Swaziland@Newsletter Extra: The empowerment of women

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___________________________________________________

Dear friends,

We have felt it important to raise the question of the rights of women
in Swaziland.

It is one of the most important issues in the political future of
Swaziland. In many ways, the most important one of all. The women of
the land are those who more than any other live through the
difficulties of the present. Their equal and creative contribution to
the democratic movement is necessary if it is to create a future life
for all.

This newsletter reflects a discussion of the human rights and human
tasks of women far out over the borders of Swaziland. It is our hope
that this can contribute to awareness and discussion, to the process
of equality and change.

"Let the women speak! And listen? is the title of one of the following
articles. It is more than that.

Patrick Mac Manus
Editor
Swaziland@Newsletter
________________________________________

The empowerment of women

1. Women challenging their traditional status as minors. IRIN 8/3/2008.

2. Reflections on 16 days of activism. Emma Njoki Wamai. 5/25/2008.
Pambazuka News 374. www.pambazuka.org.

3. In Southern Africa, women are changing the face of migration.
Gender, Remittances and Development: Findings from selected SADC
countries. Joint Press Release, Santo Domingo. 4/7/2008: UN-INSTRAW &
SAIIA: http://topics.developmentgateway.org

4. Soul searching for women activists. Salma Mlidi. 4/3/2008:
Pambazuka News 359, www.pambazuka.org

5. Gender and Human Rights in South Africa. Corlett Letlojane.
SANGONet: A Development Information Portal for NGOs in South Africa.
1/2/2008.

6. "Let the women speak! And listen?. Anene Ejikeme. Pambazuku News 17.1.2008.

7. Sex, money and power: Considerations for African women?s
empowerment. Danai S. Mupotsa. AfricaFiles Vol. 7 (January-April 2008).

8. Back home from hell. Forced into prostitution for two years. Given
Mahlalela, Sowetan 6/3/2008.

______________________________


1. Women challenging their traditional status as minors. IRIN 8/3/2008.

Amid growing concern over increased incidents of gender-based
violence, the Swazi government on Tuesday pledged its ongoing
commitment to protecting women.

"The nation has strong traditional, cultural and ethical morals that
respect women in society - incest, rape, violence and other acts of
disrespect against women do not respect our values and traditions as
Swazis," Prime Minister Themba Dlamini said in statement marking
International Women's Day.

The tiny landlocked country hit the headlines last year when a young
woman was stripped and gang-raped by bus conductors at the terminus in
the country's main commercial centre, Manzini, while spectators
cheered them on.

The woman had allegedly angered the conductors by wearing a miniskirt,
which they claimed was "unSwazi". Women in the conservative African
kingdom generally wear modern Western clothing and have worn
miniskirts since the 1960s, although the government at one stage
considered banning them on moral grounds.

Gender activists have said the upswing in domestic violence cases in
recent times could be directly related to the low fines imposed on
perpetrators found guilty of assault.

"On rare occasions, when a husband is arrested for domestic violence,
he is booked for common assault. If convicted, he has to pay only R60
($10). This is neither a punishment nor a deterrent - we need stiffer
laws," Nonhlanhla Dlamini, director of Swaziland's Action Group
against Abuse, told IRIN.

Despite being legally regarded as minors, women in Swaziland have
begun to challenge the status quo. Earlier this week Leliswe Nxumalo,
a widow, sued her in-laws, who had ordered her out of her husband's
house and confiscated all her marital property after his death.

Under Swazi custom, a widow is expected to marry her deceased
husband's brother and continue bearing children. The family argued
that, by tradition, the deceased man's property belonged to them and
not to the widow. They also castigated the widow for refusing to go
into a month-long seclusion following her husband's funeral, as custom
dictates.

Nxumalo countered that she needed to return to work to support
herself, especially since her in-laws had confiscated her husband's
estate. The case is among several that have brought the situation
regarding Swazi women's rights into sharp focus over the past year.

Women may not own property or enter into contracts without the
sponsorship of a male relative.

Although a new constitution is expected to improve the rights of Swazi
women, critics argue that, like all constitutional clauses, these
rights may be suspended by the king, Mswati III.

_________________________

2. Reflections on 16 days of activism. Emma Njoki Wamai. 5/25/2008.
Pambazuka News 374. www.pambazuka.org.

The Sauti Ya Wanawake grassroots women's movement members recount
their experiences with sexual and gender based violence with an
uncomfortable familiarity. In the dusty and desolate sisal
plantations, national parks and the savannah grasslands in Taveta,
Taita, and Kinango districts in the Kenyan Coast, everyday women and
children are sexually abused at an alarming rate. In Taita, Taveta,
Kwale, and Kinango Districts in Kenya, sexual and gender based
violence has been rampant for a long time due to retrogressive
cultural practices and poverty which deprives the most vulnerable
people, mostly women and children their human rights.

In 2007 alone, 62 girls and women and 2 boys were defiled and raped
(Children's Department, Taita Taveta District). According to the
Children's Officer and the Sauti ya Wanawake movement in the region,
reported rape and defilement of children is excercabeted in the
district by the complacent culture of wazee wa vigogoni, laxity of
provincial administration, entry of illicit drugs, and brew from
neighbouring Tanzania. Of these 62, only 20 cases were taken to court.
It is notable that these were reported cases and many other cases
especially where women were violated, were not reported to the police
since the perpetrators are normally relatives and fear of castigation
by the community.

Coincidentally, the theme of the 2007 16 Days of Activism campaign,
Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence against
Women, could not have been more appropriate to the sisters and mothers
of Taita Taveta who have watched helplessly as their children?s
childhood is hurriedly ended by lurking man made beasts.

Inspired by the need to end violence against women in their
communities, they sought partnership with like-minded organizations
such as the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) ,a non governmental
organization whose vision is promoting and protecting human rights and
the Canadian International Development Agency Gender Equity Support
Project (CIDA-GESP) to mainstream strategic and practical gender
issues in the existing pre election promises by aspiring candidates
and to raise awareness on legal forms of redress such as the New
Sexual Offences Act through dialogue forums and community radio
stations. They also trained local village elders, local provincial
administration, religious leaders, youth, and women on the effects of
violence against women and erected four information billboards in
remote villages offering community members safe spaces to deposit
information on violence against women and children.

Mama Dorcas Jibran, the coordinator of the Sauti Y a Wanawake says
that the impact of the 16 Days of Activism 2007 is profound on the
safety of women and children in the three districts barely 3 months
later. Mama Dorcas shared these achievements of the 2007, 16 days of
Activism campaign which include;

1. Sustainable Partnerships.

This project has strengthened Sauti ya Wanawake's relationship with
the provincial administration and as a result, Sauti ya Wanawake,
police, and the chiefs work together on cases of sexual and gender
based violence. The Divisional Officer?s office (DO) has been
facilitating Sauti ya Wanawake to visit remote places in case of an
alarm and they have also been making follow-ups together. Mama Dorcas
is currently working with the chiefs and the Councillors to establish
modalities of setting up information boxes in every location.

2. The grassroots women's movement now has the capacity to articulate
issues and the village representatives are called upon to advice on
gender issues in churches and local development committees. For
example, Mama Dorcas and Mama Emma Mailus are normally called upon by
their local police posts to advice and train the police when a sex
offender is arrested.

3. Lastly, Sauti Ya Wanawake and the residents of Taita, Taveta and
Kinango have benefited from the information billboards which are
positioned in every constituency.
Mama Docras Jibran has already received five cases on violence against
women and children and succession issues from women and she has
referred the individuals for further support to Police and the
Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Mombassa Office.

