By Lieke Kuiper
In many international treaties on human rights, it is forbidden to discriminate based on gender. For example the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states in article 3 that:
‘The States that are Parties to the present Covenant undertake action to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.’
In reality however, women all over the world face discrimination based on their gender. So-called developed or first world countries, such as the Netherlands and the US are only ranked 38 and 52 on the Global Gender Gap Index by the United Nations. While other Western countries perform better, the image that Western countries are better developed and better uphold Universal Human Rights, should be adjusted. The Western world still knows a lot of forms of gender-based discrimination. Although Iceland is leading the world as the most equal country on several aspects, including the Global Gender Gap, an outstanding country worthy of praise is Rwanda.
At the same time that the numbers 1 to 4 of the Global Gender Gap are Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden, Rwanda is ranked 9. These four countries are high income countries according to the World Bank, whilst Rwanda is ranked as one of 48 least developed countries.
The Western world should thus change two common perceptions. The first that women are better-off in the West than in other areas of the world, for Rwanda is a much better place to be for women in power. And Second, that the West has largely solved the problem of discrimination based on gender because common perceptions about gender differences have changed in the West, while they are still patriarchal in other areas such as Rwanda.
Rwanda is mostly known around the world for the gruesome genocide against the Tutsi’s in 1994. Ever since, the country has changed however. After the 100-day genocide, women rose to rebuild the country. By the end of the genocide, the President passed legislation that changed the position of women in Rwandan society, simply because so many men were killed, that now women were needed to rebuild the country.
Women however, did not simply rebuild the country. Even when gender rates in the population slowly balanced out again, women kept participating, many becoming local leaders in the process. The quota of 30% female members of parliament has easily been achieved. By now, 61% percent of the members of Parliament is female. This is the highest number in the world. Not only in the lower house, but also in the cabinet, is the female quota easily achieved.
The rise of women in power in Rwanda was not the result of women fighting for their rights, as we see in Iran, Sudan and other Middle Eastern Countries. In Rwanda the legacy of the genocide and the following political adjustments and legislations that were passed led to a change in society. When top-down imposed political quota were met and women in powerful positions were seen, others started to realise they too could achieve such things. Women were no longer seen as wives and child-bearers.
They changed the coffee business in which women are now equally participating, sometimes even becoming the main providers for the family. Labour participation is now equally divided between men and women. Serving as local leaders, helping other women participate on the labour market, fighting for more equality by politically participating, etc. the position of women in Rwanda is steadily getting better.
Political change in a classical top-down fashion is thus capable of making meaningful changes in society and in common perceptions on male-female relations. Rwanda is not fully there yet, and especially males have trouble with changing their familial relations with women. Nevertheless, Rwanda is a striking example of how political changes can slowly find their way through society and along the way change the patriarchal social relations to more equal ones. The perception that the West is far ahead in relations to gender-equality, because we have changed patriarchal social norms in a bottom-up fashion, thus needs changing. For women in powerful positions, Rwanda is a far better place to be and this is due to top-down political changes.
The Western world thus needs to change both its perception that women in the West are more fortunate than in lesser developed areas, and the idea that the West has achieved gender-equality and is thus not in need of any more political programs or changes of common perception on gender relations. Gender equality is not only achieved by slowly changing perceptions about gender-roles. By imposing political programs, quota and other top-down changes, following the example of Rwanda, the West too can speed up the process towards real gender-equality, both in powerful positions in politics and on the labour markets, as well as in everyday life.
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