Confidence, culture and childcare

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 8^th 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.