Introduction

1In many precolonial African societies, social and economic relations were structured around complex systems of reciprocal obligations, kinship ties, and household strategies for risk management. Pawnship, understood as the use of kin members as collateral for debt, existed alongside other forms of labor exchange and mutual aid. While not identical to chattel slavery, pawnship placed individuals in temporary dependency relationships that could persist indefinitely depending on repayment ability (Lovejoy, 1983, pp. 32-34). Scholars have emphasized that pawnship served as a credit institution embedded in social networks rather than a purely market-driven arrangement (Lovejoy, 1983, pp. 35-38). Women and children were often the most vulnerable in this system, as their social value intersected with economic necessity (Lovejoy, 1983, pp. 40-42).

2Pawnship in Africa has been studied extensively in West and Central African contexts, with scholars like Paul E. Lovejoy demonstrating its role in precolonial economic systems (Lovejoy, 2014). Lovejoy’s work shows that people were sometimes pawned to secure loans for trade or bridewealth, and that the treatment of pawns varied widely depending on local norms and kinship regulations (Lovejoy, 2014). Although such systems have received less attention in East African historiography, parallels exist in oral traditions and archival records suggesting similar mechanisms of debt security and obligation (Ogot, 1967, pp. 19-24). This underscores the need to incorporate East African cases into broader discussions of unfree labor systems and social credit (Ogot, 1967, pp. 25-27).

3Marriage customs across African societies were equally complex and diverse. Anthropological research illustrates that practices often referred to as “marriage by capture” varied from symbolic rites embedded in alliance-making strategies to literal abductions with community sanction. In some pastoral societies, staged capture rituals functioned as public performances affirming consent and kin approval rather than acts of violence. Other societies had customs where elopement mimicked capture as a culturally validated route to marriage when negotiation had stalled. These variations caution against oversimplified interpretations of “capture” as inherently coercive or violent, highlighting the significance of cultural context.

4The region that constitutes modern-day western Kenya was home to diverse ethnic communities with distinct marital and socio-economic practices prior to colonial rule. For example, studies on the Abagusii and Iteso illustrate that bridewealth and associated negotiations were central to marital alliances, with livestock and other goods exchanged to cement kinship ties (Were, 1967). While formal “capture” was not universally practiced, oral histories and mission archives contain references to ritualized forms of obtaining spouses that fall into broader categories of negotiated or staged capture (Were, 1967). In these accounts, the emphasis is less on force and more on social validation, community witness, and kinship sanction (Were, 1967).

5European colonial administrators in East Africa encountered these indigenous institutions and responded through legislation, missionary campaigns, and legal reform. Colonial courts often viewed pawnship and non-contractual marital practices as “primitive” or exploitative, subsuming them under broader anti-slavery policies that failed to differentiate between indigenous social mechanisms and actual slavery (Berman & Lonsdale, 1992, pp.78-83). For example, the British colonial administration in Kenya passed ordinances aimed at prohibiting forced marriage but struggled to define customary practices in legal terms that aligned with local social logic (Berman & Lonsdale, 1992, pp.84-88). Missionary writings of the period reinforced these legal interventions, often portraying indigenous marriage rites as morally inferior (Semple, 2003). These interventions had long-term consequences for gender relations and community governance.

6In postcolonial Kenya, statutory law now prohibits coercive marriage and human collateral arrangements, reflecting constitutional and human rights commitments (Constitution of Kenya, 2010, art. 45 & 53). Nonetheless, contemporary studies reveal that forms of informal debt bondage and coercive marital negotiations persist in parts of the country, particularly in economically marginalized communities (Adam & Jebet, 2025). Scholars focusing on gender and development argue that poverty, unequal access to education, and patriarchal norms contribute to the persistence of harmful practices that, while distinct from historical pawnship, share structural continuities with it (Kimari, 2019). Investigating these historical roots thus offers insight into contemporary social dynamics.

7This study aims to trace the historical trajectory of pawnship and marriage by capture in western Kenya from precolonial times through colonial transformation to present-day manifestations. By situating these practices within broader socio-economic, legal, and cultural contexts, it contributes to historiographical debates on indigenous institutions, their colonial reshaping, and their contemporary echoes. Such an analysis not only deepens academic understanding but also informs contemporary policy discussions on gender, equity, and social protection.

