The women of Africa have endured the systematic oppression of their development for countless of years due to elements in cultural, political and, historical events. Long before British-colonial occupation and the slave trade, the male dominated African tribal culture adhered to many oppressive yet accepted and structured forms of role categorization of women in African society. One can begin to understand the lineage of African women’s’ developmental encumbrance. The position of women in pre-colonial Africa was impeded mainly because of cultural aspects of their way of societal …show more content…
Only one country in Africa, Burkina Faso, has passed laws against female genital mutilations, and actively upholds those laws. In thirteen other countries, people who promote or practice genital mutilation can receive jail time, but the laws are often ignored. In addition, twenty-eight other countries still condone the practice. It is estimated that at least 130 million African women have already undergone this practice, and two million more young women every year are circumcised. The practice is inhumane, and can cause severe illness and even death in young women when it is not done under the proper conditions. Although religion bears major responsibility for the inferior status of women, it cannot be solely blamed for the gender problem in the Middle East. In reality, the role of culture has been even more prominent in perpetuating the oppression of women. Female genital mutilation is a cultural practice that has afflicted women in several cultures at different times in history. The practice, which in Islam garners dubious permission in an alleged Hadith of the Prophet, is largely unknown in most Muslim countries, though it is still practiced in rural areas of both Muslim and non-Muslim parts of Africa. Similarly, the so-called “honor crimes” have no basis in Islam. Furthermore, though veiling has become a symbol of Middle Eastern oppression of women, the