WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHT EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT UNIT
Over the 38 years the unit has engaged in organizing and working with Community Women Organization/ Women Development Association for the development of the rural but active poor women in the South East and North Central zones of Nigeria to rediscover their potentials and become architect of their actions and survival in the society.
In Nigeria, and other African countries cultural, traditional, political, educational, religious and social policies and practices have in one way or the other affected the development of the women folk.
It is evidently clear that there are number of religious decisions and functions that did not involve women despite the fact that they were seen participating in the actions. Eg. During the feeding of the multitudes with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, women took part in the process but when the number of the people that were fed was counted, women were not counted. It was recorded in the laws of the Jewish people that anyone caught committing adultery shall be stoned to death. When Mary Magdalene was brought to Jesus for committing adultery, why did the Jews leave out the man that was caught with her? These are the action that only see men as sacred and untouchable.
It is not a hidden fact that even at this modern age, most parents prefer sending their male children to school than the female children. The belief is that women are another man’s property and so, the education given to her is only to build another person that got married to her and not for the benefit of her parent’s family. However, we are also aware that the female children are those that remembers their parents more during their old age than the male children.
In Nigeria political arena, we have seen the role and positions held by women. It is a well-known fact that in 1999, out of the 109 senators, only 3 are women. In 2003, it was 4 women, in 2007 it rose to 8 women while in 2011, it came down to 7. In 2015, it came back to 8.
In the House of Representatives from 1999 out of the 360 members, women are 12, in 2003, it went up to 21, in 2011 it was 26 while in 2015, it decreased to 19 women. This decrease in the number of women has continued down the line both at the state and local government levels. It is the same when it comes to the appointment of women into political offices.
It is on record that Nigeria have never had any woman as vice president and the only woman to be governor was for just few months based on the impeachment of the Governor of Anambra State. The question here is why is this so and why are women not holding any or being in these positions.
Recall that the only woman that have the courage to contest for Presidential ticket of her party got only one vote during the party’s primaries. In Nigeria, despite the fact women constitute 47% of the total vote cast during elections, they are not elected into these political and government positions.
At the community level, the scenario is worse because the cultural and traditional practices prohibit a woman from participating even in the family affairs and decisions. It is disheartening and in fact unfair that women who gave birth to children do not participate in the discussions when her daughter’s dowry is being paid. The widowhood practices and other Gender-based violence that happen in our society are mostly against the women.
Issues of confinement for 1 year in most cases for a widow in the name of respect and mourning the late husband is not carried out by their male counterparts. Lots of inhuman treatments like climbing the grave to prove innocent, drinking the water used in bathing the corpse and in other cases crying every day for 8 days from 1am to 5am are practices that are not carried out by a widower.
How can we justify the act of wife battery as a correctional measure? Or how can we justify the female genital mutilation (circumcision) as a way of making a woman complete in the society. These reasons and many more are what led to the de-facing of the women in the affairs of society building and self-development.
Again, the cultural/traditional practices which in some cases has some ritual attachments to them have excluded women from taking part in decision making. It is a taboo in various communities in Nigeria to hear that a woman is part of the Traditional ruler’s council and or participate in the affairs of the Elder’s Council. These Community Governance Structures are the policy organ of the community and whatever they decide is binding on all, whether you like it or not. The women folk are also part of the community and deserve to be active participants in the policy formulation and implementation in the communities. But this is not done in our communities.
EFFECT OF THE ABOVE PRACTICES
The non-inclusion of women in these decision-making bodies in the communities and our nation coupled with the use of tradition, culture, religion, sex and educational/political positions resulted in the following for the women:
• Having the major population of illiterate members of the society to be women.
• Deprivation of political and economic opportunities of the women.
• Creation of a state where the men are the sole decision makers and determinants of what role the women must carry out.
• Subjecting the women folk to the poverty class.
• Making the world “The Man’s World”.
• Assigning the role of cooking and taking care of the children and home only to the women.
• The physical, psychological and moral development of the women are also affected which made the women to be classified as second class in most cases insignificant.
Intelligence and development is not based on sex. That you are a man does not give you the credence of being intelligent and able to handle everything. So also, if you are a woman does not mean you know nothing. Every human has one potential or the other, and it is the combination of the different various potentials of men and women that a meaningful development and success can be achieved.
INTERVENTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION CENTRE (DEC) ENUGU ON SOLVING THE ABOVE MISNORMA IN OUR SOCIETY ESPECIALLY IN THE STATES OF THE SOUTH EAST AND NORTH CENTRAL PARTS OF NIGERIA.