Historiography

8Historically several regions in Africa (and elsewhere) experienced marriage by capture although the practice has continued to be dynamic in most communities in the African continent and other places especially the LRA or the Islamic states such as Iraq and Syria. What sustained this practice in some communities in Africa are the cultural norms and socioeconomic factors that put women in peculiar states of poverty, gender based violence and inequality in the society (Getahun, 2001). For example, in rural Ethiopia, marriage by capture was common where this cultural practice was known as Telefa (Getahun, 2001). Telefa involved a man with help of his relatives capture a girl and force her into marriage (Lackovich-Van Gorp, 2014). This kind of marriage often involved rape. Once the girl was raped, she was deemed less acceptable for other eligible men. This made it difficult for her to return home and compelled her to remain in that forced marriage (Gujo, 2019). Once this girl was abducted and forced into such marriage, the man’s family organized a bride price negotiation with the girl’s family, although the bride price in this case is given low value (Garcia-Hombrados & Novak, 2024). During abduction into forced marriage, women underwent beating and sexual violence. Social pressure and cultural practices such as tefela have led to situations where girls' parents have turned a blind eye, and even actively participated in transforming the abduction of their daughters into marriage by capture (Chala & Tesfaye, 2022). Families with low economic status were vulnerable to these marriage arrangements especially in the interior of Ethiopia among poor girls. Men from poor economic backgrounds use tefela because it reduces the bride prices. Typically, the bride price was reduced for women who were married through the capture method (Gemechu & Tesfaye, 2022).

9In Ethiopia, pawnship did exist historically especially among young men, women and children. Ethiopian customary systems permitted personal service as a form of paying debt and even individuals could offer a child or a spouse as a form of collateral. Girls from rural areas were pawned into domestic jobs while boys were taken into the mining sector, herding, agriculture and tradition weaving.

10In Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) captured many girls and women and forced them into marriage from the years 1987-2006 (Carlson & Mazurana, 2008). In most cases, these young girls who were captured were forced to be wives of soldiers while others just provided sexual services to the militiamen. In the second half of the nineteenth century, women and children in many parts of Africa were captured during wars and forced them into marriage (Driberg, 1924; Tosh, 1978), and this was referred to as “hijack of wombs” among the Lango (Apio, 2016). This was also common in other parts of the continent such as Sudan, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

11Dominic Ongwen, a former leader of LRA, captured girls from Lango and Acholi communities and forced them into marriages and sexual slavery (Seymour et al., 2022). This LRA leader was arrested and taken to International Criminal Court and was charged with several accounts, among them being marriage by capture, rape, sexual slavery among other charges. Ongwen enforced a policy whereby girls were married off to his commanders as soon as they started menstruating. He therefore facilitated marriage by capture to his militants in the camp (Seymour et al., 2022). When girls were captured from villages in Uganda, some of them were delivered to Ongwen as ‘wives’. He slept with all of them and they were not allowed to escape. Once the girls arrived at the camp, they were stripped of their autonomy, reduced to sexual objects and forced to become pregnant (Seymour et al., 2022).

12In Uganda, just like in other countries in Africa, pawnship involved men and women as well as children. Pawnship in Uganda existed in several ethnic groups before and during the British invasion, where women and children were taken as collateral for loans or livestock. Business companies do advertise the availability of house girls, most of whom are children sent by their parents to earn money for them. They are picked or deployed to the willing masters, with no follow up on their working condition or if they are paid. Some end up being sold into prostitutions regardless of their age. Children, who have been sent by their parents to beg in larger cities, are kidnapped and their organs harvested for ritual sacrifices (Seymour et al., 2022).

13Pawnship and marriage by capture are global issues and therefore Kenya is no exception. Just like many countries in the world, pawnship and marriage by capture in Kenya is coined around several factors, among them poverty, conflicts, lack of education, cultural factors, deception, for profit making (Belser, 2008). The Mijikenda at the Kenyan coast had their own systems of dealing with both judicial and economic issues, and they employed pawnship as a method of addressing issues surrounding debt and social obligation (Coret, 2021). The pawn, commonly known as mtwana, would be taken by a creditor and forced to work until the debt was paid in full. According to the Mijikenda, pawnship is completely different from slavery. With pawnship, the pawn was held temporarily and retained their family identity, whereas in slavery, a person was sold permanently (Coret, 2021).

