HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION FOR OVERWORKED WOMEN AND THE

GIRL-CHILD LIVING IN TRADITIONAL RURAL GAMBIAN

SOCIETY

Eno-Obong Bassey Akpan

Research Partnership 1/2002 The Danish Centre for Human Rights

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION FOR OVERWORKED WOMEN AND THE

GIRL-CHILD LIVING IN TRADITIONAL RURAL GAMBIAN

SOCIETY

Eno-Obong Bassey Akpan

Human Rights Protection for Overworked Women and the Girl-child Living in Traditional Rural Gambian Society Eno-Obong Bassey Akpan Research Partnership 1/2002, The Danish Centre for Human Rights © 2002 The author and The Danish Centre for Human Rights Parts of the report may be photocopied or otherwise reproduced if author and source are quoted. Editorial preparations: Alex K. Tonnesen Print: Bencke og Syede, Copenhagen, Denmark ISBN 87 90744 53 5 ISSN 1600 5333 Bibliographic information according to the Huridocs Standard Format Title: Human Rights Protection for Overworked Women and the Girl-child Living in Traditional Rural Gambian Society Personal author: Akpan, Eno-Obong Bassey Corporate author: The Danish Centre for Human Rights Series title: Research Partnership 1/2002 Index terms: Women / Girl-child / Rural Areas / Labour / Human Rights Printed in Denmark 2002 The Danish Centre for Human Rights 8 H Wilders Plads 1403 Copenhagen K Tel: + 45 32 69 88 88 Fax: + 45 32 69 88 00 E-mail: center@humanrights.dk

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About the Author

Ms. Eno-Obong Bassey Akpan is a Nigerian lawyer who has worked as a Legal Officer/Company Secretary in corporate sectors. She currently lives in The Gambia and works as a women�s rights advocate and gender activist. Ms. Akpan has been involved in reviewing laws and making gender analysis of the implications of the laws on the rights of women. She has written academic articles on the effects of laws on Gambian women�s rights. SPECIAL NOTE All views and even errors expressed in this study are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of any individual or organisation.

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Acknowledgement First and foremost, my thanks go to The Danish Centre for Human Rights (DCHR) for the wonderful opportunity they provided in-house to build up my research capacity. I am also grateful to my Adviser, Dr. Eva Maria Lassen, for her immense, tireless and uncountable contributions towards the full realisation of this work. I wish to thank Lone Lindholt for her very useful comments on the early draft, and Karen Lise Thylstrup for her assistance with materials for the literature review. My special thanks also go to some members of the Danish Centre and the Danida Fellowship Centre who provided diverse assistance to make my stay in Copenhagen possible and memorable. They are: Charlotte Flindt Pedersen, Dr. Gregor Noll, Marie Bøcker Pedersen, Jette Johannessen, Eva Thaulow, Marianne Boesen, Solveig Thorborg, and Ilselil Halby. I also wish to acknowledge the other Research Partners, Ms. Ghania Mwamba, Ms. Min Chen, Mr. Nsongurua Udombana and Mr. Lawrence Juma, for their friendliness during the research period. I am particularly grateful to Ms. Nkeiru Makun, Ms. Jacqueline Ukpaukure, and Ms. Isatou Touray for impacting my life positively at some point in the past. And to Mr Ndubuisi Ezengwa, Dr. Abraham Alabi, Pastor Suoyo Aganaba, and Mr. Bennett Edet, I say thanks for your long-term support and encouragement. I also express special gratitude to my treasured parents, Chief Bassey Etim Akpan and Mrs Eno Bassey Akpan who laid a proper foundation for me and later forgave my �apparent thoughtlessness� when I embarked on the journey to change my fortune; and to my beloved sister, Dr. (Mrs.) Stella Ndem for her consistent care and thoughtfulness. I am much indebted to my most considerate husband, Mr. Chidiadi Ezengwa, who agreed to endure many months of aloneness to enable me pursue my career interest. God bless you tremendously for your understanding. Finally, I owe all thanks to GOD who turned my dreams into reality.

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Contents

About the Author 5

Acknowledgement 6

Contents 7

Glossary 9

Abstract 13

Chapter one

Introduction 15

Background 15

Purpose of Study 18

Study Assumptions 19

Characterisation 20 (1) Why Rural Gambia? (2) Distinguishing the Girl-Child from Wives and Mothers

Research Method 23

Chapter Two

Legal Framework: Legal Basis for the Protection of Women & the Girl-Child�s Rights 27

An Overview of International Instruments Ratified by The Gambia 27

Applicable International Instruments 30 (1) ILO Conventions (2) The Convention on the Rights of the Child (3) The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Evaluating The Gambia�s Progress in Meeting the International Obligations 34

Regional Instruments 37

The Gambian Constitution 38

The Gambian National Legislation. 40

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Chapter Three

The Gambia Context 43

The Gambia Economic Overview 43

Rural Gambian Dwellers 43

Gender Roles in the Agricultural Sector 45

Control of Resources/Women�s Financial Autonomy 46

Chapter Four

Overworked Women: The Case of Wives & Mothers 51

Introduction 51

Women�s Daily Duties: Field Experiences 52

Men�s Role in �Modern Day� Rural Gambia: A Comparison with the Duties of Women 61

The Effects of Overwork 62

Women as Victims of Overwork: Exploring the Causes 64

Chapter Five

The Girl-Child: Cultural Values Versus Human Rights 69

The Birth of a Child in The Gambian Society 69

Duties of the Rural Girl-Child 70

The Housemaid (Mbindane) Saga and the Growing Menace of Child labour 71

The Importance of Girls� Education in Eliminating Child Labour 76

Enrolment/Retention Rates of Girls in Schools Based on Field Study Results. 80

Challenges Faced by Government in the Successful Implementation of Free and Compulsory Education. 83

Conclusion

Advancing the Cause of Women: Contributory Roles of Women, Government, NGOs & Others in the Transformation Process 86

Bibliography 91

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Glossary Attaya A traditional green tea (referred to as �Green

Gunpowder�) of Chinese origin, highly favoured by Gambian men.

Bantaba In The Gambia, it is an open place in a village, usually under a big tree, where everything concerning the community is discussed, debated, or celebrated. But it has also increasingly become a place where a group of men sit down to talk, drink and have fun.

Cadi Muslim judge who presides over matters affecting

Muslims. CAT Convention Against Torture and other Cruel,

Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. CCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights. CEDAW The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of

Discrimination Against Women. CERD International Convention on the Elimination of all

Forms of Racial Discrimination. CESCR The International Covenant on Economic, Social

and Cultural Rights. CRC The Convention on the Rights of the Child. CSD Central Statistics Department. DoSE Department of State for Education. Fankanta A Mandinka term which literally means �planning

and protection against future unforeseen difficulties�.

ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development. ILO International Labour Organisation.

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Imam The Male prayer leader in the Mosque who leads the recitation of prayer when two or more worshippers are present.

Kabilo It is a Mandinka word referring to an extended

family whose members are usually related by blood and are supportive of each other.

Kafo Literary means �belonging as one�. It is a social

group consisting of people of the same age. Kamanyango fields These are personal plots of rice-cultivated fields

belonging to women and young males, which they control and use as an own-account income-earning activity.

KSMD Kombo Saint Mary District Madrassa Religious classes organised for girls and boys of

the Muslim faith which teach them the essentials of Islam. It can also serve as a form of formal/informal education. Madrassas were established as institutions of higher studies where law, Islamic sciences and philosophy were taught. Initially a part of the mosque and closely linked to it, madrassas later emerged as separate institutions. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, madrassas specialised in law and jurisprudence. It was only after the introduction of western education under colonial rule; that their curriculum underwent a change (source: Suba Chandran, Research Officer, IPCS, �Madrassas: A brief overview� Article No.314 2000).

Maruo fields Compound or family cleared fields or land. Mbindane Wollof word for housemaid. MWC Convention on the Protection of all Migrant

Workers.

NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations. OAU The Organisation of African Unity. Osusu A traditional credit and savings scheme. Qur�an It is the Muslims� holy book and is the principal

source of Islamic law, the Sharia.

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Sharia Sharia or Islamic Jurisprudence (Law) is the law of Islam, based mainly on the verses of the Qur�an and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (the Sunna), parallel traditions and works of Muslim scholars in the two first centuries of Islam. However, the consensus of opinions and interpretations of religious scholars is considered a secondary source of Sharia. The Sharia contains the rules by which a Muslim society is organized and governed, and it provides the means to resolve conflicts among individuals and perhaps between the individual and the state.

Toubab A Wollof word for a Caucasian or �white� person. UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights. UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organisation. UNICEF United Nations Children�s Fund.

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Abstract

This study emanated from the assumption that in most parts of rural Gambia, women and the girl-child are overworked and that the status quo is informed by tradition and culture where unequal gender relations persist and are acceptable. Using a human rights based approach, this work examines international and regional Conventions/Charters, the Gambian Constitution and national legislations and determines the extent to which women�s rights have been promoted or jeopardised. To determine the present human rights situation of women and the girl-child, a field study research was carried out in some rural and urban areas. Interviews were conducted with women, girls and men; school pupils, teachers and headmasters were also among those interviewed. This study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one gives a general introduction of the work, the purpose of the study, enumerates the assumptions that informed this particular study, its characterisation where reasons are given for choosing the rural Gambia as the case study, and makes a distinction between the girl-child, wives and mothers. The different research methods used in this study are also highlighted. Chapter two discusses the legal basis for the protection of the human rights of women and the girl-child and gives an overview of the available legal framework, including international and regional Conventions which The Gambia has duly ratified. The following applicable Conventions and Charters are discussed in detail; the ILO; the CRC, CEDAW, the African Charter on Human and Peoples� Rights, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The 1997 Constitution of The Gambia, guaranteeing the equality of all persons before the law, is also accessed in line with The Gambia�s obligations under the varied Conventions. Also, reference is made to the Gambian National Legislation, the Criminal Code, the Labour Act and the Married Women�s Property Act, which are particularly relevant to this study. Chapter three discusses the Gambian context and gives an overall though general knowledge about the rural society. It focuses on rural Gambian dwellers, gender roles in the agricultural sector, and the control of resources/women�s financial autonomy in the light of how funds realised by women from the sale of farm produce are disbursed. Chapter four focuses on overworked wives and mothers and discusses, at length, their daily duties. Based on the fieldwork experience, women�s duties are as numerous as they are arduous and include: household chores, fetching water and firewood, load carrying, farming, child bearing, rearing and other marital/sexual obligations, fulfilling the needs of the extended family, taking care of sick and elderly family members, raising and tending domestic livestock, among others. Because the general complaint against rural men is that they are lazy, this Chapter discusses what men�s roles are in rural Gambia. It compares these roles with those of women and concludes that women are the hardest worked. The effects of overwork on women and the causes of overwork were also explored. Chapter five focuses exclusively on the girl-child and highlights on available human rights Conventions/Treaties vis-à-vis existing and dominant cultural values. It notes that in the Gambian society, the phenomenon of gender manifests greatly with the birth of a

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child with the fate of the girl-child sealed from the day of her birth. The duties of the girl-child are also briefly discussed. Child labour in The Gambia under domestic employment and the various legal protections available to the girl-child under the Conventions and the Gambian Constitution are elaborately discussed. Furthermore, the importance of girls� education in eliminating child labour is discussed and the Enrolment/Retention Rates of girls in Schools based on fieldwork results, challenges faced by the government in implementing free and compulsory education are highlighted. Finally, a conclusion, envisaging a transformation process, is provided at the end. The government is urged to translate the obligations under the Conventions into reality, as signatures alone do not suffice. Lacunae in the laws are pointed out and recommendations are made for an amendment or a repeal of some laws. It is further recommended that the following key actors be co-opted into the transformation process: women, government, law reform commission, NGOs, Donor agencies and the civil society.

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND The dilemma of overwork whether in the labour market or within the household has been an issue for quite a while and applies worldwide. Clearly, overworking is not a problem unique only to the formal sector which is characterised by employment at a wage or salary with laws regulating employment contracts and working conditions, but instead is also becoming a serious concern in the informal sector where economically active people work on their own account without employees but with unpaid family workers. Again, it is also a problem that affects both genders. Women, like men, particularly in the rural areas and poor urban areas, are increasingly exposed to too much work except that women and the girl-child are in a more stressful situation. Various studies, have been carried out on the corporate workers� �world of work� and work-related stress resulting from over-time and overwork. The detrimental effects of these on the health, the social and family life of all workers are largely acknowledged.1 Also, the Time Budget Studies in Africa have highlighted on women�s workload and the effects on their lives, most of which are related to this present study. But at the same time, there is a gap and limitation in regard to the definition of overwork based on legal or human rights standards. While there are various definitions on other subjects of violence, trafficking, reproductive health/rights, child labour, refugees, street children, and others, there is no known definition of �overwork� apart from the general knowledge revealing that various people are affected by overwork. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women are substantial contributors to the world of work with their efforts being out of proportion with their counterparts in other parts of the world. Much of women�s work is unpaid, whether in agricultural production, domestic work related to social production, or informal sector activities. But because the bulk of women�s work falls within the zone of poor visibility or invisibility, it is difficult to easily define what their work is and the extent to which they are overworked. A lot of things may be responsible for this: either because the kinds of work performed by women are either not assigned any economic value at all or are less valued than work performed by men. According to the United Nations Human Development Report, �Women�s work is greatly undervalued in economic terms.�2 Over the last 25 years, efforts made on women�s fuller participation in life and development have been geared partially towards the legal and political rights of women to vote, to hold office, to work and to inherit. These partial approaches create a special dilemma for females in the society because their responsibilities are rather complex3. The female role is at least a double one: women have the primary charge for reproduction and the care of their offspring, � At the same time, in most of the developing world, and 1 See for instance, �Cultural Mediation of Work-Related Stress: Japan and the United States� by Morioka, Rika available on http://www.yale.edu/scr/morioka.doc. 2 United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 1995, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, p.87. 3 Howson, Christopher P. et al, �In Her Lifetime: Female Morbidity and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa�. Institute of Medicine. National Academy Press. Washington, DC. 1996, pp.1-2.

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increasingly in the developed world, women play a major role in the production of goods and services.4 Women�s resultant overwork has been well quantified as excessive in terms of both duration and intensity.5 Unfortunately, the expansion of women�s workload beyond the domestic sector has served to shift the burden of family labour (domestic burden and farm work) to the younger female children, and consequently intensified child labour. The issue of women, work and overwork can be discussed along a historical context. These issues are the product of the patriarchal6 social system in much of Sub-Saharan Africa that has existed from time immemorial and has been maintained. To date, the division of labour within the family in much of Africa remains structured according to gender, with women cumbered with widely diverse economic and household responsibilities. The product of patriarchal relations meant and still means that women�s agricultural needs are put in second place and made complicated by the unreasonable male expectations of work from women. In most societies, the difference between men and women is not only or even primarily on biological nature but based on what culture, tradition and perhaps some religious practices may have dictated. Often, in societies characterised by a patriarchal and patrilineal social system, beliefs, norms and social institutions may legitimise and therefore perpetuate unequal treatment against women. Because The Gambia is still a very traditional society closely in touch with its age-old practices, culture and at times religion, are usually invoked to rationalise the male dominated values of the patriarchal system while belief systems are reinforced to project the inferiority of women. It is not out of place, therefore, to find that a majority of Gambian women have inherited the concept of different treatments and status for the sexes. And for the average rural woman, her meagre knowledge of equal opportunities to both men and women is fused with traditional practices of male superiority. In The Gambia, women are in the majority and precisely constitute 51% of the Gambian population,7 and contribute immensely to household income and chores. In spite of this, women are still marginalized and confronted with gender inequalities in the society because of existing cultural prejudices towards women and the stereotyping of roles based on gender. The disparities in the progressive realisation of economic and social rights between the men and women are still widespread. The Human Development Report 1994 concludes, after adjusting its human development index for gender disparity, that �(a)ll countries treat women worse than men � but some countries do (so) less badly than others.8 Gender disparity has been perceived in different ways but overall, it affects human behaviour in a given society. According to Campbell, �gender (or sex) discrimination occurs when gender specification is used to disfavour gender groups (direct gender discrimination), or when overtly gender neutral criteria are used to effect allocations which disproportionately disadvantage a gender group (indirect 4 Ibid., at p.2. 5 Howson, Supra, note 3 at p.196. 6 Patriarchy is a social system in which the father is the head of the family and men have authority over women and children or it could be described as a family, community, or society based on this system or governed by men. Source: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entries/51/p0115100.html. 7 Master Plan of Operations 1999-2000 The Gambia, p.7. 8 UNITED NATIONS DEVLOPMENT PROGRAMME, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1994, p. 97.

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gender discrimination), and such disfavour or disadvantage is inexplicable in terms of prejudice or bigoted disvaluing of gender in question�Clearly discriminatory treatment can apply to any gender group: male, female��9 Campbell, however, notes that gender discrimination is overwhelmingly against women, and that men, given their dominant role in the society, have exploited this imbalance to the prejudice of women.10 While elaborating further on the issue of discrimination, the United Nations Human Development Report 1995 provided, inter alia, that �gender inequalities breach women�s fundamental human rights and are costly to the nations that ignore them. Communities that deny half their people equal opportunity to fulfil their economic and creative potential place impossible constraints on their prospects of eradicating poverty�.11 But till date, there are some instances where laws in The Gambia do not discriminate against women in theory12 but common practices and tradition still do. Prima facie, the burden of matrimonial responsibility imposed by custom and practice on the rural woman appears to be too heavy and tiresome for her alone to carry while the portion of responsibility assigned to the men of the same community seems to be very light. Primarily, one of the basic assumptions that has survived the test of time is that of creating burdensome roles and tasks meant to be performed only by women and the girl-child. This remains so in the rural setting despite changes in the larger society and the positive change in views about the woman�s place in the society. The overworked women in the rural areas still remain the �unpaid family workers� whose work may not be easily quantified or appreciated. Regrettably, this is an area that has been ignored or downplayed by respective governments more because it is considered cultural and thus acceptable. Again, hitherto, issues concerning women did not always take a prominent place in political manifestoes, perhaps because most politicians considered that what happens to women was not a matter to preoccupy them. However, in the present human rights documents, there exist a number of international and regional human rights Conventions favouring the advancement of women and the girl-child and focusing on the centrality of gender equality. These were inspired by the need to protect the fundamental human rights and inherent dignity of all members of the human family. In particular, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women recognises the peculiar problems faced by rural women and the girl-child and addresses these special needs under its Article 14. States Parties are therefore obliged to take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the rural areas. In a bid to address the plight of women and as part of good governance, the government of The Gambia has taken several steps in ratifying a number of Conventions, which will be discussed in detail subsequently. Again, the establishment of a National Women�s Council and Bureau was borne out of a need to address the plight of women. The institutions are charged with the responsibility of promoting the interest of women who, 9 Campbell, Tom �Sex Discrimination: Mistaking the Relevance of Gender� in Sheila Mclearn and Noreen Burrows, �The Legal Relevance of Gender: Some Aspects of Sex-Based Discrimination� Macmillan Press. 1998, pp.22-23. 10 Ibid. 11 See UNDP 1996/97 Annual Report, UNDP Programme one, United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA, p.10. 12 The inclusion in the 1997 Gambian Constitution of a provision for Equality For All Persons is a good example on this - see Section 17(2).

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until this time, had been disenfranchised and marginalized in almost all spheres of governance. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY In a nutshell, the purpose of this study is to examine which areas the human rights of women and girls have been jeopardised by tradition and custom, the contradictions existing between commitments made by the government of The Gambia with due regard to international and regional Conventions voluntarily ratified, and the reality. This study therefore seeks to arrive at an understanding of how key provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and other relevant international and regional instruments may be applied in the cultural, traditional and customary context of the rural woman and the girl-child. The study will focus primarily on the applicability of these Conventions in light of the close link between the rights and interests of this group of the society and describe, where applicable, the intersections between women�s (including the girl-child) rights, and the difficulties that may arise in the application of the Conventions as a result of these intersections. This is ideal for the purpose of identifying the status of women and the girl-child in the society within the purview of those existing norms and values of culture or tradition. This discourse surrounding overwork signals a beginning of the shift from the societal perception of a woman�s place that encourages women to work longer hours, to a perception that is more critical of this status quo. The study therefore focuses on a problem that women feel but mostly think of as private pain and not as a social problem, provides an overview of overwork in rural Gambia that is exclusive to females, and has greater impact on females than males and some special significance on the human rights situation of females. Taking the problem of overwork as a case study, my study will illuminate on women�s work and the multiple tasks, and investigate how cultural beliefs influence the pattern of overworking and its consequences. In keeping the discourse within certain limits, and drawing on concrete examples and responses from field research, the study also looks critically at the work situation of women and the girl-child based on sex disparity. It is also a step taken in understanding the primary motive behind overwork, which is informed by tradition and culture where unequal gender relations persist and are acceptable. It must be acknowledged here that the decision to focus on the work load of women and the girl-child is in no way intended to minimise the work of men and boys in the same community but will allow us to appreciate better the differences, and work to improve the lives of women and the girl-child in the future. It is true that altering certain traditional attitudes will not be an easy undertaking, but The Gambia is one of those nations that have supposedly accepted the indivisibility of human rights. For this reason, this study will also examine the magnitude of the challenges facing the government in fulfilling its international and regional obligations to ensure that the girl-child enjoys the guaranteed rights to the fullest. In view of this, the right to education with particular reference to international and regional documents will be

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analysed and the shortcomings in terms of household, farm labour being a wrong alternative to girls� education will be examined. To achieve this, the study will give an overview of national efforts made by the government, through the Department of State for Education (DoSE), towards the education of girls, and also assess the success story to date. Finally, the study is also intended to make an impact that will invariably influence the Law Reform Commission in The Gambia to advocate specifically for amendment or repeal of laws or provisions in place which are repugnant to equity and good conscience and in this context, which are promoting or otherwise silent on issues that adversely affect women and the girl-child. STUDY ASSUMPTIONS At the time the Proposal for this study was submitted to the Danish Centre for Human Rights, I had some assumptions about the lives of women in the rural areas. Through mere observations and interviews, I arrived at these assumptions during fieldtrips I made to the rural areas on an evaluation exercise of a women�s project implemented by an NGO and other organised individual visits. Also, many articles in the Gambian newspapers on the plight of women and the girl-child and discussions in NGO forums concerning issues affecting women and their human rights influenced the assumptions. The assumptions are listed as follows:

(i) That in most parts of rural Gambia, women and the girl-child are overworked. Because the society is based on patriarchal structure where tradition and culture dictate the trend, this remains the status quo even in the face of human rights violations.

