as a financial transaction; therefore, bride wealth recognizes that the practice serves to transfer wealth between families and generations (Posel and Rudwick 2014). The authors are uncomfortable with the translation of lobola into bride price or wealth, which implies the purchase of wives and hence is valueladen; however, the term lobola is adopted in this study to refer to the phenomenon. The terms bride wealth and bride price are used in this article to reflect the perceptions of the authorities quoted, not the authors of this article (Chireshe and Chireshe 2010). In this context, the term lobola denotes a negotiated process by which the "bride's family receives payment in the form of goods, money, and livestock to compensate for the pain the parents of the bride went through in raising their daughter" (Chiweshe 2016).

Bargaining Theory in Lobola
Theoretically, this article draws from the bargaining theory. Bargaining capacity is primarily measured through income indicators or earning potential. Equally, when translated into English, lobola is described as bride wealth or bride price (Mazibuko 2016). This translation implicitly suggests the purchase of wives as a "commodity" item on the marriage market (Chireshe and Chireshe 2010). Rightly or wrongly, some authors equate lobola to "treating women as chattel that you have gone to the market to acquire" (Akurugu et al. 2021). Focusing on the Bedia tribe in northern India, bride price is referred to as a "transmission of goods from the kin of the groom," thus implying, whether overtly or covertly, that the woman has been bought (Cherchye et al. 2021).
This article uses the analogy of the marketplace in the context of how lobola is valued in relation to divorced women. Additionally, the analogy of the marketplace is used to demonstrate how women are commercialized. This notion is problematic since most South African communities, especially men, use it to discriminate, oppress and delineate divorced women. By virtue of women being divorced, their value for the bride price decreases. In contrast, male divorcees do not encounter such discrimination and oppression. This notion shows great inequality in how the phenomenon of lobola, and remarriage is gendered. The current status quo needs to be challenged. In the South African setting, where there is a high divorce rate, a critical analysis of lobola is needed, as it provides an understanding of gendered inequalities brought about by this concept.
Through lobola, women's bodies are used as commodities available on the marketplace, where women are "bought and sold" (Chiweshe 2016). They are valued differently because of various factors, including their previous marital or dating history. The process of lobola, therefore, becomes an ordinary transaction where an item (in this instance a woman) is appraised and sold. Culturally, divorced women fail to satisfy the "value for money" measure, as they are considered "damaged goods." Brides who are getting married for the first time are likely to fetch more value ("appreciate") than previously married women whose "value is likely to depreciate."

3
Attitude Toward Lobola in Remarriage Following Divorce in…

Research Methodology
The practice of postdivorce remarriage is a complex family relation that comprises a number of issues, such as step parenthood, home ownership, inheritance, general personal and family finances (Hu and To 2018). This article contributes to this discourse by examining the body of literature on cultural attitudes toward the payment of lobola following divorce in a South African context.
A systematic literature review was adopted to examine the body of literature on cultural attitudes toward the payment of lobola following divorce.
To achieve this, only studies that provide guidance on the topic based on the title of this article and subthemes described in the next section, namely, the practice of postdivorce marriage, gendered discourses toward divorce and increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in postdivorce marriage were included. This systematic review included scientific research and articles from different disciplines, such as the humanities and social sciences. The researchers considered only the documents that were written in English. The literature search was commenced with the key words "attitude toward lobola in remarriage following divorce, lobola and marriage and divorce, lobola and divorce." For all the documents and articles that were reviewed, the title was used to determine the relevance of the antecedent studies. From the title, if the content captured and discussed the key words, its full reference, including author, year, title and abstract, for further assessment, critique and inclusion in this article were obtained. Different databases, such as Google Scholar, Sage and Elsevier, were consulted. The data search was limited to articles that were published in the last 20 years (2001-2021) so that we could build our argument on the most recent literature. This assisted in identifying the trends and patterns over the years.
After reviewing the first twenty pages of search results, a total of 30 potentially relevant articles were identified. Subsequently, the keywords based on a specific subtheme refined. The abstracts of the 64 studies to further ascertain their relevance to the research topic attitude toward lobola in remarriage following divorce were investigated. Parallel independent searches and assessments of the scientific articles were performed. Discrepancies between the reviewers' findings were discussed and resolved. A total of 57 scientific research articles and theses were deemed relevant, and the full-text articles for in-depth quality assessment were obtained.
