Paper short abstract:

This paper un-defines the "fallen" woman the way she is stigmatized in Northern Nigeria, particularly since the implementation of the Islamic Penal Code in 1999/2000 with its oppressing ethnic ways of life in the region showing traditions of female polygamy which find today more secret ways.

Paper long abstract:

The paper looks at the politico-legal and feminist questions which follow out that the life of a single woman is in danger under the Islamic Penal Code when she goes into consensual love relations. The latter are rooted in Northern Nigeria socio-ethnic conditions, which are now challenged by the new penal law. Death sentence for 'zina' (illicit sex) has ceased to be implemented since 1999/2000, but the ethnic divide in Northern Nigeria on the interpretation of Islam and the Hausa-Fulani cultural and political 'ruling' over the region makes the atmosphere remain tense.

The study aims at contributing to a follow up of field work which is found in anthropologic literature describing non-Western conceptions of 'marriage' in a Muslim society in which women show to be well placed to come up for their freedom. Here, something delicate is brought forward, as the traditions of women having multiple relationships with men have shifted towards monogamy under the religious upraise that resulted in the implementation of the Islamic Penal Code. Meanwhile, in-depth observations show that practices of female polygamy have found more secret expressions today.

The results of the paper are based on ongoing field research since 2005 in Kaduna, which is one of the Shari`a states in Northern Nigeria.