(ii) That the duties assigned to women and the female children by the society are clearly burdensome and amount to overwork. These duties are as numerous as they are arduous and include, among others, household/domestic chores (sweeping, cooking, washing, cleaning, fetching firewood and water, caring for their children and husbands); farming cultivation (clearing the farmland, planting, weeding and harvesting); going to the market to buy or sell etc.

(iii) Rural women practically bear the entire burdens of the family with little of no cooperation from their husbands or other male members of the family. Rather than help out, most men take time out to engage in leisure life-styles by sitting in the �bantaba� most of the day, drinking �attaya� and smoking.

(iv) Despite women�s workload, they have no economic independence and have very limited access to their financial resources.

(v) The girl-child is also a victim of the societal imbalance as she is made to work at home and in the farms whereas the boys in the same family contribute very little or nothing to the family labour. Again, most families when faced with the choice of sending either a boy or girl to school would automatically send the boy and deny the girl the chance of benefiting from formal education.

(vi) The uneducated girl-child would likely end up as a housemaid in the urban areas �making a living� in order to support her family back home.

(vii) Currently, there are a number of international and regional human rights Conventions/Treaties that protect the rights of women and children and The Gambia is signatory to many of them. Despite this, there exists a gap between theory and what actually prevails in reality.

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CHARACTERISATION (1) Why Rural Gambia? According to the 1996-2001 Travel Document Systems, Inc., more than 80%13 of Gambians live in rural villages and are governed by customary law, although more and more young people come to the capital in search of work, education, and broader horizons. Rural women and the girl-child do face challenges in asserting their basic human rights and quite often, the rights fall into a vacuum without being properly addressed by changing governments. In the rural areas of this small African nation, a majority of the people are farmers (planting rice, millet, groundnut, vegetables etc.) and survival is largely dependent on farming. According to the Situation Analysis of Women and Children carried out by the Gambian Government and UNICEF, September 1998, agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, accounts for 25% of GDP and employs 60% of the households.14 Since farming is the thriving task in the villages, most people, especially the women (including their female children), are usually out of their homes during the day precisely at dawn and only return at dusk.15 All they do is to labour in the farmlands under the scourging sun so they can return home with proceeds that will barely feed the family for that day. On page 26 of the Situation Analysis of Women and Children: The Gambia, it is reported that �the brunt of providing the larger quota of supplementation of the family income is borne by 86.4% of rural women whose work is done throughout the year while the men relax after the harvest�. The situation is made worse during the rainy season usually referred to as the �hungry season�. For rural women in particular, the issue of equality is especially salient because of those existing cultural practices that limit the promotion of gender equality and therefore encroach upon the human rights of women and the girl-child. While we do recognise that every culture contains some norms that are supportive of basic human rights, it is also true that inherent in those same cultures are norms that are problematic or antithetical in relation to human rights laws. For the purpose of this study, we will use what is prevalent in the rural areas to determine how the society has exploited its women. This is deliberate bearing in mind that the urban areas have been seriously, if not totally, influenced by western civilisation right from the colonial era. In effect, we recognise that rural Gambian women are

13 It may be useful, for the purpose of comparison, to contrast this figure with the information available at www.niica.on.ca/Gambia/populate.htm where it is stated that �the population of The Gambia is becoming urbanized; from roughly 23% in 1973 to 37% in 1993. It must however be noted that this definition of urban is slightly different from the UN definition. The UN focuses only on large aggregations of people and would therefore only include Banjul, the Kanifing LGA, and the town of Brikama as urban resulting in an estimate slightly under 30%�. 14 For more details see www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/agl/aglw/aquastat/gambia.htm. 15 During the field trips to the rural areas, it was impossible to find women at home in the morning to interview; I had to the go the farms or gardens to do that. Even in the evening, if there was need to interview any of the women, I had to wait till after 8.00 pm for them to return home from the farms. As an example, when I went to interview a 21-year-old unmarried mother, Khaddy, I was also expecting to interview her middle-aged mother at home. I started the interview with Khaddy at 6.30 pm and finished at 7.45 pm but as at this time, the mother had still not returned from the garden.

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affected by illiteracy,16 ignorance and poverty, which leaves them with little or no choice to make independent decisions. The reverse is the case with most urban women who, commonly, have attained some level of education or awareness and can, to some degree, take care of their daily needs. There is also an added advantage derived over the rural women as a result of their economic independence and exposure to �like-minds�. Focus on Urban Gambia: In comparison with international and regional standards, issues bordering on child labour (in domestic households) will also be addressed while taking into account its detrimental effects on the advancement of the girl-child. What this means is that as this work progresses, the focus will shift from the rural areas to the urban Greater Banjul, Kombo Saint Mary District (KSMD) and Kanifing areas when the issue of child (domestic) labour and the employment of young girls as housemaids (Mbindane17) by urban employers18 will be introduced. The reason for choosing the urban area and therefore diverting the rural content of this study is because it will afford us the unique opportunity to focus on the exploitation of the girl-child employee whose position has a direct link with her family�s values and needs. In the rapidly expanding cities of developing countries, there has been a growing demand for cheap household labour where families in the city either employ the services of a child of a poor relation, kindred, or those of any other young girl to work as a live-in domestic. Presumably, the typical rural woman has no need for a housemaid; in fact, her greatest concern is how to feed her own immediate family and can therefore not afford to take care of and feed an �extra mouth�. Instead, she even feels compelled by circumstances to send her daughter to work as a domestic servant in the urban area with the hope that the latter can support the family with the very paltry income she receives for her services. This is inevitable because the girl-child is usually regarded as an economic burden19 and more so, difficult social and economic conditions compel parents to depend on the child�s labour to augment family incomes. It becomes easy then to establish the link between the prevalence of this practice and the dominant cultural attitudes towards the duties assigned to the female gender, which are not believed to hinder the social development of the child. As a result, the child�s parents fail to realise that young girls face a totally different and difficult life in the cities where their employers overwork them. Unfortunately, there are no Contracts of Employment

16 In The Gambia, generally, women are known to form a greater proportion of the high illiteracy population. As at 1993, illiteracy among women (10 years and above) was as high as 73.1% compared to 45% for men (1993 census) - source: http://www.un.gm/jokkoo98/gender.html. But current figures stand at 76 % nation wide, of which 68% are women and girls (http://www.undp.org/dpa/flash/flashback/1999/may/10my99e.htm). However, according to data available from the Central Statistics Department, more urban than rural Gambians are literate - 42.2% and 32.4 % respectively (CSD 1993 p.8). 17 This is a Wollof word for housemaid. Wollof is one of the languages spoken in the Gambia and some part of neighbouring Senegal. It is widely spoken and may be regarded as the commercial language especially in the urban areas. 18 Usually referred to as �Mistress� in the case of a woman and �Master� for a man. Housemaids in most West African settings frequently use these terms. 19 This misconception particularly explains why most rural parents encourage the practice of early and even forced marriages in order to realise gains that may accrue from the child�s bride price and bridal wealth.

22

for unskilled labour and therefore there is clearly no protection whatsoever for the domestic girl-child even under the existing Gambian Labour Act. (2) Distinguishing the Girl-child from Wives and Mothers The distinction made between the girl-child, wives and mothers is meant to show the different stages in the life of a female, and what is being required of her by tradition and culture. The stages seek to draw a distinction between the different roles each female member of the society is supposed to play if she is to be accepted as part of that communal society. Women�s tasks, responsibilities and expected performance differ a lot from one group of women to the other, but also within the same community differences that exist between different groups of women are considerable. One of the decisive aspects still is the distinction between mothers and women without children. Whereas women without children may have less work to do as they have only themselves, their spouses and perhaps relations to take care of, women who are also mothers especially with smaller children may have to face specific difficulties. The different stages can be described as follows:

- The girl-child20 stage: When the girl-child is still a child and unmarried or in the process of undergoing training for marriage.21

- The wife stage:22 As soon as a girl-child becomes a wife, then irrespective of her age, she is expected to respond and handle different sets of roles to tally with her

20 In discussing the girl-child subject, due attempt will be made to define who a �child� is under the various laws in force in The Gambia. Basically, the definition varies with the subject matter of the Legislation. For instance, under Section 2 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963 (Cap. 45) Laws of The Gambia, a �child� means a person under the age of fourteen years, while a �young person� means a person who has attained the age of fourteen years and is under the age of seventeen years. On the other hand, the Criminal Code (Cap. 10) Laws of The Gambia 1990 defines a child as �a person below 14 years of age� while the Maintenance of Children Act which makes provision for the maintenance of children defines a child as ��a person who is below 21 years old��. Furthermore, the 1997 Constitution of the Second Republic has set the age of majority at 18 years thus indicating a contrast to the other provisions of the varied legislation applicable in The Gambia. 21 Circumcision (more commonly known as Female Genital Mutilation � FGM) is a tool the society uses to teach and emphasise the different social roles expected of each gender. Based on the findings of a recent study, all the major ethnic groups and most of others practice FGM. In fact, 80% of Gambian women and girls practice it. Among the Serahules and Mandinkas, there is a 100% involvement, the Jolas 96%, Fulas 84%, Wollofs 20% and Sereres 64%. The only groups that do not practice FGM are the Lebanese, Creoles and the Manjagos who consider the practice as a taboo. See Daffeh, Jarai, Dumbuya, Sherrif, Gaye, Adelaide �Listening to the Voice of the People, A Situational Analysis of Female Genital Mutilation in The Gambia.� A study commissioned by the United Nations Agencies, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, 1999, p. 9. It is at these ceremonies that young girls are taught �how to behave as women� to fit into the role expected of them as the society�s future wives and mothers. In many cultures, girls are taught at an early age to be silent, passive and accepting. The Harvard Project on Women�s Psychology has charted stages in girls� development. By the age of 10, girls begin to shape themselves into the �Perfect Girl,� a collective image of the attributes they see being rewarded by parents and teachers being ladylike, quiet, obedient, good in school, and always nice and pleasant (Ms. Foundation for Women Report, citing Lyn Brown, �Narratives of Relationship: The Development of the Care Voice in Girls Age 7-16� Ph.D. diss., Harvard, 1989; eds. Gilligan, C., A. Rogers, and D. Jolman, Women, Girls and Psychotherapy: Reframing Resistance, New York: Hayworth Press, 1991). 22 In the rural areas, there is no restriction on the age of marriage for young girls, therefore, it is common to see many young wives. In fact, the choice to marry varies considerably from one family to another and the importance attached to marriage in this society makes it imperative for some parents to be in support of early/child or even forced marriage. However, the aforementioned classification by the Statutes on who a child or young person is (Ibid. see supra note 18) makes it difficult to ascertain the age bracket wherein a

23

new status. It may be necessary to distinguish between a wife and a mother, as it must be understood that not every wife may necessarily become a mother and the unfortunate incident of infertility may render the desire to become a mother unrealisable.

- The motherhood stage: A married woman who has children is saddled with entirely different and often more cumbersome tasks. These tasks would be distributed evenly to cater for the needs of her husband, those of her children and the extended family members.

RESEARCH METHOD This study draws on theoretical research methodology along with the voices of women and men from the Mandinka, Wollof, Fula and Jola ethnic groups of The Gambia. Over 70 women, 16 girl-children, 15 young unmarried women, 12 boys and 24 men in the urban and rural areas were interviewed over a period of two months where they discussed their work, families and communities. Many did so individually, and others in focus groups in conversation with others. The aim was to enable me verify and ascertain what applies in reality. Two data collection tools, primary and secondary sources, were used based on calculus of time, cost effectiveness and the nature of the questions to be asked. First, a literature review of relevant reports, papers, Policy documents (The Education Policy 1998-2003 and the National Policy on the Advancement of Gambian Women) and records, textbooks and publications on gender issues and equality was fully utilised. Also, oral information on historical timelines of customary law practices was locally generated from interviewees. Information gathering depended on observations, questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions. However, because of time constraint, limited resources and communication gap, questionnaires were administered sparingly and only to a small sample size. The other data collection methods were preferred because I could effectively administer them orally (through interpreters) and since most of my respondents were illiterates, it was more cumbersome to use questionnaires. Issues bordering on gender hierarchies, power structure, assigned gender roles in the rural setting, relationships between women and men were merely observed. I observed women as they interacted with their husbands, male children and other males in the society, which helped in identifying social structures and practices that control and affect

young woman would be deemed to have entered into an early marriage. In The Gambia, there is no minimum age for marriage; Section 27 (1) of the 1997 Constitution merely states that men and women of full age and capacity shall have the right to marry and form a family. Also, the Matrimonial Causes Act is silent on the minimum age of marriage but renders a marriage void where the parties are not of marriageable age. Nevertheless, for the purpose of the Civil Marriage Act (Sec. 7 (b)) and the Christian Marriage Act (Sec. 11), it would appear that the marriageable age is twenty-one years. So long as both parties to a marriage have attained the age of majority (i.e. twenty-one), parental consent is not sought but where one of the parties is below this age, parental consent must be given. It follows therefore that until a child attains the age of twenty-one, he/she is under some disability in law regarding marriage contracts. On the face value, the statutory law does not seem to favour early/child marriage but based on what is obtainable, this provision appears to have only a theoretical application quite distinct from practice and reality.

24

the behaviour and attitudes of women. Data based on observations were combined with follow up interviews with various interviewees from the communities. During the fieldwork, I relied more on interviews than any of the other methods. The reason was because, generally, interviews are used when a researcher wants to fully understand someone�s impressions or experiences, or learn more about their answers to questionnaires. With the help of male and female interpreters who spoke the local languages, structured, semi-structured and personal interviews were conducted with married women and mothers, young unmarried women, men, and girls. But on request, most names of interviewees have been changed for the purpose of protecting their individual identities. Because structured interview uses fixed questions and is inflexible, there was preference for semi-structured interviews. In adopting the semi-structured interview approach, I ensured that interviews, though partially structured with a written guide, were flexible but focused. I chose to prepare in advance a minimum number of questions (between 10-15), which conveyed the focus of the interview, allowed for conversational flexibility, and enabled both the interviewees and myself to become very familiar with the subject or problem area. Other questions were created during interviews, and spontaneously generated in the natural flow of interaction allowing both parties the flexibility to probe for details or discuss issues. In addition, personal in-depth interviews were held with a limited sample example, a few Headmasters of Lower Basic Schools, teachers of both Lower Basic and Senior Secondary Schools and a Vice Principal of a Senior Secondary School. With this sample, questions were asked while I listened to and recorded the answers. Additional questions were also posed to clarify or expand on a particular issue. Generally, questions were open-ended and respondents were encouraged to express their own perceptions in their own words. The main aim was to help me understand their views on the subject of girl�s education, their terminologies and judgments. Finally, a few focus group discussions, varying from 6 to 10 people at a time, were held with women-only and men-only groups. The discussions proved to be quite useful and afforded me the opportunity of exploring divers topics, watching reactions to an experience or suggestion and understanding common complaints. I was also able to learn about opinions and attitudes while recording group members� interactions. In this study, reference will be made to the actual words and behaviours of the participants during the meetings. It is interesting to also share my fieldwork experience at this juncture. Contrary to my earlier assumptions that rural women were complacent about their rights, accepting their lowly status as if there were no remedy, I met many women during the fieldwork who are increasingly becoming aware of the need to change the status quo and are indeed ready for the change. Women were eager to talk about their work and lives, children, husbands, the communities. In several places, so many women volunteered to participate, such that very large or extra focus groups and interviews were held. For these women, there was an eagerness to share their stories, experiences, aspirations and even fears. In fact, I particularly observed that even when the interpreter was a male, the female interviewees seemed relax and at ease, giving all types of information without undue inhibitions that is common among rural dwellers. They told it all which was somewhat strange though welcomed. Again, on

25

many occasions, when the interviewing process was going on with some other woman/women, a lot of them requested, through my interpreters, that they be interviewed also. At those points, most women agreed that they were fed up with their insignificant �second role� position under the present societal disposition.

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Chapter 2

LEGAL FRAMEWORK: LEGAL BASIS FOR THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN & THE GIRL-CHILD�S RIGHTS

The phrase �human rights� has become a catch phrase over the last century, precisely during the World War Two and after the foundation of the United Nations in 1945. Human rights, as tools of dignity and equality, are those rights which are inherent in our nature and are benefits to which people are entitled by virtue of being human. They are rights belonging to all human beings at all times irrespective of sex, race, colour, religion, or language. Though history points to the fact that the concept of human rights are not new and can be traced to most of the world�s religions and philosophies, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948, goes further than traditional categories of human rights contained in various constitutional laws of the 18th, 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The UDHR declaration deals not only with civil and political rights but also with economic, social and cultural rights and states in its Article 1 that �all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and right�. To date, there are many existing international and regional human rights instruments or Conventions that seek to protect the fundamental human rights of individuals either globally or at the regional levels. Many States or Countries have, on their part, endorsed these Conventions at different stages to further the cause of equality. Often times, getting states to become parties to Conventions (or Charters) by appending signatures may not be too difficult a task. The testing period for the States Parties is usually during the ratification and implementation stages where generally, the implementation of international Conventions in the national laws of member states faces some challenges. It is only then that the widening gap between theories, as opposed to what applies in practice (reality), becomes visible. Beyond the mere acts of States� ratifications, there are many experiences in various countries to prove that one must always go beyond the formal ratification to determine the real commitment of States to the human rights of its citizens. Apart from all the general human rights Conventions available, more specifically, discussions in this chapter will be limited to those international and regional Conventions which The Gambia is signatory to. These Conventions would subsequently form the basis for the analysis of the human rights situation of The Gambia, the national laws in place that promote and distinctly guarantee rights enshrined in these Conventions and their implications for the rights of women and the girl-child. AN OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS RATIFIED BY THE GAMBIA International human rights instruments and Conventions are generally treaties dealing with human rights issues ranging from, social, political to cultural issues and are binding on States Parties to provide political support and the enabling environment for their implementation. On the international perspective, the fundamental Conventions of human rights are: Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD); Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of

28

Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); Convention on the protection of all Migrant Workers (MWC); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR); Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (OPT); Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (OPT2).23 All, except 2 (the MWC and OPT2), of these fundamental Conventions have been ratified by The Gambia. The Gambia, formerly a British colony, was admitted as a member of the United Nations (UN) on 21 September 196524 after gaining independence from the United Kingdom on February 18 1965. Like most other democratic countries, she has been quick to ratify international Conventions although appropriate mechanisms are yet to be put in place to ensure maximum/full compliance. Below is a representation of its current signatory or ratification status with regards to the Conventions:

23 See the UNHCHR homepage at www.transnationale.org/anglais/pays/unhchr.htm with more results at www.transnationale.org. 24 This makes The Gambia, presently, one of the total number of 189 member states of the United Nations; Source: UN Press Release ORG/1317 (26 September 2000).

29

Name of International Convention.

Date of

Accession/Ratification25 by The Gambia.

Reservations made by The Gambia or Other

Comments.

1966 International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).

29 December 1978

Nil

1966 International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights (CCPR).26

Accession 22 March 1979

Reservation to Article 14

(3)(d))27 1966 International Convention on the

Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.

29 December 1978

Nil

1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of

Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

First signed on 29 July 1980 and subsequently ratified on

16 April 199328

Nil

1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment (CAT).

23 October 1985

Nil

1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child

(CRC).29

Ratified on 8 August 199030 Nil

25 Accession is essentially just another word for ratification, except that it is not preceded by any act of signature; it has exactly the same effect (s) as ratification. 26 In relation to the Optional Protocols to the CCPR, OP1 was acceded to on 9 June 1988 whereas OP2 is yet to be acceded to or ratified. 27 This section of the Convention states that; �in the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality: to be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of his right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interest of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it.� In registering its reservation to this section, the government of The Gambia declares thus: �For financial reasons, free legal assistance for accused persons is limited in our Constitution to persons charged with capital offences only. The Government of The Gambia therefore wishes to enter a reservation in respect of Article 14 (3) (d) of the Covenant in question.� 28 There is a marked difference between signature and ratification or accession. On the one hand, signature constitutes a preliminary and general endorsement of the Convention by the country in question and is not a legally binding step; rather it is an indication that the country intends to undertake a careful examination of the Treaty or Convention in good faith to determine its position towards it. On the other hand, ratification or accession both have exactly the same effect and signify an agreement to be legally bound by the terms of the Convention. Most commonly, a country in favour of a Convention signs shortly after it has been adopted and follows up with ratification when all the procedures required by domestic laws have been fulfilled. 29 There are two Optional Protocols to the CRC namely CRC-OP-AC (Armed Conflict) and CRC-OP-SC (Sale of Children). These were signed simultaneously on 21 December 2000 by The Gambia without any reservations.

30

In discussing international Conventions, and bearing in mind that The Gambia is also an ILO member country,31 there is need to briefly mention the ILO and its role in protecting the child from economic exploitation. The ILO is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. ILO is therefore the main body that works to define and seek enforcement of international labour standards. The ILO Governing Body has identified eight (8) ILO Conventions32 as being fundamental to the rights of human beings at work, irrespective of levels of development of individual member States. These rights are a precondition for all the others in that they provide for the necessary implements to strive freely for the improvement of individual and collective conditions of work. APPLICABLE INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS It will be a futile exercise to attempt to discuss all the Conventions mentioned so far. In order to determine what legal obligations are involved in the process of ratification and for the purpose of this study, it is pertinent to discuss the following Conventions ratified by The Gambia. (1) ILO Conventions Among all the ILO Conventions, those of utmost relevance to this work are the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138) and Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). Convention No.138 was adopted by the ILO on 26 June 1973 but came into force on 19 June 1976. It establishes 15 years as the age when children can start to work but allows for exceptions, setting a minimum age of 14 for countries �whose economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed.� The Gambia only ratified this Convention on the 4th of September 2000 and in so doing, specified the minimum age to be 14 years in compliance with Article 1 which obliges members to �raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons�.

30 The CRC underwent many procedures. It was first adopted by The Gambia on 20 November 1989, signed on 5 February 1990 and subsequently ratified on the 8th of August without reservations. It is also instructive to mention that The Gambia was among 191 member countries that ratified this Convention. To date only 2 countries have not yet ratified the CRC: the United Sates of America, which has signalled its intention to ratify by formally signing the Convention, now stands as the only industrialised country in the world and one of only two United Nations member States yet to make this legal commitment to children. The other country is Somalia, which is presently without a recognised government. 31 The ILO presently has 175 member states; and The Gambia became a member in 1995. 32 These are, Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29); Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87); The Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98); Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No.100); Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105); Discrimination (employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111); Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138); Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). All the Conventions, except one (Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention No.182 which was ratified on 3 July 2001) were ratified by The Gambia same day, 4 September 2000. Therefore, as at 29 November 2001, The Gambia was one of 65 countries that have ratified the so-called fundamental conventions of the ILO. In compliance with Article 1 of Convention No. 138 which states that, �Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes to pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons�, the minimum age of 14 years was duly specified by The Gambia.