The two authors individually extracted information from articles for cross-checking. After reviewing a few articles together, the authors reached consensus on what to extract from the articles. Then, the researchers split up the work. Frequent communication during the data extraction process was maintained throughout. Articles that did not fall within the criteria stated above were excluded. In total, seven articles were excluded because they did not discuss the selected themes in the qualitative detail anticipated.

3 5 Literature Review
The review of related literature as outlined above confirmed broad themes, which are discussed below. First, the literature addressed the practice of postdivorce marriage, which we linked to the traditional practice of lobola; second, we present the prevailing and dominant gendered discourses toward divorce. This section discusses lobola as emergent from some of the common idioms that are expressed during weddings. Finally, the increased risks of intimate partner violence (IPV) in postdivorce remarriage are highlighted.

The Postdivorce Remarriage and Lobola
The process of how the amount of lobola is determined can be analyzed through three factors: a geographical location, a particular moment in time and understanding that it is a practice developed by and characterizing a particular social group. Therefore, our discussion is not limited to a specific ethnic group. The price is determined differently and subjectively because of various factors, such as the bride's educational achievements and relative beauty. The amount of lobola is apparently associated with the bride's educational achievements. The relationship between the bride's level of education and the increased amount of lobola is widely acknowledged. In essence, the thinking is that the bride's higher level of education makes her more attractive. As such, the groom's family is more willing to pay more for the bride's education. Sadly, the bride's educational achievement does not have any significant impact on gender ideology, as she will still be subjected to traditional gender roles of subordination, marginalization and male domination (Khan and Hyati 2012). Regarding the bride's physical appearance, researchers are of the opinion that physical attractiveness may also be another bargaining resource if it is important for the groom (Esping-Andersen and Schmitt 2020).
Some cultures in South Africa, such as those followed by the majority of the Zulu nation, dictate that the bride should remain a virgin or without wedlock offspring during the lobola discussion, as brides are encouraged to retain their virginity for their future husbands (Burch 2019). One determinant of the lobola amount that is of interest in this article is the question of whether the bride was previously married. As a point of departure, it is crucial to distinguish between divorce and widowhood as common pathways to remarriage. Both divorce and widowhood entail radical life experiences for men and women regarding future marriages, but remarriage following a divorce is a daunting experience for women who are considered impure (Hu and To 2018). Consequently, such women are treated with suspicion and cynicism (Mishra and Jayakar 2019). It is expected and commonly accepted that divorced men will remarry without prejudice (Eng et al. 2020).
Divorce is morally perceived as being "abnormal, entirely unacceptable, pathological" and that divorced women have a deficiency in their psychology and personality (Hung 2020). This attitude is premised on the social conviction that a woman must stay in her marital home and observe her marriage vows (Moloko-Phiri et al. Attitude Toward Lobola in Remarriage Following Divorce in… 2016). A popular Setswana/Sepedi proverb, such as lebitla la mosadi ke bogadi (the grave of a woman is at her in-laws), is meant to discourage divorce and encourage perseverance. In the Tshivenda culture, there is a saying that vhuhadzindi kamayathole, ynjhujhumnri a jhunzhela (loosely translated a wife's relatives-in-law are like lean meat, we keep the froth from boiling over with a spoon). This is a similar perception to what is evident among staunch Zulu traditionalists who believe that a woman should leave her father's house, marry and remain in that marriage irrespective of the problems she encounters in the marriage (Mbatha 2011). This discriminatory attitude is also conveyed in terms of negative connotations, such as a "return soldier," to describe any woman who comes back to her people after a divorce.