There is need for the Africa Union Members states to fully domesticate
the numerous instruments and regional charters that recognize the
hardships women like Mama Dorcas face. The Convention on Elimination
against All forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) is one such instrument.
The African Women's Protocol of the African peoples Human Rights
Charter is another that criminalizes any violence committed against
women. The time is now!

Emma Njoki Wamai is a Programme Associate in the Kenya Human Rights
Commission.
_____________________

3. In Southern Africa, women are changing the face of migration.
Gender, Remittances and Development: Findings from selected SADC
countries. Joint Press Release, Santo Domingo. 4/7/2008: UN-INSTRAW &
SAIIA: http://topics.developmentgateway.org

"Gender, Remittances and Development: Preliminary Findings from
Selected SADC Countries,? published by the United Nations
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of
Women (UN-INSTRAW) and the South African Institute of International
Affairs (SAIIA), with support from the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA), highlights the growing impact of women?s migration on
households, families and communities in selected countries of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC).

With over 16 million migrants, Africans account for one fifth of
global migrants. Projections indicate that by 2025, one in ten
Africans will live and work outside their country of origin. In
particular, South Africa has the largest number of foreign-born
persons (excluding irregular migrants). ?In the past, women in
Southern Africa were often prohibited from migrating. Today, with an
increasing number of African women migrants, traditionally
male-dominated patterns of migration are changing. Overall, women now
encompass 37.4% of regular migrants from the SADC region to South
Africa,? stated Hilary Anderson, Information Officer at UN-INSTRAW.

The UN-INSTRAW/SAIIA study found that the informal economy is a
significant source of employment for women migrants, who are most
likely to work as vendors, street traders, or hawkers. According to a
2006 survey that monitored over 85,000 traders passing through 20
border posts connecting ten countries in the SADC region, 70% of all
traders at the main border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe were
women. The informal economy generally provides low incomes, which has
a negative impact on integration in the destination country and the
ability to send remittances. In the mining sector, some women migrate
with their husbands or partners and provide services to male mine
workers. In the case of Lesotho, the increase in unemployment among
Basotho men in South African mines has forced women to migrate to the
capital of Lesotho to work in textile companies, or to migrate to
South Africa.

?Women migrants are more likely to be disadvantaged by the migration
experience than their male counterparts. While South Africa is an
increasingly popular destination for migrants in numeric terms, it is
often an intimidating and unstable destination, where women migrants
suffer violence, overt hostility and social exclusion, as well as
economic exploitation,? emphasized Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, National
Director of the South African Institute of International Affairs
(SAIIA). ?These trends have negative repercussions on salaries,
working conditions, labour stability and, consequently, on
remittances,? she continued.

In the case of Southern Africa, extremely little data are available
regarding the sending, utilization and impact of remittances,
particularly by women. While we know that women both send remittances
as migrants, and receive them as heads of households, we still don?t
know what the implications of these different roles are for women?s
economic and social status. The UN-INSTRAW/SAIIA study highlights that
the total value of remittances has quadrupled from less than US$2
billion in 1990 to US$8 billion in 2005. This could have significant
implications for the well-being and development of the households and
communities that receive remittances.

Existing research in SADC countries, including that conducted by the
Southern Africa Migration Project (SAMP) shows that remittances are
significant in enabling households to meet basic needs and buy basic
services. An overwhelming number of households (93%), purchase food
and groceries with remitted funds. ?Cases of investment of remittances
in productive activities exist in Swaziland, particularly in
agriculture, and in Mozambique, in building materials. However, there
is no evidence of the emergence of new economic activity generated by
the receipt of remittances. Remittances protect human development
because they allow families to pay for education, health, electricity,
water and other services, when they are not provided by the! State,?
stressed Hilary Anderson. .

In the context of Southern Africa, formal remittance channels,
including banks, the post office and money transfer agencies, are
expensive and notoriously slow in terms of transfer times. To-date,
the majority of remittances are sent informally through migrating
friends or relatives (31.9%) and taxis drivers (21.3%). In addition,
the great majority of migrant-sending households (85%) receive
remittances as cash. ?In this context, women are less likely than men
to have access to formal banking and other financial services. In
Botswana and Swaziland, for example, women have to provide permission
from their husbands or fathers before they can open a bank account.
This is a significant obstacle to women?s ability to make the most of
the income they send or receive as remittances,? stated Elizabeth
Sidiropoulos.

As the majority of migrants carry remittances themselves, the
regularity and frequency at which remittances are received is related
to how often they return home. On average, 59% of households received
remittances once a month, with those in Lesotho (77%) being most
likely to do so and those in Mozambique (20%) being least likely to do
so.

The data and information reviewed in the UN-INSTRAW/SAIIA study point
to an urgent need for more research on the migration of women and
their role in sending, receiving and utilizing remittances. In
particular, data should be disaggregated by sex so that we have a
better of idea of how many women migrate, for what reasons
(employment, family, etc.), how they experience life away from their
families and how this migration is changing household formation and
dynamics.

In addition, the UN-INSTRAW/SAIIA study calls for increased dialogue
on the policy context of migration in Southern Africa that takes into
account the extremely diverse nature of migration in this region,
which includes permanent, temporary and contract migration, localized
mobility, asylum-seekers and refugees, and irregular migration.
Migration policies should also take into account women?s changing role
in migratory flows, and reflect the needs and priorities of women
migrants in terms of mobility, access to employment, personal
security, and access to financial services.

____________________________________

4. Soul searching for women activists. Salma Mlidi. 4/3/2008:
Pambazuka News 359, www.pambazuka.org

On March 29, 2008 the Tanzania Media Women's Association (TAMWA) began
a week long commemoration of 20 years of advocacy for women's human
rights. Among activities earmarked to mark the occasion include the
opening of a self sponsored office building; the launch of a
Fundraising Campaign for a Women's Media and Documentation Centre; and
a book launch of TAMWA's story in pioneering social transformation in
Tanzania as experienced by members, supporters and friends.

TAMWA was officially launched and registered in 1987 by 10 women
pioneers working in the media with two major aims: to agitate for a
positive portrayal of women in the media; and to raise the academic
and professional standards of female journalist to enable them to
assume positions of influence in the media with the expectation that
they will have a voice with regard media content and output in so far
as its portrayal of women.

Twenty years later TAMWA has much to celebrate about. Arguably TAMWA
is the foremost advocacy organization for women's right in Tanzania.
TAMWA's command of the local media is un-paralleled and stems from
years of capacity building and advocacy of media heads in various
media institutions. Nevertheless, in Tanzania, TAMWA is best known for
her work in gender based violence. Soon after her formation TAMWA made
it her business to expose crimes against women that were otherwise
considered taboo e.g. domestic violence and notably wife beating,
incest, and family neglect; and sexual harassment in the workplace.

TAMWA also addressed the larger phenomena of sexual abuse against
women and children in Tanzania contributing to the impetus of
increased local responses to address the phenomena e.g. by the
Tanzania Women Lawyers Association. Undeniably, Gender Based Violence
(GBV) is the mother of activist struggles in Tanzania thanks to a
large part to TAMWA's relentless advocacy on the subject. Other than
the ongoing Campaign on breast cancer by the Tanzania Medical Women's
Association (MEWATA) which is mainly service oriented no other
advocacy campaigned has been as successful as the Campaign to Stop GBV
launched by TAMWA in the mid 90's.

