Elsje Bonthuys
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 658394 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Elsje Bonthuys |
| PRENOMES | Elsje |
| SOBRENOME | Bonthuys |
| ASSINATURA | BONTHUYS E |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of the Witwatersrand |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0774-5828 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 22 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 25 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 22 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1997 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
Legal Pluralism in South Africa
In South Africa marriage was a key site of colonial legal pluralism. Family formation and marriage were central to upholding boundaries between colonial and local normative orders. Under the umbrella of a single set of fundamental constitutional rights, post-apartheid law nevertheless retains separate statutes, precedents and legal rules for different cultural and religious marriages. This can lead to legal gaps and uncertainty when people enter …
Pluralist Marriage Laws in a Former Colonial System
Legal pluralism in former colonial territories, like South Africa, often involve the simultaneous existence of multiple marriage forms, distinguishing marital forms associated with former colonial systems from indigenous forms of marriage. These pluralist systems are not value-neutral but continue to favour marriages associated with colonial rules and processes. In addition, they create complicated distinctions between different forms of marriage…
What’s the Deal? Women’s Evidence and Gendered Negotiations
Gender and Race in South African Judicial Appointments
Rh V De
The common law action against a third party who had committed adultery with a spouse has long been regarded as a legal peculiarity. Its presence in our law was awkward, and out of step with the legal positions in other countries. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment in RH v DE abolishing the actions for contumelia and loss of consortium on the basis of adultery therefore elicited great public and legal interest
Domestic Violence and Gendered Socio-Economic Rights
In South Africa, as elsewhere, intimate partner violence is legally addressed through a specific statute, the Domestic Violence Act. Although this legislation is progressive in recognising the socio-economic antecedents to and consequences of gendered violence, the implementation of the Act has been particularly ineffective in this area. Moreover, courts tend to assume that intimate partner violence would have been adequately dealt with in terms …
Gender and the Chief Justice
The post-apartheid South African Constitution requires that the judiciary be transformed ‘to reflect broadly the racial and gender composition of South Africa’. Because the legal system and the judiciary are the least ‘transformed’ organs of government and because of their social and political significance, the appointment of judges has become an important avenue for South Africans to continue to contest issues of race and power, usually using co…
Modes of (in)tolerance
In this study we interviewed members of a small, predominantly Muslim community in Johannesburg, South Africa, in order to ascertain attitudes towards people who engage in same-sex practices. We were interested in ascertaining whether community perceptions of homosexuality match the common (Western) assumption that Islam is profoundly homophobic. Our research, while preliminary, shows that although most people condemn same-sex practices on the gr…
The 2010 Football World Cup and the Regulation of Sex Work in South Africa
While the South African government expected the 2010 Football World Cup to stimulate economic growth and infrastructure development, and to foster a sense of national unity amongst its citizens, members of the public and the media anticipated an increased demand for commercial sex. The call, in 2007, by the National Commissioner of Police to legalise sex work for the duration of the tournament stimulated debates on the legal status of sex work. M…
Legal capacity and family status in child-headed households
In its 2005 Household Survey, Statistics South Africa counted 143,167 children living in child-headed households. The increased numbers of such households is usually ascribed to the death of parents from AIDS, and researchers expect them to increase further in the future. Similar household formations are also found in other Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Uganda, Lesotho and Tanzania. Although the research indicates that ch…
Possibilities Foreclosed
In 2006 the Civil Union Act was enacted in South Africa, allowing same-sex couples to enter into marriages or civil partnerships. These relationships mirror the entry requirements and consequences of civil marriages, but contain no features of African customary marriages. This, in turn, reflects a belief that customary marriage and the African communities within which it occurs, are more traditional and conservative than civil law and that they l…
Realizing South African Children'S Basic Socio-Economic Claims Against Parents And The State
There are two systems for realizing South African children's basic socio-economic rights: the ‘private’ system for claiming maintenance from parents and the ‘public’ system of child welfare. This article compares the courts’ responses to problems in realizing children's rights in these two systems, focusing particularly on the emerging jurisprudence dealing with recalcitrant social welfare departments. Although courts have been willing to adopt i…
