{"id":133347,"date":"2025-05-17T16:03:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T16:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/the-rights-defended-by-african-feminists-are-as-at-risk-as-those-of-americans\/"},"modified":"2025-05-17T16:03:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T16:03:44","slug":"the-rights-defended-by-african-feminists-are-as-at-risk-as-those-of-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/the-rights-defended-by-african-feminists-are-as-at-risk-as-those-of-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"The rights defended by African feminists are as at risk as those of Americans."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<figure class=\"article__media\">\n        <picture class=\"article__media\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/05\/16\/0\/0\/3405\/3560\/556\/0\/75\/0\/3cd5088_sirius-fs-upload-1-bkh89wiqfen3-1747384200016-fatou-sow.jpg 556w, \nhttps:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/05\/16\/0\/0\/3405\/3560\/600\/0\/75\/0\/3cd5088_sirius-fs-upload-1-bkh89wiqfen3-1747384200016-fatou-sow.jpg 600w,\n            https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/05\/16\/0\/0\/3405\/3560\/664\/0\/75\/0\/3cd5088_sirius-fs-upload-1-bkh89wiqfen3-1747384200016-fatou-sow.jpg 664w,\n            https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/05\/16\/0\/0\/3405\/3560\/700\/0\/75\/0\/3cd5088_sirius-fs-upload-1-bkh89wiqfen3-1747384200016-fatou-sow.jpg 700w,\n            https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/05\/16\/0\/0\/3405\/3560\/800\/0\/75\/0\/3cd5088_sirius-fs-upload-1-bkh89wiqfen3-1747384200016-fatou-sow.jpg 800w\" \n            sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 556px, 100vw\" \n            alt=\"Senegalese sociologist Fatou Sow, in Nanterre, in August 2018.\" \n            width=\"664\" height=\"443\"><br \/>\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/05\/16\/0\/0\/3405\/3560\/664\/0\/75\/0\/3cd5088_sirius-fs-upload-1-bkh89wiqfen3-1747384200016-fatou-sow.jpg\" \n            alt=\"Senegalese sociologist Fatou Sow, in Nanterre, in August 2018.\" \n            sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1024px) 556px, 100vw\" \n            width=\"664\" height=\"443\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/source>\n        <\/picture>\n        <noscript><br \/>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/05\/16\/0\/0\/3405\/3560\/664\/0\/75\/0\/3cd5088_sirius-fs-upload-1-bkh89wiqfen3-1747384200016-fatou-sow.jpg\" \n            alt=\"Senegalese sociologist Fatou Sow, in Nanterre, in August 2018.\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/noscript><figcaption class=\"article__legend\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Senegalese sociologist Fatou Sow, in Nanterre, in August 2018.<br \/>\n        <span class=\"article__credit\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Two Plusquatre \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">In **Senegal**, the coming to power, in March 2024, of a new management team which promised a break with past practices, did not improve the **representativeness** of women in the highest bodies of the country. Thus, the government of **Ousmane Sonko** has only four women (**13%**). The sign of a <em> &#8220;Lack of political will&#8221;,<\/em> According to sociologist **Fatou Sow**, <em> &#8220;While Senegalese women prove their skills in all other areas of society&#8221;.<\/em> At **84**, the Senegalese feminist, a long teacher-researcher at **Paris-Diderot University** and at **Cheikh-Anta-Diop University** in Dakar, was honored on Thursday, May 15 in **Dakar**, during a symposium on &#8220;female democracy&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__question\">Why, fifteen years after the establishment of parity in Senegal, are women still widely excluded from the political game?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">After the establishment of this law on &#8220;absolute parity&#8221; between the sexes in all **elective institutions**, voted under the chairmanship of **Abdoulaye Wade** [2000-2012], we reached **44%** of women elected to Parliament in 2022, compared to **40%** in the last legislative elections, in November 2024. While we had won some battles, we see that everything moves back. Who could have imagined that with so young leaders [the president **Bassirou Diomaye Faye** is **45 years old**, the prime minister **50 years old**], would we have so few women in government?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__question\">What is braking, do you think?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">It is a question of **political will**. Today, under the pressure of this law on parity, it is difficult for the power not to name women. So we sprinkle the government and the public institutions with a few women, but the bulk of power always goes to men. Women, there are fewer and fewer in the places where decisions are made, because there is a very strong **patriarchal system**, heavily influenced by **Muslim** and **Christian religions**.