Through innovative strategies like media advocacy, action research and
campaigns TAMWA made sure that her advocacy agenda was current news
and popular, not just with legislators and bureaucrats but with the
local populace. It is not unheard of that activists visiting any
village in Tanzania would be approached by concerned villagers about
human rights violations against women and children in the belief that
the activist who cared enough to visit them represents TAMWA. While
Tanzania now has a number of women's rights organizations TAMWA
remains the most recognized and coined by men and women alike.

TAMWA's advocacy ensured that GBV was no t only named but was also
unpacked and demystified. Certainly fifteen years ago many Tanzanians
did not know about the prevalence of FGM in the country. Personally, I
learnt about the practice in France after watching a documentary
prepared by Sudanese women on alternative forms of cutting. However,
building on her research work on crimes committed against women
undertaken with journalist in various regions of Tanzania, TAMWA
exposed FGM and made it a national agenda. Consequently, Tanzania was
among the first countries to outlaw FGM and to have an active anti-
FGM network at regional and national levels.

Another less publicized issue was the deaths of old women accused of
witchcraft in west and north western Tanzania. TAMWA made the link
between the deaths of old women to economic insecurity experienced in
most poor rural communities. Access to landed resources increasingly
endangered the lives of old women occupying land that younger
relatives wanted to access and control. Other than changing the
dominant perspective about the issue i.e. about witchcraft beliefs,
TAMWA was able to lend impetus to and influence the content of the
Land Campaign in the late 1990's to address the question of women's
access and control of landed resources.

In many ways TAMWA activist trajectory informed and continues to
inform my own activist trajectory. I was introduced to TAMWA in the
early 90's when I was still doing my LLB helping out in what was then
know as the Library and Documentation Unit. This was the beginning of
my own official activist trajectory and as Fatma Alloo, the first
TAMWA Chair, puts it, "Of channelling my anger against injustice
towards more productive activist enterprise". Other than having first
hand access to feminist literature from different parts of the world,
I got to meet many authors and or subjects of books in the centre
satiating my growing zeal for alternative leadership figures and
visions.

Just as the! Tanzania African Nationalist Union (TANU) Women Wing an d
later Umoja wa Wanwake Tanzania (UWT) was a pioneer for women's
interests pre and post independence, TAMWA pioneered autonomous women
rights organizations as well as autonomous advocacy agendas. Figures
that led TAMWA also offered the first real taste of female leadership
outside the dominant party structure. The growth of private media
houses meant that TAMWA personalities were recognized nationally,
oftentimes as readily as leading government figures.

The pedestal TAMWA has come to enjoy in the civil society sector means
that the successes and struggles she achieves impact on the larger
women's movement in Tanzania. Thus when in the mid nineties TAMWA
suffered an organizational crisis brought on by rapid organizational
growth, burn out and rifts between the ranks that otherwise would be
normal in an organizational context but that spiralled to become
personal because of the absence of an awareness in how to manage the
health of a dynamic, visible and politically charged organization,
mushrooming advocacy organizations held their breath. They were
conscious that TAMWA's failure would reflect not just in the women's
movement but also in the larger civil society sector that was
beginning to attract some level of sanction on account of its work.

Perhaps the crisis appeared bigger than it actually was because the
emerging activist sector while commonly survives on camaraderie, trust
and enthusiasm had not had to deal with the full force of what it
means to be empowered individuals. Also the age old habit of selfless
devotion and sacrifice 'serving others' most women succumb to may have
been transferred to the activist space such that some members may have
felt not adequately appreciated. Indeed in an activist space the
actors are many, the roles more visible and the stakes are higher such
that it is not uncommon for egos to become more sensitive to criticism
or doubt.

Nonetheless, TAMWA survived and emerged stronger. In fact the crisis
introduced the notion of organizational health and anti burn out
measurers to CSOs. Following an emotional OD intervention members were
able to come to terms with their reality and create a healthier space
to address existing and perceived weaknesses. TAMWA had to change and
since she has learnt the value of reinventing herself and her agenda
making it timeless.

TAMWA's records successes not just institutionally but also with her
membership which comprises of exceptional pioneers. Edda Sanga was
Chief Comptroller and acting head of Radio Tanzania before her
retirement while Joyce Mhaville manages the largest private radio and
television network in the country. Fatma Alloo, Halima Sheriff and
Rose Kalemera all among founder members have also worked in the civil
society sector serving and serve in a number of prestigious boards.
Pili Mtambalike and Rose Haji work for the Media Council of Tanzania
and MISA Tanzania respectively.

Young women journalists who interned at TAMWA are mostly employed as
media consultants and directors in the private sector. Mahfoudha Alley
Hamid a TAMWA veteran was a member of the first East Africa
Legislative Assembly and currently serves as Deputy Chair for the
Tanzania Human Rights Commission while others like Zainab Vulu serve
as Parliamentarians and others like Halima Kihemba and Betty Mkwasa in
local government administration.

As I danced and ululated in celebration with women I had known and
grown with for 20 years, I could not help but feel a strong sense of
achievement. Members I had not seen for a number of years trickle into
the new headquarters to join in the momentous occasion. There was
laughter and congratulations all round. By sheer will the vision of 10
women, who the whole world seemed to ridicule had lived on, thrived
and triumphed! It inspired and gave birth to other smaller social
justice movements at local and national levels.

The Tanzanian First Lady, Mama Salma Kikwete, graced the occasion. I
was gripped by a strange disquiet as she posed a challenge to TAMWA
for the next twenty years. As I looked around me, I wondered would I
recognize my sisters (and brothers) in activism 20 years from now?
Certainly, mostly TAMWA members and 'official' activists" attended the
event. I would have loved to see greater participation of the
population that TAMWA spent 20 years advocating for. Perhaps a public
solidarity walk would have been more appropriate to facilitate a broad
based commemoration.

Also while there were a few men in attendance, many men representing
media organizations stayed away. How could they then be seen to lend
moral support to women's human rights when such support is not felt in
physical terms?

While TAMWA's successes fill me with pride I can't help but worry
about the implications. I worry whether the agenda we have fought so
hard to push is getting co-opted as more young women with activist
potential are being lured by the private sector which sector is
reverting to selling the sexualized image of young women. It is no
secret that other than plastering images of young and supposedly
successful women in marketing ads, many companies employ younger women
because of the 'sex appeal' they offer. Another consideration is the
lower wages they attract in contrast to male executives.

This is not to say that young female media practitioners are not worth
their salt. Rather there is a real concern around the original agenda
of using the media to conscientize about and advocate for women's
human rights being compromised in the era of a liberal media and
economy.

The detachment of young women from the struggles of past is palpable
as most activists organizations and initiatives remain dominated by
middle aged and retired women. Young professions have sold out to the
liberal economy as most become preoccupied with becoming successful in
the market and portraying an outer image of success through apolitical
consumerism. Gender discrimination has mutated or gone underground
such that young female professionals appear clueless about the
struggles of past that brought about the even playing field they now
enjoy. Mistakenly, and perhaps because they come armed with an
education, they think this is how things were and will continue to be.

Indeed, TAMWA produced young professionals and executives who can
compete with handsome pledges to her fundraiser providing much needed
relief from over demanding and increasingly tight fisted funders. But
I wonder if in so doing whether the women's movement is not opening
her self up to an elitist and consumerist culture that is unconcerned
with the means through which she achieves her end? Or is it a matter
of redefining our values?

