The Afro-barometer, a large scale survey into attitudes towards democracy and governance in 15 African countries, analyses its data against a range of demographic factors – language, geography, age, socio-economic status, and so on. Gender is amongst these. Yet there is consistently very little statistical significance in this analysis – men and women in Africa hold similar values and perceptions, and behave or are inclined to behave in similar ways when confronted with particular situations. By far the greatest differences are found in geography, and therefore history and culture.
Educators trying to understand the context within which they are going to work are not then looking at women as a separate class of people. What they are trying to understand is how to reach women given the particular places to which they are restricted, and considerations of how best to assist women in exercising their own individual and corporate rights and responsibilities in ways which are empowering and safe.
