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Topic Discussion III
Participation in
Democratic Decision-Making:
The Vital Voices of Women, Civil Society and
Pluralism
Room 4
(20 of 20 pages)
So many of you are saying that it is important to change mentality. It's true.
And through the new values, and childhood at home, and everything depends on the way we build the image of femininity
and masculinity. Also, to talk about gender relations, these words shake everyone, even women, because it's a way
to change the way of analyzing things. And let me tell you that I have just finished research on domestic violence,
and when some people are saying that women must fight, many of those I interviewed said that they have been faced
with domestic violence because they have a space now to talk and to work and they have been beaten by husbands
or the family because they have expressed themselves. Domestic violence has been increased a lot because our world,
our space, has been going outwards. So we have to take this situation into account and I don't agree that's to
improve the condition of women. Women are already integrated into development. We as Africans, 85% of women are
in the areas of the culture. Imagine as well, we are already integrated but we have no space for freedom, even
for freedom to choose to marry or to get divorced and to choose who I can go with. We don't have a space to perform.
This is why our struggle is to get this space, and to get freedom from all this oppression. Not by men, but by
society, by the system and it is very important to change this.
Thank you.
Chair: Madame Coleman.
Hon. Grace Coleman: I noted with interest the suggestion that it is not only women who need to be liberated,
that men also need to be liberated from the traditional norms that make them neglect women's issues. I think this
admission is really humbling as far as I'm concerned. It makes me feel that there is goodwill on the part of many
men. Many men realize that they have a contribution, that women's contribution is as good as their own contribution
and yet they have a problem in accepting it, and for this suggestion to come from a man here makes me feel that
as women we shouldn't lose hope. We should go ahead, because it will one day strike a raw nerve that they came
from women and that their successes are linked with the success of women. And this particular suggestion was very
important to me.
When it comes to quotas, yes there are many many democracies that have accepted quotas, and I think so far as affirmative
action is concerned, on paper almost everybody has accepted it. What we need is the political will to put it into
practice in the system. I think we need to know that on paper a lot of things have happened, even in the past,
even at the colonial stage, but very little has been done. For practice to really come down to the ground we need
the political will from our people.
I noticed also that people were very interested in women judges. I think it's important because this is one institution
that can either destroy women's motivation or to sustain it, and I think that women understand women's issues and
in practice they do understand it. Therefore, it's one institution where we should, as women, try to encourage
some of our girls who have the flair to really push forward, because in the long run it will be to our advantage
when we are putting forward our case.
In our own country, our own First Lady is involved. She is so much involved. To me this is a way of showing to
the world and to the Ghanaian child that there is a lot that she can do and that she is providing a role model
for her and for the rest of the girls in the country. So I think we need all this.
Let me end by saying that I think that the suggestion on the facilitation of participation of people from the rural
areas is crucial and that if we start from there, we could push - I wouldn't call it a fight, because it's not
really a fight - forward and get things done as we want them to be.
I am very grateful, Madame.
Chair: Thank you very much, Madame Coleman. We have come to the end of our time and I would like to thank
you all very very much for making a somewhat difficult job quite easy and really you have made it quite easy. Thank
you. It was quite enjoyable and I think we've come up with some very interesting and concrete solutions, case studies,
success stories and we will be working on the report, so if there is anything that you would like to include, please
give it to myself or to Marissa Brown (ph) from NDI, so that we can include it. Again, I thank you very very much.
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