14Similar to the Mijikenda, the Luhya tribe of western Kenya incorporated pawnship into their social, economic, and kinship systems (Wagner, 1949). It was a form of debt servitude where children and women were handed over to a creditor as collateral. The decision of who was to be pawned was made by clan elders. In cases where the debtors died, the next of kin was expected to pay the debt in order to get back the pawned person. Today, the pawnship system is no longer practiced by Kenyan communities but echoes remain in the practice. This literature is key to this study because it demonstrates how pawnship and marriage by capture are manifested in different parts of the world as a result of globalization.

Theoretical Framework: At the crossroad between feminist historical theory, political economy and Bourdieu

15This study is anchored in three interrelated theoretical perspectives that guide the analysis of pawnship and marriage by capture in western Kenya. The first is feminist historical theory, which illuminates the gendered dimensions of social and economic practices and highlights how women and children were positioned within systems of debt and marital exchange. The second is the political economy of unfree labor, which situates pawnship within broader structural and economic forces, examining how kinship networks, resource scarcity, and colonial interventions shaped human collateral arrangements. The third and final perspective is practice theory, which focuses on the routinized social practices through which marriage and pawnship were enacted, reproduced, and negotiated over time. Together, these frameworks provide a multi-dimensional lens that integrates gender, economic structure, and social practice, enabling a comprehensive historical and socio-cultural analysis of the persistence and transformation of these institutions.

16Feminist historical theory foregrounds the experiences of women and other marginalized groups, emphasizing how social, economic, and cultural institutions are structured by gendered power relations (Scott, 1988, pp.7-9). In the context of this study, the feminist theory provides critical insight into the ways pawnship and marriage by capture systematically affected women and children, who were often the most vulnerable participants in these arrangements. The theory challenges androcentric historical narratives that present these institutions as neutral or culturally normative, highlighting instead the asymmetries of power, agency, and vulnerability inherent in them (Coquery-Vidrovitch, 1997).

17Applying the feminist historical theory to western Kenya, the study examines how women’s bodies and labor were mobilized as collateral for debts or as instruments of social alliance through marital capture (Tamale, 2008). It also considers how colonial and postcolonial interventions reshaped gendered relations, often amplifying women’s vulnerability by imposing new legal and economic frameworks without addressing underlying inequalities (Tamale, 2008). By centering gender, the study interrogates not only the mechanisms of control and exploitation but also women’s agency within these social systems, demonstrating how they navigated, resisted, or negotiated the constraints imposed by kinship obligations and economic necessity (Mohanty, 2003).

18The political economy perspective situates social practices such as pawnship within broader structural, economic, and material contexts (Mohanty, 2003). Pawnship in precolonial African societies functioned as a mechanism for managing debt, risk, and resource scarcity, often mediated by kinship networks and communal obligations (Lovejoy, 1983, pp. 32-42). This perspective is particularly relevant for western Kenya, where historical sources indicate that families used women and children as collateral to secure food, bridewealth, or trade-related loans (Ogot, 1967).

19Political economy theory enables a critical examination of the structural factors that facilitated the persistence of these institutions. For instance, the introduction of colonial legal frameworks, cash-based economies, and market pressures altered traditional modes of debt settlement and marital negotiations, often exacerbating vulnerabilities (Berman & Lonsdale, 1992). By applying this lens, the study can analyze pawnship not merely as a cultural practice but as a socio-economic strategy intertwined with labor relations, resource distribution, and power hierarchies (Lovejoy, 1983, pp.44-50). The framework thus provides a structural explanation for both the emergence and transformation of pawnship and marriage by capture, linking historical practices to economic imperatives and institutional constraints (Bourdieu, 1990) (Bourdieu, 1990, pp. 52-79).

