Beyond the Gains: The Unfinished Business of Women’s Rights inAfrica

Asikia Ige1

Abstract

Initially feminist literature construe African women asoppressed, wretched and in need of deliverance, this isbecause African women fail to meet certain western standards.However, globally as attention is being paid to women, andwith the rising voice of African women on the continentbeginning with the Aba Women’s riot of 1929 in Nigeria, andthe overt participation of African women in the struggle forindependence in colonial Africa. African women activitiesqueries the negative perceptions held by certainscholars/historians.

At the global plane in recent times (especially beginning fromthe 1970s), African women have also been very visible intheory and practice of women’s rights. while there have beengains politically, socially and economically for Africanwomen, I argue that women’s human rights in Africa has notreached the crescendo in which African women can celebrate andgo to sleep; this is because there are areas in which thereare disparity in concepts and outlook in actualising women’srights and gender equality in Africa. In this article, Iintend to chronicle first, the achievements of African womenin the field of human rights which has resulted in the gainswomen now enjoy in most parts of Africa; second, there is alsothe need to address the unfinished business in the field ofwomen’s rights in Africa which is ideological, and third topropose the blue print for sustenance and improvement ofwomen’s human rights currently enjoyed in most parts of Africatoday.

1 Postgraduate Researcher, RI for Social Sciences Keele University, Keele Staffordshire United Kingdom rige@unilag.edu.ng/asikiaige@gmail.com

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Biographical Note

Ms Ige, is currently a Doctoral Candidate at Keele University,Keele United Kingdom.

1.0 Introduction

The modern human rights movement championed by the United

Nations started in response to gross violations of human

rights perpetrated during the Second World War. First among

the international norms developed to protect the dignity,

rights and freedoms of women and men of the world is the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR 1948) still

regarded as the bedrock for the development of other

international human rights instruments. On the principles that

emanated from six dozens of such human rights norms since UDHR

is the principle of equality and non-discrimination which

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basically reiterates the equal worth of human person and equal

rights of men and women (Donnelly: 1998)

The evolution of international human rights law has been one

of the remarkable features of the development of international

laws. Before then individuals were seen mostly as aliens and

nationals and not as individuals. Some protection was afforded

as being without domestic jurisdiction of sovereign states. By

the nineteenth century most writers recognised as exception

the case of humanitarian intervention, although state practice

shows that intervention as a state on that ground was

justified on the other grounds at the same time (Buss: 1997).

The burgeoning feminist literature on international law has

raised questions about not only ‘male’ world of international

law but also the exclusion of women’s voices. Olsen noted that

the exclusion of women in the context of ‘an active verb’

meaning that women were not left out of international law

through oversight, but that international law is structured on

and represents the interests of men as the ‘embodied

subordination of women’. (Olsen: 1995).

In the late eighties and early nineties, women in different

countries took up the human rights framework and began

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developing the analytical and political tools that constitute

ideas and practices of women’s human rights. Utilising the

human rights framework has involved a double shift in thinking

about human rights and women’s lives. The human rights

framework entails examining human rights through a gender

lens, and from women’s perspectives. Women have been able to

show that human rights definitions and practices do not

account for how human rights affect women (Bunch and Frost:

2009). Feminists have always challenged the seemingly

disparity between men and women. However, in the ground

breaking paper of Charlesworth et al, wherein the authors

argued that ‘while the formulations of equality rights may be

useful as a first step towards the improvement of the position

of women, a continuous focus on the acquisition of rights may

not be beneficial. (Charlesworth: 1991). Looking behind

apparently neutral international principles, the authors were

able to decipher the uneven and gendered impact of

international law on the lives of men and women. The authors

recognised the limitations of international human rights law

in addressing women’s inequality. They called attention to

international legal doctrines and structures as generally

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excluding women both as state representatives and in the

process of international law making.

While I agree with Charlesworth et al, that women have not

been accorded the same measure of equality as men. However, I

believe that women have made in roads to international human

rights law and have contributed to its process and

development. I believe the strides recorded by women so far in

the international systems on the protection of women’s rights

needs to be recorded and affirmed. As Otto reminds us,

‘without historical memory participants in a liberation

movement are deprived of knowledge and longevity and

complexities of struggle. They may also believe they are at

the beginning when the struggle may have advanced to a point

where reinvention is necessary’ (Buss and Manji: 2005).

