First of all, thank you to those who have expressed concern about the
recent events in Mali. We are safe here in Burkina, although some volunteers in
the North of the country have been offered site changes due to the increasing
influence of Al Qaeda and the influx of refugees. The American embassy
continues to have regular security briefings and is keeping us updated on the
situation.
Throughout
my service in Burkina Faso, the issue that resurfaces daily as one of the
biggest development challenges is the severe level of inequality between men
and women. It is so deeply rooted in the culture that even talking about making
changes in this area is taboo. And the longer I live and work here, the more I
believe that this is not merely a peripheral issue. Rather, it is through
solving this problem that we will realize greater economic prosperity,
educational results, and health outcomes not just in Burkina Faso but in
sub-Saharan Africa more generally.
UN studies
and global news headlines echo this conclusion. For example, studies have demonstrated
over and over again that educated women have fewer, healthier, and better
educated children. One of the most effective tools we have for lowering the
rate of both infant mortality and maternal mortality is educating our girls. In
terms of economic development, women represent more than 50% of a country’s
population and are therefore crucial to making a country competitive. And when women
do have their own income they spend, on average, 80 cents per dollar that they
earn on their family (men put 30 cents towards the family on average).
But most
development approaches which aim to foster gender equality ignore the
key demographic essential to this effort—men.
In
Burkinabe culture, men are the decision makers. The change in women’s status
necessitates male involvement because men possess great influence as the heads
of their households and communities. It is with this idea in mind that Peace
Corps sponsors a “Men as Partners” conference where interested volunteers bring
motivated male counterparts from their villages to discuss women’s empowerment.
Over the
course of four days, we discussed some of the controversial issues relating to gender
equality in Burkina Faso including the spectrum of violence (sexual, physical,
psychological, and economic), family planning, and the division of labor in the
household. Many of the topics were sensitive, such as “dry” sex as a form of
sexual violence and whether or not rape was possible within a marriage. The Burkinabe
homologues will bring the importance of gender equality back to their sites and
educate their community members on this issue in both formal and informal
settings.
To
demonstrate women’s heavy domestic burden, we had a relay race with a men’s
team and a women’s team. One person from each team had to run over and grab an
item that represented a task that their particular gender was responsible for
(a cooking pot, bucket, and spoon for the women and a beer bottle and
agricultural tool for the men). The members of the women’s team also had to do
the entire race with a skirt attached.
Acting out
a skit for the rest of the group. Here, we acted out the scenario using
aggressive communication, as opposed to passive or assertive.
