“Woman-marriage” as practiced by Wakuria of Northern Tanzania

The study examined the social-cultural and economic conditions for existence of woman-marriage in Kuria society of northern Tanzania. In order to achieve this, the study looked at the value, meanings and functions of these types of marriage in contemporary Kuria society. The research was guided by questions rather than hypotheses because it was an exploratory study. The study was qualitative in nature. Data collection methods included participatory observations, interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires, and documentary reviews. Findings show complex reasons for this unique phenomenon. Traditionally, woman-marriage was practiced so as to give a sonless or childless woman a child, but it is obvious that other reasons have emerged. These accounts vary from sexual freedom, love, childlessness, emotional, commitment, empowerment, vulnerability and struggle for acquisition of wealth as well as land. Nowadays, independent women who have accumulated wealth and who seek to protect their wealth against greedy relatives decided to practice woman-marriage. Likewise, some women whose sons are married and live away find themselves lonely such that they decided to practice woman-marriage in order to add companions to their dwellings. Most of the women who are married into women-marriage have stayed for more than three years after circumcision, have had a child before marriage, have disabilities and mostly are girls who come from families who are in need of gaining property. The male consort is appointed to raise seeds for the house of the mother-in-law. Normally the genitor is appointed among the lineage of the husband of the marrying woman or any other close relative. The genitor’s position in society is well known. The appointed male consort is not a husband and does not have any rights regarding children due to his association to the daughter-in-law as he did not pay the bride wealth. Woman-marriage in Kuria society continues to be practiced. The trend of continuity of woman-marriages depends much on problems related to infertility and whether or not a Kuria woman attains a son in her marriage to a man. The continuity also is due to the value that Kuria society has bestowed upon male children in relation to inheritance. With other factors such as development of more independent Kuria women in towns, more cases are noticeable and are expected to increase in the future.