Much literature, which details the evolution of international

human rights law, is silent on the contributions of women.

Wishink argued, the analytical frame of patriarchal law is not

spaces within which to create visions of feminist futures

(Mbilinyi: 1992). Put succinctly, the society does not reckon

with women achievements and contributions. However, when the

contributions of women in international law were being

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recognised, the contributions of African women were left out,

simply because Africa is often associated with human problems

rather than being an ideas continent (Viljoen: 2001).

Banda has argued that, in the same way as western feminists

have questioned the silence or invisibility of women in

national and international law, African feminists have also

queried the prevalence of western model of human rights to the

rejection of non-western cultures (Banda: 2005)

In this article, I intend to chronicle the achievements of

African women in the field of international human rights law,

but beyond the contributions and the gains for African women,

it will be trite also to consider those issues that threaten

the sustenance of the gains of women’s human rights in Africa.

Thus, this article in part 1 shall examine women’s human

rights in Africa: the journey so far; part 2 will discuss the

debate within the women’s movement in Africa; part 3 will

examine the African women legacy in international human rights

and suggest ways to build on these achievements; and part 4 is

the conclusion.

2.0 Part 1: Women’s Human Rights in Africa: The Journey so far

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Historically, in Africanist discourse, Africa was represented

as some kind of human preserve where the nature and condition

of ancient man could be studied in its simplicity and savage

innocence; a reserve, moreover in which Negroes occupied the

lowest place in hierarchy of achievement (Davidson: 1964)

While African men were singled out as builders of societies

that are male dominated and anti-women, African women are

construed as oppressed, wretched and in need of deliverance.

In creating this homogenous down trodden mass, differences and

distinctions of age, class, rank, kinship affiliation, marital

status and seniority are ignored (Oyewumi: 2004).

Okome has argued that the overwhelming majority of writings

and discourse on African women fail to acknowledge the reality

informed by the nature of the multidimensional nature of

African women in terms of both their experiences and the

articulation of their goals. Women’s objectives and policy

preferences from the pre-colonial times to the present and

their struggle to shape their destiny are ignored for a

sensationalised presentation of abuses to which they are

subjected to (Okome: 2006).

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At the international plane, African women’s contributions are

predicated on theory and practice; the platform for women in

the international arena however, is through feminism.

Feminism as a theory is a world view, the philosophy that

rests on an empirical base staking your life on the

trustworthiness of your own body as a source of knowledge. It

rests equally on inter subjective agreement, since some kind

of agreement in perceptions and experience among women is what

gives us our sense of data, our body data, and the compelling

agency which made it possible to trust them (Frye: 1993).

Feminism is characterised by a focus on gender as a central

organising principle of social life; an emphasis on the

concept of power and the way it affects social relations; an

unwavering commitment to progressive change. Feminism

approaches generally reject universalistic claim or account of

the abstracted self (Milns and Whitty: 1991).

The definitions offered by Frye, Milns and Whitty replicate

the western view of feminism and captures the lived experience

of women in the west. The two definitions offered by these

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feminist theorists cannot be applied wholesale to Africa,

because of the diversity of culture and location.

According to Steady, African feminism is a theory which

combines racial, sexual, class and cultural dimensions of

oppression to produce a more inclusive brand of feminism

through which women are viewed first and foremost as human

rather than sexual beings (Steady: 1994), thus African

feminist view the challenges facing the women folk from a

prism of wholeness and not solely based on their sex or

gender.

The emergence of African feminism has not only queried the

assumptions and writings on African women; but it also has

expanded the epistemology in feminism and influenced an

alternative perspective to the ‘woman question’ in

international discourse (Mama: 2005). African women

intervention at the international plane focused on two

distinct contributions namely: theory and practice.

