132
Kariseb/Implementation of article 9 of the Women’s Rights Protocol in Namibia
que l’augmentation progressive du nombre de femmes dans les processus politiques
et de prise de décisions en Namibie peut être attribuée à la volonté politique du
gouvernement central, beaucoup reste à faire. À ce propos, cet article soutient en outre
qu’il est nécessaire de réévaluer, entre autres, la mise en œuvre et l’incorporation dans
l’ordre juridique interne de l’article 9 du Protocole afin que la ruée des femmes en
politique se traduise par une autonomisation effective des femmes à la base, comme
le prévoit l’article 9 du Protocole de Maputo.
KEY WORDS: AU Women’s Rights Protocol, Namibia, gender equality,
patriarchy, political participation, women
CONTENT:
1
2
3
4
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 132
Context and contours of article 9 of the Women’s Rights Protocol .............. 134
Legal framework relating to women’s political emancipation in
Namibia.........................................................................................................................137
3.1
3.2
Constitutional protection ......................................................................................137
Legislative and policy-oriented protection .......................................................... 140
4.1
Trends and status of women in governance and decision-making structures
in Namibia ............................................................................................................ 143
Political determinants for the increased women’s political participation
in Namibia ............................................................................................................ 146
Status of women in political and decision-making processes in
Namibia........................................................................................................................ 143
4.2
5
6
1
Challenges and opportunities for women’s emancipation in political
spaces in Namibia...................................................................................................... 148
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 152
INTRODUCTION
The domestication and implementation of article 9 of the Protocol to
the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa (Women’s Rights Protocol), dealing with women’s
participation in political and decision-making processes has been of
particular interest to scholars more recently.1 In fact, the last three
decades or so have seen the emergence of a vast body of writing about
women’s political participation from a variety of perspectives,2
including their integration in international processes and organs.3
1
2
3
See generally, J Biegon (ed) Gender equality and political processes in Kenya:
challenges and opportunities (2016) 1-166; R Owiso & S Bright ‘Actualising
women’s participation in politics and governance in Africa: the case of Ghana and
Kenya’ (2017) 1 African Human Rights Yearbook 263-289; E Zvobgo & C Dziva
‘Practices and challenges in implementing women’s right to political participation’
(2017) 1 African Human Rights Yearbook 60-81; S Bright & K Kariseb ‘Women’s
political participation in decision-making processes and organs in Ghana: Trends,
practices and social realities’ in M Addaney & M Nyarko (eds) Ghana@60:
Governance and human rights in twenty-first century Africa (2017) 101-120.
See for instance, C Corrin Feminist perspectives on politics (1999) 1-275;
V Randall Women and politics: an international perspective (1994) 1-182; See for
instance E Waters ‘Restructuring the “women question”’ (1989) 33 Feminist
Review 3-19; M Evans (ed) The women question (1994) 1; J Peter & A Wolper
Women’s rights, human rights: international feminist perspectives (1995) 1;
M McIntosh ‘The state and the oppression of women’ in A Kuhn & A Wolper (eds)
Feminism and materialism (1978) 254 -289.
C Chinkin ‘Feminist intervention into international law’ (1997) 19 Adel Law
Review 13-24; H Charlesworth ‘Gender and international law’ in J Steans &
D Tepe-Belfrage (eds) Handbook on gender in world politics (2016) 137-144;