The Grave of a Woman is at Her In-laws
Although it can be argued that attitudes toward divorce are less rigid, divorced women are still stigmatized. Getting married and remaining in marriage still epitomize women's success and pride (Chisango et al. 2022: 564). In this section, divorce is located within some of the prevailing dominant sociocultural contexts. The gender discourse of premarital counsel among many Black African communities often plays out in traditional wedding songs and idioms. On the wedding day, the senior rakgadi (paternal aunt) is often invited with ululation and songs to give counsel to the newlywed couple. One of the lyrics of those popular songs says "rakgadi a ngwana etla o laye ngwana" (loosely translated aunt please come and advise the bride). Brimfull with confidence and speaking in a voice of authority, rakgadi advises the bride (only) to persevere because lebitla la mosadi ke bogadi (a Setswana/Sepedi proverb that means the grave of the woman is at her in-laws).
During ululation and whistling, the aunt reminds the bride that monna ke selepe wa adimisiwa (meaning the man-the groom-is an axe that never stops being borrowed). This "axe" is given public license to sleep with any other woman. The bride is told in stern terms that she no longer has space at her parents' house and, therefore, she must never think of returning to her parents' home. This is affirmed by the gift of a kist to the bride, which symbolizes a coffin. When she is taken to the in-laws' family, she goes with this kist. In this gesture, therefore, the bride is given the responsibility to save the marriage at whatever cost. Sadly, that cost may be the bride's life. Marriage is then sold as the "woman's most important goal and her most significant life event, one that determines her destiny and provides her with love and care" (Hung 2020: 4).
It becomes implicitly acceptable for men to engage in extramarital affairs, while women are compelled to remain loyal and faithful to their husbands. These women find themselves in a precarious position of having to conform to the values and norms of society for them (Moloko-Phiri et al. 2016), lest they risk being deemed "incomplete" (Choudhury et al. 2020). Therefore, women have a larger price to pay in case their marriage fails. They are coerced to stay in marriages, regardless of their circumstances (Eng et al. 2020). Even when love is no longer there, the decision to divorce is never an easy process for many women.
As stated earlier, divorce is highly stigmatized, and the experience of being looked down upon and being spoken about behind people's backs can be overwhelming to many women (Hung 2020). Divorced women are seen as failures (Hung 2020) because the collapse of a marriage is nearly always considered the woman's fault and a reflection of her decrepit character and morals (Mishra and Jayakar 2019). Inadvertently, and at times blatantly, women are encouraged to endure dysfunctional marriages and observe their marriage vows (Moloko-Phiri et al. 2016). They are encouraged to sacrifice their own well-being in favor of their troubled marriages. However, staying in a failed and toxic marriage can become a convenient incubator for intimate partner violence (IPV), which is a primary focus of the next section.

Enduring a Toxic Marriage as a Convenient Incubator for Intimate Partner Violence
IPV is defined as "physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression by a current or former intimate partner," such as a spouse, boyfriend or regular sex partner (Breiding et al. 2015;Ogbe et al. 2020). Researchers describe IPV as a serious global human rights and health crisis (Brear and Bessarab 2012;Ebrahim and Atteraya 2021). Africa has the highest prevalence of IPV, even though the incidence differs with each country. Although both men and women can experience IPV, men are the common perpetrators of IPV, while women are more generally the victims of this dreadful act (Ogbe et al. 2020). IPV affects the physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of women (Garcia-Moreno et al. 2013). The previous section addressed how social norms influence women to persevere in marriages. This has a significant influence on constraining women to remain in unhealthy, abusive marriages and endure intimate partner violence (IPV). These attitudes and convictions are conveyed through socialization and transmitted from generation to generation, perpetuating and justifying IPV (Darteh et al. 2021). Social norms are informal and oral rules and shared preferences derived from social systems that dictate the behavior expected, allowed or sanctioned in specific situations (Baldry and Pagliaro 2014).
In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of IPV is linked to patriarchal social norms that perpetuate male dominance. Moreover, these social norms and customs inscribe a culture of tolerance to IPV in communities (Chadambuka and Warria 2019). For instance, social norms, such as male dominance ascribing their superiority over women within families and society (McCloskey et al. 2016), acceptance of wifebeating as a way of "correcting a stray wife" and a sign of love (Oyediran and Feyisetan 2017), family honor (Matavire 2012), women's responsibility to maintain a marriage and their reproductive role (Shamu et al. 2013); social norms surrounding lobola payment, which acts as a compromising factor in IPV tolerance (Mesatywa 2014); and men's entitlement to sex (Mukanangana et al. 2014). Although the manifestation of IPV is linked to numerous social norms, this article only places emphasis on lobola as a risk factor for IPV.
