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The Supreme Court in Uganda has declared the practice of refunding bride prices or dowries in the event of a separation as unconstitutional.

Anti-bride price campaigners had also demanded that the payment of bride prices itself be banned, claiming that it turned women into the property of men but the court dismissed it. The judges, while admitting that using the phrase “bride price” made it look like the woman had been bought, added that it was supported by majority of Uganda’s and could not be banned.

The court’s ruling, however was welcomed by the campaigners who say women have had to remain in unhappy marriages because of a failure to refund the bride price. Prior to the ruling women in Uganda were required to refund their bride prices in the event of a failed marriage. The spokesperson of the women’s rights organisation Mifumi, Evelyn Schiller told the BBC:”This is a momentous occasion… and this ruling will aid the fight against women and girls’ rights abuses” Mifumi had claimed that the payment of bride prices encouraged domestic violence and made men think that they had purchased their wives’ “sexual and reproductive capacity”.

However most of the judges – six of the seven- said that not enough evidence had been given to prove that payment of bride prices led to domestic violence.