Gender Equality Rwanda as a Role Model? How Free Are Women Really?

Rwanda is often praised in the media when it comes to equal rights for men and women. But to what extent does the external image of the Rwandan woman coincide with the woman in private? A conversation about successes, ambivalences and hurdles on the way to gender equality.

Equal treatment of men and women was made law in 2003. What significance did this law have for women in Rwanda at that time?

Assumpta Mugiraneza:
To understand how important it was to incorporate equality into the constitution, you first have to consider the period after the genocide. Rwandan women occupied an unusual position in the context of this crime, in relation to both the ideology of evil and the act of committing the crime and their role in it (not just as victims but also as perpetrators). It seems to me that the law is a partial answer to the diverse challenges faced by society in Rwanda, it was a product of its time. But above all I see it as the first step towards restoring the value of human beings, and of women in particular.

Louise Umutoni Bower:
I think the most profound outcome of that law was around inheritance. A lot of women in Rwanda could not inherit land and that vastly impacted their social-economic position as they could not access loans since they lacked the most common form of collateral. In a post conflict country where the majority of the population was women with a lot of female headed households this made it difficult for many to exit poverty. The ability to own land has been useful in increasing women’s assets and has been instrumental in the journey to exiting poverty for many.

Natacha Muziramakenga:
I also lean more towards what Louise says about inheritance. I would also add, the normalization of women in positions of power or decision making in both the public and private sector. This and the many initiative leading to women’s financial independence has given them the luxury of choices they could not access before. 

Today Rwanda is a world leader with regard to the percentage of women in parliament. The government supports women in many areas of life with further campaigns. But quotas and state funding are often just patriarchal strategies to ensure that a modern image is presented. To what extent would you say this statement applies to Rwanda?

Assumpta Mugiraneza:
I don’t trust statistics if it is unknown how far their truthfulness is anchored in society. Rwanda’s cultural roots indicate that women were firmly established in precolonial Rwanda. I’m more interested in investigating the fact that the history and ideology of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) refers back to this than in discussing the subject in terms of right and wrong. It’s neither paradise nor hell, it’s quite a successful attempt that still needs to be fixed in place permanently.

Louise Umutoni Bower:
I think the issue in Rwanda is a little more complicated. The position of women in Rwandan society has evolved over time and the current perceptions about women’s role in the public sphere and politics in particular was formed in exile with the current regime still struggling to establish itself as a liberation movement. Women had played a much more prominent role in society during exile and had also contributed to the struggle. I think the current regime brought that experience to post-liberation Rwanda and the political sphere. 

Natacha Muziramakenga:
I am one of those who believe that having such a big number of women in parliament does not necessarily mean they are working for the good of women. For example, these are the same women who a few years back, tried to pass a law to shorten maternity leave from 3 months to 1 month, in the name of “equality” I still don't see their impact in changing laws that can socially liberate women in a very traditional/patriarchal society. I still see women in parliament as a pretty number.

Compared with other African countries, women in Rwanda have many opportunities nowadays. Despite this, care work is still mostly performed by women. How great is the discrepancy between the public profile of Rwandan women and the image of women in private?

Assumpta Mugiraneza:
The media and international organisations paint a picture of Rwanda that’s often echoed even in Rwanda, but the reality there is nothing like these representations. If you understand Rwandan women during times of crisis (colonisation, introduction of currency and school as a new measure of value, the mistakes after independence), then you’ll realise how superficial some of the comparisons are. But you have to adopt, observe and describe different perspectives before passing judgment.

Louise Umutoni Bower:
This is a really good question. The position of women in the private sphere is vastly different to how they are positioned in public. Rwandan society still adheres to cultural understandings of what women should be doing in their homes. Even empowered women will still bear the full weight of things such as childcare and managing the home because that’s the expectation. These notions are pervasive in society and it makes it hard to challenge. 

Natacha Muziramakenga:
There is a saying in Rwanda that loosely translates to “The woman is the heart of the home, the man is the master of the family” it goes without saying that care work is expected to be performed by women no question asked. Everything in the social dynamics tends to preserve that way. Men who help are regarded as weak thus discouraged. Mentality is harder to change than policy.

What obstacles are there for today’s generation in Rwanda? What needs to happen in order to make sure that equality is truly practised in situations other than binary gender identities?

Assumpta Mugiraneza:
The new Rwandan generation has been dubbed the Postmemory Generation by Marianne Hirsch, and that says a great deal about the challenges faced by this generation. Tools must be created with which to address the problematic equality situation – not just where gender is concerned – and then they need to take a look at the inequalities between men and women and initiate programmes with which every member of society can liberate themselves from the patriarchal heritage that is no longer acceptable in this day and age.

Louise Umutoni Bower:
I think that a lot of work has been done in the policy sphere but there remains a lot to be done around perceptions. There have been a few attempts to raise awareness around some of these issues but it wasn’t sufficient and I think the conversation needs to move beyond what the government is doing or needs to do to what we as Rwandans (both women and men) can do to foster genuine equality. We need to interrogate our culture and what elements continue to create these inequalities. 

Natacha Muziramakenga:
In my opinion, some of the obstacles remain mentality, religion and colonial laws that still control women’s bodies hindering their freedom of being who they choose to be. I refer to religion and mentalities not as something that directly affects women's rights but as a social barrier because many families are either religious or traditionalist and this being a country where community is very important, most women never dare doing anything that goes against expectation for fear of being banned by their families or communities. It goes from wearing an outfit to being scared of living by themselves even when they are financially independent and adults.


This interview was conducted in written form. The questions were asked by Marlene Eichhorn, online editor at the “Zeitgeister” magazine.