Salma Mlidi is a political activist. Comments to: editor@...
or comment online at: www.pambazuka.org
__________________________

5. Gender and Human Rights in South Africa. Corlett Letlojane.
SANGONet A Development Information Portal for NGOs in South Africa.
www.sangonet.org.za

The definition of gender is still a preoccupation of many schools of
thought. The old, the modern and the pre-modern schools of thought
provide guiding principles on the concept of gender.

The old school of thought defines gender from a patriarchal context
which emphasise roles and relationships between male and female
persons at community level. Most people say the emphasis in this area
is more on the physical structure of a person than anything else,
particularly as the musculature of a human being dictates values,
strength and position one holds in society. Male persons are
understood to exert leadership obligations in public life, which is
valued more than the altruistic roles fulfilled by females since they
fall under patriarchal subjugation. Females are timid and emotionally
weak - and therefore they cannot handle leadership mandates.

The second school of thought is defined from the modern construct
which interprets gender from the individual?s biological status and
determines the sex of a person. When looking at the societal
definition of gender one ends up with a narrow view, where
understanding of the dichotomy between purposes and needs of human
beings is disregarded. Male persons have different purposes, as do
female persons, and the two complement each other. The basis of
different treatment between male and female persons is the cutting
edge of our perception, and our arguments should be premised on these
differences rather than solely on beliefs, power and duties.

Gender needs broader definition rather than giving it a narrow scope,
which cannot respond to the modern challenges faced by female persons.
The state of affairs can improve when we finally accept the reality
that it is about time that we consider harmonising the traditional
beliefs with modern terms so that the old give way to the new gender
equity. The narrow view of gender has caused a lot of damage in the
society by breeding hostility, misconceptions and stereotypes in
handling relationships between male and female persons. The time has
come to begin appreciating the common attributes of female persons,
not only to view them from relational and nurturing points of view and
the male persons as proponents of respect.

It is a well-known fact that societal fabric harbours inconsistent
tenements of culture, tradition and religion that are not open to
promotion and protection of women?s rights. These are deep-rooted
beliefs that are not easy to diminish or open to new changes brought
by development. Firstly, development doesn?t augur well for culture.
In fact, it is in enmity with culture as the former tend to erode the
latter. Further, the makers of cultural norms do not create
development but encourage sustenance of the status quo. The other
views put blame on external influences for changing old beliefs and
way of thinking towards relationships of male and female persons. In
addition, one can submit that the cultural and traditional way of
defining members of a society existed since immemorial times and the
transfer has passed from generation to generation.

One can qualify an assumption that sources of culture and old beliefs
surface as a result of the legacy left by our ancestors. Also, many
communities still believe that our ancestors are the makers of these
old beliefs. They go as far as to posit that society owes them
respect, recognition and observation regardless of their harm, or
whether they fit well with modern times or if their existence is
detrimental to people?s needs and values.

Gender Rights on Paper

Gender issues are not complex but the old belief system that exists in
our society is making the concept of gender a very volatile topic to
dwell on.

In South Africa the new dispensation coupled with international and
regional instruments added value to the struggle against gender
inequality. The government?s commitment to attain gender equity is
embraced in our new Constitutional Order. In particular, Section 9 of
the Bill of Rights prohibits any form of discrimination based on
gender or sex perpetrated directly or indirectly.

South Africa is a champion of human rights and is the one country in
Africa that has jurisprudential precedence at the Constitutional Court
level in respect of the rights and welfare of women and children?s
inheritance. In terms of culture, women are not allowed to remain the
custodian of their children or to be in physical control of the estate
of their late partners. The deceased?s eldest male relative, if there
is no male of the age of 18 at the time of the deceased death, assumes
this duty. The mother of the male and the elder sister of the
sibling?s brother were completely disqualified from exercising this
duty. This culture had left many children homeless, poverty stricken,
and brought severe animosities among communities as the deceased?s
relatives helped themselves to the assets of his/her estate.

The development of gender law, informed by international and regional
perspectives, has resulted in the improvement of the rights of women.
These include the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Protocol on the Rights
of Women in Africa. These two instruments create progressive
mechanisms for advancing the rights of women in both public and
private spheres, but still need to be implemented at local level for
courts to offer victims with remedies.

At the Southern African Development Community (SADC) level, South
Africa is party to a Declaration on Gender and Development. Subsequent
to that, an addendum was signed related to the Prevention and
Eradication of Violence against Women and Children. In addition,
during the SADC Summit in 2005, member states approved the drafting of
the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development since protocols by nature
have binding force compared to declarations.

The Hard Reality

However, the rights of women are still not respected in all spheres,
including at local and national levels.

Women are the most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Violence against
women and children, including rape statistics, are still high.
Maintenance courts are faced with backlog of cases and we still have
many fathers who abdicate their responsibility to support their
progeny. Poverty affects women and children more than men, despite
measures taken at global level to progressively address the disparity
between male and female persons.

There?s a strong need for CSOs and other relevant stakeholders to
advocate for the domestication and implementation of international,
regional and sub-regional instruments promoting women?s rights. These
instruments are meaningless if they are not incorporated at local
level, and the failure of our courts to provide remedies to victims of
violence brings disgrace to our progressive Constitutional Order.

Strong advocacy and education is also required at community level to
improve the living law and unacceptable conditions through permeation
of statutory law. It is through these vigorous efforts that gender
advocacy will finally see self-worth and the human dignity of female
persons restored in South Africa.

Corlett Letlojane, director of HURISA Human Rights Institute of South Africa.

________________________________

6. "Let the women speak! And listen?. Anene Ejikeme. Pambazuku News
17.1.2008.

In 1929 women in southeast Nigeria mounted a war against the forces of
British colonial rule. The women targeted all the symbols of the new
political order ? the offices and homes of colonial officialdom, as
well as its representatives. The "disturbances" and the demands made
by the women at the Commission of Inquiry set up by the colonial
government to investigate surprised the British. The women who
testified before the Commission consistently demanded that women be
represented in the new institutions which had been set up by the
colonial government. More than 50 women lost their lives, but colonial
authorities failed to appreciate the extent to which women felt
aggrieved by colonial policies which rendered them invisible.
Although the women organized and carried out this rebellion, it did
not stop colonial authorities and missionaries from continuing to
insist that African women were "no better than cattle and sheep" and
completely lacking in agency.

"The assumption that African women lack agency continues to be the
prevailing view." Almost eighty years later, the assumption that
African women lack agency continues to be the prevailing view about
them. This impression is so often at variance with what I see, for
example, when I am at home in Nigeria where, every day, I meet women
who struggle to feed their families and to send their children to
school, daily making decisions that help sustain their families.

The role of "Tradition"

Researchers and development workers appear eager always to point to
"Tradition" as the reason for African women?s lack of agency. Take,
for example, the statement issued by a recent international summit
convened to address the economic crisis in Africa.

"In Africa, the gender gap is even wider and the situation is more
complex due to the cultural and traditional context which is anchored
in beliefs, norms and practices which breed discrimination and
feminised poverty. There is growing evidence that the number of women
in Africa living in poverty has increased disproportionately to that
of men."

This was the conclusion of the 8th Meeting of the African Partnership
Forum (APF) in Germany in May 2007. The APF was founded in 2003 as a
forum designed "to facilitate Africa?s economic growth." The members
of the APF are Western donor countries which give more than $100
million in aid, multilateral institutions such as the UN, World Bank,
IMF, WTO, African regional institutions such as ECOWAS, SADC, ADB, as
well as the pan-African NEPAD and AU.

