Gender

When in October 2018 Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynecologist and specialist in reconstructive surgery, won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018, the world’s media celebrated the extraordinary life of a doctor often referred to as “the man who mends women.” The moniker is a recognition of the years he has spent fixing the bodies of sexually assaulted women and girls in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

After flying into the city of Bol in the Republic of Chad, over the lush fields and receding lakes, we landed to a rapturous welcome from traditional rulers and local women. Their faces reflected a hope and dignity slipping away under the harsh reality of poverty and insecurity. The women, smiling at us as we disembarked, showed the same resilience I have seen in women in countless contexts: an ability to survive, even in the face of multiple forms of violence and insecurity at home, in public or from political conflict.

On the surface, sub-Saharan Africa boasts the world’s highest rate of women entrepreneurs, at 27%. The MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2017 listed two African countries, Uganda (34.8%) and Botswana (34.6%), as having the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs globally.

Rachel Njeri, a student of Makerere University in Uganda, wept bitterly when recounting a sexual assault that took place in April 2018. “I tried to resist his actions but he was stronger than me. He grabbed me and threw me on the cabinet files at the corner.”

Her attacker, she alleged, was a university administrator. He has since been suspended and charged with sexually harassing a student.