Legal status of women and poverty in Tanzania

The report was originally written as part of the background paper on poverty assessment and presented at a workshop organised by the Government of Tanzania and the World Bank in Arusha 14-20 May, 1995.This report has five sections. These are the executive summary, setting out the purposes of the study, the main findings and recommendations. The second section is the introduction which sets out the background and objectives of the study. The third section gives a review of the laws affecting the status of women in Tanzania in regard to the situation of poverty. The Laws and the Land Laws. Section four discusses significant legal changes of gender orientation in, the last twenty years and assesses their impact on poverty alleviation among women. The fifth and final section has conclusions and recommendations for change.PURPOSE OF THE SERVICES The objectives of the study were to analyze and describe how the legal framework, social practices and attitudes in Tanzania differentiate between women and men and what reaction such differences have on the poverty situation.The scope and focus of the study was to answer four important questions namely; one, to summarize how the legal system of today differentiates between men and women and its impact on poverty having regard to all systems of law applicable to Tanzania such as statutory law, English common law, Customary and Religious laws.