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Grace, Tenacity and Eloquence

The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Africa

Edited by Partrick Burnett, Shereen Karmali, Firoze Manji

The articles first appeared in the prize-winning weekly electronic newsletter, Pambazuka News. They provide students, activists and others with an easy-to-read introduction to the struggle for women’s rights in Africa.

The traditional perception of African women is that they toil day and night amidst grinding poverty while facing harsh cultural, traditional and social prejudices. Yet while it is true that, like elsewhere in the world, African women are not yet equal to men, this is only one part of the story. For in Africa, as the writings in this book show,women are fighting for their rights with grace, tenacity and eloquence.

The contributors describe how they won the cross-continental campaign for a protocol to protect the rights of African women and what still needs to be done to ensure that women enjoy these rights in every country. In a rich variety of articles, they consider topics such as women and conflict, the impact of current US policies on women’s health in Africa, women’s rights in Islam, and the implications of the Jacob Zuma trial for women in South Africa.

Contents

CHAPTER 1 CAMPAIGNING FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS

International Women’s Day – Can we dare celebrate?
Caroline Ageng’o

Aspiration into action: ratify the protocol now!
Jacqueline Asiimwe

Home-grown rights instruments: supporting the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
Gladys Mutukwa

Millennium Development Goals and the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
Souad Abdennebi-Abderrahim

Strategies for civil society organisations in moving from ratification to implementation in West Africa
Aminata Dieye

Who will bell the cat? Restoring rights to African women
Eve Odete

CHAPTER 2 MOVING THE PROTOCOL FROM PAPER TO REALITY

Smile, woman of Africa, smile!
A. N. Kithaka

Challenges of domesticating the women’s rights protocol
Sarah Mukasa

Reviewing the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
Irungu Houghton

Women’s rights: a tale of two national assemblies in Africa
Faith Cheruiyot

Great expectations for African women’s educational empowerment through the protocol
Roselynn Musa

CHAPTER 3 WOMEN, HEALTH AND FOOD SECURITY

Promising health and food security
Saudatu Mahdi

Making reproductive health rights a reality
Anne Gathumbi

Unlocking women’s right to land Equality Now Africa Regional Office Towards human rights for all women in Namibia
Liz Frank

HIV/Aids – A challenge to the successful implementation of the protocol
Elize Delport

African women confront Bush’s Aids policy
Yifat Susskind

CHAPTER 4 WOMEN AND CONFLICT

The International Criminal Court: a ray of hope for the women of Darfur?
Christine Butegwa

Sudan’s peace agreement and the position of women
Roselynn Musa

Peace a year on in southern Sudan: what has changed for women? SIHA Network

Regulation of information during conflict situations: the role of women
Amie Joof-Cole

Women are Africa’s political hope
Emira Woods and Lisa VeneKlasen

CHAPTER 5 WOMEN AND ISLAM

Women’s reproductive and sexual rights and the offence of zina in Muslim laws in Nigeria
Ayesha M. Imam

The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and its compatibility with Islamic legal principles
Maryam Uwais

Women’s rights in Islam
Khédija El Madani

Niger: democratic principles and the rejection of the protocol Sibongile Ndashe

CHAPTER 6 WOMEN AND THE JACOB ZUMA TRIAL

The Jacob Zuma rape case: a letter to Khwezifrom
54 African women

South Africa: the Zuma trial, gender and the judiciary Interview with Delphine Serumaga

Can I speak, please?
Sibongile Ndashe

Justice with dignity
Vanessa Ludwig

The socio-political eunuch called an impartial judge
Nikki Naylor

Dear Diary
Lindiwe Nkutha

CHAPTER 7 COMMENTS AND ANALYSES

Fast tracking to equality: the SADC gender journey
Janah Ncube

Women with disabilities and sexual violence in Kenya
Monica Mbaru-Mwangi

Vagina Monologues: ‘I am glad they have banned it’
Sarah Mukasa

Letter to Thabo Mbeki from African women
Mohau Pheko and Lebohang Pheko

Showing the red card to trafficking in human beings: foul play expected
SOLWODI (Solidarity with Women in Distress)

Freedom to abuse – choices in the African blogosphere
Sokari Ekin

About the Authors

Patrick Burnett is the News and Information Coordinator for Fahamu and co-editor of Pambazuka News. He has a background in journalism and is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Shereen Karmali is an editor with many years experience in the non-profit sector in the UK and Kenya.

Firoze Manji, a Kenyan, is founder and executive director of Fahamu and editor of Pambazuka News. He has formerly worked as programme director for the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, CEO for the Aga Khan Foundation UK, and regional representative for health for IDRC’s office for Eastern and Southern Africa.