INTRODUCTION
If general knowledge is not your strong point, it is very likely that this is the first time you have heard this word: levirate!
However, many households have paid the price on our continent. Concretely, levirate is defined as a cultural practice which consists of a widow remarrying one of the brothers of her late husband. It sometimes happens that our widow ends up marrying one of her deceased husband’s eldest sons from their first marriages. In Africa, almost all of us have witnessed this situation directly or indirectly and if this is not the case, there are a number of films on the market to explain the workings of it. This practice generates passionate debates among those who consider it retrograde and its defenders attached to the strict observance of ancestral customs. We are, therefore, entitled to ask ourselves the question of whether levirate still has its place in Africa today.
Levirate in Africa: a custom anchored in the history of the continent.
From Cameroon to the Dinka tribe of South Sudan via Somalia, Zimbabwe… The levirate has many followers scattered throughout Africa. What you need to know is that it is a practice which draws its sources and its cause from a very distant era on the continent.
And for good reason, the practice of levirate has ensured a social and family role for African clans throughout history to the extent that it allowed the widow to maintain her status within the extended family, thus offering her a a certain security because they are often financially vulnerable. The children resulting from this union were considered legitimate in the community and contributed to the social cohesion so dear to the tribe.
Another historical aspect this time of the benefit of the levirate. Practically speaking, and depending on the time when Africa was experiencing a problem due to high mortality, levirate appeared to be a viable solution. By preserving descendants in societies where the continuity of lineage was crucial. Levirateship was considered by communities as a sacred duty based on responsibility towards ancestors and the community.
A practice increasingly criticized
However, despite the roots of this custom in African tradition, voices are being raised today to criticize this practice, particularly its negative aspects.
In first position, women’s rights associations, in fact, levirate can be considered as an attack on women’s rights, although it is a social practice relatively accepted by the women who experience it. In an era continually fighting for gender equality between men and women, levirate has the appearance of a retrograde and restrictive practice. In levirate, the woman does not have the right to dispose of her husband’s inheritance by herself. As a result, this constitutes an obstacle to his freedom. We sometimes see even in the event of refusal to comply with custom, the widow and her children find themselves deprived of her husband’s inheritance and pushed towards the exit: to the street.
Furthermore, levirate can be problematic, exposing those who practice it to sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS because changing partners is not always a simple thing.
Africa is a dynamic continent today. Young by its population which is experiencing changes within its society. It clearly tends more to adapt to contemporary standards rather than to conform to ancient customs sometimes judged harshly by other, more developed civilizations.
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, what must be remembered is that levirate is a practice which was part of the habits of tribes in Africa. It responded to an explicit need and constituted one of the social bases governing life in society. But man is the fruit of his time, this usage, in view of current realities, has difficulty surviving in an Africa which is moving and which aspires to more freedom. It is clear that Africa needs to rethink these customs so that they can fit with the current mentality for fear of disappearing completely.