20Practice theory, influenced by the works of Bourdieu and Schatzki, emphasizes the reproduction of social life through routine, embodied practices and the negotiation of social norms (Schatzki, 1996). In this study, practice theory allows for an understanding of pawnship and marriage by capture as dynamic social practices rather than static customs. These practices were enacted, contested, and adapted within local social fields, including kinship, community governance, and marital alliances (Hallam & Ingold, 2007).

21Applying practice theory, the study examines how local actors interpreted obligations, negotiated kinship responsibilities, and engaged in rituals of marital capture or pawnship. For example, the symbolic aspects of staged marital capture can be seen as socially recognized performances that affirmed consent, legitimacy, and social cohesion, even within contexts of economic exchange (Omenya, 2015). Similarly, pawnship arrangements were not arbitrary; they were embedded within established practices that regulated repayment, restitution, and social accountability (Lovejoy, 1983, pp. 35-38). This lens allows the study to analyze both historical continuity and adaptation, highlighting how these social practices persisted under changing economic, political, and legal conditions (Hallam & Ingold, 2007).

22This study integrates the feminist historical theory, political economy and practice theory to establish a multidimensional analytical framework. Feminist theory interrogates the gendered power relations that structured vulnerability and agency; political economy situates these practices within broader socio-economic and structural contexts; and practice theory attends to the routinized, negotiated, and culturally embedded nature of social behaviors (Tamale, 2008, p.140; Polanyi, 1944, p.74). Together, these frameworks enable a holistic understanding of pawnship and marriage by capture in western Kenya, linking historical practices to contemporary social realities, and illuminating the intersections of gender, economy, and culture that have shaped the persistence and transformation of these institutions (Mohanty, 2003, p.40; Berman & Lonsdale, 1992, p.81).

Marriage by Capture among the Kuria and Bukusu Societies

23Marriage by capture in Kenya and across the world is influenced by both cultural engagements and social settings within a given community. Cultural practices among communities were established for a reason. As Mwita observes:

• 1 Mwita, I.O, 8/11/2025.

Cultural abidance among the Kuria people was very pivotal and some of the cultural practices like ekebete facilitated marriage by capture in Kuria land. Ekebete means marriage and in this community, three types of ekebete exist. The first case is where a pledge is made for debt owned; the second one is where a family receives dowry, either in full or by installments as they await a girl’s maturity; and the last one is a situation where a young man who is ready for marriage and he has no dowry is given a lady and pledges to pay through his sweat which was commonly known as ikingege. There was also cross-clan ekebete, where clans that were affected by calamities like locust inundation and starvation, could exchange their young girls for comestibles like milk, meat and other farm produce like millet and potatoes.1

• 3 Nyaburi, O.I, 6/12/2025.
• 4 Gureta, O.I, 08/01/2016.

After such disasters some of those women were redeemed by their family members through debt settlement but some were retained as wives either by force or through negotiation.3 In such situations, clan elders from both sides are in charge and they supervise the return of a pawned person to their family.4

• 6 Gesamba, O.I 08/01/2026.

Once such girls were forced into marriage and taken into a man’s household, it was the responsibility of the boy’s clan to look after her and protect her from mistreatment by her new husband. The clan encourages the boy to love her, and they would help the boy provide the basic needs in their marriage. Later on, the boy’s clan arranges to pay a dowry to the girl’s family.6

28Khukwhesa was a cultural type of marriage where girls between the ages of 12-17 years were kidnapped by Omusumba (a young man who is ready to marry) with help of his Bakoki (his peers). In most cases, these girls were abducted as they were going to fetch water or collect firewood. After abduction, she would be taken to secluded places, where omusumba would force her to have sex with him and hide her from her family for some time.

29This practice reveals a profound and troubling paradox: although the girls clearly resisted abduction by screaming for help, physically struggling and verbally refusing, it is the very community structures that ought to protect them that instead enabled and legitimized the abduction. The omusumba, supported by his bakoki, arrives as part of an organized group whose collective strength is used to overpower the girl, effectively silencing her resistance. Meanwhile, bystanders, who might be expected to intervene, often remained passive, interpreting the incident not as a form of violence, but as a culturally recognized pathway to marriage. In more extreme cases, the contradiction deepened as the girl’s own brothers joined in coercing her through physical force to accept the union, rather than defending her autonomy. This reflected the deeply internalized patriarchal norms and familial obligations. Thus, individual resistance is systematically undermined by communal complicity, whereas acts of coercion are reframed as tradition, revealing how social, cultural, and familial institutions converge to transform violence into a normalized and even sanctioned marital practice.

