Aurore Perraud: “Women are more likely than men to be abused”

The Children Bill is among a series of legislations which will be debated at the next session of the National Assembly due to start on 29 March 2016. Discussions will focus on how to harmonise existing legislations such as the Criminal Procedure Act, the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act and the Child Protection Act. It will also have to define offences related to minors, either as an offender or as a victim. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Development is currently working on this legislation. Has there been any remarkable change in the life of Mauritian women since 1975 marking the UN International Women Year? It is a fact that the setting up of a Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare to spearhead programmes for women’s development and the promotion of gender equality has contributed to improve the status of Mauritian women. The National Gender Policy Framework 2008 and subsequent Action Plan have promoted remodelling of strategies and programmes at national level for gender mainstreaming and for integrating gender as a cross-cutting issue in all activities of the public sector. Legislative reforms have provided an adequate framework to ensure equal opportunities to women and protection of women in distress. There has been a smooth transition from women at home to the world of work, thus enabling them to effectively reconcile work imperatives with family obligations, and to also engage in entrepreneurship. Women have been empowered to make informed reproductive choices especially as regard to termination of pregnancy. There has been a spectacular improvement in education for girls and women, not only in terms of enrolment in schools and universities, but also in terms of performance compared to boys and men. As regard children, an effective institutional mechanism has been set up to ensure follow up on children’s rights and to prevent violation of legislation. There is a perception that whenever the Minister talks of gender equality, the central message is mostly meant to give more chances to women. What is being done by your Ministry to make men and women feel important and having the same rights? When you look at promoting gender equality, it is an unavoidable fact that you have to empower women so as to ensure fairness; we have to compensate for women’s historical and social disadvantages. Gender Equality is the process of being fair to women and men. But gender biased social constructions and socialisation, if not addressed, prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Equity leads to equality. These two do not mean the same thing as would allow the common understanding of these concepts. Where inequality exists, it is generally women who are excluded or disadvantaged in relation to decision-making and access to economic and social resources. The programmes and activities of my Ministry have been focusing on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more authority to manage their own lives. But one cannot ignore the contribution men can make to advance the cause of gender equality. We have to internalise a very basic, yet abstract concept of gender equality. Gender equality does not mean that men and women become the same; it ensures that access to opportunities and life changes is neither dependent on, nor constrained by their sex. The achievement of gender equality implies change for both men and women. In that sense, the Ministry has put in place several programmes such as the “Building Partnership with Men and Boys” for the promotion of Gender Equality and “Men as Partners” Programme with the rationale to have men championing for gender equality. Furthermore, awareness campaigns geared towards sensitizing men on gender issues are being run by the Gender Unit of my Ministry. Have Mauritian women understood the real meaning of equality? It is believed that there is still a lot to be done for the concept of gender equality to be properly understood. Confusion persists regarding the term gender as opposed to sex. As gathered during our sensitisation campaigns, women as well as men, have a tendency to link the attributes of the term “sex” (male/ female) to the meaning of “gender”. Sex is a biological characteristic of defining species whereas gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being a male or a female. Men and women alike face different expectations about how they should dress, behave and work. It is also important to emphasize that the concept of gender is not interchangeable with women. It refers to both men and women and the relations between them. In that sense, one would say that it is not only women, but all of us have yet to fully internalise the meaning of gender equality. But great progress has been made in that sense. Our efforts are on-going and the vision is to intensify awareness campaigns and sensitisation campaigns. Is gender still an issue in Mauritius? If yes, where does it exist persistently and how is your Ministry managing the whole issue? As a matter of fact, gender is still an issue in Mauritius and one of the most striking examples that can be given is the phenomenon of violence against women, particularly domestic violence. Domestic violence still pervails today and if one looks at the figures, the victims are mostly women. Women are more likely than men to be abused be it physically, emotionally or sexually and even financially. Children in the family are also victims of this problem. Furthermore, on the international setting, according to the Global Gender Gap Index, which measures gender equality gaps under four key areas namely, educational attainment, health and survival, economic participation and opportunity and political empowerment, it is highlighted that Mauritius has still to make progress in the fields of economic participation and opportunity and political empowerment of women. To address the whole issue, the Ministry has put up in place a National Steering Committee on Gender Mainstreaming. All ministries are represented on this platform which is used to advocate for the inclusion of gender concerns when designing and implementing development programmes.

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