A/67/287 power. 21 Scholars stress the crucial role of the colonial period in defining contemporary customary law, for example in African countries, 22 and the need to review, analyse and understand the role of political, social and economic institutions involved in the production of culture and the shaping of gender relations. Hence, one conclusion is that “[a]ssertions of culture in family law are best viewed as a matter of current politics rather than descriptions of age-old tradition”. 23 21. The conventional view of perceiving “a radical disjuncture between the spheres of formal law and culture” is misplaced. Such a perception tends to endorse “dominant articulations of culture as accurate representations of a community’s way of life”, thereby allowing “culture to be defined exclusively by those whose view of culture disadvantages women”. 24 Formal law and policy are closely linked to cultural interpretation, and State institutions play an active role in defining culture. Moreover, actual practices on the ground are usually more varied than suggested by formalized versions projected in discourse as well as under the law. 22. Women’s role as important signifiers of cultural groups stands in sharp contrast to their lack of influence in relevant decision-making processes and their limited opportunities to further develop cultural life. When women do claim their right to not participate in specific customs, to interpret, amend and reshape the contours of their cultural communities, they often confront disproportionate opposition, including different forms of violence, for acts as apparently simple as freely choosing who to marry, how to dress or where to go. The severity of such reactions stems from the centrality of gender constructs in collective life. The disruption of prescribed gender rules, roles and concepts in fact demands a reconfiguration of the community’s collective identity as a whole. 23. Not all women challenge the dominant cultural norms for a number of reasons: they may benefit, at least in part, from the overall arrangements; they may fear the consequences of challenging existing norms and practices or lack the support mechanisms necessary to act; they may not have access to alternative views and ways of life; or they may not adhere to emancipatory values. Consequently, intentionally or unintentionally, women may reproduce and contribute to sustaining harmful practices that violate the rights of other women, in particular their daughters, for example in relation to education, cultural participation and health issues. B. Opportunities: cultural rights as transformative rights 1. Equal cultural rights for women: key elements 24. Three principal and interrelated components of the right to take part in cultural life elaborated by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 25 and the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/14/36, A/HRC/17/38 and A/HRC/20/26) are: __________________ 21 22 23 24 25 12-45930 See, for example, Narayan; Charu Gupta, Sexuality, Obscenity, Community: Women, Muslims, and the Hindu Public in Colonial India (Delhi, Permanent Black, 2001). Nyamu, p. 405. See also Otto. Martin Chanock, “Neither Customary Nor Legal: African Customary Law in an Era of Family Law Reform”, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, vol. 3, No. 1 (1989), pp. 72 and 86. Nyamu, p. 401. General comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, para. 15. 9