The Walk of Adversity

The Walk of Adversity

She walks across the hot hardened dirt, from one country to another, day in day out. As she struggles to run her small trading business she is preyed on by her own government. This is the life of the average woman who obtains a living from trade. These women participate in informal trade which is not acknowledged by the government as beneficial to Africa. So as a result, corrupt government officials prey on these women and abuse government power for personal gain by accepting bribes and even attacking women in acts of sexual violence such as rape. It is not only the border officials who attack these women, it stems from higher up in the government with lawmakers who refuse to improve informal trading infrastructure.

The situation in Africa violates article three in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Which states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” It is truly horrifying that women must put themselves at great risk as they try to do honest work that will allow them to put food on the table every night.

Women who walk their goods across Africa’s borders to trade so their kids and family don’t go hungry are subject to unfair treatment. “In general women need more time to cross the borders than men. They are often held back by custom officials, asking the women traders for personal favors. Many women report cases of sexual harassment and violence such as rape, imprisonment and confiscation of goods” (Regina Laub). In Africa women cross the border quite often to trade their low profit agricultural produce and other items. They struggle to cross the borders because the custom officials are corrupt and quite frankly out of hand. The last thing these women need are border officials harassing them and even raping them in extreme cases. 85% of women who cross the border report offering bribes to officials in order to cross, what’s more 54% report threats of sexual violence from border officials (World Bank Survey, 2011.)

In Africa borders are filled with many different agencies and officials which slow women down as they attempt to cross the border. These agencies all need something different and charge unreasonable fees to the women crossing. Research done by Bucekuderhwa arrives at solutions on how the border in Africa can improve and women can cross with more ease. They suggest that “There is clearly a high degree of uncertainty and ambiguity about the legal rules that apply to cross-border trade and how they are applied in practice. Lack of transparency and consistency in the application of trade rules constrains trade across the borders.” Not only that but the government must foster trade organizations and associations so women know the prices of their goods and trade regulations become common knowledge. “First and foremost is the need to increase the representation of these traders through traders associations to ensure that their interests are properly represented in public policy” (Bucekuderhwa). These women are citizens and have every right to be protected by law makers and the laws themselves.

While the current situation is quite backwards and may seem a little hopeless, it isn’t. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There are a few organizations, like TMEA, who try to help women understand their rights in order to protect them from the corrupt border officers. These women deserve to be allowed to go about their business free of harassment and with better representation from lawmakers. We can only hope one day the walk across the hot hardened dirt will not be so dangerous.

Works Cited

Anonymous. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” "United Nations", United Nations, 2017, www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/. Accessed 2017.

Ben-Ari, Nirit. “Raw Deal for African Women Traders.” "United Nations", United Nations, Oct. 2014, www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/august-2014/raw-deal-african-women-traders. Accessed Oct. 2017.

Celestin Bashinge Bucekuderhwa, Caroline Hossein, Shiho Nagaki and Jean Baptiste Ntagoma, Paul Brenton. “FACILITATING CROSS BORDER TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES.” "Box", Pdf, Oct. 2017, 787b2ec3761b4fccb2c207dabf993ba8 - sessioned. Accessed Oct. 2017.

Laub, Regina. “Crossing Borders: Challenges of African Women Involved in Informal Cross-Border Trade.” "Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security ", Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security , 2016, agrigenderjournal.com/2016/12/30/crossing-borders-challenges-of-african-women-involved-in-informal-cross-border-trade/. Accessed Sept. 2017.

Price, Rob. “Africa Opens the Gates to Cross-Border Trade.” "World Economic Forum", World Economic Forum, 2014, www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/08/africa-cross-border-traders/. Accessed July 2017.