2.1 African Feminist Theory

African Feminist Theory is hinged on a holistic perspective to

the challenges confronting the women folk both nationally and

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internationally; the application of African feminist theory

lies in its interrogation of certain key concepts in the field

of feminism which are patriarchy, public/private dichotomy,

individual and collective rights, sexual division of labour

and womanhood which form the western feminist vision of

society and the ‘causation theory’ of women’s subjugation and

oppression in the society.

Patriarchy according to western feminists is the basis of

societal structure in which women are subjugated and

oppressed. African feminism recognises that patriarchy exists

in all societies, it however argue that freedom from

oppression for some women will come by pushing for equality of

the sexes, but also by pushing for equality to redress other

forms of exclusion such as politics, economics, social and

cultural manifestations of racial, cultural and class biases.

Western thought has long been characterised by ideological

divide between the public and private spheres; this

theoretical perspective takes cognisance of the gender

hierarchy in which men tend to prevail over women in public

sphere of work and politics, consequently giving men power in

the private sphere of home and family. In answer to this

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theoretical perspective, African feminists argue, and were

able to establish that ‘gender is socially constructed, this

means that the recognition of multiple fabrications which

translate into public/private dichotomy cannot be

essentialists, and its differences will differ in variations

in time and space’ (Okome: 2005).

The notion of rights in the western liberal thought is

predicated on individual rights and is epitomised in the

writings of Paine, Mill, Montesquieu and Locke, these writers

dwell on the need for individual liberty and freedom above the

structure of the state that was oppressive at the time. These

writings formed the major bulwark western feminists stood on

to clamour for ‘the personal is political’ in order to

buttress the imperative of women’s rights. however, this

understanding of freedom was put forward as the avenue for

women liberation in Africa; while African women recognises

certain practices and culture that impede women’s freedom, it

however, argue that ‘women’s rights cannot be devoid from the

societal rights hence human rights in western parlance has

been criticised on its dominance and emphasis on individual,

civil and political rights, and as Ilumoka asked ‘whether

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human rights law in fact has relevance to Africa (Ilumoka:

1994). The question posed by Ilumoka is predicated on African

understanding of rights which is collective, the individual is

not above the society, but draws its rights from the society.

Sexual division of labour is one key area western feminists

have engaged with the society, for them women’s labour is

oppressive (Boyd: 1997). According to Nzegwu, women’s economic

independence remains a cherished and crucial component of

female heritage, contributing to, and participating in the day

to day management of family and community (Nzegwu: 2001). I

argue that African cultural heritage and social life markedly

differs from the European way of life, the differences in life

style and world plays significant role in societal structure.

Millet has argued that the relations between the sexes have

been based on power and are therefore political (Millet:

1985). Munoz-Darde argued that family is the main cause of

morally arbitrary inequality (Munoz-Darde: 1999). The views

expressed by Millet and Munoz-Darde were representative of the

radical school of western feminism; these views literally

query family relationships and especially womanhood. African

feminist’s response to womanhood has shown that Millet et al

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reflects the challenges within western society. African

feminist’s literature does not portray the role of family in

women marginalisation; Motherhood is ideal and claimed as

strength by African women (Nnaemeka: 2003). Motherhood

occupies a special place in African cultures and societies

regardless whether the society is patrilineal or matrilineal

kinship. Mothers are the essential building block of social

relationships, identities and indeed society (Oyewumi: 2003).

African feminism not only interrogated western feminists

concepts it also brought new perspectives to women issues.

Feminism as an ideological construct is premised on the adult

female, while this may have certain advantage in western

countries; this perspective negates African ethos as African

cultural way of life place premium on milestones which are

birth, marriage and death. The passage from childhood to

adulthood is marked in many African societies. In Africa,

initiation ceremonies are rooted in conservative tradition of

the societies; for African females, ceremonies marking their

entry into the clan and realm of adult are a public

announcement to the community.

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African societies place enormous importance on the younger

generations especially the women folk, who are often called

‘mothers of tomorrow’. African women early in their struggles

in human rights and women’s human rights at the international

plane noted the prevailing ideology which is the concern for

the women (adult female). While appreciating issues women face

globally and in the continent of Africa; for them women’s

human rights is in complete without the inclusion of the girl

child (who will become the adult female in the future), while

she waits to attain womanhood, her rights as a girl and a

member of the human race also must be respected and protected;

it was for this reason that the African contingent championed

the inclusion of the girl child in the global human rights

agenda beginning at the UN Conference on Human Rights held in

Vienna 1993 and at the Fourth UN Conference on Women held in

Beijing China 1995 (Bunch: 1995).

