The researcher maintains that women in African societies continue to be treated as “second-class citizens” and calls for a “mental and cultural revolution” to combat this treatment.
Just as serious as colonial oppression was the tradition of oppression of women in African patriarchal societies, which still pushes them into the kitchen, researcher Inocência Mata maintains in an interview with the Lusa agency.
“The constitutions of Portuguese-speaking African countries are quite revolutionary. Theoretically, women have the same rights as men, but that is not what really happens,” said Inocência Mata, one of those responsible for organizing a meeting that brings together in Lisbon, on Friday and Saturday, women who fought against fascism and colonialism. in Portugal and in the African countries that became independent with the military coup of April 25, 1974.
According to the researcher, Women still have a “very subordinate” status in Portuguese-speaking African countries.even if it is present in the political arena.
“Here in Mozambique a law was approved years ago, in a parliament in which there were female deputies, in which the A man who raped a woman would not be prosecuted as long as he was willing to marry her.. The crime ended as long as he was willing to marry her,” said the University of Lisbon researcher, when asked about the condition of African women after independence in the former Portuguese colonies.
For Inocência Mata, “the mental, cultural revolution” must be carried out, starting with the women themselves.
“Now there is a lot of talk about empowerment, but first we have to talk about emancipation, because there are many empowered women who are not emancipated at home,” she stated.
Women, he said, continue to be treated as “second class citizens” in these societies, despite the fact that they are constitutionally guaranteed a political right.
“I have an article in which I start from the declaration of two candidates for the Presidency of the Republic in relation to their opponents. Someone said that women are something that should be kept in the corner of the bed. And the other, 20 years later (in this case, father and son), said of her opponent that she should go home and take care of her husband,” she explained.
At the International Congress of Women in the Fight against Fascism and Colonialism, which will take place in the Torre do Tombo, there will be women present who shared with men the fight for liberation in the African territories under Portuguese rule and who, according to the researcher, were seen as “the flower” of the guerrilla.
For Inocência Mata, the role of women in liberation struggles was recognized, but not projected.
In this regard, he recalled an interview with the writer Alda Espírito Santo, in which they asked him why he had never married. “She said: Look, no man would want to marry me, because I don’t submit, my conscience doesn’t submit. “No man would accept me going out at night to go to a meeting.”
“She was very clear! What I wanted to say was ‘political struggle is one thing,’ but there was another struggle and, in fact, after independence she fought a lot for the emancipation of women,” said the researcher, referring to the Santo Tomas author as someone who There was awareness that just as serious as colonial oppression was the oppression of tradition in relation to women.
“We must keep in mind that there was a fight against colonialism and we also see that in the poets Noémia de Sousa, María Manuela Margarido, we see that they spoke a lot about the condition of Africans, but always from a colonial perspective. In perspective, they never mentioned that women suffered their first oppression, which was at home,” she observed.
In the congress in the coming days, within the framework of the 50th anniversary of April 25, topics such as the female revolution and other forms of citizenship will be addressed, by Helena Carvalhão Buesco, retired professor from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon, in an initiative that brings together researchers and activists from several countries, promoted by the Women’s Democratic Movement (MDM).
“We wanted to bring the participation of women on April 25, both Portuguese and African,” explained Inocência Mata, highlighting the testimonial tables “Memories and Testimonies”, with Portuguese anti-fascists and anti-colonialists from Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Cape Verde .
“What did those people do, what did they do? There are study tables, in the first one they will talk about the history of female resistance, armed struggle, clandestine struggle, literature, the arts and there is a testimonial table,” he indicated.
The congress will also dedicate a panel to research being carried out, particularly on the participation of women in struggles for independence, particularly in guerrilla warfare.
“Women were always seen as those who carried the ammunition, the weapons and took care of the children. They did that too, obviously. But they also played a role in the armed struggle,” highlighted Inocência Mata.
Source: Observadora
