April 6, 2021
By: Francis F.M.Harding
Even before the war in Sierra Leone women and girls have been left behind. The impact of the horrific gender-based violence at societal, community and individual levels is a critical issue in the development of women and girls. In 2007 the country’s Constitutional Review Commission recommended that gender empowerment be factored in reforms. This is yet to happen.
Sierra Leone’s 1991 constitution states that all persons are equal under the law, “unless customary law says otherwise. Let take a look at the definition of women empowerment.
Women’s empowerment means that women are free to make and own their choices. They are not bound by conforming to what society, customs, protocol or individuals feel, but driven by what each woman defines for herself at every stage of her life. It could range from a young girl wearing what she wants – to choosing a career, irrespective of ‘suitable for women or not’. Or the choices a woman in her late twenties / thirties makes about her marital and motherhood status. Or the choices a woman in her late 50’s makes to lead her life.
And the common factor that unites all these is that each woman should be free to own her choice and not be questioned or shamed for it. If the women of a nation are developed, then the development of that nation is a must. So to achieve this thing, we need to destroy the demons killing the rights of women and ethics and values from the society such as honour killing, illiteracy, dowry, rape, female infanticide, inequality, domestic violence, sexual harassment, illegal trafficking, prostitution and many other issues.
Discrimination on the basis of gender is something which will bring cultural, social, economic and educational differences in the society that will push back the growth of the nation. More need to done by NGOs and the ministry of Gender and Children Affairs by providing proper education and providing exact information to them. And making women empowered by ensuring the Right to Equality mentioned in the Constitution of Sierra Leone.
I believe that to promote the goal of women empowerment, it should be promoted from childhood in each and every family. Women’s empowerment is the process in which women elaborate and recreate what it is that they can be, do, and accomplish in a circumstance that they previously were denied. Empowerment can be defined in many ways, however, when talking about women’s empowerment, empowerment means accepting and allowing people (women) who are on the outside of the decision-making process into it.
“This puts a strong emphasis on participation in political structures and formal decision-making and in the economic sphere, on the ability to obtain an income that enables participation in economic decision-making.”
Those days have gone, when women are not allowed to talk in public forum as they are always expected to take the back seat. Looking back we can to see that a girl was traditionally groomed as domestic servant who grows to bear a child at a very early age, no matter how unprepared that child was and that mark the end of any possibility. Men will divorce their wife without proper compensation. Female candidate vying for certain offices were attacked not for them to participating in the affairs of the state
Thank God the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs in partnership with the 50/50 Group and the Women’s Forum Sierra Leone has held a national Conference on the theme “Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Sierra Leone” at the New Brookfield’s Hotel Jomo Kenyatta Road Brookfields Freetown on the 18th & 19th March,2021. The women of this country gathered here today for the implementation of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy (GEWE). The conference draw galaxy of distinguished women from across the country.
The history of women empowerment and gender equality would not complete if I don’t measure the pioneers like Madam Yoko, Madam Hela Koblo Gulama, Dr. Banadeth Lahai, Mrs.Shirly Gbujama, Dr.Nana Prate, amongst others. I want to acknowledge them for laying the foundation and for passing on their legacy..
Successive governments have initiated a number of measured that will lead to acknowledged the Sexual Offensive Act, the Child Rights Act, the Medium Term Development Plan, discussion around Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), the Free Health Care for pregnant Woman and lactating mothers, Free Quality Education, and most importantly the new Ministry of Gender for partnering for result.
I believe that women still have a long way to go to strengthen and reinforce as Sierra Leone is a signatory to International, Regional conventions, the Maputo Protocol, the Africa Charters, CEDAW, to name but a few. We note the concerns women have with the constitutional review committee.
For the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) policy and the development of action plan to be successful, the women have to unite and support each other. For instance for the 2012 elections Dr.Kadie Sesay was the candidate for the Sierra Leone People’s Party, and women constitute about 50 percent of the population of Sierra Leone, but they voted on regional and tribal line.
Indeed it is a fact that women have seen the enactment of legislation geared towards gender equality and women’s rights in Sierra Leone, but women should not just sit and fold their arms. The country is signatory to so many international and regional conventions. Women should start asserting their rights to take advantage of the international and national legal frameworks.
I can remembered the late president Kabbah said to women “when I say women you say power”, in Moyamba the former president Koroma apologized publicly to the women for all the bad things done to women during the rebel war and the current president Bio said “happy women happy nation”.
