Africa Talks: The future of African feminist activism

Contributor(s): Professor Dzodzi Tsikata, Professor Amina Mama, Dr Siphokazi Magadla |
The coronavirus pandemic has magnified existing inequalities, particularly along lines of gender. In Africa, like in other regions around the world, containment measures including lockdowns, confinement and drastic reductions in sociability have significantly impacted women. Access to paid work and sustainable livelihoods has been significantly disrupted, rates of domestic violence have increased, and access to reproductive healthcare has been seriously curtailed, which points to wider social, economic and emotional breakdowns. But this crisis has also spawned new types of activism and social networks in support of local communities, especially the most vulnerable, with potentially the grounds for long-lasting change.
While African women have and continue to set new standards for women’s political leadership globally, many citizens are disappointed by decades of government inaction, where gender and