26 Nov 2008: ISS Today: Girls Still Suffer Discrimination in the Name of Tradition

26 November 2008: Girls Still Suffer Discrimination in the Name of Tradition

 

In sub-Saharan Africa, girls are continuously subjected to various levels of discrimination in spite of deliberate efforts made by stakeholders to change this. Amongst pastoralists, discriminatory practices include early marriages and limited access to education. In some cases, girls as young as six years old are forced into early marriage by their families and communities - often justified by tradition and cultural practices.

 

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are international legal regimes that contain mutually reinforcing principles to ensure protection and fulfillment of the rights of girls and to end gender-based discrimination. 

 

In spite of the existence of these internationally agreed instruments, girls in pastoralist communities in the Eastern Africa region are still disproportionately subjected to the worst human rights abuses during childhood, adolescence, and even after marriage. The girl-child faces harmful social and traditional practices that are out-rightly discriminatory in nature.  Unfortunately, these practices go unchallenged under the guise of protecting communities’ traditional heritage. 

 

Economic pressure is often used as an explanation for early marriages, with parents and communities treating girls as commodities through bride price and dowries paid by their prospective husbands.  Social expectations and family poverty usually put intense pressure on girls to marry and begin bearing children before they are emotionally, socially and physically ready.  This is done in direct violation of the girl-child’s rights as enshrined in the CRC, since the victim is usually forced into the marriage against her free will.

 

For many, marriage marks the beginning of their sexual life and an increased social isolation; the girls typically leave their homes and villages thereby losing contact with friends and peers.  Further, these girls are susceptible to great health, social and economic risks that accompany early marriage.  For instance, they are exposed to forced and unprotected sex with their husbands who have absolute control over their sexuality.  Also, the pressure to become pregnant could often cause complications at childbirth due to the fragility of reproductive organs. 

 

Amongst pastoralist communities, the girl-child has few or no educational opportunities compared to their male counterparts. Also, they have no economic and decision-making power over their household, limited social and friendship networks and worst of all, they are vulnerable to gender-based violence without recourse to law.
The United Nations agency UNESCO estimated in a recent report that 43 million school-age girls were not enrolled and many more completed fewer than six years of schooling.  Of this, 47 per cent were in Africa and the number grows by day.  The key reason for this trend has been attributed to neglect of minority groups like pastoralists by respective governments.

 

Kenya being no exception, pastoral communities in Northern Kenya usually keep their girl-child at home while boys attend school because the latter have better labour market opportunities as compared to the girls who are married away to join the husband’s family. In this regard, traditional preference for sons diminishes the value of girl’s education.

 

The consideration that a girl will be married off at some point and benefit another family, often leads to preference amongst most pastoralist communities of educating boys. Further, due to insecurity concerns coupled with the migratory lifestyle of pastoralists, parents prefer leaving boys behind to attend school, while girls, who have a high economic value tag on them, accompany their parents. 

 

Certainly, the plight of girls in pastoralist communities cannot be overemphasized.  Discrimination against girls has been identified as a causal factor of both inequality in terms of access and quality of education. Other challenges relate to economic opportunities, sexual abuse, violence and harmful traditional practices detrimental to their health and wellbeing.  These prevailing negative socio-cultural practices being root causes of discrimination of the girl-child need to be adequately addressed by both the government and civil society. 

 

As a way of addressing these disparities, certain measures should be devised to effectively increase access to education and retention of girls in learning institutions:

 

  • Governments should create incentives for pastoralist communities to send girls to schools through offering scholarship or compensating families for any related costs of education 

  • Introduction of feeding programmes in schools should be initiated amongst the communities where poverty has played a major role in denying girls opportunities to education

  • Mobile schools should be established to guarantee continuity of learning even under the circumstances of nomadic pastoralism

  •  Incentives should also be accrued to teachers willing to be deployed in hardship areas as a means to ensuring that pastoralist communities have access to quality education through the instruction of well qualified staff

  • Legislative measures and policies that incorporate gender perspectives in the education system should be adopted

  • Child marriages should effectively be outlawed irrespective of their traditional value as such practices grossly violate the rights of girl-child as envisaged by international legal frameworks

 

Essentially, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) offers the best opportunity towards addressing the plight of the girl-child not only amongst pastoralist communities but also across the continent. The call for universal education will to a large extent address education of the girl-child. Gender equality as a development goal is certainly set to increase opportunities for girls and specifically in this case, amongst pastoralist communities.

 

The articles on maternal and child health will not only improve the plight of the marginalized but also the quality of life and reduce mortality rate. Considering that ignorance and early marriages could be contributory factors to increased infections of HIV-AIDS, combating the menace is an urgent remedy amongst pastoralists to safe-guard the girl-child.

 

Indeed, every stakeholder has a key and fundamental role to play towards improving the plight of the girl-child. In particular the civil society must play its role in sensitizing the public about these negative discriminatory practices and seek to abolish them.

 

Bernard Ateka (Intern) Mifugo Project, ISS Nairobi Office

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