30In fact, Sellina explains:

• 9 Sellina, O.I 03/01/2026.

When the girl’s relatives help the boy to go with the girl, it means that the girl was getting older and for them, it was the right time for the girl to be taken away. In fact, when there were no signs of a girl who is mature and ready for marriage or getting a boy-friend, the family members got worried, and they could organize for that girl to visit her elder sister or aunt and secret arrangements were made for this girl to get a man and marry. 9

31It is worth noting that, if the girl's parents were around at the time of Khukwhesa, they had to run into the house and hide so as not to see their daughter being taken away in marriage. It was a culture where it was common for parents to be happy to see their daughter taken away in marriage, especially once she had reached marriageable age. This was because they knew they would receive a bride price in return. The girl will end up accepting this marriage because, having slept with this boy, she will be stigmatised and no other man will want to marry her. She will therefore have no choice but to remain in this marriage. After a short while, the girl’s clan sends men to follow the girl, not to return her, but to take animals from the boy's clan. Oral tradition notes that when they arrive at the boy’s home, they do not sit. Instead, an energetic man is picked and given a kumusini (stick) to throw where the livestock are. Wherever that stick lands (ekhokha), those animals will be taken by the girl's relative, regardless of the number that the stick separates, and it becomes dowry.

32For many families, the prospect of dowry negotiations and subsequent payments was a key incentive to allow their daughters to remain in forced marriages, even from a very young age (Msuya, 2017). Girls who refused such arrangements were assaulted and even chased out of their homes by their parents. Those who fled their homes ended up in urban centres, where they became vulnerable to other forms of exploitation.

• 10 Wanyonyi wa Waswa, O.I 02/01/2026.

Those who remained in such marriages were exploited by those purporting to be their husbands and in-laws. Most of them were rejected by their spouses and left alone to take care of children as they lived in lonely and isolated marriages that are confined to domestic and children rearing duties. In a case where the girl would want to return to their home for some reasons, embolosi (return of dowry) must be done.10

33The discussion above shows that dowry negotiation and payment were not simply cultural practices but strong economic motivations that led many families to allow their daughters to remain in forced marriages, often at a very young age. In many cases, the material benefits associated with bridewealth were given priority over the well-being of the girls. Those who resisted such arrangements frequently faced harsh consequences, including physical punishment, rejection, and even expulsion from their homes. As a result, some fled to urban centers, where they became exposed to new forms of hardship and exploitation.

34For those who stayed in these marriages, life was often marked by suffering and isolation. Many were subjected to neglect and exploitation by husbands and in-laws, and were confined to domestic responsibilities and child-rearing. Some were abandoned by their spouses and left to raise children on their own, without emotional or financial support. Their marriages became spaces of loneliness rather than partnership. Returning home was also not a simple option. The requirement of embolosi, or the return of dowry, placed a heavy financial burden on families, making it difficult for girls to leave such marriages even when they faced serious challenges. This condition often trapped them in situations they could not easily escape. These experiences show how economic pressures, cultural expectations, and family decisions merged to limit the choices available to young girls. What might appear as a traditional practice in one sense became, in reality, a system that exposed them to prolonged vulnerability and hardship.

Historiography of pawnship among the Bukusu and Kuria societies

35At the inception of colonial rule in Kenya, the British administrators described pawnship as a primitive way of debt bondage and they viewed it as a form of slavery (Lovejoy & Falola, 1994). Later on, anthropologists challenged this view of colonial masters and described pawnship as an African socio-economic practice that was important to communities in Kenya Lovejoy & Falola, 1994). Anthropologists eluded that pawnship was a kinship matter that involved negotiations and agreement between two parties. Wanyonyi observes:

• 11 Wanyonyi wa Waswa, O.I. 02/01/2026.

