148 Kariseb/Implementation of article 9 of the Women’s Rights Protocol in Namibia of violence and discrimination have been prominent that women are faring better in political and governances spaces. Rwanda, Africa’s exemplar concerning women’s political participation, is a comparative case in point.67 Having experienced discrimination first hand and its effects during the 1994 genocide, Rwanda’s post-reconstruction process has placed strong emphasis on gender parity, especially in political and governance processes. Swanee Hunt, in her article on the reconstruction process in Rwanda, documents how the experiences of violence, particularly genocide, and racial discrimination had an impact on the gender advances made in Rwanda to date.68 She argues that the hardships young widows faced, having to raise many of today’s political leaders as single mothers, left impressions that influenced perceptions about the role of women in the Rwandan society in a positive manner.69 As one commentator and former expatriate, John Mutamba once observed, ‘as men who grew up in exile, we know the experience of discrimination. Gender is now part of our political thinking’.70 As a result, Rwandan society, through strong political will and support has been open to the idea of integrating women in all (political) spheres of society. Like Rwanda, the atrocities of the past, particularly the violence against women contributed immensely to ‘political thought’ and the ways in which society deemed women. This in turn contributed to a shift in the political thinking and structures of the ruling party which began to emphasis the political integration of women in party and government structures and processes. 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN’S EMANCIPATION IN POLITICAL SPACES IN NAMIBIA Unsurprisingly, the central challenge women in Namibia face, in penetrating political avenues can be largely attributed to processes of (gendered) socialisation, especially the artificial dichotomy made between private and public life. In many conventional African settings, including Namibia, participation in governance structures and processes is viewed as a public activity, more commonly reserved for men; whilst domestic affairs, such as the maintenance of the household, agrarian activity, and child rearing, are regarded quintessentially within the private domain; the terrain of the female sex. The CEDAW Committee in General Recommendation 23: Political and Public Life aptly captures this point:71 Public and private spheres of human activity have always been considered distinct, and have been regulated accordingly. Invariably, women have been assigned to the 67 68 69 70 71 According to the IPU women account for 64% of seats in the legislative arm of government. S Hunt ‘The rise of Rwanda’s women: rebuilding and reuniting a nation’ (2014) 93 Foreign Affairs 150-156. Hunt (n 68) 152. As above. CEDAW (n 15 above) para 8 (accessed 7 March 2018).