31

Convention No. 182 was adopted on 17 June 1999 but came into force on 19 November 2000. It became relevant to do so considering the need to adopt new instruments for the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, as the main priority for national and international action, including international cooperation and assistance, to complement the Convention and the Recommendation concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1973, which remain fundamental instruments on child labour.33 According to Article 2 of the Convention, the term �child� shall apply to all persons under the age of 18. Members ratifying the Convention are mandated, as a matter of urgency, to �take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour� (see Article 1). The necessary actions range from a reform of laws and their enforcement, to practical and direct help to children and their families.34 Furthermore, under Article 7 (2), States Parties, in taking into account the importance of education in eliminating child labour, are enjoined to take �effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour.� Article 7(2 (e)) also requires that members �take account of the special situation of girls�. (2) The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) The CRC, adopted by the United Nations on 20 November 1989, is the most widely ratified international Convention so far in history with 191 countries, except the United States of America and Somalia, becoming States Parties to it as at October 1999. This Convention is unique in the sense that it is the first legally binding international instrument to combine and incorporate the full range of human rights (civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights) in one document. Two optional protocols, on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, were adopted to strengthen the provisions of the Convention in these areas. This Convention, built on varied legal systems and cultural traditions, spells out the basic human rights to which children everywhere - without discrimination - are entitled: the right to survival; the right to the development of their full physical and mental potential; the right to protection from influences that are harmful to their development, abuse and exploitation; and the right to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. In protecting the aforementioned rights, the CRC sets minimum standards that governments must meet in providing health care, education, legal and social services to children in their countries. These standards are benchmarks against which progress can be assessed. In general terms, when countries ratify the Convention, they are unconditionally agreeing to (except where a reservation is made) review their laws relating to children. This may necessarily involve the assessment of their social services, legal, health and educational systems, as well as levels of funding for these services. Governments are then obliged to take all necessary steps to ensure that the minimum standards set by the Convention in these areas are being met. In some instances, this may involve changing existing laws or creating new ones. Such legislative changes are not imposed from the outside, but come about through the same process by which any law is created or reformed within a country. 33 See www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/ratification/convention/text.htm. 34 www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/about/factsheet/facts23.htm.

32

The CRC focuses on children below age 18 years by defining a �child� in its Article 1 to mean, �every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.� It is therefore the main international instrument that deals specifically with children�s rights. In Article 2, States Parties to the Convention are urged to take appropriate measures to ensure that �the child� is protected against all forms of discrimination. This indicates that the rights recognised by the Convention must be guaranteed to both boys and girls without discrimination of any kind. The CRC also specifically addresses the growing problem of child labour around the world. Article 32 (1) therefore provides for �the protection of the child from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child�s education, or to be harmful to the child�s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development�, while Article 31 (1) recognises the right of the child to �rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.� The mere act of ratifying the CRC presupposes that the Republic of The Gambia is obligated to harmonise existing laws with the CRC for the sole protection of the child, and is bound by the provisions of this Convention.

(3) The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) This Convention was adopted by the United Nations in 1979 and entered into force on September 3, 1981. The UN called on all countries to end discrimination against women in politics, law, employment, education, health care, commercial transactions and domestic relations. Women�s rights issues are mainly embodied in the CEDAW which is clear about States� obligations to protect the rights of women on an equal basis with men and requests that parties �embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their National Constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein�.35 This, in itself, focuses on and addresses gender-based discrimination while urging State Parties to provide political support and an enabling environment for the implementation of the provisions. Parties must show political commitment through national/municipal legislation and other means to ensure that women enjoy full human rights and fundamental freedoms at par with men. Women�s rights are human rights and thus, their violations necessarily constitute violations of the principles of equality of rights and respect of persons. In the Preamble of the CEDAW Convention, States Parties agree that the �full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields� and also that �a change in the traditional role of men as well as the role of women in society and in the family is needed to achieve full equality between men and women.�

States parties are required to provide equal access to education, non-discrimination in employment and earnings, job security during marriage and maternity, supportive social services to support women�s reproductive and productive roles, equal responsibility with

35 See Article 2 (a) of CEDAW.

33

men for family life and care, equal access to women-centred health programmes and family planning, equal legal representation, integration of the rural women in the development process, eradication of traditional practices that are harmful to women, freedom of choice of marriage and the right to marry and found a family.36 The most striking aspect of this Convention is that it condemns discrimination against women in all its forms and advocates more on the promotion of equal opportunities in all spheres of the development process. To this end, Article 4 recognises that the �adoption by States Parties of temporary measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention �� CEDAW also lays out how it can be achieved.

Article 2 reaffirms and concisely expresses the commitment of States Parties to �condemn discrimination against women in all forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women�� In order to achieve this, members are further committed under Article 3, �to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.� Article 5(a) of CEDAW enjoins States Parties to �take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women�. Article 10 of CEDAW specifically provides that women shall not be discriminated against and shall have equal opportunities as men in the field of education. Furthermore, Article 14 (1) of the CEDAW states that, �States Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by rural women and the significant roles which rural women play in the economic survival of their families, including their work in non-monetized sectors of the economy, and shall take appropriate measures to ensure the application of the provisions of this Convention to women in rural areas�. Subsection 2 enjoins that Nation States �shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development�� Finally, Article 16 provides that States Parties must take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations including ensuring, on the basis of equality of men and women, the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and the same rights and responsibility as parents. In particular, under subsections (a) and (b) States Parties are required to ensure that men and women have the same rights to enter into marriage and to freely choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent.37

36 The Gambia Human Development Report 2000, Promoting Good Governance for Human Development and Poverty Eradication (P.25 UN SYSTEM/GOTG) available at www.un.gm/documents/nhdr/nhdr3.pdf. 37 In response to this provision, the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia has made provisions to tally with these CEDAW requirements. Under Section 27, men and women of full age and capacity shall have the right to marry and form a family and marriage shall be based on the free and full consent of the intending parties.

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EVALUATING THE GAMBIA�S PROGRESS IN MEETING THE INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS With all the above ILO, CEDAW and CRC provisions, the question then is; has there been much improvement in the status of women and the girl-child in The Gambia? With specific regards to the ILO and the CRC, thus far, the 1997 Gambian Constitution incorporates the concept of these Conventions and makes adequate provisions to legalise the protection of children from discrimination and economic exploitation/child labour. These Constitutional protections, the role of the government and the present position will be discussed in detail in Chapter 4 of this study, which deals with the human rights of the Girl-Child. In keeping with the spirit of Article 2 of the CEDAW Convention on discrimination against women, Chapter IV of the 1997 Constitution deals with protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms. In particular, Section 17(2) states, inter alia, that �every person in The Gambia, whatever his or her race, colour, gender, language, religion, political and other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, shall be entitled to the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual contained in this chapter, but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest�. Most significantly, Section 28 of the same Constitution deals with the rights of women exclusively. It states explicitly as follows:

�(1) Women shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the person with men. (2) Women shall have the right to equal treatment with men, including equal

opportunities in political, economic and social activities.� No doubt, these Constitutional provisions, in principle, offer women some measure of relief, more so because they are drafted in concise and unambiguous language. Section 28 in particular is commendable and unique in the sense that it is about the only of such which addresses women�s issues categorically. However, when assessing the situation on a broader perspective, the answer seems to be a �no� because despite the fact that CEDAW has been in force in The Gambia for an unmistakable period of 9 years, women, especially those in the rural Gambia, are yet to take full control of their destiny. There still exists in some laws, various customs and culture, gaps of inequality and deprivation between men and women, and provisions that are unclear about the illegality of such inequality. Again, The Gambia has not put into place effective measures that would enable it fulfil its legal obligation as a State party to the Convention.38

38 See for instance Section 7 paragraph (e) of the 1997 Constitution which states that, �in addition to the Constitution, the laws of The Gambia consist of customary law so far as it concerns members of the community to which it applies�. This provision serves as a constraint in the realisation of some rights as it recognises the application of customary law without any modification. Also, we do know that despite the provisions of Section 27 of the Constitution on free consent to marry at full age and capacity (Ibid.), there still exist customary practices that endorse early and at times, forced marriages. Early marriage is a very common occurrence in The Gambia. The mean age of women at first marriage was 19.5 in 1993 (UNDP 1997, 71), 19.1 years in the urban areas and 16.8 in the rural areas (UNDP 1997, 44). To corroborate this result, the 1993 Gambian census recorded that nearly one-third of girls aged 13-19 had been married (rural

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In The Gambia, nowhere in the rural areas are women and men given the same customary rights and responsibilities in marriage neither are they given the same as parents.39 In the alternative, more often than not, women alone are responsible for their children�s welfare (feeding and clothing and at times, schooling) while the men have the headship and right under tradition to rule over the children and their mothers as they wish. This is a sharp contrast to the CEDAW provision that requires its members to recognise the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children40 and �to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women�.41 This realisation indicates that there is still a prevailing need for the government of this nation to incorporate all of the CEDAW International laws at all levels, legislative42 and in practice. In addressing this, it may become imperative to fill in gender gaps, if any, in existing laws, and bring national Statutes in line with all CEDAW provisions. However, in spite of these obvious shortcomings, we must also recognise the efforts the Gambian government has made so far. In response to the inherent obligations under the Conventions, a National Women�s Council and Bureau has been established under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, Social Welfare and Women�s Affairs by an Act of Parliament, The National Women�s Council Act of 1980. The institutions are to provide an institutional framework for the planning and coordination of gender mainstreaming. Furthermore, the launching of the National Policy for the Advancement of Gambian Women (1999-2009) by the Vice President, Mrs Isatou Njie-Saidy on 22 March 2002 43

areas - 35.3% girls and 1.8% boys; urban areas - 21% girls and 1.1% boys) but only 1.6% of the same age group had been married (UNDP 1997, 46). 39 For instance, customarily, men are permitted to be in polygamous marriages and are allowed to marry more than one wife (polygyny). Women are not given such a right and in fact, nowhere in The Gambia has there ever been a record of a woman marrying more than one husband at a time (polyandry). Again, women and men are not given the same rights of divorce. In The Gambia, either party to the marriage is free to initiate divorce proceedings in the Cadi�s court but a woman intending to seek for a divorce must do so with the consent of her husband. Women do not have the exclusive right per se to initiate divorce on their own. The right given to the woman according to the Maliki School of Islamic Jurisprudence is what is known as �Khul� which she must exercise with the permission of her husband. Overall, the procedure for divorce is more favourable to men and is easier for them to be discharged from the obligations of a marriage. With regard to divorce settlement, under the various customary laws existing in The Gambia, upon divorce, the wife is only entitled to her personal property such as clothing, pots and any other item she may have brought into the home at the time of marriage. In fact, whatever she acquired or contributed during the marriage stands to be forfeited. There is also another area where there is a clear distinction between men and women�s rights over their children as parents. In most customs, the custody of the children after divorce goes to the wife provided she still remains unmarried but the husband shall have unlimited access to the children. The wife�s claim to custody is deemed to be broken once she re-marries. 40 See generally Article 5 of the Convention. 41 See Article 2(f). 42 Relating to the enactment of new laws or the repealing of existing ones that are either uncommitted to or unfavourable towards the promotion of the rights of women. 43 This is a policy document developed after the 1995 Beijing�s World Conference on Women, in partial fulfilment of the Platform for Action. The Policy has 18 objectives as follows: (1) To ensure that by the year 2006 all government policies are gender sensitive. (2) To promote women�s equal access to and control of production resources. (3) By the year 2004 knowledge would have increased on the actual and potential role of women in national development and ensure that gender concerns are integrated fully at the levels of development. (4) To strengthen the National Women�s Council and Bureau so as to address the needs and concerns of women. (5) To ensure that women have access to decision-making positions. (6) To

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is a major achievement in the history of The Gambia. The main goals of the Policy consist of improving the quality of life for all Gambians, particularly women, through the elimination of all forms of gender inequality by concrete gender in development measures. It attempts to bridge the gaps in addressing the concerns of women and offers a framework within which Gambian women can move out of inequality and deprivation, towards greater participation in national development process. To some extent, this present government has made appreciable changes in bringing women to the front line of decision making/planning. To start with, the current Vice-President of The Gambia, Mrs. Isatou Njie-Saidy, 44 is a woman and the number of women participating in public decision-making has increased very slowly in The Gambia since 1994. It is truism that in the present democratic regime under His excellency, Alhagie (Dr.) Yahya Jammeh,45 a good number of women are participating in the government of The Gambia and in fact, are supposed to be key players in decision making that affect women and children. Quite a handful of women have held and are still holding high positions in various government parastatals which is indicative of the fact that the present Administration appears to be quite disposed to the empowerment of women by affording them the opportunity to be represented in the affairs of government. Nevertheless, what remains difficult to ascertain is whether the women are just there as stooges or are actually consulted in the decision-making processes of government to enable them pursue women�s rights. The above notwithstanding, there still remains quite a lot to do because many other women have had little or no improvement in their living status. A majority are still being oppressed, exploited and abused as a result of tradition. If anything, the proviso of section 7 (e) of the 1997 Constitution which recognises as law, customary law so far as concerns members of the communities to which it applies worsens matters and ensure an enabling work environment and increase access to training facilities for all categories of female workers. (7) Increase in Budgetary provisions for addressing women�s issues in all government and non-governmental institutions to more appropriately address the women�s issues. (8) To enhance grassroots women�s participation in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the National Women�s Policy. (9) To eliminate all form of discrimination and violence against women and girls. (10) To ensure the participation of women in the promotion of peace. (11) To ensure that at least 90% of girls have access to basic education (Grades 1-9) as a fundamental human right by 2007. (12) To reduce illiteracy among women by 40% by 2007. (13) To improve the quality and to increase access to health care services for women and children by the year 2009 and also reduce infant mortality by 25% by the year 2009. (14) To increase the income earning opportunities and potential of Gambian women. (15) To enhance the capacity of Gambian women in environment and human resource management. (16) To enhance the participation of disabled women and girls in the national socio-economic development process. (17) Promote positive images of women in the media. (18) To enhance the capacity of communications to address gender issues. See information available on http://www.jammeh2001.org/women2.htm for related details. 44 She is also the Secretary of State for Health, Social Welfare & Women�s Affairs. 45 President Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH has been both the head of government and the chief of state since 18 October 1996, while the Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy since 20 March 1997. President Yahya Jammeh, the popular leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) Party was re-elected to office for the next five years in a landslide victory, in the Presidential Elections, which took place on October 18, 2001 after defeating his arch-rival and opposition leader, Lawyer Osainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party/Peoples� Progressive Party (UDP/PPP) coalition, Mr Harmat Bah of the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), Mr Sheriff Dibba of the National Convention Party (NCP) and Mr Siddia Jatta of the Peoples� Democratic Organisation of Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). Jammeh, swept all but five of the forty-eight constituencies nation-wide, polling 53 % (242,302) of the votes ahead of his four rivals while Osainou Darboe (UDP) polled 33 % (149,448) of the votes, Harmat Bah (NRP) polled 7.80 % (35,671), Sheriff Dibba (NCP) polled 3.78 % (17,271) of the votes and Siddia Jatta (PDOIS) polled 3.03 % (7,841) of the votes casted.

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demonstrates the limitations citizens may face in the pursuit of their human rights. In reality, it appears the whole exercise symbolises an uncommitted affair with one provision giving equality unconditionally and another recognising that customary laws46 can deny such equal opportunities. REGIONAL INSTRUMENTS The introduction of African regional human rights instruments, relatively the youngest in the world today, tallies well with the expansion of regional initiatives all over the world. Lindholt in her book, Questioning the Universality of Human Rights, reiterates that, �for the first time, the African states now have a regional general human rights Convention, established by themselves, conferring a legally binding obligation of implementation upon member states��47 In the regional context, there are presently two instruments in place for the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) member States to ratify and agree to be bound by the legal provisions enshrined therein. These are The African Charter on Human and Peoples� Rights and The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The African Charter on Human and Peoples� Rights which creates the African Commission on Human and Peoples� Rights (the body charged with supervising the implementation of the Charter) was adopted by the OAU on 28 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986. It binds its member States to adhere to it and to give effect to it in national law.48 Presently, this Charter has been ratified by 53 African states. This current position makes the Charter the largest regional human rights instruments in terms of state membership considering that there are 54 African countries out of which 53 have ratified. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child is a regional children�s rights instrument adopted by the OAU on 11 July 1990, but subsequently came into force ten years later on 29 November 1999. This Charter considers, as paramount, the well being of the African child and calls for the protection of children from all forms of economic exploitation, and from performing hazardous work, to protect the child against abuse and cultural practices. The Charter also affirms the child�s right to survival and development, a right to freely express opinion, a right to freedom of association, freedom of conscience and religion, the right to education, leisure and cultural activities and the right to enjoy the best available state of physical, mental and spiritual health. 46 It is very difficult to define what customary law is as it differs from one society to another. But generally, they are those customs or traditions rather than written law that are commonly practised or used by a particular group of people or region. There has been no definition of the term in any of the laws of The Gambia. However, the only reference to it is that made under Section 5 (1) of The Law of England (Application) Act 16 of 1953 (Cap. 5) Laws of The Gambia. This merely states that �Nothing in this rule shall deprive the courts of the right to observe and enforce the observance, or shall deprive any person of the benefit, of any customary law existing in The Gambia, such law not being repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience, nor incompatible either directly or by necessary implication with any law for the time being in force.� 47 Lindholt, Lone �Questioning the Universality of Human Rights. The African Charter on Human and Peoples� Rights in Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique�. Ashgate Publishing Company, USA, 1997, p.12. 48 Article 1 of the Charter states that, � The Member States of the Organisation of African Unity parties to the present Charter shall recognise the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in this Chapter and shall undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them.�

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As a member of the OAU, The Gambia ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples� Rights on 8 June 1983 and through its National Assembly, only recently ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child on 14 September 2000 thus becoming the twenty-third member State of the OAU to have ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. This notwithstanding, it is clear that the mere act of ratification of these Charters without the appropriate legal mechanisms is not an end in itself. It is rather, more linked and related to the political will and commitment of States in the implementation stage. Many African countries are yet to establish effective processes of reviewing and reforming their legislation in consonance with the Charter. But there is a continuing commitment on the part of members to respect and uphold the legal rights of the child while taking appropriate measures to ensure that new laws reflect the provisions and principles of the Charter especially those of non-discrimination, participation and best interests of the child for the child�s protection. For the purpose of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, a child has been defined by Article 2 as �every human being below the age of 18 years.� Just like Article 32 (1) of the CRC, Article 15(1) of The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provides for the protection of the child �from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child�s education, or to be harmful to the child�s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development�. THE GAMBIAN CONSTITUTION The current Constitution of The Gambia was adopted in 1970, suspended in July 1994 when the army took over and the reins of government were assumed by the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC), assisted by Cabinet Ministers who were mostly civilians. However, it was revised and adopted by the national referendum in August 1996 and reinstated in January 1997 when a new Republican era was ushered in on 2 January 1997 following Presidential and Parliamentary elections within the framework of a Constitution adopted through a referendum in August 1996. Generally, The Gambia is now a relatively well-established democratic constitutional state where all the fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons are enshrined in the 1997 Constitution of the Second Republic. The present Constitution adopts no official religion, thereby implying that The Gambia is a secular state.49 However, Section 7 identifies Sharia as source of law in matters of personal status and inheritance among members of communities to which it applies. The whole of Section 137 of the Constitution deals with the structure and composition of the Cadi Court. Subsection 4 provides that, �the Cadi Court shall only have jurisdiction to apply Sharia in matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance where the parties or other persons interested are

49 The Gambian legal system is based on a composite of English common law, Qur�anic law, and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations. The judicial system is similar to those found in other countries with common law jurisdiction. There is only one system of courts, which form a hierarchy. The subordinate courts consist of Cadis� courts, district tribunals and magistrate courts. These courts have limited jurisdiction to hear both civil and criminal matters. At the higher level are the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, the latter being the highest court of appeal for The Gambia. Equality under the law is the most significant characteristic of the judicial system.

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Muslims�. Therefore, the Cadi (Muslim judge)50 is vested with jurisdiction to adjudicate on matters falling within these areas. For hearings at first instance, the Cadi court shall compose of a panel consisting of the Cadi and two other scholars of the Sharia qualified to be Cadi or Ulama. It is therefore the Cadi and these scholars who can give interpretations51 in respective matters based on the Sharia laws, which unfortunately are not available for appropriate reference.52 Hitherto, very little attention had been paid to women in the making of laws in The Gambia. At its best, the 1997 Constitution makes a general reference to the fact that all persons are equal. Constitutionally, a woman is deemed to have equal rights with her male counterparts (see Section 33 (1) of the Constitution, which states inter alia and in unequivocal terms that all persons are equal before the law. This also guarantees the rights to freedom from discrimination to �every� citizen). In fact, Chapter IV of the 1997 Constitution deals with protection of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms. But as noted earlier, it is only one section of the Constitution (Section 28) that deals exclusively with the rights of women though it makes no attempt to expatiate on this. This section merely recognises that there shall be equal treatment between women and men. With specific reference to children, Section 29 (2) of the Constitution provides that children under the age of 16 years are entitled to protection from economic exploitation and employment in work that is likely to be hazardous or interfere with their education or be harmful to their health, physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. Despite this provision, there is still a fundamental reality visible from the difficult lives of the rural population and the increasing dependence on child labour within the rural agricultural communities of The Gambia. Apart from the aforementioned, Section 30 of the Constitution also guarantees all persons the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities. In an effort to achieve this laudable task, the Constitution makes basic education free and compulsory whereas secondary, including technical and vocational training, is supposed to be available and equally accessible to all persons in pursuit of higher education or learning. This provision, without doubt, places an obligation on the State to provide free basic education to all boys and girls. In trying to meet up its obligation in the area of education, the state government has laid out, through the Department of State for Education (DoSE), several educational strategies and how to achieve them. The intention is to duly fulfil its Constitutional obligation by providing free education at the basic level and then work out something for the other levels systematically.