In Africa, pawnship was commonly done among school dropouts, especially girls. The main reason for dropping out of school was the burden of school fees and other school requirements on poor families, as well as the lack of adequate child protection mechanisms at home and outdated traditional beliefs. Many of these children were found to be victims of pawnship, being handed over to wealthy families.11

36Poverty and pawnship are interwoven elements where poverty causes and influences the others to exist (Lovejoy & Falola, 1994). In Kenya, children, women and families have remained in the poverty cycle because they were pawned. Adepoju (2005) alludes that parents in Africa often have larger families than they can provide for. As a result, many of their children are sent into pawnage or forced into child labour.

• 12 Matinde, O.I. 8/01/2026.

Within the Bukusu community, people with poor social settings were vulnerable to pawnship, for example orphans, children from single parents, divorced women and homeless children. Within the Luyha community, it was mostly women and children who had experienced domestic violence that fell victim to pawnship. Some parents saw their children as a human resource, expecting them to generate profits and support the rest of the family. For example, men from the Bukusu community used physical violence to instill fear in women and girls, forcing them to accept being pawned. There were instances where women or girls refused to be pawned. In such cases, the entire clan could enforce the pawnship process by beating the victim until she agreed to go to the ‘master’. On the other hand, women who were abducted for the purpose of sexual exploitation usually experienced an extremely high prevalence of physical torture at the hands of their captors.12

• 15 Wanyonyi wa Waswa, O.I. 02/01/2026.

During the war between the Bukusu and bamia (Iteso), many people were captured from both sides and pawned. Debt settling through giving a child was very common among the Bukusu people. When a family had somebody’s debt, and they were unable to pay, they preferred to hand over their child, especially girls whom they called Silundu. That child can be redeemed in case the debt is paid. However, those who failed to pay the debt were sold into slavery to the Arabs. They were shipped to Zanzibar and when they became insufficient, they were returned. Good examples of this are Necodemus, Matifari wa Namukhanga and Asani Muse Watangala.15

39The Kuria community, found along the Kenya–Tanzania border, is an agro-pastoral society that historically embraced various socio-cultural practices, one of them being pawnship. Within this community, poverty, debt, disputes, and famine served as key enabling factors for the practice of pawnship. For instance, during the 1890s, drought and famine struck the Kuria land, leading to situations in which women and girls were pawned to wealthier families in exchange for food. Chacha avers that poor families were compelled to pawn their relatives to affluent families such as the Mbungu and Warutu in Tanganyika, while others were married off to the Bukira clan, which had not been affected by the calamity, also in exchange for food (Kerata, 1999).

41Although marriage by capture and pawnship declined among the Bukusu and Kuria in the mid-to-late 20th century, a few cases still exist, particularly marriage by capture. When these two communities were colonized, the Europeans attempted to abolish these practices because they were viewed as forms of slavery. In addition to that, the European missionaries preached against pawnship and marriage by capture among young girls in both Kuria and Bukusu communities.

Conclusion

42Communities in western Kenya, especially the Kuria and the Bukusu, practiced some cultural practices that facilitated marriage by force and some situations forced them to pawn their family members. In both societies, factors like cultural practices, poverty and natural disasters were responsible for pawnship and marriage by capture. Marriage by capture and pawning both women and children was deeply rooted in the social systems among the Kuria and Bukusu communities, which gave women limited autonomy in decision making, especially in choosing their spouses. Marriage by capture and pawning of people in both societies depicted similar practice. In both cases, young women were the main victims of this arrangement. Among the Bukusu, marriage by capture occurred because men could not afford the bride price. Therefore, they abducted women, but once they had acquired sufficient wealth, they would pay the bride price, which was usually accompanied by a fine. Pawning was also very common among the Bukusu where young women were taken as collaterals to the rich families to secure some assistance. However, in some cases, these young women were married off. Just like the Bukusu, the Kuria community practised marriage by capture and pawnship, whereby a man would plan with his relatives to capture the girl he wanted to marry. The captured woman would be hidden by the man's relatives for some time until the marriage was approved and bride price was paid to formalize the marriage. In some cases, however, a girl’s family could pawn her to a rich family in exchange for assistance. In some circumstances, those girls were married off to those families. Most communities in Kenya practised marriage by capture. However, this practice has ceased to be accepted in contemporary society because it contravenes the globalised norms of personal freedom and human rights, and it perpetuates gender inequality.