WOMAN TO WOMAN MARRIAGE: THE CASE OF FEMALE HUSBANDS AMONG THE AKAMBA OF KENYA
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine woman to woman marriage relationships from the African perspective through interviews with women who marry other women (‘female husbands’) in the Kamba community of Machakos County. The study investigated the experiences and perspectives of women in woman to woman marriage and the importance of this form of marriage, reasons for its persistent as well as challenges and implications. Ten respondents were identified through purposive and snowball sampling procedures. Primary data was collected through questionnaires with the assistance of a local research assistant who also translated the questionnaire in vernacular. Data collected was analyzed and presented descriptively. The study found out that barren or sonless women opted to marry other women who already had children especially sons for the purpose of enhancing the continuity of a lineage. It was found out that female husbands controlled their female wives as they made decisions for them. The study also found out that the relationship between male lovers and female wives was temporary. It was further established that children in woman to woman marriage became legitimate heirs. The study concluded that both barrenness and ‘childlessness’ are persistent conditions which affect women. Hence, they had to device strageties for redress.
Keywords: Akamba, Barrenness, ‘Childlessness’, Female Husband, Female Wife, Kenya, Sonless, Woman to Woman Marriage
CITATION: Nyamongo, G. B. (2020). Woman to woman marriage: The case of female husbands among the Akamba of Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 7 (4), 1462 – 1474.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v7i4.1874
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