African women need equality and freedom
- By Sonia Umutoni from Rwanda
- 24 juin 2015
- 2 min de lecture
“If we teach one woman we teach a nation”. That is very true, but unfortunately that is not everybody’s point of view especially in Africa. The old mentality is still present. People still think that women are not that valuable and it hurts a lot, first of all because I am a woman and secondly because I am an African.
If that mentality was only coming from men the fight would be less exhausting, but the sad part is that some women still think they are inferior. Imagine fighting for women’s freedom with women that are fine with not being free… It is double work as you first have to teach women that they matter, that their point of view matter and then you have to convince men that women are capable of anything. I think that is one of the challenges Africa faces till now. An example is when I met that woman who was beaten by her husband; instead of blaming her husband she was blaming herself saying that it was her fault. I was so sad to see that the woman was really convinced it was her fault.
Yet it is true there has been a big evolution. If we look at African women in the 80s and African women of today we can clearly see the changes. I think Africans have eventually understood that women need to work. But if we look at the homes of Africans I doubt that equality can be found there. We should remind ourselves that the majority of the population in Africa is poor and when we say poor we also talk about uneducated people. Teaching people that women and men are equal is really hard because they grew up with traditional concepts which are at the opposite of gender equality. It doesn’t mean that there is no equality at all in African homes, it simply means that equality can be found in the homes of those who had the chance to understand what equality is and who know the value of personal freedom.
I can’t blame anyone; women and men grow up in a society that tells them what to think and how to think; “Men are superior”, “Why studying? Get married instead” etc. Our mothers and grandmothers had been raised like that and we can see the effects of it. So no one is to blame. Let’s just focus on the next generation and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes.
When I talk about freedom and equality I don’t mean women over men, don’t get me wrong. I just mean that all men and women are valuable in their ways and should have the same chances and opportunities in life. If each one of us could respect and value others people and their feelings, then the world could be more pleasant.