50Appointments of Cadis are regulated by section 137 (6) of the Constitution and to so qualify, �a person shall be required to be of high moral standing and professionally qualified in the Sharia in order to be appointed a Cadi or Ulama.� 51 In The Gambia, the usual interpretations on issues of Sharia are those of the Maliki School of Jurisprudence though references are often made to the other Schools. There are four most important Sunni Schools of Islamic thought or jurisprudence namely, Hanafi, Shafi�i, Hanbali and the Maliki schools which were founded by Abu Hanifa, Al-Shafie, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Malik. 52 This has been seriously criticised by a number of women who have complained that past decisions taken on matters that concerned women were highly biased and therefore unfavourable to them. As one of the respondents I interviewed put it, �the whole composition of the Cadi court is made up of men who are usually inclined towards protecting the interest of their male counterparts � how can you expect me to have confidence in such a set up!�

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The ultimate goal of DoSE, as enunciated by the Jomtien Declaration,53 is �education for all�. Conscious of this fact, the Mission Statement of the Department is embodied in the statement, �a Responsive, Relevant and Quality Education for All Gambians�. In realising these, The Education Policy 1998-2003, among other things, provides a nine-year education cycle through the establishment of middle schools as intermediary stages between the primary and the secondary schools. Alongside the general efforts to promote science and technology and nationwide qualitative and quantitative improvements of basic education, an important objective of education is to achieve nine years basic education for every Gambian child with at least 50% transition rate to secondary education. Greater emphasis is to be placed on providing quality education particularly for girls. While it is clear that there is supposed to be free education at the basic level, the reality in The Gambia is that most schools demand from its pupils what is called a �School Fund�, thereby making the reality of free and compulsory education unattainable. THE GAMBIAN NATIONAL LEGISLATION In this dimension, the Criminal Code, the Labour Act and Married Women�s Property Act, which touch on women and the girl-child, appear to be particularly relevant statutes that will be useful to this work. Sections 18, 19, 210, 211, 218 of the Criminal Code (Cap.10) Laws of The Gambia 1990 create offences related to child abuse and neglect. These vary from the duty to take care of a child of tender age, assault, provision of necessities of life, ill treatment, neglect, to the abandonment of a child who is below the age of 14 years. The responsibility to ensure these is given to persons who are 16 years of age and above. The Labour Act of 1990 (Cap 56:01) Laws of The Gambia 1990 as a whole, regulates employment contracts between employers and their employees but in Section 3 of its interpretation act, defines �domestic servant� as �an employee engaged to work wholly or mainly in or around a dwelling house, or the close or cartilage therefore, to render services connected with that place and dwelling house or personally to those residing in that dwelling place.� Section 2 (2(d) & (e)) of the Act limits its application by stating clearly that �the provisions of this Act shall not apply to: (d) employment in and about the dwelling house of any person for the purpose of domestic services and (e) employment of a member of the employer�s household living in the employer�s house.�

53 The goal of �education for all� is based on the principle of inclusive education, where �every person - child, youth and adult - shall be able to benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their basic learning needs. These needs comprise both essential learning tools (literacy, oral expression, numeracy and problem solving) and the basic learning content (such as knowledge, skills, values and attitudes) required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions, and to continue learning.� (World Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs - World Conference on Education for all; Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990). The Gambia Government is a signatory to the Jomtien Declaration on Education For All by 2000, and is fully committed to its attainment.

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Section 2 of the Married Women�s Property Act 1885 (Cap 41: 05) confers on the woman the rights to acquire, hold and dispose of property by will whether it be real or personal in such a manner as if she were a Feme Sole (single woman). These provisions will be discussed and appropriately linked with the rights of women and the girl-child in the subsequent chapters of this study.

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Chapter 3

THE GAMBIA CONTEXT THE GAMBIA ECONOMIC OVERVIEW About 75% of the population depends on crops and livestock for its livelihood. Small-scale manufacturing activity features the processing of peanuts, fish, and hides.54 Despite the limited agricultural base, Gambia�s economy is heavily reliant on agriculture dominated predominantly by export of the country�s major cash crop, groundnuts/peanuts. Nearly 60% of arable land is used for groundnut cultivation, which accounts for 75% of domestic exports. More than 70% of the population is engaged in farming, including livestock raising and groundnut cultivation.55 Apart from peanuts, the other export commodities include peanut products, fish, palm kernels and cotton lint. The importance attached to the growing of groundnuts has increased tremendously since after independence in 1965. The revenue from the single export of this cash crop is almost the only source of foreign exchange available for the country�s survival. The government buys the groundnuts at a fixed price from the producers � the individual farmers � and sells them as exports. Rice, millet (locally known as �couscous�), sorghum,56 corn, sesame,57 cassava (tapioca), beans, vegetables,58 are grown for subsistence and cattle, sheep and goats are raised. Some fishery resources (dried and smoked fish), palm kernels, cotton lint, hides and skins are also exported. Among food crops, rice is by far the most important staple food. It is traditionally cultivated, primarily in the lowlands (whose fertile alluvial soils support rice cultivation) as a subsistence crop. But as a consequence of rapid population growth,59 demand greatly exceeds local production and the country is currently importing large quantities of rice to meet its domestic requirements. RURAL GAMBIAN DWELLERS One of the first things noticeable about most tribal villages is that farming and, in particular, livestock breeding, is integrated into the settlements. Being mostly farmers, majority of food are made from the commonly grown crops of groundnuts, vegetables, millet and cassava which may be served with meat or fish depending on the financial capability of the family.60 Each compound has the semblance of a farm almost always containing a fruit-rearing tree (example baobab, mango, oranges, grape, palm, coconut) that provides fruit during its season and crucial shade for the family members. Usually, most rural dwellers are very busy, carrying out different tasks, but more particularly, it is uncommon to see women idling away. Women and children are seen

54 Source, World Fact Book on http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.htlm 55 Page 10, Situation Analysis of Women and Children in The Gambia. 56 This is a type of millet locally used to make pap/porridge. 57 Sesame is used for �agidi�, oil, animal feed, soap, and cakes. 58 There are different types of vegetables example, fresh tomatoes, bitter tomatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, carrot, pepper, onions, aubergine etc. 59 Estimated 3.14% growth rate in 2001; see The International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) Country Programs web page on www.icdf.org.tw/english/country-africa3.htm. 60 Among the dishes are �Benachin� or �Jollof� rice made with tomato puree and different vegetables; �Chere� a steamed millet flour balls; �Domoda� meat stewed in groundnut puree and served with rice.

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going to or returning from the farms or gardens. Those who are seen in or around the compounds are there to perform specific tasks; breaking groundnuts from the shells, pounding groundnut and rice mixture for the preparation of �turi jatte�, laundering clothes, fetching water at the wells or preparing food for family consumption. Young men are also seen riding donkeys or cows which they use to transport firewood, grass (the Mandinka word is �tiya kolo�),61 groundnut, couscous etc. The inhabitants of rural Gambia are mostly Muslims62 and farmers who continuously struggle for survival first as a family and then as a community.63 The Mandinkas, who originally migrated from Mali at the height of the Mali Empire, are mostly a conservative farming tribe and are the predominant tribe in rural areas where they make up 38% of the population.64 They live within villages in family-related compounds made of mud or concrete with either thatch or tin roofs. The Mandinkas raise their own food and gather some produce from the forest. Peanuts, rice, millet, and sorghum are their main crops. The Fulas are primarily found upcountry as well and make up 22.3% of the rural population, but only 9.8% of the urban population.65 Though originally a nomadic people, today most Fulas also engage in farming as well as business. The Wollofs are more evenly spread among rural and urban areas, but can especially be found near the urban centre of Banjul (comprising 15.2% of the population).66 They are traders, livestock farmers and shipbuilders. The Jolas are a farming tribe, and very skilled in metal works. They are rice farmers and also produce palm wine, palm oil, pigs and other animals. There is something striking and almost common amongst these tribes. Cumulatively, women and young girls work seven days a week from before dawn to after dusk while catering for their often-large families. Because the rural communities are made up of mostly farmers, all the year round, most families work in the fields clearing, cultivating, sowing, weeding and reaping crops of groundnuts, maize, millet, sorghum, vegetables among others. These tasks are performed mostly by hand as tractors or sophisticated farming implements are rare and where available, become very expensive luxuries affordable only to a handful of families. In most families, women are solely responsible for securing foodstuffs for the family and/or undertaking any business for maintaining the family house. The result to date has been that women make the desire to ensure that there is food for the family their overwhelming burden and therefore the driving force to work hard. On the contrary, rather than contribute to the family�s upkeep or work with their women as a team, most women�s husbands prefer to sit under a tree, a �bantaba�67 all day, drinking �attaya� (a 61 The grass is transported to the village and stored in the compound in a barn built specifically for that purpose. This is to ensure that the cows have enough food to feed on during the entire dry season until the rains begin to fall. 62 Generally, Islam is the predominant religion in The Gambia and a good majority are Muslims. However, the break down of religions is as follows; Muslim 90%, Christian 9%, indigenous beliefs, 1% - Source 2001 CIA World fact Book. 63 In most of these villages, despite all the work involved in farming, people more or less �scratch� a living out of rice, groundnuts and millet. The returns are nothing to be compared to the work that is put into the cultivation. 64 See www.niica.on.ca/Gambia/populate.htm. 65 Ibid. 66 Ibid. 67 A bantaba is a men�s meeting place where usually a low platform of logs are constructed under the tree in the centre of the village to serve as seats.

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traditional green tea of Chinese origin), and smoking. Whereas the rural female members are made to engage in several hours of back-breaking work per day, the men, who remain at the �bantaba� retreating away from the harsh glare of the sun, await their daily meals from the already overworked women, wives or daughters. One thing stands out as glaring and that is; sympathy is not a particularly prominent characteristic of most rural husbands, who watch as their wives regularly engage in multiple activities. It may be right, using the words of Amina Mama, to say that women indeed are the spiritual, moral and reproductive centres of families and the �real� African woman seems to be content with her subordinate position as wife, mother and beast of burden.68 Erroneously, most women have been indoctrinated into accepting the societal position that for a woman to be reckoned with, she must be efficient and dedicated in the performance of domestic chores as well as in farming work. This is what Aminata, a mother of 5 who I interviewed, had to say about this status quo; �any woman who is worth anything and expects respect from her children and family must never be idle. It is her responsibility to put food on the table for the family, she must never wait until the husband brings money before she does this�. The essential mystery of rural women therefore lies in how they are able to face difficult circumstances with courage and determination, going about their numerous chores with dexterity, allowing no moment for idleness. GENDER ROLES IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR Although the level of involvement differs, men and women each play their own distinct roles in the agricultural sector of the economy. Available data indicates that women comprise about 50% of the agricultural labour force, 70% of the unskilled agricultural labour force and are responsible for about 40% of the total agricultural production. This data suggests that women are a labour force, as opposed to being managers in the agricultural sector. In the area of crop production, women produce 3% of the maize, 6% of the millet, 2% of the sorghum, 3% of coarse grains, 99% of upland rice and 24% of groundnuts, (population Data Bank, 1993). Horticultural production (vegetables) is predominantly a female activity and women livestock farmers raise and manage most of the small ruminants and rural poultry.69 These only demonstrate that the cultivation of most agricultural crops has slowly and steadily become the responsibility of women who are also economically active traders responsible for marketing transactions. Women are now the bases and operators of the economy. One crop production activity, rice, appears to be dominant for rural women; while available time is shared between the others. In The Gambia, rice, now producing up to 85 % of cereal calorie intake,70 and provides more than 80% of the village food grain supply, is the responsibility of women. Rice production is dependent on female manual labour with women and the girl-child providing most of the labour for rice growing. Different types of rice ecologies exist; traditional swamp, rain fed rice, lowland rice, traditional lowland rice, and mangrove swamps. Generally, rice is produced by �maruo�, �kamanyango� or �sinkiro� production and consumption units. Maruo fields (or

68 Mama, Amina �Shedding the Masks and Tearing the Veils: Towards a Gender Approach to African Culture�, in Ayesha M. Imam, Fatou Sow and Amina Mama (eds.), Engendering African Social Sciences, Dakar: CODESRIA, 1996, p.5. 69 www.jammeh2001.org/women1.htm. 70 www.unep.ch/etu/etp/events/Agriculture/warda.pdf.

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�compound/family cleared land�) account for the majority of rice fields since it enables the mobilization of family labour. Produce is earmarked for subsistence of the production unit. Kamanyango fields are personal plots belonging to women and young males, and are controlled and used by them as own-account activity. Produce can be disposed of as they like. For lowland rice, the production unit is the sinkiro made up of a group of people, who eat from the same cooking pot - usually a wife and her dependent children. Traditional lowland rice is mainly women�s responsibility, but with variations among ethnic groups,71 particularly in terms of control of produce. For instance, among the Mandinka, both maruo and kamanyango rice production is done by women, rarely assisted by men.72 The woman sinkiro head controls the maruo rice. Among the Jola tribe, women are the main rice growers. Most maruo rice is controlled by a male sinkiro head. Among the Fula and Wolof, who have only begun growing rice in the past two decades, the gender division of labour and control of the rice crop tends to be more flexible. Rice is still mainly grown by women but men are likely to contribute. The maruo rice crop tends to be controlled by the male sinkiro head.73 In the fishing industry, men and women both make distinct contributions. Though fishing is predominantly the role of men, women�s contributory role can no longer be downplayed. In the fisheries sector of The Gambia, women have continued to play a central and crucial role towards the socio-economic development of society and the state. In fisheries, women make up 80% of the fish off-loaders, 99% of the traditional fish processors, 50% of the processors in the major coastal areas (Saine and Williams, 1995).74 Therefore, both men and women are key participants playing different but complementary roles. Whereas men, on the one part, are involved in fishing and other related activities, women, on the other hand, are predominantly involved in what can be called the post-harvest activities. CONTROL OF RESOURCES75/WOMEN�S FINANCIAL AUTONOMY There exists currently a wide gap in gender division of labour or in control over resources with each gender having a defined and acceptable though unwritten role. In December 2000, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) conducted a rapid impact assessment of the IFAD supported Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme (LADEP) in The Gambia and found out that whereas men farmers controlled the following resources: cattle, donkey cart, draught animals, plough, land, money, house, upland crops, rice fields; women farmers controlled mainly these resources: harvested rice, kamanyango rice crop, maruo rice crop (grown usually by women for feeding the household consumption unit), rice crop in the field, rice hoes, rice seeds, small ruminants, and vegetables.76

71 The ethnic tribes in The Gambia are Africans 99% (Mandinka � consisting of the largest people on The Gambia - 42%, Fula 18%, Wollof 16%, Jola 10%, Sarahule 9%, other 4%), non-African 1%. For more details see the CIA World Fact Book, 2001. 72 The reason often given for this is that the two genders are supposed to have specified farming roles; men planting peanuts, the cash crop and women, rice. 73 For more details on �Gender Division of Labour in Rice Production in The Gambia�, see information on www.ifad.org/gender/learning/resource/natural/gm_labour.htm. 74 Ibid. 75 This is to be treated in the light of how funds realised from sale of farm products are disbursed. 76 Adapted from FAO Investment Centre, February 2001, THE GAMBIA: Lowlands Agricultural Development Programme - Rapid Participatory Impact Assessment. Rome.

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There is however a whole lot of difference when it comes to who controls and disburses the family funds. The control of funds has a traditional dimension and it is common that men control the funds of a household, both their own and those of the wives. For the rural woman, getting cash at hand, or �saving for the rainy day� may not necessarily be as important as being able to eat and feed the family. This, coupled with the fact that they must declare profit to their husbands, makes it unlikely for women to have sufficient money of their own. When money is acquired through sales of the agricultural crops or fish (for those in the fishing sector), women rarely handle the money themselves. Rather, upon request, such monies are handed over to the husbands who are free to disburse as they wish, and buy things on behalf of the wife and family. Money realised from sale is usually used to meet several needs both within the immediate and extended family system. Such needs include feeding, clothing, medical expenses, payment of school fees, roof repairs, purchase of furniture (mattresses, beds, pots, boxes, chairs and others) and agricultural implements, providing toilet facilities, and could also include dowry for the marriage of a new/additional wife. In fact, the list of needs is endless and almost inexhaustible and could include anything needed for human survival or comfort. There are obvious reasons why it is usual for men to �hold the purse-strings�77 and decide on what to do with women�s income. The Gambia as a whole is a male oriented society where the husband is assumed to be the head of a given household. Even in cases where some husbands migrate to the city for employment, a male member of the family would have to hold the fort in his absence. The household is therefore an arena in which gender roles, relations, and identities are defined and idealised.78 This would provide some insight into the questions of men determining how income is spent and of women having to rely on men to make decisions for the family. During fieldwork, I nonetheless realised that the women affected are actually disturbed about this type of headship where they are denied access to money earned while men alone decide on what to do with it. They were particularly concerned that most of their men used such money either to satisfy the needs of the flesh by drinking, smoking or paying the bride price and bridal wealth of another wife.79 In addition, many women disclosed that their husbands allowed greed and hoarding call the plays when taking decisions on family spending. In a focus group discussion, respondents also testified that a failure to declare sales and all profits could attract a high penalty that often culminated into severe beating or even divorce. One of them, Bintou, agreed that, apart from her children (5 in number), she had nothing else to show for 15 years of marriage and hard work. She noted how she had experienced hardship over the years and related it with the typical Pidgin idiom of �monkey dey work, baboon dey chop�.80 She lamented that the rules of frugality are

77 The Phrase refers to the control of the family budget. See Datta, Kavita, McIIwaine, Cathy �Empowered Leaders? : Perspectives on Women Heading Households in Latin America and Southern Africa� in Gender and Development: Women and Leadership (2000). An OXFAM Journal. Vol. 8 No. 3 Nov. 2000, p.4. 78 Ibid., at p.40. 79 The availability of money may determine the man�s move to acquire a new �asset�. After all, a man�s �worth� and social status could be assessed from the number of wives he has. 80 A popular Pidgin English idiom meaning the monkey does all the work while the baboon eats only.

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invoked only when a wife demands for some part of the money to meet pressing needs but for most men, there is no checklist on how to spend the hard earned money of another. However, a few of the women who have no direct access to and control over money get involved in �Osusu', a traditional credit and savings scheme. Each osusu member agrees to contribute a stipulated amount of savings into a pool at daily, weekly or monthly basis.81 The amount contributed and the number of people involved determines the amount to be taken in turns by members. Money realised from here is used to meet planned heavy expenditure commitments, and as usual, to cater for family needs and pay the children�s school fees. Surprisingly, some women confided that their husbands, who seem to forget the inherent obligations under the scheme where they have to pay their own share of the contribution, at times do demand even the osusu money. Interestingly, I found out that some women had devised means of beating this traditional dictate of rendering accounts to their husbands. Some confessed that they succeeded a few times to withhold some of the accounts but could not do so regularly as they feared severe repercussions if caught. But they agreed that it is more probable where the woman does her farming alone but for women who worked with their husbands in the fishing sector, it was impossible to do that. For Jainaba whose family (husband, co-wife and stepson) is together in the fishing business, there was no way of ever cheating her fisherman husband. Being a fisherman, he has a rough idea of the quantity of fish each boat contains and the expected proceeds. There is an overarching difficulty with a traditional system that does not approve of women having unlimited access to their funds. This limited or restricted access to funds denies most women the privilege of attaining economic independence and owning property whether movable or immovable. Legally, Gambian women have an inherent right to own property but where access to funds is restrictive, the result is that only a negligible number of women in rural Gambia presently own property. Under Section 2 of the Married Women�s Property Act 1885 (Cap 41: 05), a woman has rights to acquire, hold and dispose of property by will whether it be real or personal in such a manner as if she were a Feme Sole (single woman). This Act has fully adopted the equitable concept of separate property and extended its tentacles to allowing married women possess movable and immovable properties. This dispensation ensures that women have no contractual disability. Taking this discourse further, under Islamic law, women have a right not only of inheritance but also to own, contract and dispose of property as they deem fit. By virtue of the provisions of Chapter 4:11 of the Qur�an, Muslim women can inherit property either as daughters or wives or both.82 But the striking reality is that it is very rare to see 81 The amount collected is in turn disbursed to a member of the group and this process continues until members of the group receive amounts equal to the contributions they made. The cycle of savings and payments is repeated until at such time the group decides to discontinue the scheme. Source: UNDP-UNCDF Micro Finance Assessment Report � Sierra Leone found at www.uncdf.org/sum/reports/assessments/ country_reports/sierradb.html. 82 It states thus, �Allah (thus) directs you as regards your children�s (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. � The mother has a third: if the deceased left brothers (or sisters), the mother has a sixth��

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women in rural Gambia own land or valuable property; title to land is more routinely given to the male. This is not unrelated to the fact that they hardly have access to funds which they have earned. Perhaps if and when the women become more economically independent there may be chances of them investing on future assets. What is common in the rural areas is that women have a share only in livestock and other movable property. Because most land in rural areas are family land, individual control of such land will automatically pass to the sons of the family or in the absence of one, to the other male relatives. The applicable rule in relation to land is that lands belong to different kabilos or families and the elders of the kabilos who are the heads of the family would share out the land to the male and female members of the family for cultivation/planting. This preservation of the traditional exclusion of women from landownership sustains their dependence on men for communal or family allocation of plots. Most rural women therefore continue to cultivate land owned by men.

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Chapter 4

OVERWORKED WOMEN: The Case of Wives & Mothers INTRODUCTION One of the key steps to understanding how overworked the average rural female is may be a careful examination of the roles played by both men and women within the rural setting. It is a daunting task to attempt to analyse this especially when it is based on the cumulative work rural women alone do. Nevertheless, the attempt is necessary if we are to move beyond the commonly accepted male view that women are only performing their traditional duties. In deed, during the fieldwork, the issue of overwork was hotly debated among some of the male interviewees thus reflecting many differing perceptions of women�s role in the society. Common arguments took this format; that a woman who merely does all the household chores and works in the farms cannot, under any circumstances, be said to have overworked. For many women, life means work, toiling long hours in the fields, tending domestic livestock and vegetable gardens, gathering firewood, fetching water, preparing and cooking food, taking care of children and managing household food distribution. There has been a tendency therefore to regard women only as wives and mothers and not as individuals in their own right. But from a human rights perspective, when these duties are considered in details vis-à-vis those performed by the males, it is possible to constructively conclude that rural women and the girl-child are overworked and perhaps exploited by tradition. Statistically, women typically work longer hours than men: an average of 13 hours more each week in Asia and Africa. Globally, if women�s work in and around the house were monetized, women�s collective contribution to the world economy would easily top $4 trillion a year.83 Studies have also shown that women�s workload is heavy, and that it varies with seasons. The workload is especially high in peak agricultural seasons for women who participate in the field. For those women who work in the fishing sector, work is aggravated during the dry seasons when all fishermen go to the high seas to fish. Holmboe-Ottesen et al. (1988) have shown that the total time women allocated to work on a yearly basis seems to average between 8 and 10 hours a day. In the peak seasons, women�s total daily work time can amount to as much as 15 hours. As highlighted earlier, the majority of Gambian women are rural-based, engaging frequently in agricultural production and other informal sector activities to eke out a living for the family. The average rural Gambian woman works for very long hours; spends at least 16 to 18 hours a day, 7 days in the week (except when attending funeral or naming ceremonies). In so doing, she strains herself to �satisfy her husband whom she regards as custodian of her key to paradise, the principal decision-maker in the home�.84 A study by Haswell (1981) in The Gambia revealed that the energy expenditure over a week�s period was higher for women than for men. She also gives a good example of

83 http://www.unfpa.org/modules/intercenter/food /womenas.htm. 84 www.un.gm/Jokkoo97/child.html.