There is no doubt that there are many traditions in Africa that hamper
women?s ability to lead economically prosperous lives, but to point to
"Tradition" as the root cause of African women?s poverty obscures
reality more than it clarifies it. First of all, there is no single
"Tradition" which exists all over Africa. Secondly, what is considered
"traditional" in African communities is often of relatively recent
vintage and was colonially-generated. Foreign aid workers and African
men are too eager to point to "Tradition" when excluding women from
development projects. For example, in Kenya, local men ? and
"development officers" ? are often quick to insist that it is
"untraditional" for women to own land. The truth is, of course, that
individual land ownership is not "traditional" for anyone in Kenya;
individual land ownership was usefully introduced by British colonial
authorities keen to claim the most fertile lands for Europeans.1

"What is considered "traditional" in African communities is often of
relatively recent vintage and was colonially-generated. Foreign aid
workers and African men are too eager to point to "Tradition" when
excluding women from development projects."

The idea conveyed when "Tradition" is blamed for African women?s
economic predicament is that African beliefs and practices constitute
part of an ancient, unchanging way of life, not easily amenable to
change. The reality too often is that aid and development workers
assume that the existence of "Tradition" makes African women incapable
of acting as authors of their own lives. Numerous studies now exist
which point to the unwillingness or incapacity of development workers
to engage African women in dialogue as a fundamental obstacle to the
success of many so-called aid programs.

Fundamental to any task of understanding Africa is the acknowledgment
of the continent?s diversity. Not even within a single country do
sweeping generalizations hold. An absolute priority to ending poverty
in Africa is to listen to the experiences and wisdom of poor African
women.

As we acknowledge that "Tradition" cannot be the beginning and the end
of any analysis of African women?s economic realities, we must also
acknowledge that the facts of African women?s lives do not make for
happy reading. The statistics, while they do not capture the reality
of women?s lives in all the different contexts in which they live,
give an overall picture.

Of all the continents, Africa has the largest percentage of people
living in poverty, with signs that ever larger numbers will be
threatened by poverty in the future. HIV/AIDS, for example, is
leaving millions of African children as AIDS orphans. The HIV/AIDS
epidemic, which is recognized to be of significant consequence for
development, affects women in notably higher numbers than men in some
African countries. In Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya and Malawi, this has
resulted in a lower life expectancy for women than men, a reversal of
what typically obtains. Although African women work longer hours, they
own disproportionately less than African men. African women receive
only 1 percent of credit facilities extended to agricultural
producers. Yet, at least 70 percent of African women are involved in
agriculture. A disproportionate percentage of African babies are of
low birth weight, a factor closely related to maternal poverty.

"African women receive only 1 percent of credit facilities extended to
agricultural producers. Yet, at least 70 percent of African women are
involved in agriculture."

Ending Poverty?

How to end poverty in Africa? This question has become a staple of
discussion for commentators from pop stars to world-renowned
economists. For decades, the image of Africa in the world has been as
the poor neighbour, always receiving charity yet remaining forever
destitute and helpless. Despite numerous pop concerts, organizations
with a plethora of acronyms, roundtables, meetings and conferences,
poverty in Africa remains.

The most ambitious poverty-eradication effort to date is the
Millennium Development Project, which was ratified by all the UN
member nations as well as major donor and aid institutions in
September 2000. Its goal is to eradicate poverty all over the world,
especially in Africa. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
explicitly recognize the centrality of women?s economic empowerment to
any serious poverty reduction program: the third of the eight goals
is "to promote gender equality and empower women."

While it is clear that Africa will not meet any of Millennium
Development Goals by the 2015 deadline, it is important that the MDG
acknowledge that development cannot take place in a vacuum. In 2005,
five years after the MDG were passed and ten years before their due
date, the UN issued a major report assessing achievements so far and
delineating what needs to be done. According to the UN 2005 MDG
Report, in 1990 44.6 percent of Africans were living on less than a
dollar a day; by 2001 the percentage of Africans living on less than a
dollar a day had actually increased to 46.4 percent, a goal even
further removed from the Millennium Development Goal of about 25
percent by 2015 (MDG 2005 Report). Since 1990, millions more people
are chronically hungry in sub-Saharan Africa, where half the children
under the age of five are malnourished. (MDG Report 2005)

Despite these disheartening statistics, aid is certainly not the
panacea. In the first place, "aid assistance" and "development
programs" have typically discriminated against women. In the second
place, attempts to incorporate women into development programs may be
tempted to "bring women up to men?s standards." The economic situation
of African men is no model! But the strongest argument against aid
is the fact that 30 years of ODA have produced little beyond huge
amounts of crushing debt. In 2000, African external debt accounted for
over 51 percent of GDP; by 2003 it had fallen to 49 percent of GDP.
Such global figures obscure the particularly harsh reality for
individual countries: for Malawi external debt was almost 200
percent of its GDP in 2006; for Sao Tome & Principe it was 350 percent!

"Aid is certainly not the panacea... the strongest argument against
aid is the fact that 30 years of ODA have produced little beyond huge
amounts of crushing debt."

Fortunately, in 2006 debt was about 25 percent of GDP for Africa as a
whole. There are other signs for cautious optimism. For example,
several African countries have reported economic growth rate of 5
percent or more for the last two years.

A stronger economy is the only path poor countries have to get out of
poverty. In 1980 Africa contributed 5 percent to global trade. By
1995 the figure was 2.2 percent. In the 1990s Africa was attracting 3
percent FDI. Compare this with 20 percent for Latin America and 50
percent for East Asia.7 On practically every indicator used to measure
poverty, and in contrast to Africa?s continued weak position, Latin
America and East Asia have made positive gains, and this is no doubt a
direct result of the positive gains in their position in the global
marketplace.

Rather than idealistic slogans about making poverty history, we need
to attend more closely to practical ways to increase Africa?s share of
the world market. Here, the role of African governments is paramount.
Clearly, investors will invest only in places where profit seems
likely and stability can be guaranteed. For too long, African regimes
have failed to provide a climate attractive to investors.

"Rather than idealistic slogans about making poverty history, we need
to attend more closely to practical ways to increase Africa?s share of
the world market."

Related to economic development must be the question of arms sales.
Africa is awash in arms, from small ones to massive missiles. Armed
conflict makes agriculture impossible and does not allow for the kind
of stability that investors want. The number of Africans affected by
armed conflicts is staggering. Between 1994 and 2003 more than 9
million Africans, mostly women and children, perished as a result of
armed conflict. That?s the entire population of Sweden. Much more than
the population of Switzerland. No region in the world comes close to
such statistics. In Southern Asia, the region next in terms of
casualties from armed conflict, the figure was under 2 million. War
produces not only casualties in terms of deaths, but also refugees and
other displaced peoples. It will come as no surprise that Africa far
exceeds any other region in the world in its refugee and displaced
populations. People cannot farm or run factories if they are dodging
bullets or coerced to fight wars. Governments cannot invest in
infrastructure if they use their country?s wealth to buy military
equipment.

It is almost impossible to imagine a world in which the arms producing
nations of the world agreed not to sell to impoverished countries.
Impossible to imagine, but what a world of difference it would make!

Women and Economic Development

For Africans, women and men, to become economically more prosperous,
African economies have to be radically restructured. Most of the
economies in Africa remain monocultures. There can be no prosperity
for the majority of its citizens if a country relies on the
exportation of low-value raw materials that are sent to other
countries where they are processed and then returned to the world
market with a much increased price-tag. Exporting copper or coffee
will only make a few individuals or a multinational rich; copper and
coffee alone will not a country enrich.

