Mozambique is divided into matrilineal north and patrilineal south, while the central part of the country has a mixture of the two. Both types of kinship organization have important implications for the situation of women. Women in matrilineal societies could access land and political and decision-making power.
They had their own property and their children belonged to their matrikin. In patrilineal societies, women depended on their husbands and their kin groups in order to access farmland. During the colonial period c. Despite the fact that Portuguese citizenship was extended to all independent of creed and race by the Overseas Administrative Reform, most rural African areas remained within the Indigenato regime until the end of colonialism in Women were active in the independence struggle and liberation war — , contributing greatly to ending colonialism in Mozambique.
Although women were encouraged to work for wages in the first decade after independence, they remained largely limited to the subsistence economy, especially in rural areas. Only with the political and economic liberalizations of the s were many women able to access new opportunities. You do not currently have access to this article. Please login to access the full content. Access to the full content requires a subscription.
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