Amina* is aged 24 and a mother of two children. She married at the age of 17. Following in her older sister's footsteps, Amina started small businesses, cultivated fields and took part in credit savings activities, which quickly made her financially independent. This autonomy increased her self-confidence. It was her older sister who first introduced her to business and financial support. In time, their mother became dependent on their income for her needs and care.
Perhaps because she married young, and because she was also able to become financially independent, Amina was accused of having developed haughtiness and arrogance towards several adults in the village. According to her mother, Amina was talked about everywhere in the village: "that she is proud, quarrelsome, disrespectful, talkative and gets very angry at the slightest mistake made by a person she knows to be financially vulnerable". Amina was seen to be contradicting predominant local gender norms which dictate that women should acquiesce to the authority of their elders and to men.
A question of tradition
Amina’s village is in a commune in the sub-prefecture of Sibut – an area known for being rooted in Central African tradition, where traditional practices are common. Early marriage is seen as a proof of family honour, but is linked to high rates of school dropout, and is one of many factors limiting girls’ access to education. Even when girls and young women do marry early, they can experience negative community perceptions towards them.
The family conflict began when Amina's older sister suggested to their mother that they sell the family land to alleviate some of the financial difficulties they were facing, and to support the business activities of the two sisters. Amina supported this idea and saw it as a way to help her business flourish. Amina and her older sister worked together to encourage their mother to sell the land, but their mother refused and was ready to endure possible difficulties in order to keep the land for all her children. Amina’s older sister did not agree, and decided to suspend all support for her mother, refusing to speak to her.
Amina admired her older sister and regarded her as a role model in the world of small business. She sometimes criticised her mother for her negative attitude towards her older sister. The conflict between the two worsened and reached a point where the whole village was talking about it. Both Amina and her sister were seen to be transgressing the norm that young women should respect the authority of their parents.
Challenging gender norms
Conciliation Resources and its implementing partner Fondation Vegas Jeunes pour le Développement are working in the Central African Republic to promote the empowerment of women by collectively identifying and working against exclusionary and harmful gender norms.
Last year, Fondation Vegas ran a four-day training session with 20 young people from communities around the town of Sibut where they learned about gender norms in their communities, how these influence community and family conflict dynamics, and what actions and strategies can be taken to address these conflict dynamics. Amina was one of the young people invited to take part.
Amina and the other participants learned that conflict is normal, natural and neutral. Amina began to see the relationships between her, her loved ones and her community as having been influenced by certain gender norms which, when understood, can more easily be navigated to resolve conflict.
As a result of what she had learned during the training session, Amina approached her mother and sister. She said: “I just explained to my older sister and my mother that what happens between us is normal and natural, but we must not let our interests or pride push us to violence as we do. I understood after this training the value of peace, education and the impact of the ignorance in which I grew up and acted.”
After the session, Amina's mother introduced herself to the Fondation Vegas team members to express her gratitude for having identified her daughter for this training. She said: "I don't know how to express my gratitude to you for opening my daughter's eye." She shared that when Amina returned from her training, she had initiated a mediation between her older sister and her mother, which led to a reconciliation and caused astonishment in the entire village.
Inspiring change
Two weeks later, the Fondation Vegas team visited Amina’s village to support young people in raising awareness of the impact of gender norms with community members. The chosen theme was the impact of early marriage as a common practice influenced by gender norms. Amina led the presentations on the concept of gender and gender norms, and discussed how these related to early marriage to members of her community. She was able to lead discussion around how early marriage can negatively impact young women and girls whether or not they marry young.
Amina's change in attitude has had positive impacts on relationships within her family, both between her mother and her sister, and between herself and her mother. It is also leading to transformation within her village. The village chief who witnessed Amina’s act of family mediation reflected that it had really affected his own opinions about the role young women can play in his community, and that they needn’t be viewed in derogatory terms merely for having a level of financial autonomy and influence over decision-making. He said: “I will now contribute to awareness-raising for the promotion of girls’ education.”
Amina has built a good relationship with the members of the Fondation Vegas team and is now committed to continuing to work with other women and girls in her community to discuss the gender norms which are impacting their lives, and explore alternatives.
*Names have been changed to protect identities
The ‘Breaking gender stereotypes to succeed together’ project is funded by the French Embassy in the Central African Republic and implemented by Fondation Vegas Jeunes pour le Développement with the support of Conciliation Resources.
