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More information on "Notable Women"

Notable women from Africa include Sarraounia Mangou (queen of Lougou), Alda do Espirito Santo (famous writer and author of the lyrics of the national anthems of Sao Tome and Principe), and Miriam Makeba (South African singer and apartheid activist).

Paragraph for feminization of poverty

Women in Africa face considerable barriers to achieving economic equality with their male counterparts due to a general lack of property rights, access to credit, education and technical skills, health, protection against gender-based violence, and political power. Although women work 50% longer workdays than men, they receive two-thirds of the pay of their male counterparts and hold only 40% of formal salaried jobs. The longer workdays can be attributed to the cultural expectations of women to perform forms of unpaid labor such as gathering firewood, drawing water, childcare, eldercare, and housework.

Editing the Lead
Women in Africa are women who were born in, live in, and are from the continent of Africa. The culture, evolution and history of African women reflect the evolution and history of the African continent itself.

Numerous short studies regarding women's history in African nations have been conducted.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Many studies focus on the historic roles and status of women in specific countries and regions, such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria [7] Lesotho,[8] and sub-Saharan Africa.[9][10] Recently, scholars have begun to focus on the evolution of women's status throughout the history of African women through mediums such as songs from Malawi, weaving techniques in Sokoto, and historical linguistics.[11]

The status of women in Africa is varied across nations and regions. Significant efforts towards gender equality have been made through the creation of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, which encourage member states to end discrimination and violence against women.[12] With the exception of Morocco and Burundi, all African states have adopted this charter.[13] However, despite these strides towards equality, women still face various issues related to gender inequality such as disproportionate levels of poverty and illiteracy, poor health and nutrition, lack of political power, gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and child marriages.[14]

For example, Rwanda is the only country in the world where women hold more than half the seats in parliament -- 51.9% as of July 2019, but Morocco only has one female minister in its cabinet.

Lead Ideas
The status of women in Africa is varied across nations and regions. Significant efforts towards gender equality have been made through the creation of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, which encourage member states to end discrimination and violence against women. With the exception of Morocco and Burundi, all African states have adopted this charter. . However, despite these strides towards equality, women still face various issues related to gender inequality such as poverty, health, political power, and gender-based violence.

Gender inequality
see also: female genital mutilation, women in africa

Although African nations have made considerable strides towards improving gender parity, the World Economic Forum's 2018 Global Gender Gap Index reported that sub-Saharan African and North African countries have only bridged 66% and 60% of their gender inequality. Women face considerable barriers to attending equal status to men in terms of property ownership, gainful employment, political power, credit, education, and health outcomes. In addition, women are disproportionately affected by poverty and HIV/AIDs because of their lack of access to resources and cultural influences. Other key issues are adolescent births, maternal mortality, gender-based violence, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. It's estimated that 50% of adolescent childbirths and 66% of all maternal deaths occurred in sub-Saharan African nations. Women have few rights and legal protections which have led to the highest numbers of child marriage and female genital mutilation than any other continent. Furthermore, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Egypt, Lesotho, Mali, and Niger do not have any legal protections for gender-based domestic violence.

Key Proposal Elements
The current "Women in Africa" page is heavily focused on the history of women in Africa, and I would like to add a more balanced approach representing the experiences of women in Africa. Specifically, I want to add more detailed information regarding the social and cultural barriers that women face in gaining education, gainful employment, roles in politics, and issues such as gender-based violence. In addition, I want to add more statistics about gender inequality and add more balanced coverage representing all of the regions of Africa. In general, I also want to go through the article and make sure everything is grammatically correct and the sections flow smoothly together. I also plan on updating the contents so that it's organized by region of Africa.

Annotated Bibliography
Kuenyehia, Akua. Women & Law in West Africa : Situational Analysis of Some Key Issues Affecting Women / Edited by Akua Kuenyehia. Legon [Ghana: Women and Law in West Africa, 1998. This article provides statistics regarding the legal institutions in West Africa and how it affects the quality of life for women in Africa.

Bandara, A. (April 3, 2015). The Economic Cost of Gender Gaps in Effective Labor: Africa’s Missing Growth Reserve. Feminist Economics, 21(2), 162–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2014.986153 Bandara's article gives insight regarding the economic gender disparity in Africa. Bandara's research provides important statistics.

