As well as bumping into Nick Clegg leaving the
toilet on my first visit to the House of Commons, I also attended an
eye-opening discussion about the role of women as leaders in Africa. The event
was hosted by the Royal Africa Society, and was partly a build up to
International Women’s Day on the 8th March. I suppose growing up as
a white male with good role models, it could be argued that I have never had to
directly struggle against sexual inequality, but the fact of the matter is that
it’s a major international issue, which transgresses borders and has a huge
effect on different cultures worldwide. In this article I am going to outline
some of the issues raised in the debate, and explore some implications and
solutions, all in the context of women, politics and Africa as a whole.
Across the world, women are outnumbered by men in
the area of politics, in some places to an extreme level. One speaker suggested
that this may be due to a confidence issue within women themselves- they are
reluctant to get involved in politics, seeing it as a man’s area, and are
always “waiting to be asked”. They lack self-belief due to culturalisation, and
are often ignorant to their rights and opportunities, and are therefore unable
to take advantage of them. The confidence argument places the responsibility
for change mainly with the women; however another speaker vehemently argued
that the responsibility has to be with the men. This speaker expressed her growing
reluctance to engage in debates about women with other women, and instead urged
men to force change amongst themselves.
The dilemma of quotas in politics was also discussed
fervently. Although they are essentially good instruments of change, because it
means women are rapidly integrated into politics, they could also be seen as
undemocratic, because they are not based on merit. By enforcing quotas for the
representation of women in politics (the UN suggests women should make up 30%
of a countries representation in government) you immediately compensate for historical
gender inequality by allowing women into politics. However, as a speaker from
the floor pointed out, representation doesn’t necessary equal influence,
highlighting one flaw of such a simple solution. Nevertheless quotas, if not
ideal, are an essential instrument of change.
Another unanimous agreement reached by all present
was the emphasis that needs to be placed on women’s support groups- formal
structures which encourage networking between women, and therefore a platform
by which they can support one another and take collective action against gender
inequality. It was concurred that organisations like this will help speed up
the process of achieving gender equality, in the workplace and beyond. I also
feel it is important to mention the emphasis placed on reforming local
governments, particularly in places like Africa, if change is going to be long
lasting- and the idea of concentrating resources to tackle gender inequality in
the youth, rather than aiming to influence a much older (and possibly more
stubborn) generation.
During the discussion I found myself considering the
bigger issues at the heart of the gender inequality debate- violence against
women being one of them. Culturally ingrained sexism another (something we
experience in our day to day lives, even in the Western world). Although there
was some emphasis placed on the improvements made worldwide over the last
decade, the overall outlook appeared bleak to me, as the unjustness of gender
inequality struck me in a way that it had never done before.
