Navigating beyond gender in the maritime sector
The maritime sector in Africa remains male-dominated, and gender discrimination remains an acute challenge in the industry.
The concept of gender equality has been expanded beyond reference to women to include youth, people of different ethnicities and other marginalised groups. It is recognised internationally as essential to sustainable development, peace and prosperity. However, discriminatory practices persist across the world and the African maritime sector is no exception. Although robust legislation seeks to encourage greater diversity, more needs to be done to include these under-represented groups in a sector that is central to the economies of Africa’s littoral states.
About the authors
Liezelle Kumalo is a Researcher in the Peace Operations and Peacebuilding programme at the Institute for Security Studies. She has an Master’s degree in international relations from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Denys Reva is a Researcher in the Peace Operations and Peacebuilding programme at the Institute for Security Studies. He has a Master’s degree in security studies from the University of Pretoria.
Image: IMO/Flickr
