What’s the deal? women’s evidence and gendered negotiations
Date
2018-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
Abstract
South African law has traditionally denied property sharing rights to people in nonmarital intimate partnerships, but a series of new cases has created the possibility of enforcing universal partnership contracts to claim a share in partnership property.However, evidential biases within these progressive cases reflect a historical disdain for women’s contributions to relationships and a widespread reluctance to believe women’s testimony about the existence of agreements to share. These biases bear strong resemblances to the gender stereotypes which have been the subject of feminist critique in rape law. Central to both rape and universal partnerships is the issue of consent or agreement between men and women. This, in turn, depends on social beliefs about male and female entitlements in the realms of sex and intimate relationships. The paper highlights the commonalities and parallels between the legal treatment of women’s evidence about the existence of contracts on the one hand, and the prejudice faced by complainants in rape cases.
Description
Keywords
Contract, Evidence, Property, Property, Gender stereotypes, South Africa, Rape, Universal partnership
Citation
Bonthuys, E. (2019). What’s the deal? Women’s evidence and gendered negotiations. Feminist Legal Studies, 27(1), 7-31. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-018-9391-2