On Discrimination Against Women

April 12, 2005 - (Daily Champion - Lagos) In her debriefing statement to media chief executives and gender reporters on the outcome of the 4th and 5th session of the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Honourable Minister for Women Affairs Obong Rita Akpan spoke at length on the importance of media in accomplishing her ministry's tasks.

Particularly, Mrs. Rita Akpan made a four-point recommendation to the media. She said they should develop approaches and train experts to apply gender analysis with regard to media programmes; promote the equal sharing of family responsibilities through media campaigns that emphasize gender equality and non-stereotyped gender roles of women and men within the family, and disseminate information aimed at eliminating spousal child abuse and all forms of violence against women; produce media materials on women leaders, as leaders who bring to their positions of leadership many different life experiences, including but not limited, to their experiences in balancing work and family responsibilities, as mothers, as professionals, as managers and as entrepreneurs, to provide role models, particularly to young women.

Lastly, the Honourable Minister implored the media to focus more attention on social relationships towards creating gender sensitization in the society. She also recommends that issues relating to the twelve critical areas of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action should be discussed extensively in the media to reduce gender bias, such as health, education and proper legislation.

Speaking in a similar tone, the acting permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Bola Imiavian enjoined the media to accept and promote a world in which every Nigerian women, youth and child is free to develop his/her own full potentials, she said "it is paramount for us to demonstrate a new commitment to the future to inspire a new generation of women and men egalitarian society."

In her own contribution, the secretary general, Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), Saudatu Mahdi spoke on the CEDAW treaty and summary of its articles. There is one area of the Articles that captures my attention, that is Article 7, Rights to Public and Political life.

Article 7 requires registered political parties to eliminate discrimination in public and political life. Women must vote and be eligible for election on equal terms with men, to participate in the formulation of government policy, and hold public office.

The same equality of opportunity in governance is envisaged for women in non-governmental organizations, public and political associations such as trade unions and professional associations. The general global pattern of women's low representation in politics is particularly severe in Africa, with an average of only 6 per cent women among 'elected' representatives.

If women are to increase their political voice, there is a need to understand the underlining causes of this situation, and its location within the structure of gender inequality. Examination of the causes of 'discrimination' in public and political life reveals that these assertions are based on inadequate analysis of the problem.

In addition to the practical realities of a woman's world, we need to understand the belief system that explains and justifies the social world. Women are brought up to believe in the 'rightness of the world of male domination, and to accept their subordinate position. When women complain against male domination of the home, it is usually against the excesses of male authority, and against the misuse and abuse of male authority. Such limited forms of rebellion are premised on the acceptance of male authority: such rebellion does not question the principle of male authority, but only the misuse of this authority.

A woman in the home is not in a position to challenge the system of male domination. Even, in the unlikely event that a woman successfully challenges the system of male domination within her individual home, she has done little or nothing to challenge the social system of male domination which exists in almost all other homes, and in the wider society. To challenge the social system would entail the political mobilization of her mates and public action.

If a woman accepts that the "man is the head of the household" in her own home, then how can she put herself forward for a public political position? If men are the heads of households, should they not also be at the heads of local and national government? How can a woman contribute to decision-making in the local government council, if she cannot contribute to decision-making in her own home.

If a woman accepts male domination as right, and accepts gender discrimination as normal, then presumably she would be very reluctant to go into politics. If she accepts that men are the decision-makers, and that women should follow male decisions, then by the same token, she must believe that it is not her place to go into politics.

There is the need for proper identification and analysis of the problem of 'discrimination' against women. Women need to face up to the actual nature of the problem, if they are to make progress in the political field.

Women constitute about 50 per cent of the electorate in Nigeria but account for less than 9 per cent of the seats in parliament. A study of the data on women holding public/political positions between 1999 and 2003 shows that the percentage of women in decision-making positions in public and political life range from 1.2 per cent in 1992 to 13.4 per cent in 1999.

Out of 44 cabinet ministers only six (or 13.4 per cent) are women. Out of 36 speakers in the state Houses of Assembly, only one was a female. She eventually resigned due to pressure from her male counterparts. There are no female governors, and only one female deputy governor, in Lagos State. Nine (or 1.2 per cent) out of 774 LGA chairpersons are women. 143 (or 1.6 per cent) are women out of 8,810 councilors, and three (or 2.8 per cent out of 109 senators, with 12 (or 3.3 per cent) female members out of 360 members in the case in the House of

Representatives. It is not as if women (though of little percentage) have not been presenting themselves for election but their fellow females have not been voting for them! Who now discriminates; against who?

From this point of view, there should be an increase in availability of information so as to enable women to recognize the need for political action to push for equal rights. There is an increasingly sense of grievances among women of all levels of education, that male domination of the political system is undemocratic, and not serving the female interest in peace, family security and prosperity.

Efforts of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and the Childright Information Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation are highly commendable. However, more needs to be done because there is a necessity of a virile platform for dialogue advocacy and collaboration with a view to strengthening the work of existing organizations with interests in promotion of women interests in Nigeria.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200504120012.html