TY - JOUR

T1 - Gender and forum shopping in land conflict resolution in Northern Uganda

AU - Anying, Irene Winnie

AU - Gausset, Quentin

PY - 2017/9/28

Y1 - 2017/9/28

N2 - Northern Uganda has been plagued by a long and violent civil war that lasted from 1996 to 2006, during which 2.5 million people were internally displaced and placed in camps. During the conflict, Uganda adopted a new constitution and a new land act that recognised customary land tenure and the role played by customary institutions in resolving land disputes. Following the cessation of hostilities in 2006, people began to go back “home”, and many land conflicts ensued. Because women are generally considered as particularly vulnerable in land conflicts, they have received much attention from the Ugandan government, international donors, and NGOs. This article focuses on how women make use of the existing legal pluralism in Uganda to defend their interests in land disputes. It argues that land conflicts are often proxies of social conflicts, which play a major role in women's opting for customary institutions to resolve their land conflicts

AB - Northern Uganda has been plagued by a long and violent civil war that lasted from 1996 to 2006, during which 2.5 million people were internally displaced and placed in camps. During the conflict, Uganda adopted a new constitution and a new land act that recognised customary land tenure and the role played by customary institutions in resolving land disputes. Following the cessation of hostilities in 2006, people began to go back “home”, and many land conflicts ensued. Because women are generally considered as particularly vulnerable in land conflicts, they have received much attention from the Ugandan government, international donors, and NGOs. This article focuses on how women make use of the existing legal pluralism in Uganda to defend their interests in land disputes. It argues that land conflicts are often proxies of social conflicts, which play a major role in women's opting for customary institutions to resolve their land conflicts

U2 - 10.1080/07329113.2017.1383023

DO - 10.1080/07329113.2017.1383023

M3 - Journal article

VL - 49

SP - 353

EP - 372

JO - Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law

JF - Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law

SN - 0732-9113

IS - 3

ER -