Greater diversification of African economies has to incorporate a more
inclusive and empowered role for women. Today, individual experts and
agencies all claim to acknowledge that African countries can move
significant proportions of their populations out of poverty only if
women are able to improve their economic lot. "Women in Development",
from its start in Western feminist circles, is now a staple concept in
all multilateral agencies. Yet the success of Women in Development
programs has not been much better than that of development tout court.
This is because too often a paternalistic approach persists and
projects are designed without any consultation with the target women
who are seen only as recipients.

"Greater diversification of African economies has to incorporate a
more inclusive and empowered role for women."

It is critically important not to make assumptions or to behave as if
categories from Western societies can be uncritically used to analyze
African ones. We have to be vigilant not to be careless in our
thinking: too often, for example, education is treated by experts as
a fetish. Because people are poor or "uneducated" does not mean they
are stupid. The success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh provides one
example that poor, uneducated women know what they want and will
successfully implement it if they have the opportunity (via credit,
for example). In my own research on Onitsha, Nigeria, an important
centre of trade where women controlled the marketplace in the
nineteenth century, I found that lack of literacy was no bar to the
ability of women to accumulate enormous wealth. Students of West
African history are very familiar with self-help microfinance groups
organized by women; such groups have a deep history, long predating
the current "discovery" of microfinance in the West, due in large part
to the award of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Mohamed Yunus, founder
of the Grameen Bank.

The kind of aid with which we are most familiar, involving "experts"
going from the global north to tell people in the global south what to
do, especially in the form of government to government monetary
packages, cannot bring poor people permanently out of poverty. On the
other hand, assistance which is conceived as a partnership and
actually involves the "recipients" in the planning as well as
implementation can succeed. And there are examples of such successes.
The Canadian organization, Match International, was founded on just
such principles. According to the organization?s mission statement,
"Match supports initiatives identified by women in the global South,
led and implemented by the women, and innovative in their context.
This approach is based on Match?s belief that women?s development must
be considered within their own context, and for strategies to succeed,
women?s views and agendas must be taken into consideration." In
Nigeria, the organization Baobab for Women?s Human Rights, has
achieved notable successes. It is worth noting that, in one campaign,
Baobab was forced to expend much energy and resources in asking
women?s groups in the global north to scale back their activities as
these were negating their own local initiatives, threatening to derail
the goal on which all were agreed. Baobab?s activities have focused in
the primarily Muslim parts of Nigeria, and under the rubric of
"women?s human rights" the organization has been able to address a
wide range of issues, including women?s economic empowerment.

A work that remains - unfortunately ? very relevant is Barbara
Brown?s book The Domestication of Women which shows just how expensive
can be well-intentioned but ill-conceived projects devised by men and
women who "go to help" without ever bothering to listen or even
consult with those whose lives are supposed to be impacted by their
projects. Her book is a catalogue of failures spearheaded by various
branches of the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.
One tragicomic scenario involving the building of wells comes readily
to mind: exasperated, "aid" workers abandon the building of wells
because, despite all their efforts, local men do not maintain the
wells as instructed. The fact that it is women who fetch water had
never been taken into consideration by the "aid" workers. The poverty
eradication programs which have been shown to produce significant and
lasting results tend to be smaller in scale and always involve the
active participation of the so-called "target women". The point is not
that large organizations are doomed to failure but that they must
learn to listen as well as to acknowledge that poor people are not
only students but also can be teachers. Women at the so-called
grassroots level must be heard because only they have the intimate
knowledge of their lives and needs.

"Women at the so-called grassroots level must be heard because only
they have the intimate knowledge of their lives and needs."

Conclusion

Who should speak for African women? Too often it is either African
men or Western women. We need to hear more from the African women
themselves whose lives we all claim we wish to improve. Also, we must
incorporate the important critiques by African women scholars of the
flawed categories that continue to be used to describe African women?s
lives and African societies. Scholars such as Felicia Ekejiuba,
Achola Pala, Nkiru Nzegwu and Oyeronke Oyewumi have written about how
the categories used to describe African women?s lives often are
derived from very different realities in other parts of the world and
end up doing more violence to the women whose lives the
activists/scholars claim they seek to ameliorate.

In the context of the discussion here, it is important to note that
the UN Commission on the Status of Women has declared its theme for
2008 as "Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women".
In February 2007 the Commission convened an informal expert panel to
discuss how to move forward on this agenda. It is disheartening ?
but, unfortunately, not surprising ? that no African women were
amongst the list of panellists; indeed the only African ? the Minister
of Finance for Zambia ? was also the only man.

_________________

7. Sex, money and power: Considerations for African women?s
empowerment. Danai S. Mupotsa. AfricaFiles Vol. 7 (January-April 2008).

Growing up in Zimbabwe, I was constantly forced to observe the
"appropriate modes of conduct" for a young woman. Maintaining
"respectability" was paramount and young women were policed
constantly. The constant (and consistent) reminders of appropriate
parameters for women?s bodies and sexuality, as I experienced it in
Harare, drew me to reflect on the historical underpinnings of what my
peers described to me as "our culture". Interrogating this national
culture, it became curiously clear to me that at the crux of these
constructs of "tradition" and "modernity" in these discussions were
women?s bodies: the success or failure of the project of "national
culture" (if we are to call it that) appeared to reside in the
"national family?s" ability to manage and control the mobility and
sexuality of women?s bodies, be it through parents and kin at home, or
through the police forces on the streets of Harare.

When I consider the question of women?s economic empowerment in
Africa, these contentious issues immediately come to mind. A range of
sexually violent relationships ? from families accepting bribes to
withdraw charges for sexual assault, to young girls (and their
families) accepting money and gifts for relations with older men ? are
commonplace and commonly accepted. Regarding the latter issue, a
social worker in Harare observed with despair, "How do you say to
people, ?Stop having the relationship,? when they want food on the
table!" In recent years, in a variation of the "sugar daddy"
phenomenon, Zimbabwe has seen the emergence of the infamous "small
house" ? the second (or third, or fourth, etc?) young wife. Like a
BMW, or Mercedes Benz car, it?s a status symbol for every successful
man! A cynical perspective, perhaps, but what is interesting is how
women, women?s bodies and sexuality have become increasingly
commodified in the context of extreme economic inequality. In a
country with an economy in crisis, women appear to be hardest hit by
poverty, and transactional sex (by choice and otherwise) has emerged
as one means of survival.

"What is interesting is how women, women?s bodies and sexuality have
become increasingly commodified in the context of extreme economic
inequality."

All this begs the question, if women were economically empowered,
would they be in a better position to negotiate sexual relationships?

What I want to do here is, first, to state my central thesis. Then I
will use a personal anecdote to illustrate the complexities of the
issues at stake. In conclusion, I will return to the question of
women?s economic empowerment by examining the close relationship
between discourses on sexuality, culture and women?s economic
empowerment.

