It was most thoughtful of the United Nations (UN) to declare gender equality as the unfinished business of our time and to take the world through the history of the struggle. The UN is calling the world’s attention to a fresh wave of women’s protests and direct action on social media, film sets, on the factory floor and in the streets asking for lasting change and the zero tolerance for sexual assault, harassment and discrimination.
The activism and advocacy of generations of women have been a tremendous success in diverse areas including the fact that there are more girls in school than ever before, and that women are doing paid work and in senior roles in the corporate world, in academia, in politics and in international organisations, including the UN. Gender equality is enshrined in countless constitutions all over the world, harmful practices like the female genital mutilation, child marriages have been outlawed in many countries. Yet the UN points out the many rivers to cross before the world arrives at the El Dorado of gender equality, given the historic power imbalances that have been at the root of the malignant cases of discrimination and exploitation of women.
Given the deeply entrenched interests of tradition, culture and religion against gender equality, it is indeed almost a miracle that women have progressed as far as they have. The world must appreciate the contributions of the UN for its landmark conferences on action for equality, development and peace of which the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference left indelible marks. The Seoul Conference of 2005 was equally remarkable. Indeed the world is anxiously waiting for the next world conference on women. The last 25 years could, in a sense, be considered a quarter of century for women.
It is not just that there are many more girls in school in some societies; the girls outnumber the boys in schools in some parts of Nigeria. In the United States, the women outnumber the men in post-graduate and doctoral programmes.
In the area of politics, the success has been scanty but nonetheless remarkable. Africa elected its first president in the person of Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who served meritoriously as the President of Liberia and ended up joining a small circle of five former heads of state who won the prestigious Mo Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership. Of course, Angela Merkel, the most powerful woman in the world, was re-elected a fourth time, the second post-war German Chancellor to be so honoured. Mrs. Theresa May became the Prime Minister of Great Britain, the second woman so honoured. Yet the first woman ever nominated by a major party in the United States, former Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, won the plurality of the votes but lost the electoral votes and missed being US president by a hairline. Her loss indicated that gender prejudices against female candidates still subsist even among women voters.
Nigeria has since 1999 elected scores of women as senators, deputy governors, members of the House of Representatives, and is positioning younger women who are daily proving that what men can do, women can do better. We believe that Nigerian women would have done better in politics but for the financial wherewithal that seems to be lacking for now. In addition to the economic handicaps, many Nigerian women are still sequestered in places, where they cannot even be seen let alone be heard.
In the work place, men work tirelessly and women work indefatigably, yet it is still sad to notice that even in most of the advanced economies, there is still no equal pay for equal work. All the laws loudly proclaim there shall be no discrimination by reason of sex or gender. Yet, in spite of decades of campaigns and education, we still have female genital mutilation, especially in the Nigerian hinterland where nondescript reasons are still adduced for that savagery. On sexual assault and molestation, the UN is right that even when these acts of violence are reported, victims are made to feel as if they are responsible for their predicament. However, there is hope in the new law recently enacted by the Lagos State Government, which has raised the punishment to 25 years imprisonment for rape convicts. The rate at which victims are coming out to report the crime is also encouraging.
In spite of all the advances women have made in socio-economic sectors, their representation in politics still stands at below five per cent whereas they constitute almost 50 per cent of the Nigerian population. This anomaly must be redressed by pushing for affirmative action aimed at the universal 35 per cent ratio as suggested by the United Nations, which has been adopted and, sometimes, exceeded in some African countries which, Rwanda is an example. Nigeria should strive for gender equality not as a talking point but as a fundamental policy for development if the country must realise its full potentials.
Sun
