Heather Day, Connecticut College
“’…But You Mustn’t Insult her Parents’: Marital Violence in Mali”
Bio: Heather Day is a senior at Connecticut College majoring in American Studies with a minor in Human Development. Since the age of 16, Heather has been leading workshops and classes on hip-hop, anti-oppression, non-violence, and human rights at schools, after-school and summer programs, conferences, and detention facilities. Since this age she has also worked and volunteered at shelters and support centers for the homeless and/or those fleeing domestic abuse. Heather studied in Bamako, Mali in the spring of 2008 with the School for International Training's program on Gender, Health and Development. While there she interned with L'Association pour le Progrès et la Défense des Droits des Femmes (APDF), a prominent women's rights organization, and examined the dynamics of gender, marital violence, and women's advocacy.
Abstract: Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Mali has seen significant development in women’s rights. The country has signed and/or ratified a number of international human rights treaties and conventions assuring equal rights regardless of sex. However, despite some legislative progress, social customs prevail that empower men and mobilize them for action in the public sphere and educate women to obey men and remain in the private sphere. Malian women continue to face many forms of violence including insults, beating, excision, forced marriage, rape, repudiation, discrimination in politics, and restrictions on economic activity. While violence against women occurs in the work and community environment, this paper focuses primarily on the inequalities between husbands and wives and the violence against women in Malian family life. Through research on Malian and international documents as well as a review of field work completed with The Association for the Promotion and Defense of Women (APDF), one of Mali’s largest women’s rights organizations, this paper examines the definitions of “violence against women” and “domestic violence” in Mali, the prevalence of domestic violence and religious and cultural contexts, women’s legal rights in Mali, and the APDF’s present work to address the problem. Finally, this paper analyses the effects of violence against women on Malian women and society at large, and proposes recommendations for future action on behalf of a more equal Malian society.
