Power and rights in the community: paralegals as leaders in women's legal empowerment in Tanzania

What can an analysis of power in local communities contribute to debates on women’s legal empowerment and the role of paralegals in Africa? Drawing upon theories of power and rights, and research on legal empowerment in African plural legal systems, this article explores the challenges for paralegals in facilitating women’s access to justice in Tanzania, which gave statutory recognition to paralegals in the Legal Aid Act 2017. Land conflicts represent the single-biggest source of local legal disputes in Tanzania and are often embedded in gendered land tenure relations. This article argues that paralegals can be effective actors in women’s legal empowerment where they are able to work as leaders, negotiating power relations and resisting the forms of violence that women encounter as obstacles to justice. Paralegals’ authority will be realised when their role is situated within community leadership structures, confirming their authority while preserving their independence

Controle da fertilidade das mulheres em Uganda

Edição trilíngue: português, espanhol e inglês.Título em espanhol: Control de la fertilidad de las mujeres en Uganda.Título em inglês: Controlling women's fertility in Uganda

African Feminism: How should we change?

Sylvia Tamale gives a critical, self-reflexive analysis of the African women's movement, with her proposals for the changes she would like to see. She asks that African feminists transform themselves and societies into a more equitable, democratic and tolerant one. Development (2006) 49, 38–41. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100205

Research on Gender and Sexualities in Africa

This collection comprises a diverse and stimulating collection of essays on questions of gender and sexualities, crafted by both established and younger researchers. The collection includes fascinating insights into topics as varied as the popularity of thong underwear in urban Kenya, the complexity of Tanzanian youths negotiation of HIV-cultures, the dialogues between religion and controversial questions in sexualities activism, and the meaning of living as a Zimbabwean girl, who became HIV-positive because her mother had no access to antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. Some pieces deepen contemporary debates, others initiate new questions. The collection seeks to sustain and invigorate research, policy-making and continentaly-focused thought on difficult, yet compelling, realities

Law’s Vulnerability, and Vulnerability in Law

Vulnerability acts as a touchstone in this issue as we find our contributors reflecting on its intersection with gender and sexuality in different ways. Saeidzadeh draws out the significance of misrecognition in her consideration of responses to transsexuality in Iran, while Doonan highlights the potential pitfalls of relying on situational vulnerability in her critique of anti-trafficking legal discourse in the US. Lindsey considers the legal potential of situational vulnerability as a tool to address the ‘persistent failure to take action against abuse’ in the UK. Durojaye and Oluduro contribute to the recent revitalisation in asking ‘the woman question’ by drawing on African law and literature to flesh out the development of a gender-sensitive, substantive equality approach from the jurisprudence of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as it addresses vulnerability to violence. The reviewers continue this international conversation as they address recent contributions on sexuality, family formation and social security

From Shape Shifting to Collusion in Violence: An Ethnography of Informal Relationships Between Bangladeshi Members of Parliament and Their Constituents

Based on an ethnography of relationships between members of Parliament (MPs) and their constituents in Bangladesh, this article shows how social and political relationships are entangled and performed, and how MPs are viewed by others and how they see themselves. Despite the diversity of politicians and constituents, some aspects of these relationships cut across MPs’ age, gender, and political background. I argue that these messy and contradictory relationships require MPs to be shape‐shifters. When MPs transgress to collude with one group of constituents to marginalize others—or even to commit violence—the representative role breaks down. Such disruptions mean understandings of representation have to be reconceptualized. Knowing how MPs make choices between competing and conflicting interests among their constituencies could enrich debates about their role specifically and about democracy more generally