Addressing Women's Rights in Africa

The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) charter initially highlighted what Human Rights in Africa should look like, and how they should be applied within Africa’s domestic sphere. This charter, also known as the Banjul charter, was meant to establish individual rights and freedoms and hold Africa accountable towards any future violation of rights in the international sphere. The draft was approved in 1981 and came into effect in 1986 by the Organization of African Unity (which later became the African Union) .

In a study aimed at exploring the direct effect of culture on women’s rights in Africa, four main articles are highlighted within the ACHPR that give mention to Women’s rights, namely articles 2, 3, 18 and 60 . However, these articles are lacking in specificity. For example, article 18 tackles discrimination towards women only in the context of the family, meaning it does not tackle women’s rights in public and private spheres. Not to mention, the mention of a women’s right of consent to marriage as well as rights during and after divorce are missing from the charter . Due to the charter’s shortfall, The Protocol to the ACHPR was proposed by the appointed Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women. Unlike the ACPHR, The Protocol emphasizes women’s civil and political freedoms, essentially protecting their rights within the public and private sphere . A women’s right to consent, to inherit, to work, to vote and to use birth control. Not only that, but it calls for the elimination of all harmful practices on women’s freedoms, for example early age marriages and female genital mutilation (FGM). The Protocol was only put into effect in 2003, however by 2006, 36 countries had failed to fully ratify it. Due to the failure of the ratification of The Protocol, women’s rights remain vague with the ACHPR and their rights and freedoms remain restricted in their everyday lives .

Culture and its Effect on Women’s Rights

The study mentioned above defines culture as “inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action ” in which religion is included . African society can be described as mainly patriarchal, making men the center of any and all cultural practices. The superiority of men over women constricts women’s rights and subjugates female citizens to their fathers, brothers and husbands. That being said, some cultural practices do protect women’s rights, for example, a payment to the future bride must be made from the potential groom to ensure some of the bride’s economic independence going into the marriage. This payment belongs to the bride and is usually prohibited from use from the groom . However, even with the limited protection of women’s rights, their individual freedoms are still being encroached upon by African society . For instance, in some African countries, namely Nigeria, a husband is lawfully allowed to physically punish his wife as long as it does not cause any permanent damage . Furthermore, travelling and travel documents are very hard to come by and the right to travel is sometimes prohibited by the government for women wishing to leave the country alone. In some cases, the approval of both the father or husband is needed and in others, a male chaperone, either a father, brother or husband, is required in order for a woman to leave the country .

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is another harmful cultural practice that women are subjected to. This practice consists of altering and cutting female genital organs for cultural purposes . This is usually forced onto girls between the ages of 1 to 15 years. It has been observed to cause future complications in terms of childbirth, cysts, bleeding, urination problems and an increase of newborn deaths . This practice has been deeply engrained in African culture so much so that the main concentration of the 200 million mutilated women lies in Africa . Evidently, due to the young age that this practice is done at, most women had no choice in the matter, meaning their sexual organs were mutilated without their consent, making this practice a violation of Human Rights according the UN Charter of Human Rights . Coupled with limited reproductive rights, such as the prevention of the availability birth control as well as access to abortion, women in Africa have very limited power when it comes to their sexual and reproductive rights .

Yet another impediment to equal rights is the grounds for divorce as well as economic compensation after a separation. Firstly, women that pursue divorce relinquish their right to financial support and the right to keep any financial asset accumulated during their marriage is also given up. Meaning their land, her dowry, any business as well as child support and basic support for survival is taken away with the divorce. Seeing as in some cases, the women seeking divorce are financially dependent, these guidelines can prevent a woman from pursuing her right to divorce due to the need for the economic support provided by her partner .

Moreover, after the many years African countries remained colonized by western powers, each country has aimed to rediscover and redefine its identity outside of its previous colonizer. With that, the idea of feminism, and women’s rights is mainly regarded as a western ideal and is very much resented by decision makers (mostly male). They claim that this idea does not reflect what most women want, only the women who have been given the chance to be educated and/or travel have come back with such ideas. They go on to assume that women who are uncorrupted by foreign ideals do not ask for equal rights and are satisfied with the way things are . Furthermore, due to the constant development in many African countries, decision makers are more focused on economic opportunities and methods to enrich their country and argue that women’s rights are the least of their concerns .

This study essentially answers the following question: which aspects of African culture impede women’s access to basic rights and freedoms? Due to the fact that cultural practices are hard-wired into society, changing some of these practices and potentially letting go of some power men have over the women in their lives is very difficult. Not to mention, despite the ACHPR and The Protocol, effective measures of application and ratification within African countries are yet to be used.

Women, Justice and Development

A study focused on examining the effect of the human rights-based approaches (HRBAs) to development in Africa in relation to increasing access to women’s rights explores the effectiveness of this approach within the judicial system . The HRBAs are yet another additional tool that African countries can use to improve women’s rights in all spheres of life. This approach merges existing international and local tools to legitimize women’s freedoms within each country. Another study examines how educating women through an NGO named Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) helps local women fight for their rights in their constantly developing country.