The political, economic, and social inequality of women in Africa has fueled significant international discourse since the 1950s, when the United Nations (UN) began interrogating the effects of harmful traditional practices on women across the continent. Human-rights groups have attempted to put pressure on African governments to promote women’s access to education, health care, economic opportunities, and participation in governance and politics. UN member states made the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment their Sustainable Development Goal No. 5. Though there is some optimism about progress toward women’s equality, challenges remain abundant. Senegal has taken several steps to promote women’s rights, such as anchoring gender equality in its Constitution (Article 7), ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), creating a “national parity observatory, and developing a National Strategy for Gender
Equality and Equity. After the adoption of a parity law in 2010 designed to ensure that half of all political offices are held by women, the 2012 election saw a record 64 women elected to Parliament. But while some have pointed to the benefits of women having representatives and role models to empower them, others have said that women are being given “an easy route” into politics based on their gender and not their merit, stifling development and democracy. In this paper, we use Afrobarometer survey data to explore popular attitudes and views on gender rights and equality among ordinary Senegalese. We find that Senegalese are generally supportive of equal opportunities for women. A majority believe women should have an equal chance to be elected to political office and should have the same rights as men to own or inherit land. Yet women still lag behind men in many aspects of society, particularly with regard to economic opportunity and access to resources.
