Married off at 13, Maureen lost her education and her health. Her plight is common in a country racked by economic turmoil. The end of Maureen’s days at a primary school in north-eastern Zimbabwe marked the beginning of her life as a wife. At 13, the brightest student in her class in Mudzi, Mashonaland, she was married […]
‘My dreams were destroyed’: poverty costs child brides dear in Zimbabwe Read More »
Women’s and adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health is related to multiple human rights, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right to health, the right to privacy, the right to education, and the prohibition of discrimination. Violation of SRHR is a violation of all other human rights. SRHR includes
If the gender ratio of the 3,800 attendants of the fifth International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), the world’s largest gathering on sexual and reproductive health and rights held in Kigali, Rwanda this year, is any indicator, deciding whether and when to have children is a woman’s job. In the halls of the city’s congress
West African countries are leading the way in educating men on “positive masculinity” Read More »
What policy makers need to know about gender and sustainability Most of the current sustainable development policies include gender considerations. However, the progress towards gender equity still goes at a snail’s pace. Experience from the ground shows that policy targets often fail to deliver inclusivity, at times reinforcing inequality and vulnerability. Are our gender equality
Gender equity: A snail pace progress and how to change that Read More »
The problem with becoming a man is that no one really teaches you how to live it out, partly because everyone will do masculinity in their own unique ways. But most importantly masculinity is really about the humanity of men and like all personhood, it carries in it the glories of personal questions, angsts, fears, and
MAN ENOUGH: Journeying Through Millennial Masculinity Read More »
While a crisis of masculinity is being witnessed the world over, it looks different in every region. In Kenya, a heady mix of influences – from urbanisation to religion, unemployment to gender development initiatives – are changing the face of what it means to be a man. In this socially conservative and religious country, the traditional
Meet some of the men redefining masculinity in Kenya Read More »
Last semester, a student in the masculinity course I teach showed a video clip she had found online of a toddler getting what appeared to be his first vaccinations. Off camera, we hear his father’s voice. “I’ll hold your hand, O.K.?” Then, as his son becomes increasingly agitated: “Don’t cry!… Aw, big boy! High five,
Teaching Men to Be Emotionally Honest Read More »
We hear that girls in Africa don’t have the same opportunities as boys to get a decent education, that discrimination is shutting women out of the jobs and assets they need to provide a better standard of living for their families, that the benefits of economic growth are being wiped out because women are having
Closing the Gender Gap: Lessons from Africa Read More »
BODY LANGUAGE Weaved up? Check. Larney accent? Check. Yellow bone? Check. Manicured nails? Check. Make-up contoured to the nines and designer duds for days? Check. Congratulations. You’re well on your way to fitting society’s baseline expectations of what it takes to be regarded as an attractive black woman. And it doesn’t end there. So what
Black women, define yourselves Read More »
It shouldn’t be extraordinary for men to talk about having body image issues. It was the summer of 1999. I went to the mall with my friend Derek, and we ran into one of his friends at Spencer’s Gifts. I browsed the store while they talked. Then I heard Derek’s friend ask, “Is that your
I’m A Man, And I’ve Spent My Life Ashamed Of My Body Read More »