Putting Gender into the Definition of Rape or Taking it Out
The Personal and the Judicial
Taking Judge Edwin Cameron’s public revelation of his HIV status and the lawsuits brought by Judges De Vos and Satchwell as a starting point, this article examines and critiques the construction of the public/private dichotomy in relation to judges and judging, focusing specifically on its gendered implications. It asks how the public/private dichotomy either enables or constrains women from becoming and being recognised as judges. It does so by …
Race and Gender in the Civil Union Act
This article seeks to investigate some racial and gendered dimensions of the Civil Union Act. First, it looks at the social and cultural characteristics of those lesbian and gay couples who are allowed to conclude civil unions and the racial and cultural aspects of the institution itself. In aligning civil unions so completely with the institution of civil marriage, the Civil Union Act strengthens the position of marriage as the ideal for all oth…
Women’s Sexuality in the South African Constitutional Court
The Best Interests of Children in the South African Constitution
The welfare principle in cases involving children has been incorporated in the Bill of Rights of the 1996 South African Constitution, while also remaining a principle of common law. This article investigates the effects of including the best interests principle in the Constitution. It examines, first, whether the best interests principle is a constitutional right, a value, an interpretative tool or a rule of law and argues that, although courts d…
Customary Law and Domestic Violence in Rural South African Communities
(2005). Customary Law and Domestic Violence in Rural South African Communities. South African Journal on Human Rights: Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 607-635
Accommodating Gender, Race, Culture and Religion
In 1998, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 was passed by Parliament. In 2001, the South African Law Commission published a Discussion Paper on the validity of Muslim marriages. In both customary and religious law, the State is faced with the choice of either creating a single system of marriage law for all religious and cultural groups, or maintaining separate systems to cater for different sectors of the population. In makin…
Clean Breaks
This article deals with two aspects of relocation of custodian parents and their children. The first part addresses the formulation and interpretation of the best interests test by South African courts in relocation cases. It examines the factors which courts take into account, their interpretation and the weight afforded to them, focusing particularly upon the consequences for custodian parents. The aim of this analysis is to determine whether t…
Spoiling the Child
Current domestic violence legislation is evaluated to establish whether it sufficiently recognises the links between custody of and access to children and domestic violence. Women's primary responsibility for childcare renders them uniquely vulnerable to domestic violence by constraining their ability to leave abusive relationships and by limiting their capacity to negotiate divorce settlements to their own and their children's advantage. After d…
Of Biological Bonds, New Fathers and the Best Interests of Children
‘[Law] constantly spills from the court and the text into life, and to trace that quiet and imperceptible crossing of boundaries requires a jurisprudence that is attentive to the little slips, repetitions and compulsions, melancholic moods or hysterical outbursts, that hint at the transgressive movement from one order to another, from conscious to unconscious law. More than that, the law depends upon a geography of mental spaces, which cannot be …
The 2010 Football World Cup and the Regulation of Sex Work in South Africa
While the South African government expected the 2010 Football World Cup to stimulate economic growth and infrastructure development, and to foster a sense of national unity amongst its citizens, members of the public and the media anticipated an increased demand for commercial sex. The call, in 2007, by the National Commissioner of Police to legalise sex work for the duration of the tournament stimulated debates on the legal status of sex work. M…
Gender and Race in South African Judicial Appointments
The Best Interests of Children in the South African Constitution
The welfare principle in cases involving children has been incorporated in the Bill of Rights of the 1996 South African Constitution, while also remaining a principle of common law. This article investigates the effects of including the best interests principle in the Constitution. It examines, first, whether the best interests principle is a constitutional right, a value, an interpretative tool or a rule of law and argues that, although courts d…
Putting Gender into the Definition of Rape or Taking it Out
Women’s Sexuality in the South African Constitutional Court
Customary Law and Domestic Violence in Rural South African Communities
(2005). Customary Law and Domestic Violence in Rural South African Communities. South African Journal on Human Rights: Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 607-635
Pluralist Marriage Laws in a Former Colonial System
Legal pluralism in former colonial territories, like South Africa, often involve the simultaneous existence of multiple marriage forms, distinguishing marital forms associated with former colonial systems from indigenous forms of marriage. These pluralist systems are not value-neutral but continue to favour marriages associated with colonial rules and processes. In addition, they create complicated distinctions between different forms of marriage…
