The rights we want : We want to choose our husband We want to own the land We want to go to school We don ’ t want to be cut anymore We want also to make decisions We want respect in politics , to be leaders We want to be equal
- Rebecca Lolosoli
Simple words .
Too simple it seems to somebody like me , sitting in a western country where many of the above come easily , almost as a birth right stemming from being a citizen of a country where the fight for Women ’ s Rights started in the 19th Century and were largely won in the mid-1970 ’ s .
It would be easy to draw a conclusion that African countries lag behind many western countries in the area of women ’ s rights and in doing so feel a level of superiority as a civilisation . However , you wouldn ’ t have to dig too far into the geographical and political history of the continent to understand how direct comparison is a futile and unhelpful exercise .
To take just a small example , most African countries didn ’ t achieve independence from colonialism until the 60s and 70s . In comparison the UK took a little over 700 years to progress from small mentions in the Magna Carta ( 1215 ) to achieving the right to vote ( 1918 ). Furthermore , it wasn ’ t until 1975 that the Sex Discrimination Act was passed and still to this day the fight continues to protect victims of
Perspective : Africa - June 2016
Gender Equality Plural Systems Betray Women ’ s Rights
by Angela Turner , Perspective London Correspondent
8 rape , close the gender pay gap , improve employment rights for mothers , etc . We are arguably further along but still far from being an equal society .
On 15 June 1215 , King John met with angry barons at Runnymede , England to negotiate terms and sign the Magna Carta . For the period of time it was written in , the Magna Carta was and is still seen as somewhat of a revolutionary document , establishing the principal that everyone , even the King , is subject to the law , guaranteeing the rights of the individual , the right to justice and a fair trial . Two clauses address a woman ’ s right when widowed , meaning for the first time , a woman had the freedom to make a choice for herself . Clause 7 enables widows to gain inheritance after the death of her husband and to remain in the house of her husband for 40 days after his death . Clause 8 permits a widow the choice to not marry as long as she wishes to remain without a husband . This did , however , place her under the protection of the King or Lord , whoever owned the land , to whom she must gain consent should she wish to marry later on .
These may seem small steps now but these clauses caused respected mediaeval historian and expert on the Magna Carta , James Holt , to describe the document as “ one of the first great stages in the emancipation of women offering widows a direct route to freedom from a forced marriage ”.
After decades of campaigning , women over 30 in the UK were given the right to vote in 1918 with the Representation of the