INTRODUCTION
The African Feminist Forum
took place from 15th -19th November 2006 in Accra, Ghana. The meeting brought
together over 100 feminist activists from all over the region and the
diaspora. The space was crafted as an autonomous space in which African
feminists from all walks of life, at different levels of engagement within
the feminist movement such as mobilizing at local levels for women’s
empowerment to academia, could reflect on a collective basis and chart
ways to strengthen and grow the feminist movement on the continent.
A key outcome of the forum
was the adoption of the Charter of
Feminist Principles, which was agreed by the Regional Working group
for the Forum, to be one of its principle aims. It was felt that we need something
to help us define and affirm our commitment to feminist principles, which
will guide our analysis, and practice. As such the Charter sets out the
collective values that we hold as key to our work and to our lives as
African feminists. It charts the change we wish to see in our communities,
and also how this change is to be achieved. In addition it spells out our
individual and collective responsibilities to the movement and to one
another within the movement.
With this Charter, we
reaffirm our commitment to dismantling patriarchy in all its
manifestations in Africa. We remind
ourselves of our duty to defend and respect the rights of all women,
without qualification. We commit to protecting the legacy of our feminist
ancestors who made numerous sacrifices, in order that we can exercise
greater autonomy.
The Charter is an
inspirational as well as an aspirational document. Mechanisms for
operationalising it were also drawn up at the meeting. Key recommendations
were:
- The
dissemination and popularization of the Charter as a critical movement
building tool. This requires such inputs as, translation of the charter
into as many languages as possible, communication of the charter through
different mediums such as radio, websites, television, and so on.
- The
Charter was viewed by many as an accountability mechanism for feminist
organizing. As such it was recommended that it be developed into a tool
that women’s organizations can use for monitoring the own institutional
development as well as peer review with other feminists.
CHARTER
OF FEMINIST PRINCIPLES FOR AFRICAN FEMINISTS
PREAMBLE
NAMING OURSELVES AS
FEMINISTS
We
define and name ourselves publicly as Feminists because we celebrate our
feminist identities and politics. We recognize that the work of fighting
for women’s rights is deeply political, and the process of naming is
political too. Choosing to name ourselves Feminist places us in a clear
ideological position. By naming ourselves as Feminists we politicise the
struggle for women’s rights, we question the legitimacy of the structures
that keep women subjugated, and we develop tools for transformatory
analysis and action. We have multiple and varied identities as African
Feminists. We are African women – we live here in Africa and even when we live elsewhere, our focus is
on the lives of African women on the continent. Our feminist identity is
not qualified with `Ifs`, `Buts’, or `Howevers’. We are Feminists.
Full stop.
OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF FEMINISM AND PATRIARCHY
As
African feminists our understanding of feminism places patriarchal social
relations structures and systems which are embedded in other oppressive
and exploitative structures at the center of our analysis. Patriarchy is a
system of male authority which legitimizes the oppression of women through political, social,
economic, legal cultural, religious and military institutions. Men’s
access to, and control over resources and rewards within the private and
public sphere derives its legitimacy from the patriarchal ideology of male
dominance. Patriarchy varies in time and space, meaning that it changes
over time, and varies according to class, race, ethnic, religious and
global-imperial relationships and structures. Furthermore, in the current
conjunctures, patriarchy does not simply change according to these
factors, but is inter-related with and informs relationships of class,
race, ethnic, religious, and global-imperialism. Thus to challenge patriarchy
effectively also requires challenging other systems of oppression and
exploitation, which frequently mutually support each other.
Our
understanding of Patriarchy is crucial because it provides for us as
feminists, a framework within which to express the totality of oppressive
and exploitative relations which affect African women. Patriarchal
ideology enables and legitimizes the structuring of every aspect of our
lives by establishing the framework within which society defines and views
men and women and constructs male supremacy. Our ideological task as
feminists is to understand this system and our political task is to end
it. Our focus is fighting against patriarchy as a system rather than
fighting individual men or women. Therefore, as feminists, we define our
work as investing individual and institutional energies in the struggle
against all forms of patriarchal oppression and exploitation.
OUR
IDENTITY AS AFRICAN FEMINISTS
As
Feminists who come from/work/live in Africa, we claim the right and the space to be
Feminist and African. We
recognize that we do not have a homogenous identity as feminists - we
acknowledge and celebrate our diversities and our shared commitment to a
transformatory agenda for African societies and African women in
particular. This is what gives us our common feminist identity.
Our
current struggles as African Feminists are inextricably linked to our past
as a continent – diverse pre-colonial contexts, slavery, colonization,
liberation struggles, neo-colonialism, globalization, etc. Modern African
States were built off the backs of African Feminists who fought alongside
men for the liberation of the continent. As we craft new African States in
this new millennium, we also craft new identities for African women,
identities as full citizens, free from patriarchal oppression, with rights
of access, ownership and control over resources and our own bodies and
utilizing positive aspects of
our cultures in liberating and nurturing ways. We also recognize
that our pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial histories and herstories
require special measures to be taken in favour of particular African women
in different contexts.
We
acknowledge the historical and
significant gains that have been made by the African Women’s
Movement over the past forty years, and we make bold to lay claim to these
gains as African feminists – they happened because African Feminists
led the way, from the
grassroots level and up; they strategised, organized, networked, went on
strike and marched in
protest, and did the research, analysis, lobbying, institution building
and all that it took for States, employers and institutions to acknowledge
women’s personhood.