Mogale, R., Burns, K., & Richter, S. (May 2012). Violence Against Women in South Africa: Policy Position and Recommendations. Violence Against Women, 18(5), 580–594. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212453430 Mogale's research tries to understand gender-based violence in South Africa and suggests policy to protect victims of such violence.

Updating the Lead
Add information about some of the current challenges that women in Africa face such as regional instability due to militant groups, gender-based violence, and issues regarding climate change. The sources I've included below provide information on broad overviews of the issues facing women such as equality and social/cultural barriers.

Kuenyehia, Akua. Women & Law in West Africa : Situational Analysis of Some Key Issues Affecting Women / Edited by Akua Kuenyehia. Legon [Ghana: Women and Law in West Africa, 1998. Mutume, G. (2005, July). African women battle for equality | Africa Renewal. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2005/african-women-battle-equality. (Accessed September 25, 2019.) Mlambo-Ngcuka, P. (2017, January 29). We have opportunities as much as we have challenges. Retrieved from https://africa.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/stories/2017/01/we-have-opportunities-as-much-as-we-have-challenges Hafkin, Nancy J., and Bay, Edna G. Women in Africa : Studies in Social and Economic Change / Edited by Nancy J. Hafkin and Edna G. Bay. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1976.

Updating Gender-Based Violence
Add information about the statistics of gender-based violence in Africa. Add information about the lack of law enforcement in prosecuting sexual assault. Add information about the cultural and social institutions that allow for sexual assault to proliferate and the resulting trauma that sexual assault has on communities. These articles provide a fuller picture of the reasons/causes for gender-violence such as HIV/AIDs or the vulnerability of women because of their lack of property and economic rights.

Clark, C., & Khawaja, M. (December 2010). Special Issue of Violence Against Women: Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Middle East North Africa Region (MENA). Violence Against Women, 16(12), 1437–1437. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210389681 Dunkle, K., Jewkes, R., Brown, H., Gray, G., Mcintryre, J., & Harlow, S. (May 2004). Gender-based violence, relationship power, and risk of HIV infection in women attending antenatal clinics in South Africa. The Lancet, 363(9419), 1415–1421. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16098-4 Kimuna, S., Tenkorang, E., Djamba, Y., Kimuna, S., Tenkorang, E., & Djamba, Y. (June 2018). Introduction: Special Section on Social and Economic Costs of Gender-Based Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Causes, Implications, and Policy Directions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(11), 1703–1709. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517752157 Mogale, R., Burns, K., & Richter, S. (May 2012). Violence Against Women in South Africa: Policy Position and Recommendations. Violence Against Women, 18(5), 580–594. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212453430 Muhanguzi, F. (2011). Gender and sexual vulnerability of young women in Africa: experiences of young girls in secondary schools in Uganda. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 13(6), 713–725. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2011.571290 Wojcicki, Janet M, van Der Straten, Ariane, and Padian, Nancy. “Bridewealth and Sexual and Reproductive Practices Among Women in Harare, Zimbabwe.” AIDS Care 22, no. 6 (June 1, 2010): 705–710. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540120903349094.

Creating Section in "Gender Inequality"
Create a short blurb describing the gender-inequality of women in Africa using statistics about the missing women, lack of property and employment rights, and educational disparities. Currently, there's no representation of any African country on the "Gender Inequality" article so I plan on adding a section about gender inequality in Africa. The below sources provide a high-level understanding of gender inequality in African countries.

Kevane, Michael. Women and Development in Africa : How Gender Works / Michael Kevane. Boulder, Colo: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004.

Sen, Amartya. 2001. “Many Faces of Gender Inequality.” Frontline, India’s National Magazine, 18(22). http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1822/18220040.htm (Links to an external site. (Accessed August 16, 2018.)

Razavi, Shahra. 2016. “The 2030 Agenda: Challenges of Implementation to Attain Gender Equality and Women’s Rights.” Gender and Development (24)1.

Prah, M. (2013). Insights into gender equity, equality and power relations in sub-saharan Africa / editor, Mansah Prah. Kampala: Fountain Publishers.