“EQUITY IS EQUALITY”

“The advancement of women and the achievement of equality between women and men are matters of human rights and conditions for social justice and should not be seen in isolation as a women's issue. They are the only way to build a sustain-able, just, and developed society. Empowerment of women and gender equality are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural, and environmental security among all peoples”.[1]

Gender equality means that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and potential to contribute to national political, economic social and cultural development and benefit equally from the results. Equality is essential for human development and peace. Gender equality requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards. Gender equity is a process of been fair to women and men. Equity leads to equality. In our society, women are considered as lesser men. Indeed, they are considered a form of property or chattel, and their rights are consequently subordinated to the interests of men.

In some parts of the Middle East, women are second-class citizens. In Kuwait, a 1963 law prohibits women from voting or running for office. Recent attempts to change this law have all failed. In remote areas of Jordan, honour killings still take place (Women murdered by family members for perceived sexual indiscretions).[2] What about the men who are guilty of same?

Under Igbo customary law, women are not allowed to inherit their fathers. This state of affairs in Igbo land led to the landmark decision in Mojekwu V Mojekwu, where the judiciary had an opportunity to pronounce as primitive and discriminatory, the oli-ekpe custom of the Nnewi people, which enables a man to inherit the widow of his brother at death and by extension all of his property, in the absence of a male son, as repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience, and that any custom or law that offers different treatment to women and men is an affront to God, since no one could choose the circumstances of his birth. In other cultures, where women are allowed to inherit, it is selective to the extent that they are not entitled to inherit like their male counterparts.
Women are further subjected into forced marriages, which could be negotiated and finalized without their consent when they are very young, without regard to their youth and educational needs leaving the woman trapped in a loveless miserable marriage. This is very prevalent in the northern part of the country, where a girl, most times is married off to an elderly man and kept in custody for the fear that she could run away. This practice has led to the increased young girls suffering from vesico vaginal fistula (VVF) and the high mortality rate at childbirth. In many communities, the traditional practice of female genital mutilation or what is referred to as female circumcision continues to traumatize young girls and leave women with lifelong pain and damage to their health. This is often without their consent.
They can be chastised by men for indiscipline, which has led to societal tolerance of very abusive marital relationships. On a daily basis, women are beaten and "punished" for supposed transgressions. The violence persists because discriminatory laws pardon and even decriminalize certain forms of violence against women. "Maryam" died on 14 December 2000 from injuries sustained after she was allegedly beaten and thrown from the first floor of her home by her husband. Before her death, she had paid a condolence visit to a relative, despite reportedly being banned by her husband from visiting or receiving visits from members of her family or attending any social functions. After her family reported her death, her husband was detained; he was later released without charge.[3]
A Saudi Arabian television host, Rania al – Baz, had been married and living in an abusive relationship for six years. In her husband’s last violent tirade, he told her he would kill her and forced her to recite her last rites. Indeed he almost killed her – her face was pounded almost beyond recognition. After days in the hospital and multiple operations, Baz had recovered enough to tell her story. The Saudi kingdom is known for its harsh treatment of women, who are prohibited from driving or leaving their homes without husbands, fathers or brothers. In public, they wear suffocating black veils called “abaya” that cover them from head to toe, turning them into shadows of the men they walk behind[4]
Under the Sharia penal code that came into force in northern Nigeria since 1999, states that the punishment for Zina is a mandatory death sentence if the accused is married, while 100 lashes is the mandatory sentence if the accused is not married. Most times, only the woman involved in Zina (adultery) is punished while the man walks away free. Where then is equity? Safiya Hussenni and Amina Lawal were condemned to die by stoning but were later acquitted in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

In 2001,a seventeen-Year-old girl, Bariya Magazu was sentenced by an Islamic court In Zamfara to 100 lashes for having pre marital sex (Zina) despite the fact that an extension for leave to appeal was been filed on her behalf at the Shari ‘a court, the sentence was carried out. She named three village men as her lovers and said one was the father of her child. She added that her father had pressurized her to have sex with the men to pay back his monetary debt. All three men swore to innocence and were freed. Where again is equity?

It was "Folake" who was jailed after she accused a man of rape. A domestic worker, she said her employer’s husband had forced her into his bedroom and made her watch violent videotape before forcing her to have sex. A medical examination supported her allegation. Yet she was the one brought to court, charged with slander for making the accusation, and remanded in prison until her family could raise the bail money to have her released. The material evidence of the crime, handed over to the police, was later said to have disappeared. No charges were brought against the man she accused[5]. Is this by any standard equity?



Conclusion
That gender equality does not solely benefit women is unanimously recognized today. A World Bank[6] study conclusively demonstrates that discrimination against women is a major obstacle to economic and human development in general. It will appear that investing in women would be the best way of achieving not only equality but also efficiency. Investing in especially education empowers girls and women to have a greater control over their lives and is the single highest - yielding investment that a developing country can make. Promoting equality between women and men is an integral part of sustainable development. All this injustice, inequity, inequality and discrimination against women should be a wake up call to all women in diaspora. Women have the right to choose their own destiny.

[1] Beijing platform for action, fourth United Nation World Conference on women, Beijing, 1995 paragraph 41


[2] www.csmonitor.com
[3] LEDAP, Domestic violence: zero tolerance, Lagos, 2003, p. vii.
[4] www. csmonitor.com
[5] Amnesty International interview with "Folake", Lagos State, November 2004
[6] World Bank (2001). Engendering development: through gender equality in rights, resources and voice. Washington DC, World Bank, pg. 364