2.1.2 Reproductive Rights as Women’s Rights

Women’s Reproductive Rights have always been subsumed under

National Constitutions with states implementing such laws

according to cultural or religious view prevalent in the

state. Abortion has been a controversial subject in societies

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around the world because of the moral and ethical issues

surrounding it, though there are other considerations such as

a state pro-natal or anti-natal policies or questions of

inheritance; patriarchy also influence abortion law and

regulation.

In common law countries such as the United Kingdom, United

States of America and those countries colonised by the

British, abortion was illegal any time after quickening unless

recommended by a physician. The challenge to the common law

position came in the celebrated case of Roe v. Wade2. The Roe’s

case was an historic decision of the United States Supreme

Court overturning the State of Texas interpretation of

Abortion Law. The appellant had appealed to the US Supreme

Court and relying on the concept of personal liberty embodied

in the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. The right to

privacy is nowhere mentioned in the US Constitution, but it

could be inferred. The court held: that the right to personal

liberty includes abortion decision, that a woman and her

doctor could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy

2 410 US 113 (1973)

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without restriction, and with restrictions in later months

based on the right to privacy.

The international concern for reproductive rights grew when a

number of states begun to incorporate the protection of

reproductive rights into national laws, constitutions, and

international procedures. Laws have been revised in such areas

as family law, protection against violence, non-discrimination

and health rights (Chiroma: 2009).

While, there have been attempts to incorporate reproductive

health into national constitutions, at the international

plane, there have been no regional rights instruments

addressing women’s health rights with particular focus on

abortion. The challenge of reproductive health and rights of

African women necessitate the need to fashion a document that

addresses the need for reproductive health of African women

and more importantly depict the holistic approach of African

women to women issues; thus the Protocol to the African

Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in

Africa came into being; it sought to fill the gap in

international treaty albeit from the African women’s

perspective. The protocol brought to the fore those rights

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which are seen to be private by providing a right instrument

to address those issues and bring them to the public domain.

2.1.3 African Jurisprudence on Rape

The offence of rape represents a special kind of violence

aimed primarily at women. Rape is defined in Nigeria: as the

unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl without her

consent, or if the consent is obtained by force or by means of

threat, intimidation of any kind or by fear of harm or by

means of false and fraudulent misrepresentation as to the

nature of the act or in the case of a married woman by

impersonating her husband.3

Rape is seen in many parts of the world as a case of damage to

a woman’s honour than as violence against the person. This has

necessitated rape being considered as the ultimate expression

of gender conflict.

War rape was publicly addressed in an international context

during the First World War in relation to rapes committed by

German soldiers against Belgian women (Nikolic-Ristavonic:

2005).

3 Section 357 of the Criminal Code Cap 77 Laws of the Federation 2000

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After the Second World War, rape was a subject of public

discussion, despite the public disclosures; rapes in both wars

did not resort to any form of punishment. However, war rape

once again received international publicity starting from

1992, in relation to rapes committed in the Bosnia War. The

media attention awakened the public and professional attention

(especially feminist scholars and lawyers) to the crime of

rape in war time. The UN Security Council Resolution 827 of

1993 established the International Tribunal for former

Yugoslavia, this was the first war crime court established by

the UN since the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals (Kerr: 2004).

The conflicts in former Yugoslavia and particularly in Rwanda

highlighted the use of rape as a weapon of war and a method of

ethnic cleansing. The International Criminal Tribunal for

Rwanda was created by a UN Security Council Resolution 955 of

1994, the tribunal was established for the prosecution of

persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations

of international humanitarian law committed in the territory

of Rwanda between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994; it may

also deal with the prosecution of Rwanda citizens responsible

for genocide and other such violations of international law

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committed in the territory of the neighbouring states during

the war.

