Perspective: Africa (June 2016) Perspective: Africa (June 2016) | Page 11

Perspective: Africa - June 2016

However, there is an undeniable appetite
When Africa finds a way to achieve equalfor progression in this area. In a recent
ity in law despite cultural customs, the
Afrobarometer Survey taking in 34 African continent will truly rise.
countries between 2011 and 2013, Africans of both sexes support women’s equality with 72% agreeing that women should
have equal rights. Of those surveyed, 68%
of men and 76% of women share this view.
North African countries fall far short when
the data is broken down to individual
countries, with more than 50% of people
in North Africa believing that traditional
laws should trump equal rights compared
to the rest of the continent where less than
15% agree in each country. Slowly but
surely more African countries are heeding
the voices of the people and making moves
to modernize the traditions and laws. In
Cameroon, a 500-year-old tradition that,
at its most extreme, sees widows stripped
of their inheritance and trapped in bonded
labor, is slowly being reversed after years
of campaigning from a Muslim student
group, Musab. And Morocco abolished a
law that allowed rapists to avoid prosecution if they married their underage victims.
Women are becoming more visible in
politics too; the Inter-Parliamentary Union
reports that two African countries sit on
the top ten of a table which ranks countries around the world on the percentage
of women in lower or single house political
systems. Rwanda sits at the very top at
number one with 63% of the house being
female representatives, while Senegal follows in sixth place with 42%. This is even
more impressive when compared to key
countries known for their liberal societies like the UK at position 48, Australia
at 54, Canada at 60 and the USA at 95
with a mere 19% of the lower house being
women.
10