Blood, Land, and Sex: Legal and Political Pluralism in Eritrea

In Eritrea, state, traditional, and religious laws equally prevail, but
any of these legal systems may be put into play depending upon the individual or
individuals involved in a legal dispute. Because of conflicting laws, it has been
difficult for Eritreans to come to a consensus on what constitutes their legal
system. In Blood, Land, and Sex, Lyda Favali and Roy Pateman examine the roles of
the state, ethnic groups, religious groups, and the international community in
several key areas of Eritrean law -- blood feud or murder, land tenure, gender
relations (marriage, prostitution, rape), and female genital surgery. Favali and
Pateman explore the intersections of the various laws and discuss how change can be
brought to communities where legal ambiguity prevails, often to the grave harm of
women and other powerless individuals. This significant book focuses on how Eritrea
and other newly emerging democracies might build pluralist legal systems that will
be acceptable to an ethnically and religiously diverse population.