State the traditional practices that lower the dignity of women today

Traditional practices that lower the dignity of women today

• Division of Labour.
  • In Traditional African perspective, women were not allowed to take some tasks which were seen as men jobs such as hunting and leadership. But today, if practiced, it is seen as lowering women’s dignity.
• Clitoridectomy.
  • Also called female circumcision, Is an act of surgical removal, reduction, or partial removal of the clitoris.
• Polygamy.
  • This is an act of marrying more than one wife.
• Early marriage.
  • Marriage before the age provided by the constitution at 18 years. The law assumes that anyone below this age is a child and cannot be able to make decisions on her own.
• Wife inheritance.
  • This is an act of forcefully inheriting a wife whose husband had passed on. In the modern world, it is seen as a retrogressive behaviour.
• Discrimination on inheritance of land.
  • In Traditional African Society, Women were not entitled to own land. But in the modern world perspective, women are entitled to own property just as their male counterparts. Denying them this right, is a violation of the constitution.
• Definition of diet on gender line.
  • In some African Traditional Communities, women were not allowed to eat some foods. But in the modern world, its a violation of women rights to deny the some foods without their will.
• Wife beating
  • Also called wife battering was widely practiced in the TAS – Traditional African Societies, however, now it is discouraged and seen as a retrogressive behaviour.
• Being treated as sex objects/ avenues for procreation.
  • In T.A.S- Traditional African Societies, woman was seen as a property of a man, this led to the violation of their rights such as being used as sex objects for material gains.
• Dressing codes
  • Some traditional dressing codes are not acceptable today, and by implementing these codes, women see it as a violation of their rights