About this Research Topic
Gender-based prejudice and discrimination has a large impact on public health and well-being of women and girls, in terms of their human rights, mental health, economic rights, and social development. Providing evidence to women in patriarchal societies and areas of discrimination will allow for optimism and increased action towards gender equality which is a society-wide issue, and will be imperative to improving women’s overall health. Emerging evidence and surviving practices in many parts of Africa suggest that there are indigenous traditional practices that promote women's empowerment to a larger extent than what is currently known or seen in the literature. While not denying many traditional practices harmful to women, such as female genital mutilation, there is a need to highlight the less talked about visibility of African women in the socio-political structure of pre-colonial and colonial African societies. Women in many pre-colonial and colonial African societies were active in agriculture, pottery, metal production, trade, and commerce, with market women being a strong force in many civil movements and agitation for independence and social justice. Many women fought and led wars and had their own armies like the Amazons of Dahomey. Women were also key to establishing kingdoms and are recorded as the first holder of the royal titles of the kingdoms which they established but which has over time evolved as male titles. The practice of women chiefs remains strong in many African societies to date.
There is also evidence that although patriarchy is a dominant feature, many African societies were matriarchal in nature, and some remain so to date. Furthermore, a closer at folklore and various tangible and intangible heritage suggests that despite patriarchy, gender, and gender roles were non-binary in many communities. For example, many societies had unique practices in which female importance and empowerment were actively promoted despite patriarchy. An example is the practice of having several centers of authority in which women were present, some of these practices remain to date such as the Umuada system of Eastern Nigeria. Many communities still retain some pre-colonial traditional practices for fighting female oppression and sexism such as “sitting on a man” on which the 1929 Aba Women riots of Nigeria are based. Other practices of women going on sex strikes, withdrawing from their communities’ social activities, moving out of villages en masse, or threatening to strip themselves naked have been documented even in recent times. An example is the Nobel Peace Laureate of 2011, Leymah Gbowee who, along with her fellow female peace activists, threatened to strip themselves naked after peace negotiations broke down. Their actions and threats forced the Liberian warlords back to the negotiation rooms in Accra, Ghana.
A lot has changed since colonization and the introduction of new religions like Christianity and Islam, all of which introduced Victorian-era views on women and more restrictive places for women respectively. Although many of the practices are vanishing, a lot have survived. The aim of this research topic is to actively engage in knowledge production and agency of women empowerment from an African perspective by exploring and documenting indigenous traditional practices that empower women in African societies. Scientific papers such as (but not limited to) empirical studies, literature reviews, discussion papers, opinion pieces, and others are all welcomed. Some of the themes we are interested in include but are not limited to:
• Educating societies about indigenous traditional practices
• Promotion of women empowerment practices to improve the health of women and girls
• Practices in African communities that have proven to benefit women’s health
• Gender roles and their impact on the health of their communities
Manuscripts that relate women's empowerment to quality of life and women's health can be considered for submissions to Frontiers in Global Women's Health.
There is also evidence that although patriarchy is a dominant feature, many African societies were matriarchal in nature, and some remain so to date. Furthermore, a closer at folklore and various tangible and intangible heritage suggests that despite patriarchy, gender, and gender roles were non-binary in many communities. For example, many societies had unique practices in which female importance and empowerment were actively promoted despite patriarchy. An example is the practice of having several centers of authority in which women were present, some of these practices remain to date such as the Umuada system of Eastern Nigeria. Many communities still retain some pre-colonial traditional practices for fighting female oppression and sexism such as “sitting on a man” on which the 1929 Aba Women riots of Nigeria are based. Other practices of women going on sex strikes, withdrawing from their communities’ social activities, moving out of villages en masse, or threatening to strip themselves naked have been documented even in recent times. An example is the Nobel Peace Laureate of 2011, Leymah Gbowee who, along with her fellow female peace activists, threatened to strip themselves naked after peace negotiations broke down. Their actions and threats forced the Liberian warlords back to the negotiation rooms in Accra, Ghana.
A lot has changed since colonization and the introduction of new religions like Christianity and Islam, all of which introduced Victorian-era views on women and more restrictive places for women respectively. Although many of the practices are vanishing, a lot have survived. The aim of this research topic is to actively engage in knowledge production and agency of women empowerment from an African perspective by exploring and documenting indigenous traditional practices that empower women in African societies. Scientific papers such as (but not limited to) empirical studies, literature reviews, discussion papers, opinion pieces, and others are all welcomed. Some of the themes we are interested in include but are not limited to:
• Educating societies about indigenous traditional practices
• Promotion of women empowerment practices to improve the health of women and girls
• Practices in African communities that have proven to benefit women’s health
• Gender roles and their impact on the health of their communities
Manuscripts that relate women's empowerment to quality of life and women's health can be considered for submissions to Frontiers in Global Women's Health.
Keywords: indigenous traditional practice, africa, women empowerment, matriarchal societies, african society, women's health
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
