Southern African indigenous women in leadership before and after colonization: An overview of the SDG 5 and women empowerment

Abstract

Indigenous women are the knowledge guardians of traditional indigenous knowledge, including food and medical systems. They support indigenous cultures and languages. They stand up for the rights of Indigenous peoples and the environment. Within the indigenous family, within the indigenous government, and during spiritual rites, women traditionally hold a prominent position. Before the arrival of the Europeans, African women were never treated as inferior in Aboriginal society. When Europeans and Aboriginal people first came into contact, women had minimal rights in European society. They looked up to men as their superiors in society, the law, and politics. Any rights that women did have came from their husbands. For instance, English law said that women were not entitled to the right to vote, property ownership, or contracting. In the modern society, specifically in Southern African, indigenous women are part of political structures that fight for the rights of indigenous people in their own land. Since indigenous peoples assert the right to seek the economic, social, and cultural development of their communities in addition to their participation in public decisions in the State that they are members of, the political participation of indigenous women has a multifaceted mandate. Their autonomy includes the freedom to uphold and strengthen their own political, legal, economic, social, and cultural institutions as well as the ability to make decisions about internal and local matters. Women play various leadership roles in the 21st century, when they have the same rights as men in many Southern African nations, and their participation is generally acknowledged and accepted.