The Tribunal adjudicated on several cases before it; however,

the notable case was the Prosecutor v. Jean Paul Akayesu4 I

focus on Akayesu’s case because the judgement of the tribunal

in that case brought a right perspective to the concept of

rape. It is a landmark decision in international law as it

brought to the fore the evidence of facts with evidence of

genocide at an international tribunal.

Mr Akayesu was found guilty of rape and inhuman acts as crime

against humanity under article 3 (g) and (i) of the ICTR

Statute. In sentencing Akayesu, the trial chamber imposed

several consecutive ten year prison terms; Akayesu is now

serving a life sentence. The Tribunal Chair, Judge Nevanethem

Pillay commenting on the Judgement handed down to Mr Akayesu

stated that:

‘From time immemorial, rape has been regarded as spoils of

war. Now it will be considered as a war crime. We want to send

out a strong message that rape is no longer a trophy of war’.

4 Case No ICTR-96-4-T, 2 September 1998 (Akayesu Judgement); Case NO ICTR-96-4-A 1 June 2001 (Akayesu Appeal Judgement)

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The decision of the ICTR in Akayesu’s case was historic, in

the sense that it advanced the concept of rape in

international law with particular reference to international

humanitarian law and women’s human rights; and most

importantly the decision emanates from a tribunal sitting in

Africa and an African woman jurist. Judge Nevanethem Pillay by

that judgement scored a first in establishing a legal concept

at the international plane for women that created a new way at

looking at an old problem.

The contribution of African feminism to feminist theory lies

in been able to expand the meaning of feminism, presenting a

strand that is reflective of their lived reality in all

dimensions of cultural experience; the underlying position is

that feminism is not less feminism because it departs from

western feminism.

2.2 African Feminist Practice

The application of African feminism to feminist practice at

the international plane is in three major epochs: 1) Setting

new standards in women’s human rights regime; 2) Africa Leads

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in Women Representation in Parliament and 3) contextualising

the right to environment as women’s human rights.

2.2.1 Setting New Standards in Women’s Human Rights Regime

African women in many literature and researches conducted by

western authors/writers are depicted as incapable of offering

any meaningful contribution to intellectual discourse. African

women have struggled under this burden to disprove the

veracity of such negative assertions/grand theory. I will

argue that the attempt to prove the critiques wrong has

informed the contributions of African women in the field of

human rights and thus translate to the setting of new

standards in women’s human rights regime.

The United Nations within its framework established the

Conferences on Women, (the United Nations Conferences on Women

have been a platform upon which African women have engaged

with western women and feminists). The first conference was

organised in Mexico in 1975, African women participated at the

Conference, and a major resolution emanating from the Mexico

Conference was the establishment of a training centre for

women. Prior to the Women Conference in Mexico, the United

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Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) had organised a

training programme for women and girls in the Africa region in

the field of Agriculture in Rabat Morocco in 1971, in

delivering the opening address Riby-Williams, stated that:

‘Women’s needs are intricately bound with the priority needs

and aspirations of the nation, and most necessarily be viewed

as features of overall national development of the total

society’ (Riby-Williams: 1971)

2.2.2.1The Establishment of African Training and Research

Centre for Women

I will argue that it is in the context of Riby-Williams

address and the self-reliance policy embedded in the African

society that became the catalyst/vehicle for the establishment

of the African Training and Research Centre for Women (ATRCW).

The ATRCW serves as a model for the establishment of similar

regional bodies in other parts of the world.

2.2.2.2 Africa Lead the World in Women Representation in

Parliament

The image of African women is often depicted as nothing but a

drudge, completely subjugated, if not actually enslaved is

reinforced by the superficial knowledge of bride price and

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polygamy. Interestingly, the continent of Africa is often

depicted as a woman emphasising her fecundity, helplessness,

sexuality and overburdened (Jablow and Hammond: 1970).

Many writings on Africa recognise that African women play

active role in the economic sphere; however, these writings

assert that African women are absent in the political sphere.

According to Simon and Phoebe Ottenberg, ‘the role of women in

the political organisation of Africa is in general a limited

one, and their primary concerns are productive concerns

(Ottenberg: 1960).

The assertion of the Ottenbergs cannot be supported in the

light of the historical heritage of African women. Africa is

replete with histories of women who held political positions.

