Every foreigner visiting Afghanistan can not help noticing almost instantly, the gross inequality between men and women. Gender relations in this South Asian country are rooted within the traditional “code of honour” symbolised by the reclusive behaviour of women. Ultra conservative tribal societies have successfully propagated this “code” over the generations using coercive and obnoxiously crude methods.
Reformist governments seeking to emancipate women have often found themselves entangled in crude resistance from traditionalists – who perceive any changes in gender roles as anarchical and a recipe for social disorder.
King Amanullah who ruled Afghanistan in the 1920s for instance learnt bitter lessons too late, when in 1929, traditionalist elements violently terminated his gender reformist government.
In 1978, conservative mujahidin leaders imbued with the belief that sexual anarchy would result if women were allowed to continue moving freely in public, waged a jihad against, and eventually toppled the then communist government.
The worst forms of gender discrimination though, were meted by the ultra-conservative Taliban regime (1996-2001) which considered women as a temptation; an unnecessary distraction from the service of God. Women were therefore neither to be seen nor heard in public because they would otherwise drive men away from the proscribed Islamic ways into wild temptation.
Consequently, Afghanistan has remained one of the countries in the world with the worst gender inequalities. To date, Afghanistan has the lowest female literacy rate in the world (12%). Almost 60% percent of girls under age 11 are out of school. The country has the highest rate of maternal mortality of any country except Sierra Leone. Overall, maternal mortality ratio is estimated at 1600 to 2200 deaths per 100,000 live births. On average, one woman dies every 30 minutes due to pregnancy-related factors! Depending on location, 30% to 90% of rural women can not access health care. More over, 70 - 80% of women face forced marriages, while nearly 52% of the Afghan girls are married before their 18th birthday.
The gender situation for Uganda is not enviable either. Our maternal mortality ratio of 505 per 100000 live births implies that 16 women die every day due to pregnancy-related factors. This may not be a surprising statistic since only 38% of pregnant women deliver in hospital or with skilled attendants.
Forced marriages are a recurrent phenomenon in Uganda, especially among the pastoral communities where okukiriza (lifting) is still commonly practiced by the Banyankole and Bahima pastoralists who have reasons to think the family of the girl will refuse their marriage proposal. In such cases, the girl victims may sometimes be as young as 14; “lifted” by a 50 year old man.
Moreover, women in Uganda have been noted to participate less in the labour market and face lower wages compared to men.
That not withstanding, there is reason to remain hopeful that gender disparities in Uganda can only diminish as we move ahead. Since it came to power in 1986, the current regime has been committed to addressing gender concerns nationwide – as evidenced by the presence of a Gender Policy and the National Action Plan on Women.
The 1995 Constitution of Uganda itself provides for equality for both men and women, and criminalises all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex.
There are more girls going to school; more women working their way into formal and informal employment; and more women accessing medical care. Consequently, maternal and child mortality is retracting. Most importantly though, there is more positive gender perception and sensitivity among the population – which will progressively dissolve the remaining social-cultural barriers to women emancipation.
There is no doubt that women in Uganda are enjoying more freedoms of choice, more responsibilities, more power, and more influence – today than ever before. Yet, I have neither witnessed any forms of gender-induced sexual anarchy, nor heard voices warning of an impending gender-induced social unrest or religious fallouts.
Shouldn’t we be thankful to God therefore, that Ugandans are not as apprehensive about gender-induced sexual anarchy as are our brothers in Afghanistan?
Published in the New Vision, October 30, 2007: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/594523
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