Empowerment is the process that creates power in individuals over their own lives, society, and in their communities. People are empowered when they are able to access the opportunities available to them without limitations and restrictions. Feeling entitled to make your own decisions creates a sense of empowerment. Empowerment includes the action of raising the status of women through education, raising awareness, literacy, and training. Women’s empowerment is all about equipping and allowing women to make life-determining decisions through the different problems in society. When I take at the Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org it talk about the Importance of Women Empowerment in Societies.
Empowerment of women is a necessity for the very development of a society, since it enhances both the quality and the quantity of human resources available for national development. Empowerment is one of the main procedural concerns when addressing human rights and development. Women’s empowerment and achieving gender equality is essential for our society to ensure the sustainable development of the country. Many world leaders and scholars have argued that sustainable development is impossible without women’s empowerment. Without the equal inclusion of women in development, women would not be able to benefit or contribute to the development of the country.
Economic empowerment Women’s economic empowerment refers to the ability for women to enjoy their right to control and benefit from the resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability to manage risk and improve their economic status and wellbeing. Economic empowerment increases women’s agency, access to formal government programs, mobility outside the home, economic independence, and purchasing power.
Strengthening women’s access to property inheritance and land rights is another method used to economically empower women. This would allow them better means of asset accumulation, capital, and bargaining power needed to address gender inequalities. Often, women in developing and underdeveloped nations are legally restricted from their land on the sole basis of gender. Having a right to their land gives women a sort of bargaining power that they wouldn’t normally have; in turn, they gain more opportunities for economic independence and formal financial institutions.
Another popular methodology for women’s economic empowerment also includes microcredit. Microfinance institutions aim to empower women in their community by giving them access to loans that have low interest rates without the requirement of collateral. More specifically, they aim to give microcredit to women who want to be entrepreneurs. The success and efficiency of microcredit and microloans is controversial and constantly debated. Some critiques claim that microcredit alone doesn’t guarantee women have control over the way it is used. Microfinance institutions don’t address cultural barriers that allow men to still control household finances; as a result, microcredit may simply be transferred to the husband.
If we come to the barriers for example in Sierra Leone many of the barriers to women’s empowerment and equity lie ingrained in cultural norms. Many women feel these pressures, while others have become accustomed to being treated inferior to men. Even if legislators, NGOs, etc. are aware of the benefits women’s empowerment and participation can have, many are scared of disrupting the status of the women and continue to let societal norms get in the way of development. Recent studies also show that women face more barriers in the workplace than do men. Gender-related barriers involve sexual harassment; unfair hiring practices, career progression, and unequal pay where women are paid less than men are for performing the same job. While much of the public discussion of the “wage gap” has focused around women getting equal pay for the same work as their male peers, many women struggle with what is called the “pregnancy penalty”.
Such barriers make it difficult for women to advance in their workplace or receive fair compensation for the work they provide. If we look at the role of education It is said that education increases “people’s self-confidence and also enables them to find better jobs and they can work shoulder to shoulder with men” They engage in public debate and make demands on government for health care, social security and other entitlements”. In particular, education empowers women to make choices that improve their children’s health, their well-being, and chances of survival.
Despite significant improvements in recent years made by NGOs and the government, when you go down the interior education is not national available and gender inequalities persist. For example if you go to the cotton tree you will find a lot of girls on the street pushing their parent on the wheel chairs. My major concern is not only the limited numbers of girls going to school but also the limited educational pathways for those that step into the classroom.
The growing access of the web in the 21st century has allowed women to empower themselves by using various tools on the Internet. With the introduction of the World Wide Web women have begun to use social networking sites like Face book and Twitter for online activism. Through online activism, women are able to empower themselves by organizing campaigns and voicing their opinions for equality rights without feeling oppressed by members of society. With the easy accessibility and affordability of e-learning (electronic learning), women can now study from the comfort of their homes.
By empowering themselves educationally through new technologies like e-learning, women are also learning new skills that will come in handy in today’s advancing globalized world. Women’s economic empowerment begins at home. Mothers, fathers, have a major role to play when it comes to women empowerment. The first step for empowering women starts at home when parents give equal opportunities to their sons and daughters to pursue education and the freedom to take decisions. Women have to shed the notion, and hesitation, that they might not be able to work on a par with men. “Women empowerment is empowering Sierra Leone’’.