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Staying with the Culture Struggle: The African Union and Eliminating Violence Against Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

Karmen Tornius Open the ORCID record for Karmen Tornius [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

An analysis of the African Union approach to eliminating violence against women shows that while the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) refined the culture/violence nexus, the subsequent regional frameworks reverted to culture-centered explanations. Tornius’s critical analysis reveals how the relationship between culture and gender discourses has changed over time, entangled with processes of colonialism, decolonization, emergence of African socialisms, the end of the Cold War, and the advent of African feminisms. Articulating gendered violence through undefined ahistorical and apolitical notions of “culture” has real life adverse effects for women through ineffective policy and development interventions.

Résumé

Résumé

Une analyse de l’approche entreprise par l’Union africaine pour éliminer la violence à l’égard des femmes indique que même si le Protocole relatif aux droits de la femme en Afrique (le Protocole de Maputo) a affiné le lien entre la culture et la violence, les cadres régionaux ultérieurs se sont retournés vers des explications centrées sur la culture. L’analyse critique de Tornius révèle comment la relation entre les discours sur la culture et les discours sur le genre a évoluée au fil du temps, enchevêtrée avec les processus de colonialisme, de décolonisation, l’émergence des socialismes africains, la fin de la guerre froide, et l’avènement des féminismes africains. L’articulation de la violence sexiste à travers des notions non définies, anhistoriques et apolitiques de la « culture » a des effets réellement néfastes sur les femmes à travers des interventions politiques et de développement inefficaces.

Resumo

Resumo

Se analisarmos a abordagem adotada pela União Africana para eliminar a violência contras as mulheres, perceberemos que, enquanto o Protocolo sobre os Direitos das Mulheres em África (o Protocolo de Maputo) corrigiu a relação entre cultura e violência, as posteriores estruturas regionais retomaram as explicações centradas na cultura. A análise crítica de Tornius põe em evidência o modo como a relação entre a cultura e os discursos de género tem sofrido alterações ao longo do tempo, interligando-se com os processos do colonialismo, da descolonização, com a emergência dos socialismos africanos, o fim da Guerra Fria e o fenómeno dos feminismos africanos. Explicar a violência de género através de interpretações a-históricas e apolíticas da “cultura” tem efeitos adversos na vida real das mulheres, porque se traduz em políticas e intervenções desenvolvimentistas ineficazes.

Keywords

African Uniongender politicsviolence against womenharmful traditional practiceswomen’s rights
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , September 2022 , pp. 615 - 641
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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