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women�s hardship where she reported that, �when women returned home from working in the fields, they collapsed from overwork and lack of food.�85 WOMEN�S DAILY DUTIES: Field Experiences In the field, I realised that rural women are confronted, on a daily basis, with numerous duties. The workload is almost a continuous cycle and even in the fasting period of Ramadan, which leaves people considerably tired and exhausted, rural women still work in the farm and continue their domestic chores. The following represent a list of duties that women carry out. This is not however a comprehensive list of all duties but drawing from the field observations and interviews, the following duties were dominant. A. Household Chores: It is the sole responsibility of women and the female members of the family to sweep, cook, wash plates and other dishes, wash clothes, do general household cleaning; all of which are done almost daily and manually. Though often taken for granted, several un-quantifiable hours a day are spent on these chores. As an example, the chore of sweeping is done more than once a day; apart from the normal early morning rounds of sweeping inside and outside the house, more of it is deemed necessary when the place becomes dirty. It is a woman�s responsibility to keep the compound, house and family clean. Food preparation is one of the most cumbersome of chores, more so because a woman�s worth in the family may be equated to her cooking skills. Therefore, no woman likes to serve her children, let alone her husband, less than the best she can produce. Some families may eat at least three (3) times a day but others, usually the majority, eat twice a day. The meals have to be cooked by women or some other grown-up female member of the household and at times, cooking these meals may involve going to a nearby market or farm to get the ingredients. Both preparations, cooking, serving, eating and washing up may take quantitatively at least six hours a day. In addition, the responsibility of the woman also covers the cleaning and grinding of grain for meals. Traditional wooden mortars and pestles are used to pound rice, millet, maize, groundnuts and vegetables. To accomplish the task of pounding millet for instance, two or three women carry out this duty simultaneously, in a rhythmic manner, each pounding at a time.86 This way, the work is accomplished faster and energy is reduced considerably. The preparation of dempetengo87 is also laborious and involves a great deal of pounding and roasting in the fire. Hand processing of foodstuffs in mortars is also common but usually, it is a joint task carried out by two or three women who live in the same compound and are responsible for preparing the daily meals.88

85 www.unu.edu/unupress/food/8F103e/8F103E01.htm. 86 This, they would do in rotation into the one mortar, building up speed till the thudding of the pestles would sound out across the vicinity like the beating of a great drum. Overall, the pounding is done neatly, systematically but with considerable power. It seems to be done in one long, sinuous movement. 87 Pounded rice flakes. 88 Generally speaking, seeing women pounding is very common. In fact, a part of everyday life in both urban and rural communities is the sight of women using wooden mortars and pestles to pound rice, millet, maize, groundnuts and vegetables (culled from ietpd1.sowi.uni-mainz.de/~ntama/articles/piskor/).

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Washing of dishes is done daily except when the family attends ceremonies outside the house and does not have to eat at home. However, younger females of a household would usually be responsible for washing dishes in turns. This is intended to ease the older woman�s burden and enable her concentrate on other chores. But where there are no young females at home, the woman of the house performs this chore solely. Washing clothes for family members is yet another household duty for the rural woman. But the choice of when to launder the family�s clothes depends on the need of each woman and varies from one to another. While some may choose to do so twice weekly or on alternate days, others, especially nursing mothers, must, of necessity, launder every day. According to Fatou, a mother of three (2 boys and 1 girl, including 7 step children), her laundering is done twice weekly for the simple reason that she has to work in the gardens, prepare some home-made produce (fried fish and bean cakes) and sell at the village Primary School to make ends meet. Since she does it only twice a week, she spends almost a whole day on it. She told me precisely that the day before our meeting/interview, she had laundered family members� clothes from 8.00am to 5.00pm. It is also worthy of note to mention that household chores are performed exclusively by women or other household females. Men do not get involved in any household chore mainly because traditionally, they are designated to be �masters� of the household. It is a taboo for most Gambian men to enter into the kitchen for instance, or be found washing clothes for the family. The average male still considers these daily chores to be beneath their dignity. This is a sad reflection of the workload borne daily by women but nonetheless represents what the society has always known, where unequal gender relations still persist and women are offered no form of assistance. B. Fetching Water and Firewood: In most parts of rural Gambia, the two most arduous and time-consuming activities of women are fetching water and firewood. It has been estimated that rural women in developing countries spend six to eight hours a day fetching firewood and water.89 Lack of easy access to water, fuel and transportation is largely responsible for this. Although access to pipe borne water is uncommon in rural Gambia, water is obtainable from wells sunk deep in the ground or from boreholes provided mostly by different non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Mostly, women are responsible for fetching enough water to meet the family�s daily requirements. The amount of energy and time this duty involves depends largely on the distance to be covered from the source of water supply to the house. Also, time involved in fetching water obviously varies according to the climatic season. For instance, during the rainy season, which is for a considerably short time to allow for meaningful relief, the women would place all their containers including cooking pots under the roof ends where rain water can pour into and fill them. But the burden is extended during the dry season, which occupies most part of the year, and the biting effects of the sun can make the repeated task extremely tiring. In most rural areas, one of the overall problems is the basic need for firewood as it is almost the sole cooking device available. Firewood is collected throughout the year from dried twigs and tree branches, and shrubs dried after they have been cleared from the fields. The need for firewood reflects a more basic problem as most families lack the 89 From �Africa Recovery, United Nations �, Vol. 12 Number 2 (November 1998) p.14, available at www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/ afrec/vol12no2/hdrphoto.htm.

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resources to purchase and maintain other sophisticated devices like kerosene stove and gas cookers. Fetching firewood, and at times chopping of the wood, for cooking is therefore an inevitable daily routine which women spend several hours a day doing; in fact, it may take up to 20 percent or more of calorie consumption depending on the distance. C. Load Carrier: Being responsible for domestic activities and contributing to agricultural tasks, women in most parts of Africa are �substitutes for transport technologies�,90 and frequently bear the responsibility for head-loading goods, crops, water and fuel while simultaneously carrying children at their backs (Barwell and Malmberg-Calvo, 1989; Sasakawa, 1997). Human transport is indeed a routine African reality with adults and children becoming carriers of transport burdens. Specifically, in the rural areas of The Gambia, women are seen as heavy load carriers; and in performing the transport functions, there is a seemingly effortless ability of women to carry huge loads on their heads as they walk from the farm or market. This scenario was prevalent throughout all the villages I visited. In fact, a woman may carry about 50 pounds of firewood bundle on her head without becoming short of breath. Another discovery I made was that pregnancy was not a deterrent to carrying heavy load and also, it did not seem to matter that the pregnant woman was well advanced in the pregnancy. In rural Gambia therefore, where firewood, farm produce, water are transported on the head, it is almost exclusively done by women, whereas men would typically carry loads with the aid of simple technologies like carts91 and wheel barrows. A number of women complained of having to carry firewood collected from the farm on the head with a baby strapped to the back, taking produce to the market in the same fashion while there was an idle donkey in the compound. This means that the technologies of �animal power� that might ease the burden on women may not be the men�s preoccupation, making women see donkeys and cows as a source of assistance to men only. D. Farming: For purposes of clarity, this particular duty will be discussed under the following subtitles:

(i) Planting season: There are different planting seasons in rural Gambia depending on what crop is being planted. While vegetables are planted at any time of the year, making them non-seasonal crops, groundnut and rice are planted during the rainy season, precisely during the months of June and July.92 Women maintain a high pitch of activity almost throughout the year and continue to work at the vegetable gardens or furrows even after the planting and harvesting of rice. In contrast with this, men�s efforts are concentrated largely within the limits of the rainy season where there is an all-out effort among men to plant and weed

90 See the Change Page (Carriers of Culture: Women as a Means of Transport in Urban Accra, Ghana) on www.geocities.com/margaret_grieco/womenont/carrier.html. 91 A two-wheeled vehicle drawn by an animal used in farm work and for transporting goods. 92 However, in very few villages, example Brikama ba and Janjanbureh (formerly Georgetown) in the Central River Division, CRD (formerly McCarthy Island Division), rice is cultivated all year round due to the soil�s nature; 3 months for ploughing the rice fields and 2 months for harvesting. Also, in Jahally-Pacharr, the cleaning of irrigation canals enabled nearly 700 hectares of land for rice growing under the tidal irrigation system in the dry season. More farmers are now able to grow rice all year round under this tidal irrigation practice � For more related details see, www.icdf.org.tw/english/hseih1a4.htm.

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their new crops. Usually, activities are again accelerated between the months of October and December as the groundnut harvest approaches.

During the planting season, and often even at other times, the working day for the woman starts �when the cock crows� which is about 4 a.m. At these times, women go daily to the farms/fields to work. Quite often, they leave their respective houses in groups to the farms, walking briskly and purposefully along the path leading to the large acre of land where the farms are situated. They would hurry along the paths out of the village to the farm; hoes hooked over their shoulders, on their heads basins of food for lunch, buckets of water and the rice, groundnut seeds or others for planting. It is a rare sight to see any of the entourage without something to carry and even rarer to see a woman go to the farm or fetch water alone. Usually, the journey to the farm is done in groups and would often consist of women of one kafo.93 This is so because Communal Living is the chief characteristic of rural Gambia.

In most areas, clearing fields of woody plants, ploughing and fencing of furrows are men�s responsibility. But much female labour input is needed in planting, weeding and harvesting where women, assisted by children and teenagers, clean fields of uprooted plants and other debris before they are sown. Rural women co-operate together in the tending and harvesting of crops with other women (co-wives or fellow kafo members). Weeding is a heavier job and unlike ploughing, is hardly assisted by animal power. Because the precious fragile crops must be prevented from being swallowed up by the burgeoning bush, the weeding involves a lot of energy, tact (when the grains are small and delicate) and time. The time of weeding - �bindeyo� is a time when the women �fight� with the land to ensure the survival of crops. Typically, they would leave the village early in the morning and return only as the last rays of the sun disappear just to accomplish the task of weeding. Apart from hoes and bare hands used for weeding, no technology has been developed to increase the speed and efficiency of the operation. (ii) Farming locations: Usually, farms are located some considerable distance away from homes especially for those crops cultivated for sale or export. For rice cultivation, the fields or furrows are about 3 or more kilometres from the home/village for reasons of space and land availability. I was however told that in some areas, the rice fields could be on the other side of the riverbank, which would entail canoe crossing. In these instances, the women would have to wake up earlier than usual, take the family�s clothes to the river side, wash and hang in the environment before crossing over to the rice fields. The rice fields are purely the female society; it is the women�s place. Hence, they could strip their clothes off leaving only coverings over their haunches and upper thighs, for no man would see them as men scarcely go there.

Apart from rice, vegetables are another common crops planted by women. Vegetables are planted in furrows, gardens provided under the Women�s Horticultural Projects, large garden areas behind the compound (Kankangos -a Mandinka word that literally means 'dust'). The furrows are far from the villages

93 One age group; traditionally they are people who must have been circumcised on the same day.

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but close to the river for better soil, better access to water for watering the garden. Quite often, before planting any crop, it is usual to fence the furrows to secure the crops from stray and destructive animals. Within most fenced furrows, there are native dug wells to help water the farms. In furrows where rice is not planted, the women would usually plant different kinds of vegetable; tomatoes, bitter tomatoes, onions, aubergines, okra, pepper, carrots, cabbage among others. Because female farmers spend most of the day at the furrows, food is normally carried and cooked or warmed for lunch. This means that the presence of a fireplace and ready firewood in the furrow is almost inevitable. Also, clothes are taken to the furrows for laundering, and left to dry in the sun while work progresses.

In addition to the rice fields and furrows, most women also cultivate tiny plots at the corners of their compound just behind the washing areas and the rubbish heaps, or between the walls of the houses and the street corners. It is the norm for every woman in the village to have a compound garden tightly fenced with millet stalks or rhun palm fronds. She ensures that the garden is watered twice a day - in the morning and evening - with water drawn from the well or borehole. Watering of the garden in the morning must be completed before she goes to the farm to work and after watering in the evening, she most certainly would also draw water for her husband and children to wash with, before cooking the evening meals. (iii) Other farm related activities: Women rice farmers also have an added responsibility of guarding the rice fields close to the time of harvest. They have placed this responsibility on themselves and agreed to take more risks by sleeping in the rice fields or the farm locations to watch over the rice fields and avoid an invasion by wolves. When the rice is eventually harvesting, women and children are responsible for removing the husks, which they do by pounding with sticks in large mortar and pestle implements. Harvested groundnuts are also shelled in groups with other women of the compound.

Apart from planting for family consumption, there may also be a need to sell some of the crops for cash to cater for other needs like school fess, medical expenses, and buying of new clothes.94 In this instance, going to the market to sell the produce from the farm becomes another responsibility for the woman. Most times, the woman has to pack the vegetables in baskets, travel through many villages to a bigger market expecting to sell off the goods in order to compensate for deficiencies in food, other articles and the family �necessaries�.

The household will meet its food needs during the hungry season partly by home storage, which places yet another responsibility on the woman to ensure that there is enough grain stored up for the family. Invariably, women must mentally work out all the yearlong budgeting of family grain consumption after harvesting and store up just enough for the upkeep of the family.

E. Fishing: In the coastal areas and in many villages along the riverbanks, a considerable number of women are involved in fishing activities either as off-loaders, traditional fish processors (smoking and drying of fish) or as fish marketers. While only men go to the

94 Usually the new clothes would be �aso ebi� for uniform purposes.

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high seas to fish, women often perform the tasks of off-loading, cleaning, drying, smoking and eventually transporting of the fish to the markets. These tasks are equally labour intensive but attract very low profit margins. Women who are off-loaders are responsible for off-loading the fishes caught (the day�s �catch�) from canoes. As soon as the canoes are sighted returning from the high sea, the women begin to get ready for their task. Wading through the water, they carry fish from canoes to the shore or the smoking huts. For their labour, they get pittance or are paid in kind with some quantity of fish depending on the overall quantity of the fisherman�s �catch�. For those who get fish in return, the fish is taken home for the family�s consumption, marketed straightaway at the beach for cash or processed afterwards through smoking or drying. Women who are responsible for drying the fish are engaged in what we may term as the �fish salvaging� process. Fish that would otherwise have been thrown away because of some defects or damages are dried in the sun to become suitable for consumption. This process ensures that nothing is wasted while also making fish affordable to the low-income earners. Women fish smokers specialise in smoking of �bonga� (the small bony fish), catfish and sharks. The smoking of fish is done in smoking houses or huts and in Tanji and Gunjur beaches for instance, the huts are sited within the fishing beaches. The fishes are eventually marketed for consumption at the urban markets of Banjul and Serrekunda. Proceeds from their fishing activities are used to buy food ingredients for the family�s daily feeding. During the field exercise, some of the women revealed that they do pay school fees, meet medical expenses and contribute in other family needs with the little amount of money realised. The case of Mbaka Janneh, a mother of 4 children (1 boy, 3 girls) would illustrate how the proceeds are used:

Mbaka said she decided to go into the fishing business because she realises more profit from the business than when she was farming. She comes to the beach everyday and daily profits are utilised for family provision and to meet other needs of the extended family. Her case was peculiar in the sense that her husband who lives in Spain (and is currently married to another Gambian woman from Serrekunda) has abandoned her for the past 10 years. She complained that he has not been supporting her in any way and does not send her maintenance money for the children�s upkeep. Since she is now the sole breadwinner of the family, the profit realised from her hard work is barely enough and is mainly used for the family�s daily feeding. She explained that though her girls go to school, they were often sent home for failing to pay the stipulated School Fund. Unfortunately, no help has been forthcoming even from her own children since none of them is working; the first girl finished school some few years back but is still unemployed while the only boy is learning a carpentry trade.

F. Child Bearing, Rearing and Other Marital/Sexual Obligations: One additional and important burden for the rural woman is the bearing of and caring for children. Closely linked with sexual obligations is the expectation placed on every married woman to bear children. In addition to hard work therefore, women are equally expected to carry pregnancies and bear as many children as, using the exact words of one respondent, �the eggs in their ovaries can get fertilised� and as �their fertile years can permit�.

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Rural Gambia is a polygamous society, and men may have several wives living in the family compound, all bearing children. A husband can divorce a woman who bears no children within the first few years of marriage or alternatively, marry an additional wife who is expected to bear him children. Apparently intrigued by the roles played by women in their society, Mark Hudson noted that women spend their lives �in a continual round of childbearing, domestic labour and manual agriculture��95 Childbearing is highly welcomed and celebrated in the Gambian rural communities. As a mark of approval and solidarity for fertility, a good number of men have refused to embrace family planning methods (going the �fankanta� way96), tagging it as �westernised.�97 To them, having a house full of children is considered better than acquiring physical wealth; after all �children are wealth� they would argue. But times have changed and this argument is no longer tenable under the present population growth rate of 4.2%98 and the economic hardship which may be cumulative in their effects. It should however be noted that it is women who usually suffer the burdens associated with bearing too many children, and having too many mouths to feed. The effect is that they are cumbered with so many children they cannot cater for adequately given the meagre returns they make from farming. Being saddled with the responsibility of producing most of the family�s food, the women thus end up having to do much more agricultural work than men. Nursing mothers carry infants while performing the daily activities discussed above and become more pressed for time and relaxation during the peak-planting season. Usually, caring for babies is combined with farm work. Mothers would normally strap their young ones to the back to enable them carry out other assigned roles. Since the average male thinks that caring for babies is purely a feminine assignment, many women complained aloud that fathers hardly offer any assistance to their wives in this respect. Again, because there is usually a second, or more wives at most men�s disposal, the tendency is to rely on them for additional marital duties when the other wife is nursing a baby. No doubt, the energy needed to perform other activities while caring for infants may wreck havoc on the health of the child and the mother. A study carried out in The Gambia by the Protein-Calorie Advisory Group (PAG) of the United Nations has noted

95 Hudson, Mark �Our Grandmothers� Drums�, Cox and Wyman Ltd. Reading, Berks, 1989, p.120. 96 Fankanta is a Mandinka term which literally means �planning and protection against future unforeseen difficulties.� The name was chosen purposely to enable people simply understand the term and the import of the initiative. Fankanta was used to replace the name �family planning� and came about as a result of the need to improve the life of people at family levels in The Gambia. It was introduced by the Gambian government as a Family Planning Method to help control and check the escalating population growth. The Gambia-German Family Planning Programme (GGFP) invented this device and launched it accordingly in 1998 while concentrating its efforts in the North Bank Division for a period of 3 years. 97 For instance, an arch anti-family planning crusader, the outspoken Imam of the State House Mosque, Abdoulie Fatty, had alleged on the back page of The Observer Newspapers, Thursday, July 1 2000 that the �concept of family planning has been imposed by the westerners whose moral behaviour totally violates the teachings and principles of Islamic religion�. He reiterated that Islam did not accept it because the negative effects of the contraceptives far outweigh the positive consequences. He also claimed that an imposition of the methods of family planning by non-Muslims is a calculated attempt at �fighting against the strength of Islam�. He however maintained that the effective birth control methods that are in line with Islamic principles �have long been with us before the introduction of family planning which is here just to fight Muslims�. 98 See other related details on www.uneca.org/eca_resources/conference_reports_and_other_documents/ brain_drain/word _documents/wadda.doc. p.1.

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the seasonality of mortality and morbidity of infants and mothers.99 Given an adequate family food supply, there is a tendency that the rural woman will look after herself and the infant very well, but during the �hungry season� when she has very little to eat herself, the infant, who is most vulnerable to reduced feeding, would be affected and may become malnourished. Nursing mothers try to supplement breast milk with the traditional weaning food, a watery gruel of pounded rice or millet. A large bowl of it is prepared early in the morning and carried out to the field so the mother could feed it to the child during the course of the day while she is working. The babies are kept at the far corner of the farm under a big tree that would provide shade from the sun with their nursemaids � usually the older sisters or relatives. Every so often, the mothers would go over to feed them and then go back to plant or till the ground. Preparing the babies and children of the home for bed and mentally planning the duty schedule for the following day is yet another responsibility of mothers. After all the day�s activities, one can only expect that the woman, often the last member of the family to retire to bed, would go to sleep very tired. Although now left with very little time to sleep, she may also be obliged to sexually satisfy her husband during the course of the night. G. Fulfilling the Needs of the Extended Family: It is a common practice in most African cultures for the mother of a new bride to advice her about the importance of establishing and maintaining a close link with her in-laws. It is therefore usual for people to say that �Ms. X, the new wife of Mr. Z, is marring the whole Z family�. This normally would mean that a wife must be seen to be fulfilling the needs of the extended family especially her in-laws, failure of which she would be tagged arrogant and disobedient and �not fit to be a wife�. Once this verdict is passed against her, a second wife is immediately recommended for the husband. Rather than risk this, most women go the extra mile to please their in-laws by cooking and serving them as often as they can, offering to help out and care for the sick among them. In the rural areas, it is almost impossible to find only members of a nuclear family living on their own. There was hardly any family I visited where there were no members of the extended family (brother-in-law, parents-in-law, or cousins) all living together. The wives told me that tradition mandated that relations be treated equally with members of the nuclear family and that it was always difficult for visitors to make a distinction between them. H. Taking Care of Sick or Elderly Family Members: The responsibility of caring for the sick falls squarely on the female members within a household especially the wife. Depending on the severity of the sickness, this may entail travelling with the sick to the major hospitals in the greater Banjul areas. Should this be the case, the woman would have to abandon all her farm work and lose some daily income meant for family upkeep and maintenance. If there are aged people within the family, women must also provide the required assistance; feed, wash, and provide all necessary care and comfort. I. Others: In addition to all these other chores, women also have an additional responsibility of raising and tending domestic livestock (such as goats, sheep, domestic fowl) and keeping them supplied with food and other necessaries. Most women also 99 PAG, �Women in Food Production, Food Handling and Nutrition, with Special Emphasis on Africa�. 1979, pp.73-75.