According to Okonjo, ‘the colonial era disturbed the

functioning of the traditional institutions by imposing alien

systems upon the colonies (Okonjo: 1999).

African women were part of colonial struggle in their

respective states, I argue that the participation of African

women during the colonial struggle and in the days of

apartheid could not have been an upsurge; it must be traced to

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the root of the political culture of the society. Post-

Independence Africa relegated women in the political sphere.

However, beginning from the 1990s; African women began to

challenge the political structure of their respective states,

I must add that attendance at the UN Conferences on Women,

Global Human Rights Campaign and the declining economic state

of most African states became a catalyst for the emergence of

political consciousness of women in the latter part of the 20th

century. Today, Africa leads the world in the rise of

political leaders and global women representation in

parliaments (INSTRAW: 2009).

This is no mean achievement from a continent that is often

disparaged; African women activism on the continent has

brought a positive contribution in world politics, this is a

symbolic gain for both women and the continent of Africa.

2.2.2.3 Women as Peace Agents

Recent years have seen many parts of sub-Saharan Africa

engaged in war, internal and external conflict in seven

countries namely: Burundi, Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Rwanda,

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Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and

Ethiopia/Eritrea.

In Africa, traditional conflict resolution was a communal

affair that emphasise reconciliation of the protagonists to

each other rather than establishing wrong. Punishments were

not aimed at retaliation, but restoring social equilibrium,

usually through mechanisms of restitution, apology and

reconciliation with emphasis on justice and fairness,

forgiveness, tolerance, peaceful co-existence. Traditional

forms of justice are thus rooted in social norms.

Global issues and women issues have been interwoven in the

quest for peace especially in Africa. The 1980s and 1990s saw

Africa enmeshed in several conflicts that about 9 million

people lost their lives; this is besides those are have been

internally displaced. Women mostly bear the brunt of war

(Tripp et al: 2009).

African women rose up to the challenge for peace in the

continent, the peace process covers central, east, south and

west parts of Africa. However, the focus of this article is on

the peace efforts of African women in Liberia, Sierra-Leone

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and Guinea (The Manor River Basin). The Manor River Women’s

Peace Network (MARWOPNET) met with the war lords Charles

Taylor of Liberia, Tejan Kabbah of Sierra-Leone and Lausanne

Comte of Guinea, the intervention of the MARWOPNET Women

brokered peace between the war lords. The efforts of the

MARWOPNET Women were not unnoticed by the international

community, the achievement of the MARWOPNET Women earned the

praise of the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who in a

report in April 2001 to the Security Council noted that:

‘MARWOPNET demonstrated the multi-dimensional, coordinated and

regional collaborative approach adopted by civil society

bodies in their struggle for peace’.

In October 2000, African networks successfully lobbied for the

adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The UN

Resolution did not mention the efforts of the African women or

any other group, but I argue that Resolution 1325 cannot be

divorced from the activities of the Women of the Mano River

Basin.

2.2.2.4 Contextualising the Concepts of Rights to the

Environment: Women’s Rights as Environmental Rights

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The threat of environmental degradation and its consequences

on living beings has led to the recognition of the sanctity of

the environment and the need for environmental protection.

The contributions of women and the environment in the word of

Elliot, ‘is more than an exercise in adding women to the

debate. Rather, it is an effort in making women visible and

examining the nature and basis for their invisibility (Elliot:

1996).

In this part, my focus is on the activities of the Green Belt

Movement (GBM) in Kenya, an organisation founded by the late

Professor Wangari Maathai in 1977. The GBM is a women’s civil

society organisation advocating for human rights and

supporting good governance and peaceful democratic change

through the protection of the environment. The GBM is a grass

root organisation with the mission of planting trees to

address the challenge of deforestation, soil erosion and lack

of water in East Africa.

The efforts of the African women in protecting the environment

have made them the champion for sustainable management of

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scarce resources such as water, equitable economic

development, good political governance and ultimately peace.

