Pre-colonial history of African women is a topic that has barely been researched. The research that does exist, depicts specific African women as heroines and the others as victims of the patriarchal society useful only for reproduction. Colonial history contributes largely to this rhetoric; Its introduction formally relegated women toward inferior positions through laws and policies. However, throughout history, African women have played a crucial role in the political and economic advancement of Africa. Not only is research on African women history predominantly absent, research on Africans in a social movement perspective (with the exception of South Africa) is lacking as well. Yet, African women have largely been involved in social movements and have been known to stand up in times of extreme injustice.

In the last months of 2020, three African countries faced historical protests from parts of their population, with women at the forefront. In Nigeria, the youth were protesting against the brutality inflicted by SARS, a notorious branch of the Nigerian police force that is known to extort, kidnap and kill citizens. In Kenya, mothers, sisters and wives went to the streets to protest against police brutality. Men were assumed to be the sole victims of police brutality in Kenya. However, according to Missing Voices, a nonprofit tracking police violence, women in Kenya account for a third of the disappearances and killings. Finally, in South Africa, following the release of statistics from the South African police service that stated that, “a woman is killed every 3 hours”, protests against femicide were held in Johannesburg and Cape town.

In all three of these countries, women were at the helm of affairs. The Feminist Coalition in Nigeria, organized, raised and disbursed funds during the protest against police brutality in Nigeria. The protest garnered international attention thanks to social media, with the hashtag #ENDSARS generating billions of impressions across platforms. The Mathare Social Justice Centre and the Mother of Victims and Survivors Network were instrumental in providing support to victims in Kenya. In South Africa, the protest garnered a huge turnout of women demanding action from both the private and public sectors.

In light of these recent protests, with women at the forefront, let’s look at the history of women at the helm of leadership in social movements in Africa.

1929, Aba Women’s Rebellion

The Aba Women’s rebellion is widely known as the rebellion of women in Igbo-speaking and neighboring communities. Many believe that the intensity of the rebellion was due to the widespread discontent with colonial administration in the area. In Igbo society, the average woman had equal rights to her male counterpart. This was changed when colonialism took place. Colonialism brought with it “the colonial way” which undermined the women’s political power and economic contribution. During the rebellion, tens of thousands of women attacked corrupt district officers, burned down courts, and chanted songs expressing their anger.

1949, The March on Grand Bassam

In December 1949, an estimated two thousand multi-ethnic women marched to Grand Bassam–the then capital of Cote d’Ivoire–to demand the release of their brothers, husbands and sons. Many walked more than 30 miles from Abidjan because at the time the French colonial government was imprisoning anti-colonial activists. The women blocked the bridge that connects the French quarter to the rest of the city. They were tear-gassed and shot at. Forty of them were injured while four of them were imprisoned. Unfortunately, none of their loved ones were released and three of those that were imprisoned were sentenced to two months in prison.

1977, Green Belt Movement Kenya

The Green Belt Movement in Kenya was created by Wangari Maathai with a goal of planting a billion trees worldwide. It was developed as a response to women in rural Kenya needing to walk further for water because water streams were drying up and food supplies were dwindling. By the mid 1980s almost two thousand grass root women’s groups were planting trees and managing nurseries. Today, the Green Belt Movement is amongst the largest civil society organizations with over 100,000 women participants. The women plant income-generating tress that contribute to other issues behind widespread poverty–deforestation, environmental degradation, soil erosion, water scarcity, and food insecurity.

In light of the broader issues raised, the Green Belt Movement began to advocate for accountability from national leaders and to create a broader democratic space. The movement has brought people together to increase their quality of life and contribute meaningfully to improving the environment.

2003, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace

During the 2nd Liberian Civil War, the country was known for the prevalence of child soldiers. The military was doing everything in its power to stop the war, but to no avail. Then, a social worker named Leymah Gbowee, with the help of community leaders, mobilized women from churches and mosques to end the violence. She stated in her autobiography, that after having a dream where Muslims and Christians were praying together for peace, only mothers could stop the violence. With the help of an organization named Women in Peacebuilding Network ( WIPNET) Leymah Gbowee spearheaded the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace.