Development Education Centre (DEC) Enugu, a non- governmental and non-political but ecumenical not for profit making (NGO) organization through her “WOMEN EDUCATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS EMPOWERMENT UNIT” realizing the need to change the norms and beliefs of our people towards women in Nigeria engaged the community people in the various programs and activities that will and which have started yielding positive human behavioral change results.
From 1998, the unit started building the capacity of the community women group towards using the critical mass action and advocacy to change the inhuman treatment of women using the 100 women group actions. This strategy developed the leaders and built their leadership skills and also exposed them to the process of pressure group practices.
The 100-women group strategy recorded lots of success in fighting the obnoxious traditional widowhood practices and other inhuman treatment like wife battery and unwarranted/forceful ejection of women from the husband’s house.
Using the critical mass action strategy of the Democracy and Good Governance project between 1998-2005, The unit produced women councilors in Enugu State and Abia State.
The unit has also engaged the various community governing structures in Kogi, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi and Imo states on issues of abolition of obnoxious cultural and traditional practices meted against women and girl child in our society.
These engagements include consultations, advocacy meeting/visits, dialogue and collaboration with other agencies and organizations. Yes, there are still the practice of dis-inheritance of women and girl children of their father’s property, reasonable efforts and results have been recorded. In some part of Ajaka in Igalamela/Odolu Local Government Area of Kogi State, a father has the right to hand over a landed property to her female child/children and no other person will have the right of ownership except the girl child even if she is married or not. The girl child has the right to use the land for her business.
Also in Enugu, Imo and Abia States, it has been recorded that a woman and her girl children do inherit their late father’s property as was recorded in Amagu Ihube in Okigwe Local Government Area and Itchi in Igboeze South local government area of Imo and Enugu states respectively. In Umunneochi local government area of Abia state, it was recorded that women have the right to participate in land dispute cases that affect them and their families as was seen in Achara community of Umunneochi local government area.
In 2017 - May 2021 Development Education Centre through the "Human Rights Education and Socio-economic Empowerment for women in south East and North Central of Nigeria worked with 27 communities to empower women as members of the various community governance structures (Igwe's Cabinet, town development Associations/Unions TDA/TDU, Neighbourhood/vigilantee)The programme also engage the men and women stakeholders into formation of taskforces and steering committees to demand and fight for the rights of community women in their communities. It also involved all the sectors of the community in the fight against cultural/traditional practices such as rape, wife battering, widowhood rites, women participation in politics and other issues of gender based violence. The result of the project is as follows;
27 communities were inaugurated to partner with DEC in this project from 4 states (Enugu, Abia, Kogi and Imo states)
23 out of the 27 communities have successfully inaugurated and instituted 296 women as members of their various community governance structures. These women were issued with certificate of members and those in the wife's cabinet were confined with chieftancy titles which qualify them as full members of the Igwe's and or Eze's cabinet. Others in the Community Development Associations TDAs were in the Executives. While those in the Neighbourhood watches work in close relationship with the various organs of the community to ensure adequate security in the communities. This achievement helped in the abolition of various belief like seeing the woman as not contributing meaningful to the development of the communities. They are now part of the decisions and policies carried out in these communities. It has also found a way of making women part of decision making process in Igala mela/Odolu LGA where women as a result of strong custom and ritual rites that prevent some women especially that are of child bearing age not to visit the or enter the palace of the traditional ruler after given birth to a child until after 3 months etc.
575 member steering/project implementation committee comprising of 345 women and 230 men were constituted and inaugurated in 23 communities to work with 600 member project taskforces of 300 women and 300 men on issues of the right of the women and men in the 23 communities. These group were significant in the programme implementation using lobbying the stakeholder, advocating for change of some cultural practices, enforcing the right of inheritance of women and girl children and ensuring that justice is given to any victim of gender based and other cultural/traditional violence. During this period 560 cases were reported and treated by this unit. They includes:
• 210 cases of harmful traditional and widowhood practices.
• 197 cases of denial of inheritance rights of women and girl child.
• 153 cases of gender based violence like rape, domestic violence, child trafficking, female genital mutilation etc
Despite the above achievements, the unit through her weekly human right Education sessions have reached to over 18000 women in the rural areas on their rights and how to demand and defend their rights. The unit has also conscientize the women group leaders on how they will ensure that majority of the women employ the 100 women group critical mass action to demand and pressure down their needs especially with reguards to policy change and human development.
FUTURE PLAN
• The unit plan to ensure that more women made members of the Community Governance Structure and also hold elective posts within the structures. This will be carried out in partnership with the community steering committee and other stakeholders.
• More Advocacy and capacity training of the leader will lead to charter of demand to amend some parts of the community bye laws to include the issue of inclusive governance.