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travel to local and regional markets to carry out transactions where they sell off their agricultural goods and buy household requirements. Some other women may do some handicraft work, especially crocheting clothes for the children or other family members, making of brooms from palm fronds, and making of clay pots for storage. However, in carrying out these respective duties, it is not uncommon for a plurality of wives to pull their resources together both for cultivation and family consumption of the food thus produced. As one respondent, Khaddy, a 21-year-old unmarried mother, said:

�My mother is in a polygamous marriage although she is the first wife. She cooperates very well with her co-wife and they both work together in the gardens�. When asked if she was happy to have a step-mother, she said �yes, why not!� and explained that the other woman�s entrance into the family helped to alleviate her mother�s workload in the house and in the farms.

The average thinking amongst rural people is that a Muslim farmer who maintains and insists on a monogamous marriage in the rural area may necessarily find it harder to produce sufficient food and cash crops as a result of lack of sufficient �woman power�.100 Based on a number of field responses, polygamous men admitted marrying additional wives just to have more free labour on the land. I noted that the primary motive behind polygamy is economic as a man with more wives produces (through them) more food and therefore achieves a higher status. Women are therefore used as income generating resources for the household. Mostly because women have no choice or that relation has dictated so, co-wives would usually try as much as possible to live together in peace. As the Mandingos would say, �duniya mo le ti�- meaning �she is also a human being�, therefore the one must treat the other with honour. So, the co-wives would share their tasks - cooking, collecting firewood, looking after the children, farming, and fishing - as they share one man and his bed. Jainaba, the second wife in a polygamous marriage, whose husband is a Senegalese fisherman, told me she is very happy with the other wife. In her own words:

�We cooperate in everything � share in responsibilities � and when we are together, we become one family. Moreover, being the second wife, I have no misgivings about her and I love my husband.�

In concluding on women�s duties, we can adduce from the foregoing that women bear greater weight than men and boys for activities within the household. As evidenced in most cases, the duties become more strenuous during the crop-growing seasons where the peasant woman has to combine her daily chores of cooking, cleaning, laundering, fetching water and firewood, among others, with work in the farms. It is worth noting that at these times, she hardly gets enough time to sleep or engage in other income generating activities. However, this is not to imply that rural men have no responsibilities at all but overall, we have seen that there are many activities within the family setting in which men are not involved, but which have put a heavy burden on women and the female children. 100 Being a predominantly Islamic dominated country, polygamy is prevalent, highly favoured and practised in The Gambia with 42.3% of ever married persons aged 15 and over in polygamous marriages, and a gender categorisation being 48% of women and 33.3 % of men (CSD 1993, 26). Also, polygamy is more commonly practised in the rural areas and amongst the less educated (CSD 1993, 27, 29).

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It is therefore necessary to discuss briefly, in the next topic, the role played by men in rural Gambia so as to avoid a prejudiced opinion. MEN�S ROLE IN �MODERN DAY� RURAL GAMBIA: A COMPARISON WITH THE DUTIES OF WOMEN According to the Women�s Bureau Survey of 1996, women in the rural areas reported that one of their major problems was that their husbands neglected the family responsibilities, leaving them overburdened with work and responsibilities (Women�s Bureau 1996, 12-16). The common complaint received in the field against rural Gambian men is that they are lazy, often leaving most of the work to their wives while a majority of them, old and young, spend long hours within the day at the bantaba together, paying attention to their selfish interests; drinking attaya, smoking or getting involved in preparations for the marriage of a new and often, younger wife. In almost all communities I visited, many of the women pointed out that their men were more redundant than useful either as sons, husbands or brothers, and recognised convenience that comes through relaxation at the bantaba as a motivating factor for them. Interestingly, a couple of young men also endorsed this assertion with Yussupha, a 14-year-old Senior Secondary School boy, stressing that:

�Men�s lives are built around the bantaba, their friends and games of leisure activities while those of women are sunk into their routine chores and farming; yet they end up controlling women and their resources�.

The question to be asked at this juncture is; what then do men in rural Gambia do! Surely not every single man is lazy even though it does appear that relaxation and redundancy is predominant. In the complex of agricultural activities where plough based farming is common in the rural communities, some men play significant roles. As an example, the general consensus among the rural inhabitants I interviewed was that men were responsible for clearing farmlands for women. It is therefore rare to see a woman do this herself except she has no husband, sons or relatives. Also, I gathered that some men help their wives in cultivating a few crops and in certain areas, men even plant rice and other cash crops. This means that not all of them make out a life and living from �bantaba arrangements�. It is true that all villages have a common place (bantaba) where men meet for �men�s talk� but it is equally true that not all the men go to the bantaba just to while the hours away. In one of the villages I visited (Kanilai) for example, the bantaba is used strictly for meetings and ceremonies. The reason for this drastic change has been attributed to the modernisation of the village, the frequency of tourist visits, foreign influence and also as a mark of respect to The Gambia�s current President, Alhagie Jammeh, who is from this village. For other villages visited, I had an opportunity to observe that many male dwellers regularly made use of the bantaba for relaxation. I however decided to find out from a few of them why they preferred to spend time at the bantaba. Based on a number of responses, it was deduced that most men sat at the bantaba not necessarily because of laziness or a desire to be idle but rather, because they were unable to secure gainful employment (white-collar jobs) in the cities. Poverty and the aspiration for a better way of life which a life in the farms may never offer are the major �push factors� and are also

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among the principal reasons why young rural men would want to seek better employment opportunities in the city. No doubt, many men belonging to this present generation would prefer a life far removed from the rural communities where they can live a more �economically rewarding� life. In the absence of this dream, they do what they can in the village and then spend the �spare time� at the bantaba with other folks. Although there was much debate on the issue of drinking attaya in and out of the bantaba, many respondents explained that most of them formed the habit of drinking attaya because �it is medicinal and therefore good for the health�. As a result, though contrary to speculations of many women, they reiterated that attaya was not a luxury. The health factor therefore serves as a viable defence. Even though it has become obvious that responsibilities are not equally shared among men and women, men do play their own roles within the rural social setting. There are many other important activities needed within the village setting in which men are involved. Men are responsible for fishing, construction of houses/buildings, and harvesting palm fruits and wine from the palm forests. Based on Lamin�s account, one of the young men interviewed, it would appear that men�s roles are better appreciated during the dry season when roofs and houses are normally repaired or new buildings erected. Preparing the thatch101 for roofing is also seen as an additional responsibility for men. Among some livestock owners, men breed and raise livestock, including sheep, goats, poultry and to some extent, cattle (for beef and dairy purposes), horses, for purposes of selling the meat for income, riding or working stock, breeding; and for products like milk. The other reason for keeping cattle and horses is to provide food and manure. However, an important factor in assessing men�s role in today�s Gambia is to do so in comparison with the duties of women discussed in the preceding sections. In comparing the duties, we can see that women are the hardest worked. Tradition appears to be more lenient with male members and seldom takes into consideration the rights and privileges of women. While women work daily both within the household and out in the farms and maintain a high pitch of activity almost throughout the season, men�s responsibilities and efforts seem to be concentrated within a particular period, largely within the limits of the rainy season, leaving them time to rest and relax. Again, tasks like building and house repairs, for instance, are not everyday duties and may not necessarily be an utmost priority to the average rural dweller whose primary concern is making a living. Nevertheless, the idea that household chores should be redistributed between men and women was constantly in question throughout the discussions I had with various groups of women. Most women were more enthusiastic about changes being effected in responsibility sharing to lessen the effects of overwork. THE EFFECTS OF OVERWORK ON WOMEN Globally, divers literatures abound to show that women�s work may affect their nutritional status, health and other aspects of their lives. The effects are further compounded by the existing discrimination against women in food and work allocation 101 Plant stalks or foliage, such as reeds, palm fronds, special grass used for roofing. Thatch made from grass ought to be changed or repaired every 2 years otherwise it may be infested with termites, causing the roofs to leak during the rainy season.

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where the nutritional status of overworked adult women stands to be compromised if the food available is insufficient to meet their increased body requirements for energy. As noted by Holmboe-Ottesen et al., though women often work harder and for longer hours expending greater energy than men, they nevertheless get less food as they allocate more of the diet to their husbands and other male members of the household. When I broached on this subject during some personal interviews, the women shied away and avoided the question. The reverse was the case when I asked the young female children who agreed that their fathers and brothers always got the �lion�s share� whenever food was distributed. Even machines do experience some wear and tear when overworked, much less human beings. It can thus be expected that hard work could negatively influence rural women�s health and quality of life considering that they work from dawn to dusk, having no time for relaxation or pleasure. The physical labour involved in almost all duties may, in itself, be so heavy that it becomes detrimental to women�s health thus decreasing life expectancy and sending its victims to an early grave. The case of Fatou aged between 36 and 37 years is a clear illustration of this:

I met Fatou at the Gunjur beach where she works daily as a fish off-loader. She looked at least 58 years of age because of her fragile and drained body built which immediately gave me a wrong impression about her real age. In order for me to verify the authenticity of her age, I decided to ask how old her children were and discovered that her first child, an unmarried male, just finished his secondary education. It is likely that the amount of work she does has affected her physical looks adversely.

Again, a heavy workload on women may likely affect a family�s diet in the peak season, as there is less time for preparation of food and cooking. Thomson et al., in their study, found that heavy workloads do affect women�s health and that all women in a remote village in The Gambia tended to loss weight during the peak of the agricultural season and to regain it again when activity levels were low. It was also established that there existed a relationship between high workload and weight gain in pregnancy or low birth weight in infants. For instance, in the period of low activity, the average weight gain of pregnant women was 5.5kg, while in the peak season it was only half of that. Correspondingly, different studies have revealed that carrying heavy loads have a detrimental effect on women�s health. It taxes energy and leads to back problems, knee problems and headaches, especially when using straps to carry loads on the back. It also makes demands on the metabolism that is not by nutritional intake. This is particularly serious for pregnant women. A study in Tanzania found positive correlation between women�s heavy labour contributions and low weights of babies born during periods of peak labour (Han Bantje 1980). Load carrying also puts an excessive strain on women�s skeleton, leading to spine deformities and the early onset of arthritic diseases (Page 1996). Sometimes the water carried by a girl-child weighs more than her body weight (Gruehl Kipke, Ghana) with the corresponding negative implications for the girl�s health.102 Furthermore, the main picture that emerges seems to be that the numerous tasks borne by women do also have adverse consequences on their overall improvement. Lack of time is generally considered a serious constraint in bringing the overworked women and girl- 102 Source: http://www.mobilityconsultant.com/literat/balload/bl_bal2.htm.

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child into the mainstream of development. The Time Budget Studies in Africa (World Bank Africa Region Gender Action Plan, 1996) have shown the extent to which women�s multiple social roles (as worker, as domestic provider, as child carer and carer for dependants, as food producer) intensify the time demands on women to the extent that women can often be deemed �time poor�. Due to her varied responsibilities, the rural woman is severely pressed for time, having little access to time and labour saving tools. The multiplicity of roles performed by women on a daily basis translate into severe scheduling difficulties and leaves them with no time to acquire useful and productive information that may improve the quality of their life and that of their dependants. The result to date has been that women have limited access to basic human needs such as education, learning skills, income generating activities, social services and opportunities to participate in community life. In most rural areas where Adult Literacy Projects have been introduced, attendance records were poor especially during the peak agricultural seasons when women were faced with heavy workload. As evidenced by Time-Allocation Studies, the universal pattern is that women have less time than men to spend on their personal needs. There is also a general consensus among researchers that females spend less time on education than males. This pattern holds true for both adult women and the girl-child since families depend largely on their labour at home and in the farms.103 WOMEN AS VICTIMS OF OVERWORK: EXPLORING THE CAUSES. The underlying key factor that fuels hard work is the existing problem of inequality between men and women. There is little or no change in the traditional role of women in the family and society, and of course there is also the unchanging fact that women ought to remain under the influence of male members of their families. In rural Gambia, women do not participate on equal terms with men in all fields and discrimination against women in domestic relations still persists. Appeals to culture and the need to maintain age-old practices are often an excuse to justify practices oppressive to women. This is particularly the case in a society like this where many things are idealized and perhaps explains why Sudanese physician, Nahid Toubia asks; �why is it only when women want to bring a change for their own benefit that culture and custom become sacred and unchangeable?�104 There is also the issue of abject female poverty. Although gender-disaggregated data on poverty are extremely sparse, the UN estimates of figures for selected countries suggest that more women than men are in poverty in 12 out of 15 developing countries and in 5 out of 8 developed countries.105 The most immediate effects of poverty on many women are probably physical and psychological exhaustion as they struggle to weave their own and their families� survival strategies in what are often a hostile environment (Avorti &Walters, 1999). Poor women are often caught in a damaging circle of cultural bias and gender discrimination that further exposes them to exploitation�.106

103 See supra, note 90. 104 Heise, L, Moore, K, & Toubia, N. �Sexual Coercion and Women�s Reproductive Health: A Focus on Research�. New York, Population Council 1995, p.59. 105 UNIFEM (2001) �Gender and HIV/AIDS: Facts and Statistics�. See more details on this website: https://www.unifem.undp.org/hiv_aids/hiv_facts.html. 106 Poku, Nana K., Whiteside, Alan �Global Health and the Politics of Governance�. THIRD WORLD QUARTERLY, Vol. 23 No.2, ISSN 0143-6597. 2002, p.194.

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Both poverty studies conducted in The Gambia by The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1992 and the Household Economic Survey (HES) in 1993 report a high incidence of extreme poverty particularly in the rural areas and more than 30% countrywide. The HES specifically showed that most of the households in extreme poverty category are subsistence farmers in the rural areas. Women constitute the majority of the poor and their poverty is accentuated by inappropriate gender relations particularly that of sexual division of labour, women�s lack of credit and production resources and their relatively poor health among others. And unless these issues are addressed women will remain poor and voiceless.107 There is fear for a nation and people whose lives are a constant struggle and reality with poverty. Unfortunately, this has been the plight of most rural women. Hard work and various farming activities are some of the choices and coping strategies the women make just to eke out a living for survival. Adapting to the prevailing economic circumstances increasingly places undue demand on the rural poor women who feel obliged to care for the family. It is true that poverty and inadequate health care take their toll on the quality of a community�s health108 and becomes evident from the ageing bodies of most rural women. This rapid ageing has a direct link with the deteriorating conditions of an environment that confronts the average woman on a daily basis. Poverty has a crippling effect on the returns made from hard work despite the energy and time allocated to work. The levels of profit are not commensurate with time spent in the fields and it appears that at best, women�s work is just meant for family feeding and upkeep. In far too many instances, most rural women barely have enough changes of wrappers, clothes or traditional boubous109 to compensate for the work, and many interviewees agreed unanimously that it appears their work is just meant to �fill in the stomachs� for survival. Another compelling factor is illiteracy and ignorance. The illiteracy rate in The Gambia is alarming but much worse with the rural women who still have relatively low educational levels. More urban than rural Gambians are literate.110 Illiteracy and ignorance are interrelated with the former capable of determining the end result of the latter. Most rural women are ignorant of their rights and have little or no means of knowing what these rights are. Knowledge of relevant Statutes addressing the fundamental human rights of women and the girl-child is greatly hampered by illiteracy especially among the rural population. Again, knowledge about the Muslim woman�s rights under the Qur�an is also limited as very few women can read and write in Arabic. Most women only know enough to be able to perform their daily prayers. Therefore, the existence of a provision on Maintenance of Women in the Qur�an (An-Nisaa 4:34) stating that �men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means�, is not known to rural women. This verse recognises that men have greater physical

107 Supra, note 55. However, the first ILO 1989 study revealed that 40% of the population lived below an estimated food poverty line (FPL) and 60% below an overall poverty line (OPL). The 1992/93 Household Economic survey established that 18% of the population was extremely poor and 34% were poor. These figures increased to 51% (extremely poor whose household have an annual income of less than US$254) and 69% (poor comprising of households with income above the food poverty line but having an annual income of less than US$392) in the 1998 survey � P.5 Interim Strategy for poverty Alleviation (INTERIM-SPA 11). 108 Los Angeles Times, December 17, 1995. 109 A long, big and often bogus free flowing gown commonly worn by most West African women, with or without a wrapper underneath. 110 42.2% and 32.4% respectively (CSD 1993. p.8.), and see supra, note 16.

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strength and capacity and should support and maintain their women. Clearly, maintenance is an Islamic requirement, and although most rural Gambian men profess the Muslim faith, this verse appears to have made little or no impact, and an attitude of non-commitment to spiritual injunctions cannot guarantee the rights and privileges of women. Women are overworked because of what they themselves, using their words, term, �the motherhood instinct� that does not allow them ignore the children�s needs and cries of hunger. Therefore, even when a father or husband refuses to provide the basic needs of food and clothing, a woman will always try to supplement. The result is that some men do take advantage of it and dodge responsibilities associated with maintenance of the family. Another compelling factor I discovered is the �fear of hunger�, which is quite familiar especially during the planting season awaiting the bounty of harvest.111 One respondent I met at the Gunjur beach, Mama Ndiaye, a fish off-loader, gave this fear as a reason for defying sickness and coming to work despite her deteriorating health condition. Her sickness meant little to her because her entire family, including her husband, depended on the stipend she brings home daily. However, to combat this fear, many women farmers said they concentrated their farming activities to plant what they consider to be substantial food, rice or millet. In most rural communities, eating is rice or millet because they are �heavy food� and can be filling unlike bread that �never seems to satisfy the hungry stomach�. Religion (Islam) is yet another factor often used, though wrongly, to ensure compliance with doctrines that are based on tradition. For instance, women have been nurtured to believe that God�s judgement is not based on their own independent actions but on the way they had behaved towards their husbands. Thus, there is a subtle though unwritten acceptance that every woman needs a man to go to heaven; and bad behaviour from a wife could automatically prevent her from being led by the husband into heaven. This belief system has compelled married women to accept their roles because of the fear of divorce and loneliness. These factors are the driving force that ensures compliance and in the context of few economic options for rural women outside marriage, many women are �locked in� without a choice. And to live within a society where singleness and therefore single women are looked down on and treated with suspicion worsens matters. For most women, there is this belief that the death of an unmarried woman attracts no sympathisers or mourners making it important that a woman tries to �protect and guard� over the home jealously. Marriage is like death and since every one must die, every woman is expected to marry. It is weird and impracticable to be without a husband in the rural areas and therefore, submission to the whims and caprices of a husband is seen as the antidote against singleness. Again, refusal to obey in the rural society is seriously viewed as an unforgivable affront. Fear of battery or any other type of violence is yet another reason that has continued to keep most women docile and complaisant. The major reason advanced by male respondents in support of battery was that under Islamic law, striking a woman is

111 The period of hunger is usually between the finishing of the maize and the ripening of the rice.

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accepted as a �corrective measure� so long as the act does not result in any bodily harm. Reference was quickly made to the provisions of the Qur�an under Sura An Nisaa 34.112

112 It states thus; �As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is Most High, Great (above you all).�

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Chapter 5

THE GIRL-CHILD: Cultural Values Versus Human Rights THE BIRTH OF A CHILD IN THE GAMBIAN SOCIETY In this society, the phenomenon of gender manifests greatly with the birth of a child. Among the Muslim Gambians, for every child that is born, there is a naming ceremony celebrated one week after its birth; therefore a child born on Tuesday for instance, will be named on the Tuesday of the following week. The significant aspect of this ceremony is the shaving of the head of the child113 by one of the elders who, after splashing water on the child, would drag a safety razor blade across the raw, unformed scalp. So important is the naming ceremony of a child that women, unmindful of their tight work schedule, would usually find time to attend just to rejoice with the family of the newborn. Although the ceremony is common to all children, the position on unequal treatment between male and female children has not changed significantly as preference is still given to male children over the females by parents and family members alike. This differential treatment of boys and girls is seen to begin right from birth with the fate of the girl sealed from the day she is born. Whereas the birth of a boy is greeted with joy and much fanfare coupled with some public celebration depending on the status and financial capacity of the family, the birth of a girl is greeted with some ambivalence. The birth of a son is therefore more important to a Gambian mother and the family. Such a sequence of male preference is informed by the ancient belief and claim that male children have more worth than females. This �blessing� of a male child (or heir) meets that deep desire that lives in the hearts of women and helps us understand the problems those without one may face. After marriage, it is expected and in fact taken as given that a woman would at least provide that valuable commodity - children - for her husband and his family. A barren woman is thus seen as a great disappointment and �bad news�, not only to her husband and in-laws but to her family as well. It is the obligation of every wife to present her husband with children, especially the treasured sex - boys. Boys are very welcome, but the birth of a girl-child may be a disappointment to the parents and pass almost unacknowledged. Many a times, a mother would feel disappointed, dejected and really distressed at the birth of a girl (and it does not often make a difference that it is her first delivery), or even fearful of her husband�s anger. The significance attached to the sex of the baby is so prevailing that it affects so many people involved in the birth whether remotely or directly. Because it is widely the case that girls are less valued than boys, the delivery of a baby girl could be unpleasant for the mother and even the traditional birth attendants. Many girls therefore face a right to survival right from the moment they are born, and this struggle continues throughout their life circle.114 �The real gender differential is attitudinal and, as with racism, its damage is immeasurable. Like colour, (sex) is an 113 Amongst the Mandinka ethnic group, it is known as kulio. 114 Mertus, Julia, Flowers, Nancy, Dutt, Mallika �Local Action Global Change: Learning About the Human Rights of Women and Girls.� Published by UNIFEM and The Centre for Women�s Global Leadership.1999, p.76.

