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African
women and the struggle for emancipation: translating words into
action
Grace Kwinjeh
February 29, 2008
Determined gender
activists have over the decades proposed solutions to not only ending
conflict, eradicating poverty, but more importantly - those that
are aimed at unshackling the continents women from the bondage of
patriarchal exploitation and domination.
That African women bear
the burden of conflict and poverty on the continent is an old cliché,
most are now tired with. Certainly, gains can be celebrated over
landmark achievements towards women's emancipation over the years,
but the situation on the ground shows there is still much work to
be done, as most of these gains have just remained on paper.
In a society
that denies the full humanity of women the odds are stacked against
those who would like to make a difference - through radical changes
to the existing gender relations. Recent experiences in parts of
the continent bear testimony to the fact that changing the lot of
women is going to take more than just miracles. Transforming societal
attitudes towards those who are viewed as the 'fairer' or 'weaker'
sex, is what gender activists and feminists have been working hard
at - in some instances with much gain and in others -
much backlash.
Areas of intervention
activists have over the years advocated for and employed include,
institutional reforms and policy interventions at governmental,
regional and International levels. Thus, African government have
acceded to international conventions that seek to redress the previously
skewed gender relations, meant to emancipate women, these include
the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,
(CEDAW), the Beijing Plat-form of Action and continentally the Protocol
to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights
of Women in Africa.
However, the
patriarchal nature and scope of most Governments including regional
and continental bodies has resulted in much resistance and backlash
- leading in most instances to the piling up of declarations and
protocols that are either never translated into action - as they
just remain symbolic gestures on paper. Gender activists and feminists
in the Southern Africa Development Community, (SADC) region are
for instance not amused at the way the SADC Protocol on Gender and
Development, whose signing of, by SADC leaders at their Summit in
2007 was deferred apparently to give more time for 'national consultations'.
Among contentious issues between the Governments and activists was
the provision in the Gender Protocol that Governments enshrine gender
equality in their constitutions; that the Protocol use obligatory
language such as 'ensure' and not 'endeavor' and that the rights
of socially excluded and vulnerable groups be recognised and protected.
A consultative meeting coordinated by the Southern African Gender
Protocol Alliance, agreed that: "the Alliance roadmap involves
intensive lobbying and advocacy in-country and at a regional level,
including offering technical support where this may be required
through to the August summit, where it plans to hold a parallel
civil society forum and launch a high profile campaign for the adoption
of a strong Gender Protocol." The alliance has set itself an
uphill task as signs of resistance from the powers that be in the
region are quite clear, Botswana often celebrated for being a progressive
democracy has been one of the first, on making protocol provisions
constitutionally binding, commenting on that, Assistant Minister
of Labor and Home Affairs, Utlwang Matlhabaphiri, said this was
not possible, due to the fact that the country's constitution could
only be amended through a referendum. Matlhabaphiri said Botswana
for instance, would be comfortable with a provision that says 50
percent of decision-making positions should be held by women, but
without any prescriptions on how to attain this quota.
This is precisely, part of the problem because the declarations
that SADC governments have signed before have not been legally binding,
thus a mere signature has remained just that a signature on paper
- with those who seek redress still remaining in a weaker
position. HURISA director Corlett Letlojane, identifies the inability
to translate international conventions into local laws, as one of
the major impediments in the attainment f gender equality even in
yet another democracy - South-Africa: "There's a strong need
for CSOs and other relevant stakeholders to advocate for the domestication
and implementation of international, regional and sub-regional instruments
promoting women's rights.
These instruments are meaningless if they are not incorporated at
local level, and the failure of our courts to provide remedies to
victims of violence brings disgrace to our progressive Constitutional
Order." In a paper titled, 'Gender and human rights in South-Africa',
Letlojane, applauds the fact that South-Africa has made great advances
towards the attainment of gender equity through constitutional provisions.
Citing Section 9 of the South-African bill of rights which prohibits
any form of discrimination based on gender or sex perpetrated directly
or indirectly.
Sadly, notwithstanding these provisions, South-African women still
face discrimination in terms of cultural practices that deny them
their full humanity: "In terms of culture, women are not allowed
to remain the custodian of their children or to be in physical control
of the estate of their late partners. The deceased's eldest male
relative, if there is no male of the age of 18 at the time of the
deceased death, assumes this duty. The mother of the male and the
elder sister of the sibling's brother were completely disqualified
from exercising this duty." This sums up the situation pertaining
on the African continent where cultural reasons for the continued
oppression of women supersede moral or legal ones for their empowerment.
Across the Limpompo in Zimbabwe, while Section 1.11 of the Constitution
provides that for any regional and international instruments to
be applicable, they have to be domesticated through the process
of ratification, not many of the international instruments pertaining
to women's rights have been ratified. The situation is worse for
women in conflict situations - in countries such as the Democratic
Republic of Congo, (DRC), Kenya, Sudan and Zimbabwe they face other
dynamics as they deal not only with the cultural realities of their
oppression but the increased burden of conflict to their livelihoods.
Amnesty International reports of women in the Darfur region: "There
are more women living in camps than men and the threat of rape remains
rife for those who venture outside the camps. Many of the camps
are surrounded by belts of deserted land with hardly a tree standing.
Rapes are carried out on women who leave the camps to go to market
or collect firewood. They are carried out by Janjawid militia, government
soldiers, armed opposition groups and even by other displaced people."
Again in Kenya women and children are the majority of the more than
300 000 displaced people, they have fallen victim to sexual crimes
and ethnic cleansing. They remain victims to a situation whose solution
again does not recognize their full humanity as they are largely
excluded from the mediation process meant to find a solution to
the crisis - that has made international head-lines over the
past weeks.
Responding to the women's calls for inclusion in the mediation process,
former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is part
of the negotiating team said: "To realize peace, we need complete
mobilization of society at all levels; we need the women."
While Zimbabwean women are dealing with state sponsored repression
and tyranny. Only recently in a Valentines Day protest march several
members of the Women
of Zimbabwe Arise, (WOZA) were brutally attacked by state security
agents, scores were injured. This has become the norm for this women's
group, which has commendably, sustained non-violent methods of resistance
to state repression. Woza coordinator Jenni Williams said after
the February 14 protests: "We know things are tough but we
think this is the time for us to really defend the country's future
and stand up for our children." Inclusion of women in peace-making
efforts is provided for in the; UN Security Council resolution 1325
on women, peace and security; the African Union Solemn Declaration
on Gender Equality; and the protocol to the African Charter on the
Rights of Women in Africa. And so while so much has been said and
written on paper aimed at emancipating African women, the biggest
job is in translating the words into action, if the women's lot
s to change for the better.
*Grace Kwinjeh
is a free-lance journalist and a consultant.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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