The relationship between lobola and IPV is well established in the literature, with several studies highlighting the interaction between the two (Togarasei and Chitando 2021;Okeke-Ihejirika et al. 2019;Muguti and Mlambo 2021). Brear and Bessarab (2012) argue that the practice of lobola is rooted in the patriarchy and increases the occurrence of IPV in marriages. Lobola is another example of how women are positioned on the margins, and it is often used to promote men's right to abuse their wives. Unfortunately, this cultural practice of lobola may inadvertently perpetuate the conviction that women are simply commodities for men's consumption. Similarly, other researchers are of the view that lobola practices privilege men, giving them power and authority while commodifying women and making them powerless because they have been paid for by their husbands (Togarasei and Chitando 2021). This makes them inferior to their husbands, while men are viewed as heads and leaders of the families. Conversely, women bear the highest burden of divorce than men due to stigma. Moreover, a study in the Meskan district, South-central Ethiopia, found that most women are under the control of men and are disempowered, with little to no say in making financial decisions, as they have to seek permission from their husbands to access health care (Hailemariam et al. 2019).
Some men claim that they (mis)treat their wives because they paid lobola for them. Lobola then becomes an institutionally sanctioned tool that is used to treat women like property under the ownership of their male partners (Montle 2020). In a study by Matope et al. (2013) on intimate partner violence in Gweru Ubarn, Zimbabwe, a male participant justified the abuse of his wife as follows: "I paid ten cows… she does not work, and I do everything for her like I do for my children… so I discipline her now and then to remind her of her place." In this instance, the husband is convinced that the ten cows that he paid for his wife give him the right to discipline her as he pleases. Despite the obvious ill-treatment and hardship that most married women experience, many of them stay in unpalatable marriages (Montle 2020) because of the stigma associated with divorce or being unmarried (Matavire 2012).
Another contributory factor fueling married women to stay in abusive relationships is inscribed in religious doctrines on marriage and divorce. For example, in Christianity, there are traditional churches that prohibit divorce and remarriage (Kunhiyop 2009). The ostracization of divorce and remarriage is based on the fallacious interpretation of the commonly cited scripture, 1 Corinthians 7:10-11. The traditional interpretation of this scripture teaches that marriage is "for better or for worse" and should be between one man and one woman for life. This skewed understanding enhances the already high rate of IPV (Ademiluka 2019).
For instance, a participant in a study on divorce and marriage highlighted the disappointment, confusion and shame that women might feel when their divorce is stigmatized by a community to which they have strong ties (Konstam et al. 2016). The participants said, "It's hard because I am Catholic, so divorce is frowned upon, and in terms of the Catholic Church I can never get married in the Catholic Church again, so that's hard." In addition to the available scientific data on IPV, it is also important to understand the broader challenges of women in relation to remarriage and domestic violence in general. Researchers argue that remarried women are more likely to experience domestic abuse (Eng et al. 2020). The argument is that due to the pressing need to remarry, many divorced women accept marriage proposals that are less than ideal. The need could be personal, such as economic difficulties and external pressure, such as stigma against divorced women. In the case of the latter, remarriage is employed as a strategy to "lessen the stigma of divorce and bring a woman back into the socially acceptable role of a wife" (Eng et al. 2020). Divorced women often experience insecurity, and they ask themselves who they are and if they are half or (still) complete women (Hansson and Laidmäe 2014).
Considering that divorced women are less valued across many traditional contexts, the possibility of them experiencing physical and emotional forms of IPV is significantly high. For instance, in another study on the progression of cohabitation, a 35-year-old divorced woman who was cohabiting with her partner shared the following when she was asked about her partner's marital ambitions: "I tried to address that [paying lobola] with my boyfriend. He repeated his earlier response that "motho yoo a hladilwego ha a na bosekelo" [meaning a divorced woman does not have any value]. I was deeply hurt. It means I do not have any value to him" (Kgadima 2017). It is legitimate to infer that in such a marriage, if it eventually happens, the experience is likely to be marred with abuse.