Race and Gender in the Civil Union Act
This article seeks to investigate some racial and gendered dimensions of the Civil Union Act. First, it looks at the social and cultural characteristics of those lesbian and gay couples who are allowed to conclude civil unions and the racial and cultural aspects of the institution itself. In aligning civil unions so completely with the institution of civil marriage, the Civil Union Act strengthens the position of marriage as the ideal for all oth…
Accommodating Gender, Race, Culture and Religion
In 1998, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 was passed by Parliament. In 2001, the South African Law Commission published a Discussion Paper on the validity of Muslim marriages. In both customary and religious law, the State is faced with the choice of either creating a single system of marriage law for all religious and cultural groups, or maintaining separate systems to cater for different sectors of the population. In makin…
Clean Breaks
This article deals with two aspects of relocation of custodian parents and their children. The first part addresses the formulation and interpretation of the best interests test by South African courts in relocation cases. It examines the factors which courts take into account, their interpretation and the weight afforded to them, focusing particularly upon the consequences for custodian parents. The aim of this analysis is to determine whether t…
Of Biological Bonds, New Fathers and the Best Interests of Children
‘[Law] constantly spills from the court and the text into life, and to trace that quiet and imperceptible crossing of boundaries requires a jurisprudence that is attentive to the little slips, repetitions and compulsions, melancholic moods or hysterical outbursts, that hint at the transgressive movement from one order to another, from conscious to unconscious law. More than that, the law depends upon a geography of mental spaces, which cannot be …
Of Biological Bonds, New Fathers and the Best Interests of Children
‘[Law] constantly spills from the court and the text into life, and to trace that quiet and imperceptible crossing of boundaries requires a jurisprudence that is attentive to the little slips, repetitions and compulsions, melancholic moods or hysterical outbursts, that hint at the transgressive movement from one order to another, from conscious to unconscious law. More than that, the law depends upon a geography of mental spaces, which cannot be …
Spoiling the Child
Current domestic violence legislation is evaluated to establish whether it sufficiently recognises the links between custody of and access to children and domestic violence. Women's primary responsibility for childcare renders them uniquely vulnerable to domestic violence by constraining their ability to leave abusive relationships and by limiting their capacity to negotiate divorce settlements to their own and their children's advantage. After d…
Clean Breaks
This article deals with two aspects of relocation of custodian parents and their children. The first part addresses the formulation and interpretation of the best interests test by South African courts in relocation cases. It examines the factors which courts take into account, their interpretation and the weight afforded to them, focusing particularly upon the consequences for custodian parents. The aim of this analysis is to determine whether t…
Accommodating Gender, Race, Culture and Religion
In 1998, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 was passed by Parliament. In 2001, the South African Law Commission published a Discussion Paper on the validity of Muslim marriages. In both customary and religious law, the State is faced with the choice of either creating a single system of marriage law for all religious and cultural groups, or maintaining separate systems to cater for different sectors of the population. In makin…
The Best Interests of Children in the South African Constitution
The welfare principle in cases involving children has been incorporated in the Bill of Rights of the 1996 South African Constitution, while also remaining a principle of common law. This article investigates the effects of including the best interests principle in the Constitution. It examines, first, whether the best interests principle is a constitutional right, a value, an interpretative tool or a rule of law and argues that, although courts d…
Customary Law and Domestic Violence in Rural South African Communities
(2005). Customary Law and Domestic Violence in Rural South African Communities. South African Journal on Human Rights: Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 607-635
Women’s Sexuality in the South African Constitutional Court
Race and Gender in the Civil Union Act
This article seeks to investigate some racial and gendered dimensions of the Civil Union Act. First, it looks at the social and cultural characteristics of those lesbian and gay couples who are allowed to conclude civil unions and the racial and cultural aspects of the institution itself. In aligning civil unions so completely with the institution of civil marriage, the Civil Union Act strengthens the position of marriage as the ideal for all oth…
Possibilities Foreclosed
