Hi All,
I stumbled upon an article recently about religion and women's rights with a focus on property rights in Nigeria. I know we all are reading about religion and GAD this week but I would share the link below just in case you want to go through the article.
The influence of religion and culture on women’s rights to property in Nigeria
Did you read the article?
Anyway, if you did not, the article was written by Udoh et al in 2020 and it basically explores the role of religion and culture on women's property rights in Nigeria. It would interest you to know that while the law gives room for women in Nigeria to have properties like men, a lot of women are still constrained by culture or religion. Also, despite a new law being signed in Rivers state Nigeria to support the rights of women to inherit properties, a lot of cultures still do not permit that (Ghanian Times, 2022).
The article above mentions that the protection of women's rights to property in Nigeria is a step towards fulfilling one of the SDGs on gender equality. The article also explores the proponents of religion, particularly Islam and Christianity, and concludes that both religions do not disregard women in terms of property rights but this regard is mainly a misguided exploitation of women particularly women with low educational status.
A lot of people argue that religion depresses or suppresses women's rights however, I think gender and religion should not be viewed as fixed but as diverse and multifaceted with different representations (Mee, 2016).
While we know that Rome was not built in a day, I think to solve the conceptions of the intersectionality between religion and gender being interpreted as negative, there is a need to involve religion and its stakeholders. Just as Rahat, 2020 argues, there is a need to involve religious leaders, allow for unlearning and relearning via religious peers and scholars, and ensure that religious staff members are aware of gender, development, and cultural sensitivities.
While I conclude this blog post, I would like to ask; how do you think religion, gender, and development could be reconciled? How can this misguided exploitation of women be addressed? Also, the African Students' Union at Ohio University is having an open discussion forum titled "Religion; A Bane or Blessing to Africa's Development on Friday 4th of November at Alden Library 319 by 6pm, and I would like to know your thought too. Do you think religion is a bane or blessing to gender and development?
References
Ghanian Times. (2022, September 19). Nigeria: New law boosts female inheritance rights in Nigeria. allAfrica.com. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://allafrica.com/stories/202209190450.html
Mee, W. (2016). The social lives of gender and religion: Implications for development policy. Sustainable Development, 24(3), 163–171. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1618
Rahat, R. (2020). Resistance and potential for development: Examining the role of religion in the development of women in the infrastructure projects in Pakistan. Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 10(101), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.101.11
Udoh, O. D., Folarin, S. F., & Isumonah, V. A. (2020). The influence of religion and culture on women’s rights to property in Nigeria. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 7(1), 1750244. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2020.1750244
Hello Shalewa!
ReplyDeleteThis is very informative! I concur with your input. It is fascinating how religion, spirituality, and culture are prioritized in the Global South, especially in countries on the African continent. Notwithstanding, Nigeria also prioritizes religion making it a huge factor in decisions taken by those in authority. I was astounded to know in one of our classes that in the Muslim community women are not permitted to make some decisions, which is really discomforting. It is unfair on their path not to have a say in a choice that may affect them in the future. Modernization and urbanization are increasingly generating a gestalt change, particularly in problems heavily impacted by religion.