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accident of birth, but entitlements are man-made. A different and discriminatory set of values and expectations are applied to the girl, and to her preservation and development. Boys, like men, command greater space and value: that differential is sustained through a process of covert or overt neglect of the girl�.115 Many forms of discrimination among girls as compared to boys are evident in almost all areas of daily life leaving them vulnerable to many kinds of abuses. These abuses include a disproportionate rate of death and sickness among female children as compared to boys, and various manifestations of son preference that limit her access to food, healthcare, education, personal autonomy and the means of economic independence. Girls are also vulnerable to harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation, and to sexual abuse, domestic violence, incest, child prostitution and child labour.116 In the family food distributive system in rural Gambia for instance, the distribution of food is skewed in favour of men and boys with women and girls getting the lesser share, both in terms of quantity and quality. Priority is usually given to males rather than females, the best and most nourishing portions of food are served to males. Official sources have reported that besides other disadvantages, being born female in traditional Gambia can make one malnourished. The sources in 1990 showed that, of the under-5-group of children, 23% of girls as against 16% of boys were found to be undernourished. In 1994, the figures were 18% for girls and 13% for boys.117 The priority given to male children in the society has ensured a male dominance in the decision-making process. These unequal gender relations are determining factors behind the low status accorded to the girl-child first, and then to women. The subservient position of the female child is purely based on the fact that she is usually unwelcome and often regarded as an economic burden that ought to feel the financial obligation of the family. Although there are a number of similarities, the degree of discrimination may vary from one family to another. Reflecting on the comments received during interviews with some of the girls, I discovered that each child viewed discrimination differently depending on the extent and her understanding of gender disparity. For some daughters, the discrimination is pronounced anytime they are made to work in the house or out in the fields while their brothers rest or play football with peer groups, and for others, denial of educational opportunities by the family may be considered a worst type of discrimination. DUTIES OF THE RURAL GIRL-CHILD The girl-child, like the woman, makes meaningful contributions to her family in various forms; performs domestic chores in the house and also works in the farms. Customarily, these roles are seen as part of the socialisation process and training necessary for the reproduction of labour power. They constitute occupational preparation for the children�s future.118 In all parts of rural Gambia, young females assist their mothers or other senior females in performing basic household chores like sweeping, washing dishes, and

115 Kuckreja Sohoni, Neera �The Burden of Childhood: A Global Inquiry into the Status of Girls�. Oakland, CA: Third Party Publishers 1995, p.13. 116Women�s Human Rights Issues on http://www.whrnet.org/issues/18.htm. 117 This is one of the consequences of being born female. See generally www.un.gm/Jokkoo97/child.html. 118 Udombana, N. �Child Labour and the Challenges of Human Rights in Nigeria.� LESOTHO LAW JOURNAL. Vol. 11 No. 2. ISSN 0255-6472. 1998, p.272.

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fetching water. They also play their roles in the farms; in fact, most farming work done in the rural areas involves the girl-child. From an early age (as young as 5 years old), daughters begin to help their mothers in the fields. With all the responsibilities on women, it makes sense that there should be a division of labour between women and the girl-child though this would mean paying a great price as the girl-child may not be able to attend school or where she does, may have very low attendance records. The young girls each play distinct and useful roles in the fields and could serve as nursemaids to babies taken to the farms by their working mothers. Most times, they are also assigned the task of howling and hooting to scare away wild animals (bush pigs, monkeys, and birds) while their mothers are busy working or harvesting crops. The much older ones do assist the women in the planting, weeding, harvesting or sorting out of firewood. Apart from household and farm work, there is yet another responsibility which the girl-child may have to face in her adolescent years; that of being �employed� as a housemaid in the urban areas. In some instances however, though married rural women may undertake employment as housemaids in the urban areas that require leaving home for extended periods, it is more common for parents to send their female children to the cities to work as housemaids. Sometimes, parents give out girls at very tender ages for their own selfish interests, unmindful that the child�s education is being jeopardised for monetary gains. After all, there are of course, monthly-returns expected from the girl or woman who goes to work in the city. The double exploitation a young girl goes through is unfolded in the form of a vicious circle; that of her childhood days in the rural setting where she works both at home and in the field, and then what she equally confronts in the home of her employer. This issue of young housemaids introduces a problem of child labour in The Gambia and challenges human rights laws119 protecting children from economic exploitation. In accordance with the human rights laws, under the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia, a child under the age of 16 has an inalienable right of protection from economic exploitation, but the prevalence of child housemaids makes it clear that The Gambia has neither complied sufficiently with international Conventions nor with its national legal standards on the rights of the child. This section of the discourse will thus examine the specific responsibilities of housemaids and how these have either constrained or hindered the full enjoyment of the rights of the girl-child. THE HOUSEMAID (MBINDANE) SAGA AND THE GROWING MENACE OF CHILD LABOUR A vast majority of girls work between 4 to 16 hours a day at home. Their work is invisible, isolated, unpaid and unrecognised (The Silent Scandal of Millions of Girl Workers 1/10/1997, ICFTU Website). The ILO estimates that of the 250 million (ILO 1996) children aged between 5 and 14 who work in developing countries, 120 million work full-time, and 80 million (ILO 1999, 2) are in work that is harmful to their mental

119 See generally the CRC, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the ILO relevant Conventions on Minimum Age and Worst Forms of Child Labour discussed previously under Legal Framework in Chapter 2.

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and physical well-being.120 In most countries, child labour is increasingly becoming a menace and presents a complex problem demanding additional efforts from respective governments in the direction of securing a safe childhood, especially for girls. Domestic work is reported to be the largest single sector of employment for girl children. In many developing countries, it is the routine for children to be employed as live-in servants by the age of 14 though some may start well before that age. Young children from poor families have in effect become the household slaves of the late 20th century.121 All over the world, millions of girls work as housemaids in the households of families that are better off than their own. Families employing girls as domestic servants usually think they are doing something charitable by providing employment to a poor and disadvantaged child. While it may be acceptable for older girls to be employed as domestic servants, undoubtedly, the use of young girls for the same purpose is a blatant violation of international human rights norms. Given the tender age, the demands placed on the girl-child far exceed their capacities. More generally, social and cultural factors play a role in gender decisions over whether girls or boys are sent out to work in order to send money back to the family. Because it is expected that girls in many societies will leave the home at a future date by marrying into another family, girls are often less valued and seen as more dispensable than boys.122 Therefore, sending young girls away to work as housemaids in urban areas is seen as a way of lightening the burden of a poor rural household. This has resulted in the migration of many young girls and women to the cities to seek employment in urban households. The bottom line for this choice is poverty and women�s unequal status within the Gambian traditional setting means that the burden of poverty and the direct or indirect consequences of hard work impact disproportionately on them and the girl-child. In the Gambia, a particular ethnic group, Jola, has received notoriety for engaging themselves in the housemaid employment. Indeed, accusations have been levelled against Jola parents who, out of greed or for genuine need, and far from protecting their girl-child coerced them into the vocation and thus, placed them in positions to be exploited. Over the years, young Jola women have tried to attain some economic independence, assert themselves and be self-reliant through this means of employment. The main attraction and ultimate plan was to acquire enough money to enable them buy items for their wedding ceremonies, and also cater for their families in the short term. Although the Jolas still dominate this profession and have remained unbroken and undaunted in their determination for survival and improvement, presently, just any girl from any of the other Gambian tribes could be employed as an mbindane. The question has often been asked, why housemaids? Changes in status and better living conditions in most parts of urban Gambia necessarily meant and still means acquisition of household labour to do domestic chores of cooking, cleaning, washing dishes and clothes, caring for children, gardening, ironing clothes and others. Also, better-educated and better-paid women can afford to pay poorer women or young girls to look after their infants full-time. Again, in most other instances, circumstances of raising children have

120 Herzfeld, Bert �Slavery and Gender: Women�s Double Exploitation� in Gender and Development: Trafficking and Slavery. An OXFAM Journal. Vol. 10 No. 1 Published by OXFAM GB. 2002, p.52. 121 See Special Issues: Girl Child Labour: Global March against Child Labour especially Article on �Ending the Exploitation of Girls� Labour� available on http://globalmarch.org/girlchild/. 122 Herzfeld, Supra, note 120 at p.51.

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compelled working class and even non-working mothers to employ housemaids to ease the pressure of household work. The practice is predominant in the urban areas comprising of KSMD, Kanifing, and Greater Banjul and status may not necessarily be a determinant factor in the hiring of a housemaid. In most cases, however, the �sourcing� for, employment, subsequent payments of salaries for services rendered and the dismissal (or �firing�) of the housemaids are commonly undertaken by the women of the house. With particular reference to The Gambia, it does appear that there is no hard and fast rule about the size and age or even mental capacity of a hired servant. Different situations and conditions and class of the employer may be the factors that would be considered in making the appropriate choice. The age when people become housemaids varies from 9 years to well over 40 years though a good number are young girls who face problems of long working hours and poor wages. The gendered nature of poverty has been well documented and continues to be a threat against the human rights of women and subsequently, the girl-child. Typically, housemaids come from large, low income, poor households where food shortage is rife. Illiteracy, lack of access to education, lack of employable skills, high fertility rates are other factors promoting this vocation. In an attempt to use a child as the family�s economic base, the child becomes exposed to all levels of exploitation in the working environment of the urban household. Her tasks are as arduous as they are multiple and for her, there is very little hope for much advancement in life. Often, she suffers from low self-esteem and her chances of getting educated are seriously hampered. The girl-child works in repetitive, monotonous, non-stimulating jobs with no annual leave, and hardly has leisure time being the first in the household to wake up and the last to go to bed. She sweeps, cleans, goes to the market, cooks, launders, irons clothes, may have to plait the children�s hair, and runs errands (becomes the family�s �post master�) among others. Often times, the girl�s work is fraught with exploitation and danger; she could be physically ill treated, either battered by her employer, or �sexually assaulted by the �man of the house�, who sees sexual intercourse with the housemaid as part of his fringe benefits�.123 The case studies below, made available from interviews conducted, reveal the experiences of some women who had worked as girl-mbindanes in the past:

Maimuna disclosed that she had been serving the Jallow family as a housemaid for a little over a year when the man of the house decided to take advantage of her. He constantly demanded sex from her and when she refused, he threatened to sack her even though he was not the one paying her salary. When it was apparent that he was desperate and determined, she had to leave the job although there was no immediate alternative in place. But during the few months she spent searching for another job, she suffered indescribable lack.

Awa was not as lucky as Maimuna. In her case, she was forced to succumb to these incessant sexual demands because she could see no other alternative. She became the man�s bedmate for many months, satisfying his sexual needs anytime the wife or the other household members were away or asleep. This eventually led to a pregnancy and the birth of a child she has catered for alone since the man denied responsibility as soon as she became pregnant.

123 Udombana, Supra, note 118 at p.271.

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Some other shocking details were revealed by a few women whose husbands had impregnated their housemaids and left lasting scars on their marital relationships. An example is the case study narrated below based on one woman�s experience with her husband�s amorous affair with a former housemaid:

Hadijatou found out to her utmost surprise that her 16-year-old housemaid, Amie, who had served the household for about 2 years, was almost 5 months pregnant. Amie had never given her any cause to be suspicious as she was most efficient in her job of cleaning the house, going to the market and taking care of the kids. In fact, until this time, Amie had supposedly been the role model of a well brought up and responsible girl. However, upon interrogation, she was to disclose to Hadijatou that her husband was responsible for the pregnancy. Of course, the husband denied the allegations and she was immediately asked to leave the house. She later gave birth to a baby boy who, to date, remains the first and only son of the man.

Seen from the perspective of the child�s human rights, all these contravene the different Conventions and Charters available for the protection of the child, and violate the right of the girl-child not to be subjected to cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment. At the international level, divers United Nations (UN) bodies have adopted resolutions calling for measures to protect children working in domestic settings. In 1993, UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a �Programme of Action for the Elimination of the Exploitation of Child Labour�. It refers to �under-age maidservants in a position of servitude� as a form of exploitation which is �no less than a flagrant crime which violates the Charter of the United Nations �the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the most elementary principles of morality and all positive laws�. The Commission called on all governments to introduce an absolution prohibition on �under-age maid service�. More recently, In March 1998 the UN Commission on the Status of Women called on governments, international organizations and the private sector to �pay special attention to girls in the informal sector, such as domestic workers, and develop measures to protect their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and prevent their economic exploitation, ill-treatment and sexual abuse �� 124 Besides, further protection is offered under the ILO Conventions, Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138) and Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). While Article 1 of Convention No. 138 states that �each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes to pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons�. Article 2 (1 & 2) stipulate that each ratifying member state must �specify, in a declaration appended to its ratification, a minimum age for admission to employment or work within its territory� and warns that no one under that age shall be admitted to employment or work in any occupation. In accordance with this, The Gambia specifies the minimum age to be 14 years. On the regional front, Article 15 (1) of The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and Article 32 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provide for the protection of the child �from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child�s education, or to be harmful to the child�s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social

124 Supra, note 121.

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development�.125 For the purpose of the African Charter and the CRC, a child has been defined as �every human being below the age of 18 years.�126 Moreover, sub-sections 2(b) and 2 (a-c) of these Articles place an obligation on member nations to take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure the implementation of the present Article by providing for a minimum age or minimum ages of admission to employment, provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment and provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective enforcement of the present Article. At the national level, and in line with the foregoing, Section 29 (2) of the 1997 Constitution duly states thus:

�Children under the age of 16 years are entitled to be protected from economic exploitation and shall not be employed in or required to perform work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with their education or be harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development�.

In addition, Sections 18, 19, 210, 211, 218 of the Gambian Criminal Code create offences related to child abuse and neglect. By virtue of these provisions, children under the age of 14 years are entitled to adequate care from their parents or legal guardians. It is difficult then to divorce this responsibility from the issue of neglecting to give the girl-child adequate care that subsequently exposes her to the hazards of child labour. In spite of the above Constitutional provision, many young girls below the age of 16 years continue to work as mbindanes. With no mechanisms yet in place to prosecute parents who neglect to care for their under-14-years children in accordance with the Criminal Code, the problem is much more difficult. And the Gambian government has not adequately addressed this issue. Unfortunately for the mbindanes, there are no Letters of Employment and therefore no accompanying Conditions of Service. Though vulnerable to many forms of abuse, they also have no Trade Union to defend them. They just work, and are often under-paid. The employer, who pays far less than the labour�s worth, often capitalises on her vulnerable position. The salary is hardly ever commensurate with the manual work and responsibilities borne, and therefore inadequate to make a decent living in the prevailing economic circumstances. Results from the field responses in the urban areas revealed that the salary range varies between D150 - D400 125 See also Article 31(1) of the CRC which recognises the right of the child to �rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.� In interpreting this section of the Convention, many have argued that it gives too much right to the child and therefore have wondered if children are still expected to help their parents with chores. In clearing doubts arising from this, UNICEF has stated categorically that �the Convention protects children from economic exploitation and from work that is hazardous to their health or interferes with their education. It was never intended to regulate smaller details of home life and there is nothing in the Convention that prohibits parents from expecting their children to help out at home in ways that are safe and appropriate to their age. At times, children�s help can also be essential in the running of a family farm or business. However, if they involve their children in such work, parents must be aware of the laws that regulate child labour in their countries. If children help out in a family farm or business, the Convention requires that the tasks they do be safe and suited to their level of development. Children�s work should not jeopardize any of the other rights guaranteed by the Convention, including the right to education, or the right to rest, leisure, play and recreation. Source: http://www.unicef.ca/eng/unicef/sch_election/convent2.html#q5. 126 See Article ii of the Charter and Article 1 of the CRC.

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(approximately $11 - $30)127 per month and depends greatly on who is employing and the economic capability of the employer. Salary increase is at the employer�s discretion and would also depend on the overall performance of the mbindane. Apart from working as housemaids, there are also young girls who work in the non-domestic sector as street vendors hawking/selling all manners of goods (groundnut, buns, fruits, pepper, vegetables and all kinds of food stuff) in markets, motor parks, and at beaches. I met a lot of girls at the two big markets in Banjul and Serrekunda and the beaches at Bakau, Tanji and Gunjur who disclosed that they had to sell to augment the family income. For some, the hawking trade had become a �full-time job� in lieu of schooling. The following comments from Sajoh, a 12-year-old Mandinka girl I met hawking groundnut at the Gunjur beach, are illustrative of what sacrifices the girl-child may have to make in life:

�I live and school in another village about 5 km away from Gunjur but had to follow my mother here so I could sell groundnuts while she works in the farm. This is inevitable because I have to make ends meet to enable us pay my school fees. But I am enthusiastic about returning back to school once the money is raised so I can be educated�.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GIRLS� EDUCATION IN ELIMINATING CHILD LABOUR. Article 7 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.182) refers to the importance of education in eliminating child labour and urges States Parties to the Convention to identify and reach out to children at special risk and take account of the special situation of girls. The overall and long-term benefits of education can never be over emphasised given that education has become a perceived need in today�s changing world. The right to education therefore forms the basis for individual dignity and self-respect. Indeed, without education, the advancement of any individual, whether male or female, would be difficult and perhaps sluggish. There is also, of course, the growing realisation that education makes an individual to become receptive to change, increases employment opportunities, is a tool for empowerment, increases knowledge, helps an individual to develop his or her skills, increases life choices, increases awareness in areas of health, politics, among others. Moreover, among the Gambian rural dwellers, education, in itself, is almost a guarantee for white-collar jobs and now, almost any form of �toubab work� is considered preferable to farming. Education is therefore a suitable alternative to farming. Despite the benefits of education, education continues to be a low priority and remains under-funded in many developing countries. Women and girls tend to receive fewer resources, less encouragement and little assistance in getting an education. With specific reference to The Gambia, education remains underdeveloped, and illiteracy still remains a major constraint to sustainable development with more than a third of the population unable to read and write in any language. The Gambia has an illiteracy rate of 76 per

127 The D represents the Gambian currency, Dalasis. The amount of salary payable to the mbindane is directly related to the monthly income the female employer herself earns.

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cent, of which 68 per cent are women and girls.128 As with other sectors, this statistics shows that women are equally disadvantaged in education. There still exist in The Gambia some gaps between girls and boys� enrolment. Girls, especially those in the rural areas, are top on the list among those that are not in schools. The School Enrolment Rates need much improvement, particularly as one moves from the primary to secondary levels. At the moment, the Total Gross Primary Enrolment Rate129 as at 1998/99 stood at 71.7 - female rate 77.8 and male rate 65.6. The Total Net Senior Secondary Enrolment Rate is estimated at 9.7, the female rate considerably lower at 7.0.130 Among the Gambia Middle and High School pupils, 32% are boys while 23% are girls. Also, whereas 1.4% of men acquired higher education (Degrees), only 0.6% of female benefit from higher education. This indicates the wide gap that exists between males and females in the educational sector.131 It is interesting to observe here that female participation in education is higher at the primary level than for males but becomes significantly lower at secondary level. This is indicative of the difficulties girls face in continuing their education to higher levels as a result of mainly economic and cultural factors of poverty and early or forced marriages among others.132 In the rural areas, most especially, girls� enrolment is also constrained, among other things, by cost of schooling, son preference where boys are given educational priorities by families over girls,133 distance from home to school, the offering of a non- broad-based curriculum, gender biases on teaching/learning materials, stereotyping and other socio-cultural deterrents both at home and in the school, manual labour which requires the use of girls to strengthen the labour force at home and the farms, and growing demands for unskilled employment in the urban area. However, preference is indicated for Madrassa134 education, particularly for girls because of the moral and religious education it offers.135 Nonetheless, in the non-formal 128 http://www.undp.org/dpa/flash/flashback/1999/may/10my99e.htm. In evaluating the literacy status of women on a global level, it may be necessary to also consider the UN statistics of the developing world. In 1985, 60 % of the developing world�s adult population was literate: but disaggregating the numbers reveals that 70% of the males were literate while only 49 % of the females were literate. (See UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME; HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1991, at 166 (1991) (Referring to Table 5). This is an indication of the reality of women�s position that is not so much different from what obtains in The Gambia. 129 Primary School Enrolment Rate has been defined by UNESCO as the basic �(e)ducation at the first level, which usually begins between ages five and seven years � See UNITED NATIONS, COMPENDIUM OF SOCIAL STATISTICS AND INDICATORS 1988, at 245 (Series K, No. 9 1991). 130 This is an improvement no doubt when compared with the 1994/95 Primary Gross Enrolment Rate which stood at 56% of which young girls� enrolment represented 4.6%. Female enrolment at the Junior Secondary level was 37% and at the Senior Secondary level 31% (Education Statistics 1994/95). 131 Bojang-Bayo, Matilda, Article on �Men�s Suppression Versus Women�s Empowerment� in Yiriwa Kirabo Vol. 8 No. 2 1997, p.18. 132 Wadda, Rohey, �Brain Drain and Capacity Building in Africa, The Gambian Experience.� Contribution to the joint eca/iom/idrc Regional Conference on �The Brain Drain and Capacity Building in Africa�. 2000, p.2. 133 Many families when faced with the choice of sending either a daughter or a son to school would choose to send the son. In other words, it is gender that tips the scale against the girl-child. Therefore, gender discrimination combines with poverty and inadequate income to crush the girl�s right and equal access to education. 134 The Gambia introduced Our�anic education into the Western-type school system in 1977. There have emerged madrassas that teach not only about Islam, but also subjects such as science, mathematics and English. In a study in Jiffarong, a Muslim village in The Gambia, 51% of the households divide children between the Western school and madrassa. Parents do so (1) to maximize their own future financial security in the changing society; (2) to minimize financial burden at the secondary school level, and

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education sector, opportunities have been created for women and girls to become literate in their own languages but these efforts are limited by factors such as heavy workload of women, lack of labour saving devices and poor attitude of men towards women�s literacy. As a result, women�s access to employment is limited in terms of getting employed in the first place, staying in employment and making it to the top. The impact of illiteracy is an accumulation of more women (and the girl-child) in low income, unskilled employment. In total, women occupy 61.9% of the unskilled labour category (Population Data Bank, 1994). The importance of child education has been emphasised in many documents whose overall aim has been to allow States Parties assess its educational policies, set educational strategies in today�s changing society and align them with the changing global contexts. Several global and regional human rights instruments include provisions on the right of the child (or every individual as contained in the African Charter on Human and Peoples� Rights) to education. On the global perspective, the concept of the Right to Education as part of international human rights law appeared for the first time in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) document of 1948. The UDHR therefore became the very first document to declare education a basic human right of which every person is entitled to. In its Article 26, it is stated that:

�(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.�

Realising that there was need to establish a mechanism for the enforcement of the UDHR, the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation adopted the Convention Against Discrimination in Education on 14 December 1960.136 The content of the UDHR became detailed in Article 13 of the

maximize children�s years of schooling; and (3) with consideration of economic, social, and cultural consequences of education. (Okuma, Kiwako �Changing Societies, State Policies, and Parents� Educational Strategies: Cases from Rural Gambia�. PhD Thesis. 1997). Based on the new Education Policy, all madrassa institutes have now been incorporated in the school system; a unit has been created at DoSE responsible for the operations of all madrassa schools in the country. This is intended to assist Regional Education Offices monitor such schools, teachers and students alongside with other public schools in a region. For the 10% of the school-aged population in the madrassa, the curriculum is being synchronized with that of conventional schools and English language introduced as a subject. The new initiative to synchronise Madrassa education and mainstream education began in 1998. See www.edugambia.gm. 135 See www.jammeh2001.org/women1.htm for more details. 136 This entered into force on May 22, 1962, in accordance with Article 14 of the Convention which states that, �This Convention shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession, but only with respect to those States which have deposited their respective instruments on or before that date. It shall enter into force with respect to any other State three months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession.�

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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)13718 years after its adoption. The CESCR contains basic provisions on education as a human right and recognises in Article 13 the right of everyone to education. Subsection 1 states as follows:

�The States Parties to the present Convention recognise the right of everyone to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full development of human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.�

In addition, secondary education, in all its forms, is to be made generally available and accessible. Article 14 of the same CESCR also stipulates that:

�Each State Party to the present Covenant which, at the time of becoming a Party, has not been able to secure in its metropolitan territory or other territories under its jurisdiction compulsory primary education, free of charge, undertakes, within two years, to work out and adopt a detailed plan of action for the progressive implementation, with a reasonable number of years, to be fixed in the plan, of the principle of compulsory education free of charge for all.�

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) remains the most recent international Convention relating to education and indeed �eliminates any residual linguistic bias by using the single expression �he or she� throughout the text�.138 In ensuring that education is guaranteed to children, the CRC recognises the power of education and explicitly provides in Article 28 (1) that, �States Parties recognise the right of the child to education�, while confirming the principles of compulsory and free primary education in subsection 1(a) of the same Article. The CRC also stresses on the benefits of education for the child�s overall development. In line with this, Article 29 (1 (a)) reads as follows: �States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child�s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential.� Furthermore, closer links with the principles of education are found in Article 18 of the CRC whereby parents and legal guardians are saddled with the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of their child. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child has a lot in common with the CRC and enjoins States Parties in Article 11 to �recognise the right of the child to education.� �Every child� here is a generic term rather than being gender specific and does not exclude the female child.

