Bigge, David M.

Conflict in the Zimbabwean Courts: Women's Rights and Indigenous Self-Determination in Magaya v. Magaya

This article reviews the case of an Indigenous women in Zimbabwe being denied property rights under judicial interpretations of customary law in Zimbabwe. Part I focuses on the background and substantive decision in the case. Part II reviews the significant reaction from the local and international human rights community. The main argument in the article is that advocacy needs to focus more on the structures of the legal system in Zimbabwe and the existence of a separate legal system rooted in customary law.

Fatal Vulnerabilities: Reducing the Acute Risk of HIV/AIDS among Women and Girls

This article attempts to demonstrate and analyze the rapidly rising numbers of women and girls with HIV/AIDS in African nations. It sets out different steps that can be taken to ensure the protection of young women and girls from the disease, particularly the role the US might play in slowing down or halting the epidemic. The author focuses on sexual violence as a means of spreading the disease, and the lack of economic independence that frequently leads to commercial sex, in which the women and girls are ill-equipped to negotiate for condom use.