Gender justice, law and religion in Zimbabwe: An evaluation of the role of sacred texts

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Gender justice, law and religion in Zimbabwe: An evaluation of the role of sacred texts
 
Creator Mhuru, Lillian
 
Subject Law, Human Rights Gender; religion; equality; law; religious leaders; women; Zimbabwe.
Description Gender equality is something that the human race has been struggling with since time immemorial. No country has achieved gender equality despite the legislative, social, and economic gains for women. Therefore, modern society likes to blame certain groups, such as religion for the gender inequalities which are faced, more than others. The main focus of this study is to evaluate the role of religious leaders in promoting gender equality through the legislation and religious texts in Zimbabwe. The study further explores how certain religious norms and practices can be modified through religious texts to accommodate women in achieving gender equality. The paper acknowledges that religious leaders have a greater responsibility to standup, speak and act with and on behalf of those with less power, such as the marginalized and discriminated against, including exploited planet Earth. The paper seeks to foreground how certain traditional religious practices and norms have exacerbated gender inequality in Zimbabwe, despite the laws that have been enacted by the government of Zimbabwe to promote gender equality. The data for the paper was gathered through observations and semi-structured interviews conducted with both religious leaders and women to establish how religious norms and practices directly or indirectly affect women and how they can be modified to achieve gender equality in Zimbabwe. The data gathered was analysed through descriptive data analysis. The paper concludes by recommending that religious leaders should be thoroughly trained on how to promote gender equality through religious texts and legislation.Contribution: The article evaluated the role of religious leaders in promoting gender equality through legislation and religious texts in Zimbabwe. It argued that religious leaders have a higher need to support, advocate and act on behalf of individuals who are marginalised and subjected to discrimination on planet Earth. Hence, its contribution was in promoting gender equality through religious texts and legislation in Zimbabwe for sustainable development.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor n/a
Date 2023-03-24
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative Analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v79i3.8160
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 79, No 3 (2023); 8 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8160/24679 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8160/24680 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8160/24681 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8160/24682
 
Coverage — — Gender; Justice; Religion; Religious Leaders
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Lillian Mhuru https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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