Dominant views on women?s empowerment suggest that offering women
economic independence and empowerment can enhance the cause of gender
equality and women?s sexual rights. I wish to extend this argument by
suggesting that because of the manner that dominant discourses on
culture have been socially engineered (in this case, in Harare), women
cannot achieve economic empowerment if we take no account of the ways
in which different gender and sexual relations operate. Whatever the
economic conditions in different countries, women the world over
continue to face the violation of our sexual rights because of a
historically produced and artificially maintained gender discourse of
"our culture" or "our tradition" ? that not only entitles men to
women?s bodies, but also informs our views on economic activity. What
I wish to interrogate are the multiple representations and
interpretations of tradition and modernity as they are applied in
relation to women under the present economic crisis in Zimbabwe.
Taking one specific example, I want to consider how young women
rationalize their choices (or lack thereof) and agency in these
situations and how families use "culture" and "tradition" to defend or
define what appears to be a fairly modern phenomenon. I also wish to
consider the multiple legal frameworks under which these relationships
occur. How does one protect the rights of young girls when there are
laws defending them as minors that consider these acts to be statutory
rape while another set of laws that have been defined as "traditional"
can also be applied to counter such charges of rape? Given the
implications of the constraint on women?s mobility and bodies, what
are the economic possibilities for young women?

"Women cannot achieve economic empowerment if we take no account of
the ways in which different gender and sexual relations operate."

I have elected to focus on sexuality, as this is a topic on which
African feminists have often been silent. Patricia McFadden speaks to
this, describing the fear of sexuality amongst us African women as
"socio-sexual anxiety". She says that "the intensity of this anxiety
is generated by the fact that there is an extremely intimate
relationship between sexuality and power, a connection which is
manifested in a range of circumstances and experiences." Like
McFadden, I am concerned that this socialization has depoliticized our
discussions of sexuality when they do occur and most often such
discussions do not even take place. Barbara Klugman endorses
McFadden?s position in an essay interrogating the discourses that took
place in Beijing on sexuality in Southern Africa, noting how previous
silences on sexuality are being challenged by the advent of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. While discussions on sexuality in Africa have
emerged in recent years, in large part because of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, these discourses continue to fail to address the
intersections of power, sexuality and culture. Some have noted that in
fact what is produced is the notion of "African sexuality" as deviant
and the producer of an "African AIDS". I want move away from HIV/AIDS,
not because I do not see the importance of these debates, but because
like many others I see the prevalence of the pandemic in Africa as
symptomatic of a pre-existing gender discourse of power: it is
precisely this discourse that I wish to investigate.

"I want move away from HIV/AIDS, not because I do not see the
importance of these debates, but because like many others I see the
prevalence of the pandemic in Africa as symptomatic of a pre-existing
gender discourse of power."

The decision to focus on young women is another methodological choice
because young women are rendered particularly vulnerable in Zimbabwe.
Recent statistics with regard to HIV/AIDS bear this out. In
sub-Saharan Africa young women have substantially higher rates of HIV
infection compared to young men of the same age. In Zimbabwe
specifically, it is estimated that 26% of females aged 15-24 years are
infected with HIV, compared to10% of males in the same age range.10
Such statistics reflect the particular vulnerabilities faced by young
women. Richard Mabala, who coined the term "genderation", argues that
"If women are a disempowered majority and young people an invisible
majority, girls and young women stand at the interface of gender and
generation. They have far less power and resources than older women
and are even more invisible than adolescent boys and young men." Like
Mabala, I contend that there is a need to focus on the lives of young
women. As a young woman myself, I am able to reflect upon my own daily
experiences.

I will enter this discussion with a personal anecdote to demonstrate
the complexities I have outlined above. In conclusion, I will return
to the question of economic empowerment by examining the close
relationship between discourses on sexuality, culture and women?s
economic empowerment.

Living in a world that hates women!

What unfolded in my family when my 13-year old cousin became pregnant
illustrates the ways in which calls to "tradition" are often fought
over the bodies of young women. The father of my cousin Susan?s child
was a man more than twice her age and the second older boyfriend that
she had had, or that my family had got to know about. When asked why
she was sleeping with anyone at all, let alone someone so much older,
she simply said "I also want to be loved." This was on the previous
occasion and her boyfriend had been charged with statutory rape that
time. Not surprisingly, the charges were dropped after another family
member accepted a bribe from the accused man without informing the
extended family. This time she was pregnant and my mother reported the
case to the police.

"What I found most interesting was the fact that my mother?s decision
to pursue the legal avenue in which Susan was defined as a minor was
considered to be ?non-traditional?, even against tradition."

My mother soon became the target of an onslaught of criticism from the
majority of the family. Many thought that she should have approached
the situation more "traditionally," especially since the man wanted to
marry Susan. Additionally, Susan insisted that she was in love and
wanted to marry this man. While my mother and I insisted that this was
a case of gender-based violence on the girl-child, others in the
family defined my cousin as a woman and, for their part, insisted that
the appropriate course of action was for the man to marry her. In
their opinion, since the man was not denying his responsibility, there
was no need for legal action. What I found most interesting was the
fact that my mother?s decision to pursue the legal avenue in which
Susan was defined as a minor was considered to be "non-traditional",
even against tradition. On the other hand, an alternative legal system
defined her as a woman/mother/wife and considered her situation to be
not only culturally justifiable, but almost desirable. Susan herself
refused to be viewed as a victim of assault, embracing this
"traditional" discourse as it offered her means to her desired end:
marriage.

This situation involving Susan and my extended family prompted me to
pose some questions about the kinds of gender discourses men and women
invest in, in Zimbabwe. Almost all those who proposed that customary
law be pursued were women, despite the prevailing view that customary
law is more discriminatory to women. As Joy Ezeilo offers, "universal
human rights are used to assert that universal norms of standards are
applicable to all human societies. Yet women?s freedom, dignity, and
equality have been grossly eroded in law and fact. Inequality
emanating from cultural patterns deprives women of the opportunity to
full and equal participation as citizens within their own societies
and within international society."

She continues, "This paradox recuperates the perennial jurisprudential
questions about the universal cultural legitimacy of human rights."
The paradox Ezeilo presents occurs because under the guise of "our
culture", both men and women produce and reinforce the discourses
which many of us may view as disempowering. Defining cultural
practices as either "traditional" or "modern" perpetuates this
gender-power discourse, despite the fact that this binary is not
always stable. As a way forward, Sharita Samuel suggests that,

"Disputes under customary law must not be seen as a contrast between
equality and culture in the sense that one of them must ?win? over the
other. It is in intra-cultural conflict when a woman comes to court to
argue about her status. In doing so, she does not dislodge herself
from her culture. She just brings an internal cultural dispute to an
alternative tribunal in order to be heard. The fight is no longer
between equality and culture. Rather it is between two different
interest groups battling to retain or change power relations within
their very culture ? a culture which is constantly evolving."

This view of a constantly evolving culture is the key to addressing
this peculiar paradox.

"Under the guise of ?our culture?, both men and women produce and
reinforce the discourses which many of us may view as disempowering.
Defining cultural practices as either ?traditional? or ?modern?
perpetuates this gender-power discourse, despite the fact that this
binary is not always stable."

I take the view that one must investigate the history of social
engineering to begin to understand why people would adopt a particular
set of discourses concerning sexuality. Mudimbe holds the view that it
is "because of the colonizing structure, [that] a dichotomizing system
has emerged, and with it a number of current paradigmatic oppositions
have developed: tradition versus modernity; oral versus written and
printed; agrarian and customary communities versus urban and
industrialized civilization; subsistence economies versus highly
productive economies." If we examine the process of colonization,
urbanization and the post-independence development of urban areas in
Zimbabwe, one sees how these dichotomies emerge and also how they
inform the discourses on femininity and masculinity. Rekopantwse Mate
notes the role of religion in this project, stating "from the colonial
era the Christianization of women was driven by the need to train a
corps of women who as wives of already Christianized men could
facilitate the creation of ?Christian homes? through teaching about
Christian domesticity, Christian wifehood, housekeeping and
motherhood. The gendered religious messages were part of a social
engineering project of changing social relations and ways of life,
that is civilizing and modernizing locals."

