Abstract
A recent case in the Northern Territory of Australia has raised the issues of intra-racial rape and the legal recognition of traditional marriages between Indigenous people. The defendant in the Jamilmira case was charged with statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl. He argued that the girl’s status as his promised wife should lead to mitigation of his sentence. Members of the Northern Territory judiciary and others in the community were divided in their response to his claim. Ultimately the case led to reform of the law in relation to the recognition of traditional marriage, a response which outraged some members of the Indigenous community. In this article I examine the various representations of culture and individuals that were utilised by ‘the law’ and how these representations informed the legal response. In the process I question the limits of my own role as a ‘white middle-class feminist’ in the context of explorations of law and culture. Is there a space to become involved in these debates without being complicit in fostering racism and prejudice and without reverting to stereotypes and cultural arrogance?
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Australian Law Reform Commission, Report Number 31. The Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Laws (Canberra: A.G.P.S., 1986).
L. Behrendt (2002) ArticleTitleAboriginal Women and the Criminal Justice System Judicial Officers’ Bulletin 14 IssueID6 41–44
L. Behrendt (1993) ArticleTitleAboriginal Women and the White Lies of the Feminist Movement: Implications for Aboriginal Women in Rights Discourse Australian Feminist Law Journal 1 27–44
L Behrendt (1995) Aboriginal Dispute Resolution Federation Press Leichardt
P. Behrendt ((Autumn 1993)) ArticleTitle“Balancing the Books: The Other Side of the Story” Education Links 45 9–12
D. Bell (1991) ArticleTitleIntraracial Rape Revisited: On Forging a Feminist Future Beyond Factions and Frightening Politics Women’s Studies International Forum 14 IssueID5 385–412 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0277-5395(91)90043-H
D. Bell T. Napurrula Nelson (1989) ArticleTitleSpeaking About Rape is Everyone’s Business Women’s Studies International Forum 12 IssueID4 403–416 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0277-5395(89)90036-8
D Bell (1998) Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin: A World That Is, Was, and Will be Spinifex North Melbourne
M. Davies K. Mack (2004) ArticleTitle“Legal Feminism – Now and Then” The Australian Feminist Law Journal 20 1–6
Douglas, H., “Customary Law, Sentencing and the Limits of the State”, Canadian Journal of Law and Society 20(1), (forthcoming, 2005).
C. Douzinas (2000) ArticleTitleHuman Rights and Postmodern Utopia Law and Critique 11 219–240 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1008972026787
M. Drakopoulou (2000) ArticleTitleThe Ethic of Care, Female Subjectivity and Feminist Legal Scholarship Feminist Legal Studies 8 199–226 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1009266226936
M. Finnane (2001) ArticleTitle‘Payback’, Customary Law and Criminal Law in Colonised Australia International Journal of the Sociology of Law 29 293 Occurrence Handle10.1006/ijsl.2001.0153
Funnell, A., “Customary Law and Anglo-Australian Law- Can They Mix?”, The Law Report, Radio National, ABC, 29 July 2003, Transcript available at http://www.abc.net.au/rn viewed 20 July 2004.
P Goodrich (1990) Languages of Law: From Logics of Memory to Nomadic Masks Weidenfeld & Nicholson London
R. Graycar J Morgan (2002) The Hidden Gender of Law Federation Press Leichardt
M. Harris (1996) ArticleTitleThe Narrative of Law in the Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission Law in Context 14 IssueID2 115–139
J. Huggins (1993) ArticleTitleEthnographic Ventriloquists Lilith 8 62
J. Huggins J. Wilmott I. Tarrago K. Willetts L. Bond L. Holt E. Bourke M. Bin-Salik P. Fowell J. Schmider V. Craigie L. McBride-Levi (1991) ArticleTitleLetters to the Editor Women’s Studies International Forum 14 IssueID5 506–507
R. Hunter (2002) ArticleTitleBorder Protection in Law’s Empire: Feminist Explorations of Access to Justice Griffith Law Review 11 IssueID2 263–285
C Kenny (1996) Women’s Business Duffy and Snellgrove Potts Point
Kilburn, M., “Glossary of Key Terms in the Work of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak”, available at http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Glossary.html visited 20 September 2004.
J Kimm (2004) A Fatal Conjunction Federation Press Leichardt
N. Lacey (2004) Feminist Legal Theory and the Rights of Women K. Knop (Eds) Gender and Human Rights Oxford University Press Oxford 13–56
J. Lloyd N. Rogers (1993) Crossing The Last Frontier: Problems Facing Aboriginal Women Victims of Rape in Central Australia P. Easteal (Eds) Without Consent: Confronting Adult Sexual Violence Australian Institute of Criminology Canberra 149–164
C McKinnon (1987) Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law Harvard University Press Cambridge
Michaelmore, K., “Child Bride Accused Loses Funding”, 11 July 2003, Sunday Mail, 2.
P. Monture (1990) ArticleTitleNow That the Door is Open: First Nations and the Law School Experience Queens Law Journal 15 179
A Moreton-Robinson (2000) Talkin’ Up to the White Woman University of Queensland Press Brisbane
U. Narayan (1998) ArticleTitleEssence of Culture and a Sense of History: A Feminist Critique of Cultural Essentialism Hypatia 13 IssueID2 86–106
J. Nielson (2002) ArticleTitleDealing with Dilemmas: Integrity, Knowledge and Research Southern Cross University Law Review 6 151–175
O Noonuccal (1970) My People Jacaranda Press Milton
Northern Territory Law Reform Committee, Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Aboriginal Customary Law (Darwin: N.T.L.R.C., 2003).
Northern Territory News, “Death Battle over Woman”, 3 April 1958 at 1 (no author noted).
C Pateman (1988) The Sexual Contract Polity Press Cambridge
Schubert, M., “Aboriginal Marriage Crisis Talks Fail”, The Australian, 11 December 2003a at 4.
Schubert, M., “Galarrwuy Yunnipingu Calls New Marriage Law an Attack on Aboriginal Culture”, The Australian 11 December 2003b at 2.
J Scutt (1997) The Incredible Woman: Power and Sexual Politics NumberInSeries2 Artemis Publishing Victoria
Shah, S., “Judge Rules Rape of Aboriginal Girl ‘Traditional’ ”, Womens Newshttp://www Feminist.com/news/news126.html viewed 23 September 2004.
W. Shaw (2003) ArticleTitle(Post) Colonial Encounters: Gendered Racialisations in Australian Courtrooms Gender, Place and Culture 10 IssueID4 315–322
G. Spivak (1988) Can the Subaltern Speak? C. Nelson L. Grossberg (Eds) Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture University of Illinois Press Chicago 271–313
Toohey, P., “Black White and Blurred”, The Australian 12 October 2002, p. 21.
E Venbrux (1995) A Death in the Tiwi Islands: Conflict, Ritual and Social Life in an Australian Aboriginal Community Cambridge University Press Cambridge
V Williams (2003) Background Paper on the Approach of Australian Courts to Aboriginal Customary Law in the Areas of Criminal, Civil and Family Law Law Reform Commission of Western Australia Perth
A. Zimmerman (1996) The Position of the Critic in Post-Colonial Studies: ‘In the Beginning The Relation’ Tobias Doring (Eds) et al. Can the Sunaltern be Read? The Role of the Critic in Post-Colonial Studies Sonderheft Frankfurt 72–83
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Douglas, H. ‘She Knew What was Expected of Her’: The White Legal System’s Encounter with Traditional Marriage. Feminist Legal Stud 13, 181–203 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-005-7541-9
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-005-7541-9