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">However, it should be noted that in all other technical positions, whether it be **medicine**, **engineering** and even the **army**, we see more and more women in positions of responsibility, not thanks to a law on parity but because they have demonstrated their **skills**.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__question\">Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko are the first openly polygamous Senegalese leaders. What does this reflect developments in Senegalese society?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">It must first be said that in Senegal, the middle class and the popular class do not question **polygamy** because it is part of the reality of Senegalese culture and **Islamic culture**. Like **Bassirou Diomaye Faye** and **Ousmane Sonko**, it appears that many men with a level of extensive studies and who today occupy key positions at university, in politics or in economic circles, embrace **polygamy**, while it was previously perceived as retrograde by the first elites of the post-independence country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">Today, only women of the elite question **polygamy** and consider that **monogamy** is a model towards which society should tend, as we have built different social relationships, with different ambitions. However, since Senegalese women desire to be married, because marriage grants **social status**, they find themselves compelled to accept polygamous arrangements. Yet, the endorsement of women does not translate into an **egalitarian** society. Senegalese society remains hierarchical, defined by sex, age, and ethnicity.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__question\">The feminist manifesto of Senegalese anthropologist Awa Thiam, *Speech to Negresses*, released in 1978, was reissued in 2024. There is a question of genital mutilation, polygamy, or even forced marriages. Despite advances, these practices always find an echo in Senegal &#8230;<\/h2>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">These practices still exist in **2025** and continue to generate significant suffering for the bodies of women. **Excision**, for example, in the regions where it is practiced, is presented as a **cultural initiatory practice**, a marker of femininity and identity. If these practices persist despite the **1999 law** against gender-based violence, it is due to the lack of political will to confront the **religious institutions** that uphold them.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__question\">What do you answer to those who denounce feminism as the product of Western society, in contradiction with &#8220;African values&#8221;?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">Feminism is a multifaceted struggle for women against **oppression**. The African intellectual that I may be accused of Westernism as soon as I deviate from a pre-established order of thought, since it disrupts and challenges. It is truly insulting to hear African men claim that African feminists are simply imitating Westerners, while they can openly discuss **Marx** and **Bourdieu** without facing accusations of Western influence.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__question\">The global conservative offensive meets an echo in Africa. Has the feminist movement, which had won victories in reproductive rights, family planning, or even parity in politics, been only a parenthesis?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">It has indeed been a parenthesis for an extended period, as there exists a **backlash**. We must remember the law passed under **Ronald Reagan** in 1984, the **Global Gag Rule**, which prohibited foreign NGOs from receiving funds from the United States government if they worked directly or indirectly on **abortion** issues. Every Republican president has reinstated this rule, and this continuous offensive culminated in efforts under **Donald Trump** to dismantle the **USAID** agency and withdraw from the **WHO**. Today, I assert that the rights championed by African feminists are as threatened as those in **America**.<\/p>\n<section class=\"author\">\n<p class=\"article__author-container\">\n            <span class=\"author__detail\"><br \/>\n                <span class=\"author__name\">C\u00e9lia Cuordifede<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"author__desc\"> (Dakar, correspondence)<\/span><br \/>\n            <\/span>\n        <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" rel=\"dofollow\">Breaking News General &#8211; 1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senegalese sociologist Fatou Sow, in Nanterre, in August 2018. Two Plusquatre \/ Wikimedia Commons In **Senegal**, the coming to power, in March 2024, of a new management team which promised a break with past practices, did not improve the **representativeness** of women in the highest bodies of the country. Thus, the government of **Ousmane Sonko** [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9374,284,1305,28746,862,1207],"class_list":["post-133347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-african","tag-americans","tag-defended","tag-feminists","tag-rights","tag-risk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}