The onset of modernization in Africa

The onset of modernization in Africa

In the era before the colonial period, the African communities were identified to have a system in which the rights of women were not given many privileges. Women were determined to have fewer roles to play in the community-building activities of their communities. Besides childbirth and attending to the day to day family routine care practices, there was no other essential role that the women in the African community played. Besides the lack of involvement in the community development programs, the African woman was also exposed to a variety of challenges as well as vices that were detrimental to her wellbeing. Among some of these vices include rites of passage such as female genital mutilation, early marriages, among others under privileges.

The onset of modernization in Africa

However, with the beginning of modernization in the continent, it has been identified that there has been an observation of numerous changes that have been identified to eradicate some of the initial challenges that the African woman was exposed to. This has mostly been attributed to the postcolonial effects that were determined to set in when the African American colonies attained independence from the colonial regimes (Aniekwu, 2006). This could be attributed to the changes that the colonial government had on African societies, for instance, through the introduction of new social institutions. These institutions introduced the African communities to the concept of gender equality where there was the advocacy of right and just treatment for both genders. Some of the critical pre- and postcolonial influences that shaped and influenced the African plan to protect the rights of women in the continent include;

1. Introduction of formal education in Africa

Before the precolonial period in Africa, the educational system was informal, where values got passed down along generation lines by the older members of the society on to the younger members. Informal education was based on the cultural aspects of the culture where issues such as the violation of women’s rights were prevalent. In these cultural aspects, women were viewed as property that could get exchanged for goods and services such as bride price. Given that this was a practice that had been observed from time in history, it was identified that there was no challenge that was posed to this way of life, and women were comfortable with the social setting as it was.

However, with the onset of the colonial period, a culture of inclusivity was introduced, and even the young females were provided with an opportunity to address attend school and acquire an education. Although this was met with harsh resistance from the indigenous inhabitants in the continent, with time, there was the making of peace with the idea of embracing the enlightenment of the womenfolk in their country.  This value continued to transcend even in the postcolonial period whereby there was the observation of the continued upholding of the educational values by the African communities, and the women were also provided with an opportunity to better themselves as well as an opportunity to pursue something at the same level with their male counterparts.

1. Religion and women rights in colonial Africa

Another critical colonial Africa plan that resulted in the protection of women’s rights in the continent was the introduction of religion to the African way of life. Although the African community had its religious practices, women were not involved in any significant way in these spiritual practices.

However, European religious practices were identified to have an inclusivity approach where women received equal treatment to their male counterparts and played more direct roles in the church setting (Sugirtharajah & Sugirtharajah, 2001). This, on the other hand, resulted in a more diverse society where women’s rights were outlined in the newly introduced way of life. Given that religion was viewed as a unifying factor where people were able to come together and worship as well as address their problems to God, it was embraced mainly in the African community, and this facilitated the ability of religion to continue in its advocacy for the rights of women.

• The introduction of a new system of governance

The traditional African society did not have a clearly defined governance system, given that the community was less advanced and lacked complex social structures. The mode of governance, therefore, served the fundamental purposes of conflict resolution, maintenance of law, and order, among other uses. However, given that the governance system was dependent on the cultural values, the plight of women in governance remained relatively the same. The women’s rights were violated, and their social deposition was also lacking in various aspects such as equality and access to fundamental rights and other societal essentials.

The introduction of a constitutional mode of governance was also fundamental in the African continent in the facilitation of a framework that promoted the protection of women’s rights (McFadden, 2005). The introduced law treated every individual as an equal, whereby there was the capability of every individual to be accorded with the same rights as well as free and fair treatment for all. From a constitutional point of view, women were provided with a chance to assume leadership roles in the society as well as exist as free individuals free from the traditional socio-cultural bonds that were initially viewed to prevent women from attaining their full potential in the social setting.