The international community recognised the efforts of the

Green Belt Movement, thus the Norwegian Noble Committee on 8th

October 2004 announced Professor Wangari Maathai, for a Nobel

Peace Prize ‘in recognition of her contribution to sustainable

development, democracy and peace’. The Nobel Committee

acknowledged Maathai and GBM’s efforts in promoting

ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development

of Kenya and Africa. Maathai in receiving the award dedicated

it to ‘African Women’.

3.0 Part 2: The Debate within Women’s Movement in Africa

The concept of African feminism has generated diverse debates

among African scholars. first, certain scholars believe that

feminism is alien to Africa and it is a weed that has

infiltrated the continent from outside; the implication of

this being that African feminism is not indigenous to Africa

and that it threatens to choke or over run ‘true’ African

values (Dosekun: 2007). Several scholars have argued in

support of feminism not being alien to Africa, in this paper,

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I sum up the arguments under two headings namely: anti-

essentialism and culture, tradition and history.

3.1 Anti-essentialism

The argument that something or someone is not African, which

is referred to as African authenticity emanates from Maria

Baaz, it is based on the essentialist or socio-historical

claim about Africa, it refers to African essence, African

values and traditions, and thus to the various cultural

practices that have historically prevailed on the continent

(Baaz:2001). While, I agree that there are certain cultures

and practices that cuts across African communities such as

marriage, age grade initiations, and chieftaincy; yet there

are variables in African ways of life because Africa is large

and culturally diverse made up of different peoples, cultures

and practices; and as Appiah argued that: the essentialist

claim about African spirit or identity must ultimately refer

to biological notion that all Africans have the same blood

flowing in their veins which determine our spirit, culture and

capabilities; this crude racialism has been debunked by

science (Appiah: 1992).

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3.2 Culture, tradition and history

The claim that feminism is un-African is often predicated on

its being alien to ‘tradition’ and culture. The holders of

this view will have everyone believe that African culture is

static and immutable. I will argue that this cannot be

supported, for culture is a product of history, which is

subject to change and contestation and often responds to

social dynamics; for example, the Aba Women’s Riot of 1929,

the Lagos Market Women Protest in the 1940s and South African

Women’s Resistance to Pass Laws during the Apartheid Regime is

an indication that culture is not static but dynamic and

responds to the exigencies of the time. In the words of

Adeleye-Fayemi, ‘Africa has some of the oldest civilisations

in the world; it has the oldest patriarchies and therefore the

oldest resistance to patriarchy. To believe otherwise is to

‘falsely imply, that for centuries African women have crossed

their arms and accepted being battered and depersonalised by

patriarchy’ (Adeleye-Fayemi: 2005).

Second, there is also the debate on the origin of African

feminism. According to Mikell, ‘the emergence of African

feminism is distinctly heterosexual, pro-natal and concerned

30

with bread, butter, culture and power issues. To this extent

it parallels the recent growth of feminism in many non-western

countries’ (Mikell: 1994). In essence, Mikell’s arguments

centre on the fact that feminism is a recent phenomenon in

Africa; by this analysis, African women did not have any form

of agency prior to colonialism in Africa; this position will

be incorrect as many political set up in many societies showed

women participation especially among the Yorubas in Nigeria,

the Ashantes in Ghana etc.

Auste has argued that, ‘in terms of macro political

organisation in the past, most African societies had a dual

sex political system which allowed for substantial female

representation and involvement in governance and

administration (Auste: 2009). It should not be taken that all

societies in Africa had female representation, while there are

some societies which did not give room for political

representation, yet women had ways in channelling their

grievances within the society.

Third, African feminism has also come under ideological

interrogation, just as western feminism is classified in

different schools which reflects different thoughts and

31

movements; this can also be applied to African feminism, which

for the purpose of this article will be grouped into two

namely: Stiwanism and Womanism.

3.3 Stiwanism

Stiwanism is the acronym for Social Transformation including

Women in Africa. The theory propounded by Omolara Ogundipe-

Leslie recognises that women are agents of transformation in

the society; it contends with the notion that African society

regards women as incapable of contributing to the development

of the society (Ogundipe-Leslie: 1994).