As
African feminists, we are also part of a global feminist movement against
patriarchal oppression in all its manifestations. Our experiences are
linked to that of women in other parts of the world with whom we have
shared solidarity and support over the years. As we assert our space as
African feminists, we also draw inspiration from our feminist ancestors
who blazed the trail and made it possible to affirm the rights of African
women. As we invoke the memory of those women whose names are hardly ever
recorded in any history books, we insist that it is a profound insult to
claim that feminism was imported into Africa from the West. We reclaim and assert the long
and rich tradition of African women’s resistance to patriarchy in
Africa. We henceforth claim the right to
theorize for ourselves, write for ourselves, strategise for ourselves and
speak for ourselves as African feminists.
INDIVIDUAL
ETHICS:
As
individual feminists, we are committed to and believe in gender equality
based on feminist principles which are:
- The
indivisibility, inalienability and universality of women’s human rights
- The
effective participation in building and strengthening progressive
African feminist organizing and networking to bring about transformatory
change.
- A
spirit of feminist solidarity and mutual respect based on frank, honest
and open discussion of difference with each other.
- The
support, nurture, and care of other African feminists, along with the
care for our own well-being.
- The
practice of non-violence and the achievement of non-violent
societies.
- The
right of all women to live free of patriarchal oppression,
discrimination and violence.
- The
right of all women to have access to sustainable and just livelihoods as
well as welfare provision, including quality health care, education ,
water and sanitation.
- Freedom
of choice and autonomy regarding bodily integrity issues, including
reproductive rights, abortion, sexual identity and sexual
orientation.
- A
critical engagement with discourses of religion, culture, tradition and
domesticity with a focus on the centrality of women’s rights.
- The
recognition and presentation of African women as the subjects not the
objects of our work, and as agents in their lives and societies.
- The
right to healthy, mutually respectful and fulfilling personal
relationships.
- The
right to express our spirituality within or outside of organized
religions.
- The
acknowledgment of the feminist agency of African women which has a rich
Herstory that has been
largely undocumented and ignored.
INSTITUTIONAL ETHICS
As
feminist organisations we commit to the following:
- Advocating
for openness, transparency, equality and accountability in feminist- led
institutions and organisations.
- Affirming
that being a feminist institution is not incompatible with being
professional, efficient, disciplined and accountable.
- Insisting on and supporting
African women’s labour rights, including egalitarian governance, fair
and equal remuneration and maternity policies.
- Using
power and authority responsibly, and managing institutional hierarchies
with respect for all concerned. We believe that feminist spaces are
created to empower and uplift women. At no time should we allow our
institutional spaces to degenerate into sites of oppression and
undermining of other women.
- Exercising
responsible leadership and management of organisations whether in a paid
or unpaid capacity and striving to uphold critical feminist values and
principles at all times.
- Exercising
accountable leadership in feminist organisations, taking into
consideration the needs of others for self-fulfillment and professional
development. This includes creating spaces for power-sharing
across-generations.
- Creating
and sustaining feminist organisations to foster women’s leadership.
Women’s organizations and networks should be led and managed by women.
It is a contradiction of feminist leadership principles to have men
leading, managing and being spokespersons for women’s
organizations.
- Feminist
organisations as models of good practice in the community of civil
society organizations, ensuring that the financial and material
resources mobilised in the name of African women are put to the service
of African women and not diverted to serve personal interests. Systems
and structures with
appropriate Codes of Conduct to prevent corruption and fraud, and to
manage disputes and complaints fairly, are the means of ensuring
institutionalized within our organizations.
- Striving
to inform our activism with theoretical analysis and to connect the
practice of activism to our theoretical understanding of African
feminism.
- Being
open to critically assessing our impact as feminist organizations, and
being honest and proactive with regards to our role in the
movement.
- Opposing
the subversion and/or hijacking of autonomous feminist spaces to serve
right wing, conservative agendas.
- Ensuring
that feminist non-governmental or mass organisations are created in
response to real needs expressed by women that need to be met, and not
to serve selfish interests, and unaccountable income-generating
FEMINIST
LEADERSHIP
As leaders in the feminist movement,
we recognize that feminist agency has popularized the notion of
women as leaders. As feminist leaders we are committed to making a critical difference in
leadership, based on the understanding that the quality of women’s
leadership is even more important than the numbers of women in leadership.
We believe in and commit
ourselves to the following:
- Disciplined
work ethics guided by integrity and accountability at all times
- Expanding
and strengthening a
multi-generational network
and pool of feminist leaders across the continent
- Ensuring
that the feminist movement is recognised as a legitimate constituency
for women in leadership positions.
- Building
and expanding our knowledge and information base on an ongoing basis, as
the foundation for shaping our analysis and strategies and for championing a culture of
learning beginning with ourselves within the feminist movement.
- Nurturing,
mentoring and providing opportunities for young feminists in a
non-matronising manner
- Crediting
African women’s labour, intellectual and otherwise in our work.
- Creating
time to respond in a competent, credible and reliable manner to other
feminists in need of solidarity and support whether political, practical
or emotional.
- Being
open to giving and receiving peer reviews and constructive feedback from other
feminists
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