Terence Ranger?s essay, "The Invention of Tradition in Colonial
Africa," examines this process of social engineering. He argues that
European imperialism not only produced invented traditions in Europe,
but resulted in the invention of traditions in African societies too.
The process of "inventing tradition" in Africa resulted in the
practical breakdown of many customary institutions regulating
relations between the sexes, a breakdown almost always disadvantageous
to women. Citing Caroline Ifeka-Moller, Ranger concurs with her
assessment that "colonial records on African ?tradition?, on which the
new invented custom was based, were exclusively derived from male
informants, so that ?indigenous female belief? remained unrecorded
therefore ?male dominance in society, that is their control over
religious beliefs and political organization? was expressed even more
clearly in colonially invented custom than it had ever been before."
Considering the role of social engineering, and social reproduction
during the process of urbanization, Teresa Barnes? "We Women Worked So
Hard": Gender, Urbanization and Social Reproduction in Colonial
Zimbabwe, 1930 ? 1956, offers the testimonies of urban life by a group
of early African inhabitants of Harare who recount their experiences
of life in the city. By focusing on the impact of women entering the
city, the book allows us to observe the process, described by Ranger,
of "inventing tradition".

"The process of ?inventing tradition? in Africa resulted in the
practical breakdown of many customary institutions regulating
relations between the sexes, a breakdown almost always disadvantageous
to women."

It is absolutely essential that we begin to acknowledge that culture
(?tradition?) is a ?gendered practice which excludes women from sites
and statuses related to power (in both social and material senses), as
it interacts with notions of citizenship, nation and development," as
Patricia McFadden suggests, adding that "culture is a ?re-invented?
and heavily contested phenomenon." McFadden is correct when she notes
that, "Through the re-invention of culture as the central trope of
nationalist discourse, African men were able to position women outside
of the most crucial social, political and economic institutions in
both colonial and neo-colonial societies." As I have already noted,
both men and women adopt and reproduce this culture, a culture that is
patriarchal, not only in the terms of agency but as an investment.
McFadden similarly concludes with the postulation that "by positioning
women as the custodians of these sacred cultural texts, women
themselves become trapped in an unchanging phenomenal reality which
allows their exclusion in structural, ideological and other terms."

Economic Empowerment, Gender Relations and Women?s Bodies

Let us return to the question of women?s economic empowerment. How
does this revision/examination of "culture" offer us, as activists and
policy makers, an opportunity to consider the role of women?s economic
empowerment? Does women?s economic empowerment allow women more agency
in negotiating sexual relationships, if sexual relationships are so
deeply based in economic transaction? I wish to turn to the
reflections of Colletah Chitsike in an article entitled, "Culture as a
Barrier to Rural Women?s Entrepreneurship: Experience from Zimbabwe."
She writes:

"For some women, making large amounts of money is a dirty pursuit,
full of all kinds of evil. In Zimbabwe, women are traditionally
brought up to associate making money with immorality: the Shona
expression anoda mari sehure (?she wants to make money like a
prostitute?) expresses utmost disgust. The predominant male view of
business is that one has to be acquisitive and assertive ? perhaps
even ruthless ? to be a success. Even where a positive aspect is
recognized the titles given to women who are strong and decisive are
based on male standards. For example, in one of the Shona dialects,
the term bambo mukunda (father/daughter) refers to a daughter who
takes male responsibilities. The language fails to acknowledge the
female gender, and lacks words that express the strengths of women."

She continues, "Money is an expression of power, and that culture is
used by men as a way to keep women distanced from power. They [the
women entrepreneurs she interviewed] said that in contrast to those
associated with money-making (and men), the social qualities
associated with women in Shona society include skills in fostering
peace and preventing conflict; fairness and equity in distributing
resources so that society and the family benefit (even to the extent
of denying themselves resources for the benefit of others); and the
promotion of social justice and reduction in exploitation. With these
attitudes within them and surrounding them, it is exceptionally
difficult for Zimbabwean women to become entrepreneurs; they will not
do so unless there are challenges to culture. They will continue to
regard themselves as secondary earners who do not have the
responsibility of being breadwinners. They will remain trapped in
small-scale, low-investment businesses, which cannot lead to
?liberating economic empowerment? that provides independence from men."

"Men?s economic advantage itself is premised upon a preceding set of
gender relations that places women?s sexuality in the control of men."

The relationship between money, power and women?s sexuality is made
clear in Chitsike?s examination of the language used to describe women
who pursue financial success. Like her, I do not believe that sexual
relationships are transactional in Zimbabwe because men are
potentially more economically empowered that women; men?s economic
advantage itself is premised upon a preceding set of gender relations
that places women?s sexuality in the control of men. We need to pay
closer attention to the discourses that young women employ, as the
victim/agent binary is insufficient. I return to Susan?s lament that
she just wanted to be loved. In her mind, it was romantic to be
desired by an older man who could provide for her; and Susan?s is not
an isolated incident.

Policies to address women?s economic empowerment must be undertaken in
tandem with policies on sexuality. As a young woman myself, I grapple
with how best to inform policy in a manner that is meaningful. I also
wonder how to define or describe what "sexual rights" should entail.
Presently, policy on sexual rights in Southern Africa remains limited
to that of HIV/AIDS. Barbara Klugman?s review of SADC policy reveals
that

"It is clear that the dominant discourse on sexuality within southern
Africa attempts to deny it, avoid it, cover it in latex, or protect
women from coercion, rather than recognizing it as a dimension of
human experience ? a dimension that can and should provide richness
and fulfilment in addition to satisfying a reproductive function."

We must begin with a critique of such limited policies. I want to
conclude by indicating that it is my strong contention that if we are
to achieve women?s economic empowerment, we need policy makers to take
on a commitment to sexual rights for women in a manner that moves
beyond HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. This will require that we
place on the agenda, the challenge of "culture" as Chitiske so aptly
recommends.

__________________________________

8. Back home from hell. Forced into prostitution for two years. Given
Mahlalela, Sowetan 6 March 2008.

A 26-year-old woman who was forced to work as a prostitute has finally
been reunited with her family after she went missing two years ago.

Martha Nkosi of Matsulu near Nelspruit in Mpumalanga was reported
missing in December 2005 after four unknown men allegedly abducted her
at gunpoint.

On Tuesday, she returned home unharmed and related her sad abduction
story to a packed house of family members and the media. Nkosi tried
to control her emotions as she narrated her story but at times
couldn?t hold back her tears.

She said after she was abducted the men drove her to Swaziland where
she was forced to work as a prostitute.

?They kept me locked in an abandoned house where I was forced to sleep
with their clients who included prominent business gurus,? she said.

?After some time I was allowed to go to malls and other public places,
but only under the surveillance of two or more of the abductors,? she
said

Nkosi said she was never paid for what she was forced to do, but
sometimes the kidnappers bought her clothes and jewellery.

She said she finally escaped last week after one of the men betrayed
his other friends and helped her to flee.

?He told me he was sorry about what had happened and he wanted to
change and start a new life. So he gave me money and helped me
escape,? said Nkosi.

Nkosi said the man who called himself ?Joe? told her that they had
been running the scheme for about five years.

He allegedly told Nkosi that they also operate a similar scheme in an
RDP house in Tonga near Malelane.

_________________________________

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