Today, 8th of March, is International Women’s Day, we celebrate the political mobilization, the many struggles and achievements of women over the last century. Despite important achievements, the day must remain an important moment for reflection and continued struggle: against patriarchy, against capitalism, against gender-based violence and against all forms of oppression and discrimination that still persist.
According to a study by the Centro de Integridade Pública (Center for Public Integrity)(CIP, 2023), more than half of the Mozambican population is composed by women, of whom around 85.4% are available for the labor market. However, of these, more than 90% are in the informal, agricultural and commercial sector, with a high degree of precariousness, temporary jobs, low levels of social and legal protection, low and unstable incomes.
This scenario is the result of various factors, but mainly the low level of access to education for girls and women, and the persistent maintenance of the traditional role of women as subservient to men. Despite the various instruments and initiatives aimed at protecting and emancipating women and promoting equal rights and duties, to this day Mozambican society does not reserve the same rights for men and women. There is still an alarming rate of violence against women, rooted in the social understanding of women’s role of submission and subjection.
Wars, armed conflicts, forced displacement, extreme weather events, loss of land and livelihoods affect women and girls in a differentiated and more accentuated way, due to the vulnerability caused by the role they normally play. This is the scenario in Mozambique. On the one hand, the conflict in Cabo Delgado has been particularly cruel and impacting on women and children, the number of people displaced by this conflict is increasing every day and there is still no solution in sight, nor does there seem to be any political will to provide the necessary assistance and care for the displaced. On the other hand, and directly linked to this, the focus on extractive development and megaprojects led by transnational companies has not contributed to poverty reduction, has not contributed to better living conditions for the population, and has in fact aggravated the vulnerability and poverty of a large part of the population, particularly women and the most vulnerable groups, leading to forced displacement, loss of land and means of subsistence, violence and sexual harassment.
May International Women’s Day serve as a time for deep reflection, and may it not be used once again for ceremonies empty of sentiment, empty of justice that only serve to pretend that the countless challenges that women face every day around the world are really on the global agenda. We celebrate the day in solidarity with all the many women displaced by wars and conflicts fueled by the greed of a few, in solidarity with all the women who are fighting today and always to keep their territories and livelihoods!!!
Let nothing limit us,
let nothing define us,
let nothing hold us.
Let freedom be
our own substance
Simone de Beauvoir
