A proposed commentary on Equality Now and EWLA v Ethiopia (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) by Mariam Kamunyu[1]
This is a proposed commentary on the decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) in Equality Now and Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association v Ethiopia.[2] This decision was received with great celebration across the women’s movement in Africa for two reasons. First, it was only the second time that the Commission had made a decision on women’s rights by way of its individual communications procedure.[3] Secondly, on the face of it, the decision appeared to be worth celebrating, the Commission had found in favour of the complainants and even awarded a monetary award of US$150,000 as compensation for the victim.
A thorough reading and examination of the decision however leaves much to be desired from a feminist perspective. In one major criticism, in trying to determine whether there is a finding of discrimination, the Commission employed a male-comparator standard it had established in the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights & Interights v Egypt case[4] and found that there was no discrimination in this instance. This finding sets feminist jurisprudence several steps backwards. The male comparator approach assumes that equality is the norm and discrimination the exception and in doing so obfuscates systemic discrimination such as that illustrated in this case manifesting as violence against women (the repeated rapes) and harmful practice (child marriage by abduction). In another criticism, the Commission also misses a critical opportunity to explore the intersectional nature of the discrimination apparent in this case.
The proposed case commentary will be undertaken from an African feminist perspective utilising a gender responsiveness framework of analysis.[5]
[1] LLD finalist/ Project Coordinator, Women’s Rights Unit, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Available at: mariam.kamunyu@gmail.com
[2] Communication 341/2007, Equality Now and Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) v Federal Republic of Ethiopia, ACHPR.
[3] The first time was in Communication 323/06, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights & Interights v Egypt, ACHPR. The African Commission has also pronounced itself on women’s rights using its interstate communications procedure in Communication 227/1999, Democratic Republic of Congo v Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, ACHPR.
[4] Communication 323/06 as above.
[5] The writer has developed the gender responsiveness framework as part of her doctoral thesis which can be categorised as part of the African feminist school of thought.