3.4 Womanism

Womanism is a theoretical concept developed by Alice Walker,

an African American Female Writer. Womanism is a reaction to

the gains of the second wave feminism in the west especially

in the United States of America. She argued that, feminism was

built essentially on the lives of upper middle class white

woman in United States and in Europe and thus have no

relevance for people of colour (Walker: 1984). However, some

African women identifies with Walker’s womanism because of

their disdain for western feminism.

32

It should be noted that within African feminism, ideological

construct is not as fierce as western feminism; this is not to

say ideological construct is totally absent. However, the

common strand that binds all women are the lived experiences

and cultural beliefs which negate gender equality.

4.0 Part 3: Building on Past Achievements of African Women

In part 1 of this article, I chronicle some of the

contributions of African feminism to women’s human rights, the

kernel of my submission lies in the fact that the

contributions were felt beyond African shores. However, I

submit that the achievements recorded do not give room for

laxity but for an impetus to continue the tempo and see that

there is no back lash to the achievements recorded.

The strategies I am proposing for the building on past

achievements are namely: human rights education and sustaining

the campaign towards achieving gender equality.

4.1 Human Rights Education

Human right is defined as what make us human. Human rights and

fundamental freedom are the birth right of all human beings;

33

their promotion and protection is the responsibility of

governments (Annan: 1993).

Education is a major area where human rights ethos can be

inculcated. UNESCO has ambitiously argued that access to

information and education is a fundamental right in the 21st

century in line with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. Institutions of learning hold the key to human rights

education. Schools of any grade need to devote periods in the

curricula to the teaching of human rights not only as a

concept but as a societal norm.

Human rights are about inherent dignity that should be

accorded to all humans, and an approach to social affairs

based on respect, understanding and communication. In

advocating human rights education, my take is that women

organisations scattered all over Africa will come together and

fashion a programme of human rights education to women (this

programme will be geared towards both literate and non-

literate women), this is necessary because there are

misconceptions about women’s rights among several classes of

African women.

34

The basic notion of rights should be explained in accordance

with positive African cultural values; it is on this basis

that the human rights education will have meaning and will

serve the purpose which it is intended.

4.2 Sustaining the Campaign towards Gender Equality

African women participated in anti-colonial movements, anti-

apartheid and liberation struggles, this is because African

women have always had a form of gendered consciousness.

African women have won several battles in the quest for

equality and recognition not only on the continent but also

internationally. The victories that have been recorded in my

view serves as stepping stones to attain further victories

because women have still not attained equality with men. What

however is needed is to sustain women’s rights campaign in a

fresh breath, the activism and organising must challenge the

differences of language, race, class, ethnicity, rural and

urban divides, cultures, sexuality and religions which

engender women’s rights abuses in the continent.

Previously, African women organise campaigns around single

issues such as sexual violence, religion or legal issues, for

35

example maintenance or inheritance; the need for new campaign

mode I advocate will be built around holistic issues that

affect women, and I put this as ‘the position and status of

women in the society’ which generally affects human rights of

women.

‘think globally, act locally’ is a slogan familiar to many

activists in the development field and to women involved in

the struggle for women; embracing this slogan in campaign on

women’s human rights will provide a linkage between cultural

and political context that will sustain the opportunities in

allowing for focused and strategic action.

Sustaining the gender equality campaign will be hinged on

research, training and publication; this approach will afford

activists and women sympathisers to link theory with practice

in tackling the systemic discrimination in the African

society.

Above all, what is needed by African feminists in the words of

McFadden is to move from the ‘old status quo where our

politics and identity were too closely tied to androcentric

notions of nationalism and nurturing which remain oppressive

and exclusionary of women’s rights entitlements. It has to

move to a new place, where we recognise that we are a

36

political force, that sisterhood is no longer adequate to

construct to deal with differences and the new challenges, and

this is the only movement which can give leadership to a new

political agenda for the future’ (McFadden: 1997)

Conclusion

In this article, I have examined the theory and practice of

African feminism at the international plane; in my analysis, I

laid emphasis on the major achievements by the activism and

organisation of African women; while noting these epoch

contributions, I argue that laudable as they may be, it is not

yet uhuru for African women, that there is the need to

maintain the strides recorded through continuous human rights

education for African women and sustaining the campaign

towards gender equality in the continent from the holistic

perspective.

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