The Women were known for their white scarves, white dresses, and “corridor lobbying”. They held sit-ins in the Monrovia fish market, they waited for negotiators as they entered and exited meeting rooms, and staged a sit-in at the Presidential palace. Then in 2003, during the peace talks between the rebel groups and Charles Taylor, several hundred women camped outside the delegates hotel in Accra and threatened to rip off their clothes if a peace agreement was not reached. With that pressure, a peace agreement was signed within weeks.

Each of these movements could easily be written about at length. Nevertheless, we thought it was important to highlight the breadth of issues where women have been at the forefront of affairs. African women are courageous, hardworking, and incredibly passionate, but history has not been kind to our stories. Still, this is the Africa I know.

Recommended Reading

Fapohunda, Tinuke. (2011). Women and Political Leadership in Nigeria. African Journal of Social Research and Development. Vol. 3. 242- 251..

Swift, J. A. (2017, July 21). African Women and Social Movements in Africa. AAIHS. https://www.aaihs.org/african-women-and-social-movements-in-africa/

Wadekar, N. (2020, September 3). Mothers, sisters, wives: Kenyan women lead fight against police violence. The New Humanitarian. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/09/03/Kenya-women-gender-police-violence

Crabtree, J. C. (2020, June 20). South Africa's other pandemic: Femicide rate spikes as coronavirus lockdown lifts. CGTN News. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-06-20/South-Africa-s-femicide-rate-spikes-as-coronavirus-lockdown-lifts-RskMmKKcus/index.html

Wadekar, N. (2020, September 3). Mothers, sisters, wives: Kenyan women lead fight against police violence. The New Humanitarian. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/09/03/Kenya-women-gender-police-violence

AfricaNews. (2019, September 20). Femicide protests: women in Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda want more govt action. https://www.africanews.com/2019/09/21/femicide-protests-women-in-nigeria-south-africa-uganda-want-more-govt-action//

Berger, I. (2014). African Women's Movements in the Twentieth Century: A Hidden History. African Studies Review, 57(3), 1-19. doi:10.1017/asr.2014.89

Toungara, J. (1994). Inventing the African Family: Gender and Family Law Reform in Cote D'Ivoire. Journal of Social History, 28(1), 37-61. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3788342

UNESCO. (2020). UNESCO Women in Africa History | Women. https://en.unesco.org/womeninafrica/

Henriette Diabete, H. D. (n.d.). La marche des femmes sur Grand-Bassam - Dr Kouyaté Oumou. Https://Www.Sites.Google.Com/Site/Drkouyateoumou/63. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.sites.google.com/site/drkouyateoumou/63

The University of Kansas. (2007). Example 2: Kenya's Green Belt Movement | Community Tool Box. Community Tool Box - University of Kansas. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/increasing-participation-and-membership/examples/example2

Berger, I. (2014). African Women's Movements in the Twentieth Century: A Hidden History. African Studies Review, 57(3), 1-19. doi:10.1017/asr.2014.89

The University of Kansas. (2007). Example 2: Kenya's Green Belt Movement | Community Tool Box. Community Tool Box - University of Kansas. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/increasing-participation-and-membership/examples/example2

Greenbelt Movement. (2019). Our History | The Green Belt Movement. https://www.greenbeltmovement.org/who-we-are/our-history

Berger, I. (2014). African Women's Movements in the Twentieth Century: A Hidden History. African Studies Review, 57(3), 1-19. doi:10.1017/asr.2014.89

Franck Kuwonu, F. K. (2018, August 3). Women: Liberia's guardians of peace. Africa Renewal.

https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2018-july-2018/women-liberia%E2%80%99s-guardians-peace

Berger, I. (2014). African Women's Movements in the Twentieth Century: A Hidden History. African Studies Review, 57(3), 1-19. doi:10.1017/asr.2014.89

About the author

Debbie Madueke is an Associate Financial Analyst at Google. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University where she majored in Economics and Business Administration.

Would you like to submit an article to us? Contact us at editors@theafricaiknow.org