find were mostly about northern Africa; southern parts of Africa seem to be all together ignored on the women’s rights front. After about an hour of searching, I finally found what I wanted and the texts that I was able to find were informative in ways that were different from what I expected. I began reading a book called “Human Rights of Women: International Instruments and African Experiences.” In the first chapter of the text, the Human Rights laws of the United Nations are described. The only country on the African continent that does not participate in the United Nations is Western Sahara, and the reason is not lack of desire: the United Nations refuses to recognize them as a territory. The charter of the United Nations proclaims in its preamble the belief in fundamental human rights, and the equal rights between women and men. Men and women, under the protection of the United Nations, are equal in everything, and are entitled to enjoy the same human rights. Many countries do not follow this rule, African countries included. For many years, African governments refused to take on any equal rights amendments for women, and it’s only recently that agreements are being made in order to protect the rights of women’s sexual health, including their rights to choose whether or not to have an abortion. As of November 25, 2005, the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted by 15 African countries. While this is a great step towards women’s rights in Africa, most of the continents 57 countries are still behind on the women’s rights front.
One of the main problems that is faced when dealing with women’s rights in Africa is the idea of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the belief that human rights are not universal, but are to be assigned by cultural context. In upholding this belief, the mistreatment of women is no longer a human rights issue; it is instead a cultural practice, and therefore it should be treated as a tradition. This produces a very significant problem in trying to secure rights for women all across the globe, and it’s a problem that is also faced in Africa. According to Diana J. Fox, this way of thinking is a “false platform for “open-mindedness” and ironically, supports complicity with oppressive practices (43).” This is a statement that I personally agree with. Many people believe that most African women chose to live the way that they do, when really they do not have any choice in the matter at all. By taking on this mindset, it slows down the work that needs to be done with women’s rights in Africa, and gives the government a way to protect their oppressive ways in the name of tradition, even though human rights rule are clearly outlined in the United Nations Human Rights laws.