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Topic Discussion III
Participation in
Democratic Decision-Making:
The Vital Voices of Women, Civil Society and
Pluralism
Room 4
(11 of 20 pages)
Then again, it can be done through government policy and law. For example, government
policy emphasizes affirmative action in Ghana and I think it is on the basis of that, this quota system at various
levels of government, even in Parliament, is reflected. Then of course participation in political parties. And
women can form advocacy and lobbying groups, like my colleague from Mozambique had indicated. And more importantly,
I think there is need for women's organizations that are geared towards research of women's issues and education
of women at all levels, because I believe strongly as a psychologist, that sometimes women are their own problem.
Yes, they are their own enemies, because the sex-typing which gives a role to man and to woman is started by them,
is reinforced by them, is carried through by them. So if we have to be equal, we have to start when we are born.
That is #1. The second one is that there is a tendency for friction to emerge between women, particularly in high
positions. In an early study in the '60s and '70s done in Britain, whereby the researcher asked pupils of a certain
age, "Who would you like to have as your teacher, a male or a female?" a significant number of the girls
chose males. It was across ages, so it was not because an adolescent girl was showing love or attraction for the
male. There is an endemic problem that the women must deal with. They must put their own house in order.
Lastly, before I go on, participation is important, but it can be a double-edged sword. If you don't regulate it,
then we can have problems. Participation should be encouraged, but it should not necessarily interfere with or
set aside the electorate's mandate given to the executive. Lastly, before I go on, participation is important,
but it can be a double-edged sword. If you don't regulate it, then we can have problems. Participation should be
encouraged, but it should not necessarily interfere with or set aside the electorate's mandate given to the executive.
That's number one. Secondly, it should not interfere with national sovereignty, no matter how residual that is
enshrined in the constitution for a country. It must also try not to involve participant acts that are inconsistent
with the provisions of the constitution. Thank you.
Chair: Thank you, sir. I appreciate your comment about starting at home. How do we raise our children? How
do we raise our daughters and how do we raise our sons? It's something definitely to be considered and discussed.
Speaker: If my comments don't fit in with your framework, you will have to excuse me, because that's what
democracy is all about, but somewhere I'll try to fit in. By way of preamble, let me echo the sentiments which
were expressed by one of the presenters concerning the position of women in our society, which has by and large
been conditioned by cultural practices as well as norms. I know you want us to talk about what we already know,
but I think it is important to bear in mind why there is a problem today. Also, the position of women in our societies
is conditioned in some respects by religious beliefs and procedures. For instance, in some churches we read about
women having been created by God from the rib of a man and that, naturally, makes the woman subjective. It is psychological
and because of that women have also invariably over decades accepted that position and conversely, men have therefore
also resented the thought of women being equal to them. However, I feel very strongly that the onus must first
and foremost be on women to project themselves in society to fight for their positions aggressively before they
get help from men. I hope I'm not being cruel, but I think this is part of the case because what we have seen is
that women will normally sit on the fence because of all these things I've said, and they want to be spoon fed,
they want to be heard, but if it can be demonstrated that they are fighting for themselves, men are prepared to
support women in their endeavors. This is very important. Also, to add to what my colleague had said, we find that
when it comes to election and positions of importance, for instance, women will not elect their fellow women, for
whatever reason, we don't know. They always hate each other, gossiping and that is very unfortunate. It does happen.
It may not be happening in some societies, but it does happen in a number of societies where when it comes to the
position of who should be who, women will not look at a fair woman. They would rather look at a man.
Talking about successes. I know the woman coordinator doesn't like some of my remarks here, but that's only natural.
I think the first success has been demonstrated right here in this room. The coordinator is a woman, all the presenters
are women and looking around we've got a majority of women here, so this is a demonstration of the support that
men give to men.
In Malawi, Parliament has gone a long way to introduce legislation which will assist women not to be victimized
when they become widows, when their husbands die, so that the estate is distributed equally. The first attention
of course must go to the woman, that has gone into our law now, and her children. Instead of men grabbing all the
property.
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