Beyond the Universalist and Cultural Relativist Debate

Abstract

This article explores how the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (The Protocol or African Women’s Protocol), concerned with realising gender equality in Africa, can guarantee gender equality yet retain African women’s valued cultural identity within customary African marriages. These marriages have certain cultural practices that are fundamental to their existence. This exploration is significant, bearing in mind the tensions raised by the contentious universalist versus cultural relativist debates on how human rights are understood. These tensions are evident where on the one hand, universalists argue that certain cultural practices that usually occur within customary African marriages undermine gender equality. On the other hand, cultural relativists maintain that these customary marriage practices are culturally acceptable and integral to the cultural identity of African women. Based on these contentions, this article identifies the Protocol’s strategies employed to douse these tensions within the customary African marriage context. These strategies are determined by examining the treaty’s marriage-related obligations outlined in Article 6 (a–c).