Under Article 4, �the States Parties to this Convention undertake furthermore to formulate, develop and apply a national policy which, � will tend to promote equality of opportunity and of treatment in the matter of education and in particular: (a) to make primary education free and compulsory�� The Convention considers discrimination in education as a human rights violation, although by virtue of Article 2 (b) of the Convention, �the establishment or maintenance, for religious or linguistic reasons, of separate educational systems or institutions offering an education which is in keeping with the wishes of the pupil�s parents or legal guardians�� shall not be deemed to be discrimination. 137 This covenant was adopted and open to signature, ratification and adherence by the UN General Assembly by Resolution 2200 A (XX1) on December 16 1966. 138 Alfredsson, G., Eide, A. �The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Common Standard of Achievement�. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1999, p.557.

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With regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples� Rights, there is only one Article that includes any reference to education and that is Article 17 (1), which states that, �every individual shall have a right to education.� This provision is somewhat similar to Article 11 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child except for the fact that one uses the phrase �every individual� while the other uses �every child.� It appears to be only a matter of semantics but the idea remains similar. It is commendable that in cognisance with the provisions of education, the 1997 Gambian Constitution endorses the concept of providing equal educational opportunities. Section 30 of the Constitution therefore deals with the Right to Education by guaranteeing that �all persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities�. With a view to achieving the full realisation of this right, subsections (a-d) prescribe that basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all; secondary education, including technical and vocational education, higher education shall be made available and accessible to all by every appropriate means; and functional literacy shall be encouraged or intensified as far as possible. This provision is thus the legal basis for the State�s commitment to provide free basic education to ALL. For consistency with the language of the Constitution, the state government has laid out several strategies through the State Department for Education (DoSE) to meet up its educational obligation. Significant strides have also been made with regard to education for the girl-child. With the revised Education Policy 1998-2003, the government has prioritised the education of the girl-child. The policy objectives are: to increase the enrolment and retention of girls in schools and to improve the quality and relevance of education for girls. The overall aim of the Girls� Education Initiative is to provide equal opportunities and access for girls from an early age, thus creating an enabling environment for girls and women to compete equally with boys and men. The intention is to provide free education at the basic level and then plan systematically for other levels. ENROLMENT/RETENTION RATES OF GIRLS IN SCHOOLS BASED ON FIELD STUDY RESULTS During the fieldwork, I visited a number of schools. But I intend to make specific reference to 2 Lower Basic (Primary) Schools in a small and big village that indicated a marked improvement in the enrolment rate of girls. They are: (1) Saint Anthony�s Lower Basic School in Kanilai with a current school population of 383: Boys 224 and girls 159 for the 2001/2002 Academic Year. The school is made up of the central point (Kanilai) and about 7 other catchment areas, which are the surrounding villages served by the school. Represented below is a table of the 1999 figures indicating an improvement in enrolment in the current school year:

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Villages

Distance

Boys

Girls

Total

Kanilai Central Point 84 82 166 Bujiling 2.5Km 20 17 37 Njeffiba 4 Km 18 17 35

Alla Kunda 8 Km 12 7 19 Mandina 1.2 Km 6 4 10 Bulunt 1Km 10 2 12

Kunjenjeng 1Km 1 4 5 Others (e.g.

Cassamance)

19

3

22

Total

170

136

306

(2) Saint Edward Lower Basic School, Bwiam with a total of 891 pupils. Below is a representation of the Statistical Breakdown for 2001/2002:

Grade

Boys

Girls

Total

1S 27 24 51 1C 22 26 48 1T 20 25 45 2C 28 19 47 2S 30 14 44 2P 27 15 42 2R 24 18 42 2T 15 30 45 3C 26 17 43 3S 20 21 41 3T 31 17 48 4S 23 19 42 4T 19 30 49 4C 26 19 45 5C 26 15 41 5S 17 23 40 5T 20 20 40 6C 19 26 45 6S 34 14 48 6T 19 26 45

Total

473

418

891

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While there continues to be a disparity between the enrolment and retention rates of girls and those of boys, it is evident from the tables above that there is currently a high participation rate for girls. Indeed, amongst all the women I interviewed, there was not a single one who did not believe in girl�s education. They all vowed to send their girls to school while more than 85% of them indicated that their young girls were already attending school. However, in the smaller village, there was a problem with girls� poor school attendance records as compared to the boys. This was attributed to a number of reasons. First, the hamlet was too small, and girls from most catchment areas were debarred by distance and remoteness of their areas. Second, the involvement of the girl-child in so many work related activities was also a compelling factor that had a negative impact on their attendance. Of course, the reverse was the case with the attendance records of girls from the central point where the school is located. Also, not only was the attendance of the latter regular but their academic performance was impressive and encouraging. But to combat the problem of poor academic performance, the school introduced many innovative initiatives geared towards the advancement of its pupils. For instance, every fortnight, Assessment Tests are organised for all grades (from 1-6) to enable them study hard. Again, the teachers organise what they call �home trips� where visits are paid to pupils in their homes in order to assess their problems and find solutions or remedies, if any. There was a common complaint that cut across most rural schools and that was in relation to difficulties involved in the retention of girls in schools.139 Teachers explained the Low Retention Rate with reference to traditional practices that favoured early marriage. Though many rural families today believe in girls� education and actually send their girls to school, it is still a problem for some to allow the girls finish their schooling without interruptions. It is often the case that families in this category may agree to send the female children of the household to school for partial literacy but then withdraw them after primary education or before the final Junior High examinations for marriage. As most teachers observed, those rural parents prefer this alternative to ensure that the girl-child marries early before she gets �too old� and becomes �unmarketable�. A good example of early marriage occurred during the previous academic year in one of the Lower Basic Schools. An Imam, the father of a Grade 5 girl (aged between 13 and 14), had prematurely withdrawn her from school for marriage to a much older man. As one of the teachers commented, �the man believes very strongly in early marriage and has, in the past years, done a similar thing to his older daughters�. This scenario is different in schools located in bigger villages. For instance, in the Saint Edward Lower Basic School, Bwiam, there was a positive report to the effect that there has been no withdrawal of girls in recent years from school on the basis of early marriage. Most girl-pupils usually complete Grade 6. The only complaint I received about girl-child education took another dimension; which is that female children are usually too big when enrolled. Only recently, one particular girl was said to have reached

139 Over the years and across-the-board, there is a high dropout and repetition rates for girls at the primary level which has been a cause of concern for the government. For instance, between, the school years 1994/95 and 1995/96, 6% of girls enrolled in primary schools dropped out, while 14% repeated. Information and data available on http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/beijing+5stat/statments/gambia5.htm.

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the age of 10 or above at the time of enrolment. It appears the girls are left at home to help their mothers work before the family accepts their enrolment in school. A greater proportion of teachers and headmasters agreed unanimously that the Enrolment Rate is improving considerably and that more girls are being retained than in the past. Another observation worth mentioning is that there is an improvement in the Retention Rate of the girl-child as one moves from the Lower Basic level to the High Schools. This has been the case in Fatima Senior Secondary School (SSS), Bwiam where the girls� Enrolment Rate and performance level have been very high. The girls have been competing favourably with the boys. In fact, in the previous year�s West African School Certificate Exams (WASC), 2 Fatima SSS students were among 11 students who had 9 credits nation wide. A girl, presently studying Medicine in the University of The Gambia, was one of the 2 from the school. On the question of girls leaving school before completing their studies, there was an across-the-board consensus among respondents that girls who left, were mostly girls whose families were too poor, unwilling to make the necessary financial sacrifices because of prejudices associated with girl�s education, or required the girls� labour to boost agricultural returns on the farms. CHALLENGES FACED BY GOVERNMENT IN THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION The achievement of �free education� at the basic level in The Gambia is still a distant goal as it is difficult, for some reason not unrelated to availability of funds, to provide free education in its entirety to Gambian citizens. The fact that most Lower Basic Schools in The Gambia collect a �School Fund� of D5 (approximately 35 cents) per pupil, every term, leaves a gap in the efforts made towards the realisation of free and compulsory education. Although the amount appears to be too small and negligible to make a significant difference to people�s income, the reality is that in some places and in fact in most of rural Gambia, D5 though small, means a lot especially for those who have very large families and children within the school-age bracket. During the field exercise, I met a couple of parents who said that the reason why their daughters were not in school regularly was because they could not afford to pay the School Fund. All of these parents were in the category of the poor within their societal ranking. The effect of the School Fund therefore openly questions the explicit intent of human rights law and the provisions of Section 30 of the Constitution that primary education should be free. Direct charges on primary education, under whatever name, impose upon parents the obligation to fully finance the education of their children which many may not have the wherewithal to cope with. Education is a long-term process and the commitment should equally be long term. Primary education should be free for all school children because they cannot possibly pay for themselves. For a country like The Gambia who still has, in particular, a low net girl�s enrolment and retention rate, free primary education ought to be a priority for public spending on education. The concept of universal, free and compulsory education are closely linked. For the government to impose rules of compulsory school attendance, free education must then

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be a precondition. Although Article 26 of the UDHR does not specify whether free education includes or excludes such expenses like uniforms, textbooks, exercise books, and free lunch, the fact is that the cost of schooling and its accompanying demands remain a serious burden to most parents in the rural areas. This is because, as discussed earlier, majority of rural inhabitants live below the poverty line and therefore target their meagre income towards providing food for the family. Educating their children, much less the girl-child, becomes a secondary consideration. Early/forced marriage and pregnancy conflict with compulsory primary education and are often the main reasons for girls not completing primary education. In The Gambia, pregnancy is treated as a disciplinary offence, thus by law, pregnant schoolgirls are expelled from the school. But under Article 11 (6) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, States Parties are required to ensure that girls who become pregnant before completing their education �have an opportunity to continue with their education on the basis of their individual ability.� The State is yet to work out the modalities for this and even when it does, the hands of the school authorities will still be tied when a girl�s parents withdraw her from school for marriage. In addressing the issue of compulsory education, the government has also failed to put in place a workable system that will ensure the regular attendance and retention of the rural girl-child in school. This must be done with the understanding that a person who grows up under the conditions of discrimination and poverty has less opportunity to get into school than someone from the mainstream of society with educated parents who believe in girls� education and equal opportunities. Hence, there is a pressing need for the government to address and tackle the issue of manual labour, early marriage, among others, to provide equal opportunity, compensate for unequal starting points and counter the disadvantages suffered by the girl-child in her educational advancement. This is necessary because one of the basis put forward for poor attendance for example, is the reliance of parents on the labour of the girl-child especially in the farms. According to some headmasters and teachers interviewed, it is often the case that those girls privileged to attend school have poor records and after a day in the field, are often too exhausted to learn or assimilate the lessons being taught. We can note too the restricted access of girls in rural Gambia to public goods such as education and literacy. Given the foregoing discussions, it is clear that the case of free education for the girl-child needs an urgent redress. There is much left undone in order to fully comply with the various provisions discussed above.

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Conclusion

This study emanated from the assumption that in most parts of rural Gambia, women and the girl-child are overworked. It recognised that the reason for this was the existence of unequal gender relations between men and women in the society. The study attempted to look at the human rights laws that are available to women and the girl-child in the pursuit and realisation of their fundamental human rights protection from all forms of discrimination. It discussed the protection using international, regional and even national laws as its legal basis and reveals that human rights instruments advocating for equality between genders were not in short supply. Findings indicated that on the international and regional fronts, substantial efforts have been made in giving legal backing to the rights of women and the girl-child. These efforts gave birth to a number of international fundamental Conventions and the two regional African Charters. In support of these efforts, The Gambia has duly endorsed a number of the human rights instruments by acts of accession or ratification, and in fact, has gone a step further by translating some of the documents into Constitutional and national laws, indicating its commitment to promoting the human rights of Gambian citizens. Despite the steps taken by The Gambia, in reality, the unfolding fact is that there are some discrepancies between law and practice, and tradition and the law. Tradition continues to pose a serious problem because the practice of equality within the larger society is still tainted with patriarchy and the need to maintain traditional standards. The result is that flagrant inequalities still persist and dominate the society; a sobering reminder that declarations, international or regional Conventions do not easily translate into reality. It is obvious that The Gambia is not in dire need of laws per se but rather, what she needs is the political will to implement and enforce existing human rights and national laws. But on the whole, translating the provisions and positive dictums of human rights laws into concrete actions, however, remains one of the greatest challenges facing the human rights movement and the community of nations.140 This is the same dilemma that The Gambia is facing. In her case, there still exist discriminatory traditions that adversely affect or negate the full enjoyment of the fundamental rights of women and the girl-child. The preceding discourses have shown the prevalence of many social and economic inequalities between men and women with women lagging behind men in every indicator of economic and social human rights. This study therefore calls attention to areas where changes are required or advisable. Though admittedly, the problem of overwork is complex and multi-facet, it is now clear that overwork does amount to abuses of some human rights of women and the girl-child. For instance, women are denied their rights to equality, access to financial autonomy, while the girl-child is constantly faced with the problem of unequal access to educational opportunities because of gender based discrimination and child labour. These gaps continue to exist because the tools and mechanisms currently available are neither

140 Leckie, Scott �Another Step Towards Indivisibility: Identifying the Key Features of Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights�. Human Rights Quarterly Vol. 20, No 1. 1998 p. 87.

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sufficiently ardent nor are they developed well enough to induce large-scale alterations of practices incompatible with human rights standards. It is essential, however, to reiterate that the subordinate roles played by women in rural Gambia conflict with the principle of gender equality enshrined in the 1997 Gambian Constitution, which does not permit discrimination on the basis of sex. No doubt, the1997 Constitution, more or less a reflection of some of the important and relevant international and regional provisions, advocates equality but it has little or no effect on customary practices by virtue of its Section 7 (e),141 neither has it challenged existing cultural traditions. Again, the Constitutional recognition of customary laws under the1997 Constitution could be described as a carte blanche for discrimination. A provision such as that is quite controversial and could someday be interpreted to accommodate customary laws that may be considered repugnant to justice, equity and good conscience. While it may be true to admit that the courts may not be inclined to uphold such laws bearing in mind the provisions of the S. 5 (1) & (4) of The Law of England (Application) Act 16 of 1953 (Cap.5) Laws of The Gambia,142 the reality is that most customs still prevailing in the rural and traditional sectors of The Gambia do not get to the law courts where they can be adjudicated on. What is usual is to deal with disputes at the family, local and village levels where the subjects under contention are likely to be upheld. ADVANCING THE CAUSE OF WOMEN: CONTRIBUTORY ROLES OF WOMEN, GOVERNMENT, NGOS & OTHERS IN THE TRANSFORMATION PROCESS Regardless of the approach taken, addressing the issue of overwork requires a wide spectrum of responses from many key actors. To realise a fair and free society where equal opportunities would be extended to women, several actors must be co-opted into the change process. Although the government would have to shoulder most of the responsibilities in effecting the required changes, the complex needs and situations of overworked women and the girl-child require effective, well-established systems, intensive and long-term efforts that will also involve women themselves, NGOs and other bodies. In the light of this, recommendations would be penned to the various actors on strategies to be adopted for visible change, how to attain it and possibly, how to preserve the change. There must be targeted interventions on the part of the actors towards improving and advancing the lives of women and the girl-child, by first seeking to confront social pressures on inequality. Adequate measures must also be taken to address and achieve gender equality from the early stages. Below is a brief discussion on the roles of the respective actors:

141 Supra, note 38. 142 This Section states thus; �nothing in this rule shall deprive the courts of the right to observe and enforce the observance, or shall deprive any person of the benefit, of any customary law existing in The Gambia, such law not being repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience, nor incompatible either directly or by necessary implication with any law for the time being in force.� But by virtue of the provisions of Section 5(4), �in cases where no express rule is applicable to any matter in controversy, the court shall be governed by the principles of justice, equity and good conscience.�

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1. Women - Women have a greater role to play in the transformation process. They must cooperate with the different NGOs working on women�s issues to ensure that they become more aware of their rights and challenge all forms of inequality in the society. This would ultimately invoke a progressive change in the present scheme of things where women themselves will be able to make informed choices on issues affecting their well-being. As mentioned earlier, a good number of women are presently enthusiastic about change, which is not unrelated to the fact that they have been sensitized in the last couple of years by different NGOs and UN bodies who have concentrated their work at the grassroots level. This should serve as a motivation for more NGOs and Donors to promote appropriate programmes among women in the rural areas.

2. Government - Leadership within a state is the only institution or body which has the capacity, power and wherewithal, no matter how weak, imperfect or minimal, to ensure that its citizens (male and female) live a life of equality in the structure of the society. This presumes and correctly too that the key role, which the government must play, cannot be overemphasised. Solutions have to come from within the government and there has to be a political will to change the situation of women and the girl-child. Its commitment to equal opportunities for all members of the civil society must be perceived to be sincere. Greater emphasis ought to be placed on protecting the rights and dignity of women within the continuum of social development to make imperative, the need for further advancement. In addition, government must reinforce laws that will prohibit discrimination against women and the girl-child. An obvious response by government is to pay sufficient attention to the amendment of domestic laws and bring them in conformity with existing Conventions when they are manifestly incompatible with the texts. There may be need to enact meaningful legislation and/or change penal laws, and refocus on those areas that do not adequately address issues relating to women. Also, addressing the problem of female poverty so women can be left with more options for supporting themselves and attaining some economic independence will be epoch making in the development of women in particular, and the society at large. In line with this, government must begin to prioritise and also implement policies that will eliminate women�s poverty. Most importantly, in addressing the plight of the girl-child, the government must ensure that, in reality, girls and boys have equal access to all levels of education; and that education at the basic level is free and compulsory. Because education and child labour are closely linked, no serious effort at educating girls can succeed without taking into account the type of unpaid, invisible tasks carried out by those who do not attend school. To protect the girl-child from overwork and child labour, the role of labour laws is important in regulating the child�s human rights to protection and abusive labour practices within the domestic workforce. As at now, not only has the lacunae in the 1990 Labour Act failed to protect the girl-child servant from overworking, but also actually exposes the child to all forms of exploitation because of its failure to recognise domestic employment. This particular lacuna calls for an urgent redress.

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3. Law Reform Commission - The Commission must avail itself of the opportunity to make proposals, as the need arises, for legal amendments. But it is important however to caution that in proposing for enactment of new laws to compensate for existing lacunae, suggestions must avoid a haphazard or half measure scenario having no bearing of enforceability after its promulgation. As a guide, the Commission may wish to advocate specifically for amendment or repeal of existing laws/provisions that are repugnant to equity and good conscience and in this context, those that promote or are otherwise silent on issues that affect women and the girl-child adversely. One of such provisions is that of Section 7(e) mentioned earlier. 4. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs): NGOs supporting women�s empowerment must recognize, henceforth, the true obstacles women and the girl-child face in the society and develop effective and efficient strategies to overcome them. For instance, more educational opportunities ought to be provided, especially at higher levels, and made available to the girl-child. There is need for more women NGOs to embark on different projects that will enhance girls� education in the nation. Thus far, scholarships, especially for girls, are being used as a bridging mechanism that will work towards achieving a sustainable nation-wide school system. The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP) is a success story in this aspect, haven been instrumental to the sponsorship of about 990 girls from Lower Basic school to university levels for the 1999/2000 academic year. This is highly commendable and calls for more NGOs to channel some of their funds to girls� education and target high Enrolment and Retention Rates for girls at all levels. Furthermore, since many women are involved in agriculture, NGOs representing the interest of women should also consider providing advanced and more modern agricultural implements to women. This would ease the burdens that women and the girl-child face on a daily basis.

5. Donor Agencies - They must direct funds towards the advancement of the status of women and address issues negatively affecting women and the girl-child. For example,

(i) Money could be provided for meeting costs of boreholes or traditional wells within all communities to lessen the burdens on women who go far to fetch water for family use; (ii) Provide and operate, at an affordable cost, grinding/milling machines that will mill or grind corn, millet, couscous etc. This would serve to alleviate the stress and strain of pounding grains which women and girls face daily when preparing family meals; (iii) Provide credit facilities/schemes to alleviate poverty - women could use the money provided to go into business that would yield profit, pay off the loan and have enough to sustain the business and also meet basic family needs. This is necessary because many of my female interviewees complained that a lack of such facilities was responsible for their poor economic status. (iv) Provide alternative employment opportunities and support in form of loans/grants to rural women.

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6. Men - No change that leaves the men folk out of it can be completely achieved and sustained. Men must be sensitised to the level where they will begin to see women in the society as partners in progress rather than as people occupying just a second place in the society; and to also know that they need to share in child-care, housework and to provide financial support to lessen women�s workload. 7. Civil Society - Educating the civil society will evoke changes of societal attitudes towards women. This means that respective actors should expand public awareness on the equal status of all individuals that will influence the society�s misconceived perception of women being inferior and playing secondary roles in the advancement of the larger society. Finally, providing awareness creation programmes about the rights of women given the present human rights dispensation would be an added advantage.

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