Year in review: Gender events that shocked the world

The year, 2022, was marked by events that shocked gender equality advocates across the world. Some were oppressive and others were described as “devastating”. Here is a review.

Women banned from driver’s cabin

Uganda

In January,  Daily Monitor reported thatauthorities in Lira City had banned women market traders from sitting in the driver’s cabin as part of the efforts to mitigate the rampant road accidents in the Lango sub-region. The decision followed an accident that claimed the lives of nine people and injured 19 others in the Agali sub-county, Lira District, on January 10. The authorities accused the women passengers of distracting the drivers with short dresses.

Man nabbed for 'healing' 900 women with sex

Tunisia

In May, a self-proclaimed "spiritual healer" was arrested after confessing to persuading women into having sex with him as a remedy to their spiritual afflictions. His arrest came after a local television journalist who posed as a client aired the story.

Supreme Court rules against abortion right

US

In June, US Supreme Court overturned 1973, Roe versus Wade ruling that recognised the right of a woman to abortion. Roe held that the specific guarantee of “liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects individual privacy, includes the right to abortion prior to foetal viability. But in the latest judgment in the  Dobbs versus Jackson Women’s Health Organisation cases, the court ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion, a ruling that drew global uproar among the pro-choice followers who described it as a “devastating decision.”’ 

At the time, United Nations Population Fund opposed the decision saying it advocated for freedom of choice when it came to deciding on the number of children to have, spacing and timing. It indicated that allowing the continuation of unsafe abortions,  threatened realisation of the third target of the  UN Sustainable Development Goals,  relating to reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.

Muslim protest coercion to remove veil

Uganda

In July,  Anadolu Agency reported of Muslim women in Uganda protesting in Parliament over government officers coercing them to remove their veils as a condition for receiving public services. The women said they were forced to remove them before being photographed at passport offices.

Woman faces two years in jail for 'shameful' dress

Rwanda

In August, a  24-year-old woman was arrested for wearing "shameful" clothing. She  was arrested after she attended a concert by popular French musician Tayc,  wearing a sheer dress, Daily Monitor reported.The prosecutors said she had committed a serious crime for attending a concert “wearing clothes that reveal her private parts... clothes that we call shameful." 

Liz Truss resigns after 45-day tenure

UK

On September 5, then Foreign Secretary Liz Truss replaced  Boris Johnson as UK’s next prime minister(PM) at a time when the country faced an economic crisis. She introduced policies geared at cutting down the cost of living for the Britons and reviving the economy. Her policies introduced through a mini-budget presented by the chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, tackled energy price guarantee, equal support for businesses, and an energy markets financing scheme. He announced the cancellation of a national insurance rise, saving households 330 pounds(Sh49, 011), a year alongside doubling of threshold for zero stamp duty on house purchases to 250,000 pounds (Sh37,130,288).

The same would be shot up to £425,000 (Sh63,121,490) from the previous £300,000 (Sh44,556,346) for first-time buyers. Plus reducing the lowest income tax rate from 20 to 19 per cent, as well as cut the highest rate from 45 to 40 per cent. These policies, however, brought forth economic turmoil with the pound hitting a record low at $1.0350(Sh128.32). Following the financial markets negative reaction to the policy changes, the government back-pedalled the plans. She  sacked  Kwarteng and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt, who reversed nearly all the tax cut plans.

Her tenure divided the Conservative Party with some MPs calling for her resignation. On October 20, 2022, she gave in and announced that she would step down, making her the shortest-serving PM, having been in office for only six weeks and three days.

Six-month girl subjected to FGM

Kenya

In November, a couple in Leparua, Isiolo county was arrested for allegedly subjecting their six-month-old daughter to female genital mutilation (FGM), a horrendous act, violating the infant’s right to safety and protection from harm espoused in the Constitution and  Children Act of 2022. Former President Uhuru Kenyatta had set 2022 as his target year for ending FGM; meaning there would be no more new cases of FGM. But the incident was a clear indication that the goal is elusive.

Woman jailed for kissing man

Sudan

A 20-year-old Sudanese woman charged with adultery was jailed for six months after a re-trial. The Kosti Criminal Court in White Nile State had previously found the divorcee guilty of adultery under article 146(2) of Sudanese Penal Code 1991 and sentenced her to death by stoning. The woman, however, appealed the ruling at the Court of Appeal citing procedural irregularities as grounds for the appeal. She had confessed to kissing a man, which amounts to adultery, under the Sudanese laws,  had she been married. But her defence lawyers told the court that she was legally divorced and had been living at her family home for nearly eight months.

 [email protected]