Ndey,

I think a lot of people know about "Kerr Hali" but I think the problem is 
that even if one gets a judgement there, there is no way to enforce it unless if 
the State also had laws  passed so that they can use their power such as 
garnishing wages etc in the case of child support and also enforcing the fair 
division of property. Even if we had NGOs where lawyers can assist in this regard, 
unless the state passes laws that can back them up, there is really nothing 
they can do. Are there any state laws in Gambia  that address these issues?

Jabou Joh

In a message dated 3/1/04 3:44:10 AM Central Standard Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:
> 
> Jabou,
> 
> This is true but i guess people are not aware of the "Keer Hali at Kanifing" 
> I think it is the Islamic council. I don't know much about its activities 
> and how this protects our women. I kept on hearing my Mum talking about it 
> especially when people come to her on disputes over childcare and allowances. 
> Also i guess the social welfare can also assist in this regard.
> 
> I think one need to investigate more on this. At present most women tend to 
> shoulder the whole responsibility unless the man decides to take up his 
> fatherly responsibilities. The last one is the courts but then again it is very 
> difficult for our women to use them due to fear of what people will say. The 
> majority of these women cannot afford the cost of legal representation. It is 
> different in other African countries were you have the FIDAs’ and WILDAFs’, 
> these are NGOs run by group of women lawyers who fight for the rights of women 
> and they can give you free legal representation.
> 
> When a woman is divorced she is left with nothing and the decision to assist 
> or share the property is left with the man. Don’t forget that our situation 
> is more complex due to Islamic, Customary and civil law. Some of these laws 
> are used against the women when ever it suits the men.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> The Struggle Continues!!!!!
> 
> Ndey Jobarteh
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~