Women's Rights In Africa

Bailyn Martin

4th hour

2/16/18

Research paper

Women Rights in Africa Women are treated unfairly in Africa. Human rights are not equal for men and women. Many women do not have equal rights and there are many fighting for them. Women should be able to have the same rights as men, not only in Africa but everywhere else. Women have come a long way since human rights have come in effect. The Protocol of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of Women in Africa was adopted on July 11, 2003. The protocol was established to strengthen and protect women’s rights. “It certainly could have been the key to a new dawn for Nigerian women, but the sad thing is that the reality seems a far cry away.” (Odigie-Emmanuel web). Fighting for women’s

“The maternal mortality ratio of 704 to 1,000 live births, Nigeria continues to have one of the highest levels of maternal mortality.” “Adequate maternity leave is important to enable the woman’s body to recover after delivery.” (Odigie-Emmanuel web). Women are getting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases from gender based violence. Some reproductive rights from the protocol include “the right to control their fertility, right to decide whether to have children, number of children and spacing of children; the right to choose any method of contraception; the right to self-protection and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS; the right to be informed on one’s health status and on the health status of one’s partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections in accordance with internationally recognized standards and best practices; and the right to have family planning education.” (“About the Protocol”

The protocol “guarantees women freedom from violence” but sadly that is not true. Violence comes in several different forms such as verbal, emotional, physical and sexual. Women in Nigeria are experiencing “domestic violence, early and forced marriages, female genital mutilation, widow torture, and inheritance-related violence.” “Proliferation of guns in the Niger Delta has increased the risk that girls and women will be targets of sexual assault.” “The consequence has been disastrous, as women have suffered massive massacre, rape, sexual abuse, social psychological trauma… aggravated poverty, unemployment, hunger, anger, low self-esteem, bitterness, frustration, desperation, fear, tension and more conflicts.” (Odigie- Emmanuel web). Many women are experiencing violence. “One in three women are experiencing violence. Statistics show that the abuser is usually someone the woman knows. 38% are killed by their partner.” (“Women’s Rights Organization” web). People in Africa seem to not care about women’s health or safety. There is a story about a police officer who raped a girl and her mother. “The officer had no consequences but the girl who was two months pregnant lost her baby.”(Odigie-Emmanuel web). “There was a Ugandan minister who defended raping girls as “natural.” In Somalia, a court sentenced an alleged rape victim to jail without bringing the accused men to court.” (Mark web). These stories show that the men of these