In 2006 the Civil Union Act was enacted in South Africa, allowing same-sex couples to enter into marriages or civil partnerships. These relationships mirror the entry requirements and consequences of civil marriages, but contain no features of African customary marriages. This, in turn, reflects a belief that customary marriage and the African communities within which it occurs, are more traditional and conservative than civil law and that they l…
Realizing South African Children'S Basic Socio-Economic Claims Against Parents And The State
There are two systems for realizing South African children's basic socio-economic rights: the ‘private’ system for claiming maintenance from parents and the ‘public’ system of child welfare. This article compares the courts’ responses to problems in realizing children's rights in these two systems, focusing particularly on the emerging jurisprudence dealing with recalcitrant social welfare departments. Although courts have been willing to adopt i…
Putting Gender into the Definition of Rape or Taking it Out
The Personal and the Judicial
Taking Judge Edwin Cameron’s public revelation of his HIV status and the lawsuits brought by Judges De Vos and Satchwell as a starting point, this article examines and critiques the construction of the public/private dichotomy in relation to judges and judging, focusing specifically on its gendered implications. It asks how the public/private dichotomy either enables or constrains women from becoming and being recognised as judges. It does so by …
Legal capacity and family status in child-headed households
In its 2005 Household Survey, Statistics South Africa counted 143,167 children living in child-headed households. The increased numbers of such households is usually ascribed to the death of parents from AIDS, and researchers expect them to increase further in the future. Similar household formations are also found in other Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Uganda, Lesotho and Tanzania. Although the research indicates that ch…
Modes of (in)tolerance
In this study we interviewed members of a small, predominantly Muslim community in Johannesburg, South Africa, in order to ascertain attitudes towards people who engage in same-sex practices. We were interested in ascertaining whether community perceptions of homosexuality match the common (Western) assumption that Islam is profoundly homophobic. Our research, while preliminary, shows that although most people condemn same-sex practices on the gr…
The 2010 Football World Cup and the Regulation of Sex Work in South Africa
While the South African government expected the 2010 Football World Cup to stimulate economic growth and infrastructure development, and to foster a sense of national unity amongst its citizens, members of the public and the media anticipated an increased demand for commercial sex. The call, in 2007, by the National Commissioner of Police to legalise sex work for the duration of the tournament stimulated debates on the legal status of sex work. M…
Gender and the Chief Justice
The post-apartheid South African Constitution requires that the judiciary be transformed ‘to reflect broadly the racial and gender composition of South Africa’. Because the legal system and the judiciary are the least ‘transformed’ organs of government and because of their social and political significance, the appointment of judges has become an important avenue for South Africans to continue to contest issues of race and power, usually using co…
Domestic Violence and Gendered Socio-Economic Rights
In South Africa, as elsewhere, intimate partner violence is legally addressed through a specific statute, the Domestic Violence Act. Although this legislation is progressive in recognising the socio-economic antecedents to and consequences of gendered violence, the implementation of the Act has been particularly ineffective in this area. Moreover, courts tend to assume that intimate partner violence would have been adequately dealt with in terms …
Gender and Race in South African Judicial Appointments
Rh V De
The common law action against a third party who had committed adultery with a spouse has long been regarded as a legal peculiarity. Its presence in our law was awkward, and out of step with the legal positions in other countries. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment in RH v DE abolishing the actions for contumelia and loss of consortium on the basis of adultery therefore elicited great public and legal interest
What’s the Deal? Women’s Evidence and Gendered Negotiations
Pluralist Marriage Laws in a Former Colonial System
Legal pluralism in former colonial territories, like South Africa, often involve the simultaneous existence of multiple marriage forms, distinguishing marital forms associated with former colonial systems from indigenous forms of marriage. These pluralist systems are not value-neutral but continue to favour marriages associated with colonial rules and processes. In addition, they create complicated distinctions between different forms of marriage…
Legal Pluralism in South Africa
In South Africa marriage was a key site of colonial legal pluralism. Family formation and marriage were central to upholding boundaries between colonial and local normative orders. Under the umbrella of a single set of fundamental constitutional rights, post-apartheid law nevertheless retains separate statutes, precedents and legal rules for different cultural and religious marriages. This can lead to legal gaps and uncertainty when people enter …
Political science (21 obras) · Sociology (20 obras) · Law (18 obras) · Legal Issues in South Africa (14 obras) · Gender Studies (11 obras) · Law (10 obras) · Psychology (6 obras) · Criminology (5 obras) · Epistemology (5 obras) · Gender Studies (5 obras)