Should African countries use parliamentary quotas to address patriarchy?

PATRIARCHY MUST FALL

Privilege is reflected when you think something is not a problem because it is not a problem you feel. Many men like me across the world are privileged. We live in a patriarchal society and have become unaware of this.

I would not be wrong to say that across Nigeria, girls are brought up differently from boys. We are taught different things and this translates into an expectation that we hold certain jobs. For instance, the job of a secretary or nurse is one reserved most likely for females. Many girls are expected to go to school and train themselves to hold jobs they are not competing with men for. Also, as a lady, you’re expected not to be the breadwinner in your family or acquire a PhD as powerful women threaten a sizable amount of men. More importantly, most girls are expected to go to school and then be employed by men. As such, women are not well developed for leadership positions. You see that’s the case in Nigeria, however, around the world, women are more often than not also not trained to be leaders.

Less than a week ago, the story of Ese Oruru, a 13 year old girl who had been kidnapped from Bayelsa state and made to marry her kidnapper came to light. Stories like Ese’s are another important reason we need more women in power. Factors like child marriages are simply unacceptable and I believe it is important to have female politicians who will ensure the women in our societies are represented in instances of issues like these. Stories like that of Mirabel Center in Lagos are another case study for why we need more women in power. Mirabel Center serves as the only rape relief center in Lagos State and in 2015 it was in danger of closing down because of a lack of funds. The story came to light and civilians raised $12000 to ensure Mirabel Center did not close down. How a state that suffers an average of 3000 rapes a year does not have one government funded rape relief centre, I can not understand. It suggests one thing to me, women’s matters have not been put at the forefront of the agenda and that I feel is unacceptable.

The current systems we operate, allowing any single group to control power are destructive in that we have groups as large as half of our populations whose experiences are not represented in leadership. Do we forget that women must also live through the laws that we allow a small group of men to create? We must destroy the concentration of power in a small group of hands that exists solely because of privilege. How do I as a man know things that happen to ladies when they are not problems to me? In countries like Somalia, Mali and Sierra Leone where they have over 80% of women suffering Female Genital Mutilation, they have no laws outlawing FGM. Is this because the representation of women in parliament averages a miserable 12%? I argue there is a correlation. Many women in these countries continue to suffer these injustices because of the fact that they are underrepresented in their parliaments and there is nobody to stand for the cause of women. As such, we must take a stance against male domination and empower women since many of the decisions made also impact women heavily.

Taking the issue to a more global standpoint, according to CNNMoney, only 16.2% of the top five leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies are held by women. 16.2% of the 2500 possible jobs equals a meagre 405. Of 2500 positions, we have only 405 female leaders and I ask, why? Are women less educated and qualified than men or do we live in a male dominated society? I believe the correct answer is the latter and here my reasons;

As at 2013, on the African continent, the population of males and females were roughly equal. However, our leadership was and still remains grossly unequal. We have only one country on the African continent where female representation of the population is proportional to female involvement in the parliament. Rwanda is the only country in Africa and one of the two in the world where we have at least 50% female participation in parliament. This is because we live in a patriarchy. Nigeria has an underwhelming 5.6% with only 20 of 360 parliamentarians being women.

The good news however, is that a vast majority of Africans (72%) agree that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men, a study by a research group called Afrobarometer shows.

I propose a solution to the inequitable and unjustifiable systems of governance we operate across the African continent. I suggest that we as African countries take a united stance against patriarchy and introduce quotas into parliaments to increase female participation. Some may ask why this is necessary. I believe it is important we take this stance to ensure we as a continent do away with a system that has done us minimal good in the past 50 years. The problem is not that women are not qualified but that patriarchy serves as a barrier which prevents women from acquiring their adequate share in the leadership of our various countries. Quotas shall serve as an initial push to increase female participation in leadership. Drude Dahlerup frames the rationale behind implementing quotas perfectly when he states that “The core idea behind quota systems is to recruit women into political positions and to ensure that women are not only a few tokens in political life.” As of present, women are simply uninvolved in the parliaments of our various countries and as citizens they do have rights to equal representation.

Many people may complain that quotas will make African countries undemocratic and I acknowledge that however, we must put checks and balances in place to ensure that our governments are also representative as democracy is all about representation. Shall we acknowledge that a certain group of people are affected by barriers but take no actions to eliminate these barriers? That shall be a failure on our part. A failure on our part as thought leaders and a failure to learn from our mistakes. Also, democracy is about equal opportunity for all and quotas shall oppose this seeing as women are now given preference but let me set the record straight. Women and men do not battle on the same ground in the first instance so the quota is simply equaling the playing field. Kingsley Ighobor in his article “A celebratory rise in women’s political participation” mentions “a belief that men must naturally make decisions and that the place for a woman is the home.” These types of beliefs and opinions are those that show that males and females in politics do not play on equal playing grounds.

While the quota system may not be perfect, it seems to be the only option we have on the continent if we want to boast of Rwanda’s levels of female participation in parliament and start the march towards the breakdown of patriarchy. It may cause initial backlash, however, in the long run, this is an invaluable decision which shall help in making sure that a level of equality beneficial to our countries is met. Let us do away with patriarchy, let us devolve power from the hands of men, let us create a more gender equal Africa.