Women's Empowerment and Good Governance Through - amarc

45
Best Experiences for an Action Research Process
consideration due to women and on women’s rights. They must raise awareness in the population
to fight against all forms of discrimination against women. Women in media are supposed
to know more and must therefore help other women and men who have not yet understood the
benefits of the gender approach, who believe that women are incompetent, incapable, weak
and unable to measure up when facing an obstacle.
Traditionally, and even today in some environments such as in our villages in RDC, woman
has been disrespected. Wmone are not allowed to contribute to development or to community-building.
As a weak being, she is thought just to wait for marriage; that she is good only
for housework and giving birth to children. Some men use women as a tool or a production
machine and this is favoured by polygamy, since a man who had several women could expect
an abundant harvest. Every woman had to prove that she is strong in order to be loved more
by her husband and her in-laws, only like that she will be called a woman of the clan or a strong
woman. Then if the man were to consider divorce, all the members of the clan would oppose it,
saying, ¨She is a strong woman who works enough and who gives us children, one whom we
hold in esteem and have called woman of the clan.¨ It is according to that logic that education
of girls is minimal compared to that of boys, for the woman could only expect marriage.
Currently in the villages (even in the cities in some cases), women are not respected because
of cultural reservations, discriminatory customs and practices with respect to women have
forced women to take a back seat.
There are also churches that preach against women’s participation and the gender approach,
trying to convince people with the words of the Bible, which says, “women should be quiet
in the assembly of saints.” In other words, women must be quiet since their godmother Eve
betrayed the world, or so they say. For those who say “Amen” and take the words of their
pastors as Gospel, a woman who stands out, who works, who gets involved in politics, such
a woman they consider to be blaspheming against the word of God. When a woman works,
she is considered a whore, an easy woman, disobeying God’s word. That is why there are
intellectual women who are not permitted to work by their husbands because of the influence
of their friends, their families and also of certain men of God.
The consequences are disastrous! Just consider health as an example, women are exposed
to sexually transmitted diseases because they do not have the right to say anything before the