MEN trying to control women – what they can and cannot do with their bodies, what right they have and their possessions. It’s not a thing of the past.
While women have made colossal achievements fighting for sexual equality and basic human rights, sadly, for reasons I don’t completely understand, today there is a massive push back to erode some of those achievements. Look up, for example, the ongoing and very controversial saga in the USA of the anticipated fall via their courts of the constitutional right under Roe v Wade to terminate a pregnancy.
Not long ago, Trinidad and Tobago was a colony of the British Empire. Even after we gained our independence in 1962, we adopted many of their laws. Our school teachers taught us about our ancestors who were slaves and indentured workers. But were you ever taught about women rights (or lack thereof) under the British common law concept of coverture, which was also part of our history?
An unmarried woman, divorcee or widow was called a feme sole. Before marriage, a woman could own property (land and buildings) or personal chattels such as clothes and jewellery, enter into contracts, make her own decisions about her education, sue or be sued etc. Once she married, under coverture, she lost her status as having a separate legal identity from all other human beings. Her identity was suspended.
Under a legal fiction called marital unity, the husband and wife were considered a “single entity”. The wife immediately lost all rights to her property, to buy, sell or own anything she had before marriage. Since married women had no right to enter into contracts, they also lost the ability to pursue educational pursuits without the consent of their husbands.
Upon marriage, the husbands automatically acquired all their wives’ property. They had full legal and financial control over their wives. Husbands did not even have a duty to consult their wives on matters involving property, money and how it was spent. Women were almost completely stripped of their powers and responsibilities, that they could not even make a last will and testament. I cringe when I try to imagine the oppressive circumstances under which those women lived.
After much agitation, struggles and protests by women’s rights movements and the like, laws had to be passed all over the world to give married women the same rights as feme soles. In T&T, our version of this law is found in the Married Persons Act, Chapter 45:50 (available online). The law came into effect from June 1, 1977 (not so long ago if you think about it).
Can you believe it? For married women to legally own property, laws had to be passed giving them that right! See for example section 3 of that Act, which says “… a married woman shall (a) be capable of acquiring, holding, and disposing of any property… in all respects as if she were is feme sole.”
I have doubts about what is being taught in schools these days to make our children truly aware of our history. But it is absolutely crucial they know about women’s suffrage all who fought, sacrificed, laboured and died so that we can enjoy the freedoms and liberties we have today. Everyone should know about coverture on married women of the past, just as we do slavery and indentureship!
Disclaimer:The contents of this article are for general informational purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an attorney of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
When a Wife was Husband’s Property
MEN trying to control women – what they can and cannot do with their bodies, what right they have and their possessions. It’s not a thing of the past.
While women have made colossal achievements fighting for sexual equality and basic human rights, sadly, for reasons I don’t completely understand, today there is a massive push back to erode some of those achievements. Look up, for example, the ongoing and very controversial saga in the USA of the anticipated fall via their courts of the constitutional right under Roe v Wade to terminate a pregnancy.
Not long ago, Trinidad and Tobago was a colony of the British Empire. Even after we gained our independence in 1962, we adopted many of their laws. Our school teachers taught us about our ancestors who were slaves and indentured workers. But were you ever taught about women rights (or lack thereof) under the British common law concept of coverture, which was also part of our history?
An unmarried woman, divorcee or widow was called a feme sole. Before marriage, a woman could own property (land and buildings) or personal chattels such as clothes and jewellery, enter into contracts, make her own decisions about her education, sue or be sued etc. Once she married, under coverture, she lost her status as having a separate legal identity from all other human beings. Her identity was suspended.
Under a legal fiction called marital unity, the husband and wife were considered a “single entity”. The wife immediately lost all rights to her property, to buy, sell or own anything she had before marriage. Since married women had no right to enter into contracts, they also lost the ability to pursue educational pursuits without the consent of their husbands.
Upon marriage, the husbands automatically acquired all their wives’ property. They had full legal and financial control over their wives. Husbands did not even have a duty to consult their wives on matters involving property, money and how it was spent. Women were almost completely stripped of their powers and responsibilities, that they could not even make a last will and testament. I cringe when I try to imagine the oppressive circumstances under which those women lived.
After much agitation, struggles and protests by women’s rights movements and the like, laws had to be passed all over the world to give married women the same rights as feme soles. In T&T, our version of this law is found in the Married Persons Act, Chapter 45:50 (available online). The law came into effect from June 1, 1977 (not so long ago if you think about it).
Can you believe it? For married women to legally own property, laws had to be passed giving them that right! See for example section 3 of that Act, which says “… a married woman shall (a) be capable of acquiring, holding, and disposing of any property… in all respects as if she were is feme sole.”
I have doubts about what is being taught in schools these days to make our children truly aware of our history. But it is absolutely crucial they know about women’s suffrage all who fought, sacrificed, laboured and died so that we can enjoy the freedoms and liberties we have today. Everyone should know about coverture on married women of the past, just as we do slavery and indentureship!
Be safe T&T!
Copyright © 2022 Neela Ramsundar, LL.B (HONS), L.E.C is a Civil Litigation Attorney at Law & Certified Mediator.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for general informational purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an attorney of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.