Discussion and Conclusion
Whereas the phenomenon of divorce is prevalent, it is still not an acceptable option in most communities. Despite divorce being relatively common, it places women in a vulnerable position, as their own parents' household (including their brothers' wives) may be unwilling to take in a further member, especially if accompanied by children (Mastonshoeva et al. 2016). The literature demonstrates that traditional customs and cultural practices shape the behavior of both men and women. These customs and practices are transferred socially and are intergenerational. Moreover, they give unequal rights and responsibilities to the couple in marriage. For instance, individual rights have been allocated to men as heads of the families with considerable power and control over labor and the lives of women and children. On the other hand, women's responsibilities are often limited to caring for and nurturing family members (United Nations Women 2015). Women are perceived to be weaker (Anyidoho 2021), submissive and powerless (Singh 2016). The unequal distribution of rights and responsibilities silences women's voices and is a risk factor for intimate violence.
The literature depicts that divorce and remarriage are gender discriminatory practices. First, men still enjoy patriarchal leverage in that they can initiate divorce and remarry without any serious cultural vilification (United Nations Women 2015). Moreover, most marriages are established on patriarchal relations. This shows that the patriarchy is maintained through day-to-day practices and lived realities. Second, lobola negotiations go against the spirit of the common Latin slogan "Nihil de nobis, sine nobis"-meaning "Nothing About Us Without Us!" The voices of women in lobola negotiations are conspicuously absent. Lobola negotiations are still primarily the exclusive domain of men. Women are deprived of the power to participate in matters that directly affect them (Chiweshe 2016). Their opinions about lobola, even in the case of postdivorce remarriage, are marginalized if at all considered. It is important, nonetheless, to note that lobola was traditionally not conceptualized to diminish the value of women but rather to bring the two families together (Chiweshe 2016). Hence, Cakata and Ramose (2021: 2) argue that the influence of Western education has problematized and complicated the way the process of lobola was conducted. Money has since distorted the fundamental intention of this cultural practice.
Although lobola is condemned as the trade of women, none of the countries where this cultural practice still exists, notably in many African states, have created laws to either abolish or regulate (Chitakure 2021). As Gu (2019) argues, "if there is no universal standard for justice, any request for justice will be futile." Admittedly, substantial efforts have been made toward gender equality in Africa, and much still needs to be done to achieve gender equality and root out any form of gender oppression. The African Charter of Human and People's Rights, which forbids gender discrimination, is one such progressive attempt (Chisango et al. 2022).
Notwithstanding the positive intention of social norms and customs, such as shaping behavior, perpetuates inequality. Therefore, there is a need for a shift in mentality that takes into account the notion of women's emancipation, where brides are consulted on how they would like their marriage to be conducted. Conversely, the literature shows that women bear the highest burden of divorce than men due to stigma. In this regard, women experience individual stigma and stigma from the public. Women must be given the space and liberty to decide when and who to marry without any prejudice. It is important to educate communities about these aspects of human rights in intimate relations.
Gender is also embedded in the construction of broader social, political and economic contexts in which it should be understood (Kassa 2021). Conspicuously, a large body of scholarly investigations tends to neglect the social context in which women make decisions about divorce and remarriage (Hung 2020). Most importantly, the benefits of divorce for these women are equally disregarded by scholars. There is, therefore, a need to investigate and document the voices of women, mainly black African women, about their lived experiences of lobola and remarriage. It is important to bear in mind that black African women are far from being a homogenous group. Instead, they hold varying and often contested understandings of lobola, marriage, divorce and remarriage (Moloko-Phiri et al. 2016). A qualitative enquiry that is alive to these multiple realities could be more helpful than a "one-size fits all' approach that prejudices black African women as a single homogenous group. Incidents of what authors termed "hell-to-heaven stories" where remarriage inaugurates the feeling of a painful experience in dysfunctional marriages mainly characterized by abuse are often ignored (Hansson and Laidmäe 2014). Therefore, culturally relevant educational initiatives should empower women, recognizing that although marriage could be the ultimate goal for many women, equally, the decision to divorce should not always be perceived as negative. Instead, it could also be positive, particularly in instances where the marriage is toxic and dysfunctional.