Interview with Marie Edith Douzima-Lawson, chairwoman of the Association of Women Lawyers

Women in the Central African Republic (CAR) are struggling to improve their status in society. One of the ways in which they are trying to achieve this is to form associations to fight their cause. The Association of Women lawyers (Association des Femmes Juristes de Centrafrique) is one of these bodies at the forefront of the endeavour. Its chairwoman, Marie Edith Douzima-Lawson, talked to IRIN about her association’s work. Here are some excerpts from the interview. QUESTION: Can you describe the association you head? ANSWER: The Association des Femmes Juristes de Centrafrique was founded on 19 June 1992. Its main objective is to promote and defend the rights of the woman and the child who are the most vulnerable and to improve their legal status. It also contributes to the consolidation of peace, democracy and the rule of law though mobilisation and education. It sees to it that the Family Code and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that protect the woman and the child are respected. The association has also been involved in the different electoral campaigns during which it trained and informed people, especially by providing other women with legal advice. We had to orientate them. Q: Who are the association’s partners? A: Our partners are first of all human rights organisations. We collaborate with them very closely. There are some other partners who help us financially from time to time, such as the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany - which enabled us to found the association - the US embassy, the Japanese embassy. None of them hesitate to help when we ask for assistance. Q: How many members has your association? A: We have about 80 members, of whom three-quarters are lawyers, while others are associated members who are not lawyers, but who expressed their wish to join the association. Q: Are women under-represented in key positions of the CAR administration? A: In general the CAR woman is under-represented in high positions. In the government or the National Assembly, for instance, there are very few women. As a lawyer, I know there are 10 women among the 70 lawyers in the CAR lawyers' association - le Barreau de Centrafrique. There are also five women magistrates of more than 100 in the CAR. Q: What is the major obstacle to the emancipation of women in CAR? A: Women themselves are the first obstacle to their emancipation. Very often women underestimate themselves, and then, due to social, cultural and old customs, the woman does not make any effort to improve her status. Also, the woman has an inferiority complex and the man a superiority complex. What we do is educate and mobilise women to make them aware of their role in society and fight for their emancipation. In this fight we associate men, because women emancipate themselves vis-à-vis men. Q: What is the position of the association on female genital mutilation, polygamy and HIV/AIDS? A: We oppose female excision, for in most cases it leads to disastrous consequences. It is not because a woman is circumcised that she will be a true woman. People used to say that when a woman is uncircumcised, she is often tempted to have sexual intercourse. That is why they circumcise them, to prevent them from having that desire. But for me that is a false problem. Such a harmful practice must be banned: it is a violation of human rights. Q: What about polygamy? A: You know that polygamy has many more disadvantages than advantages. We, as female lawyers, do not condemn polygamy. But it is not something to be encouraged. It causes too many problems in the family, such as rivalries among wives, and contributes to the propagation of HIV/AIDS. Rivalries resulting from polygamy considerably affect the upbringing and health of children. Although polygamy is legal in CAR, we oppose the practice. Q: Is anything being done to fight polygamy? A: We cannot combat polygamy, which is sanctioned by law. When you go to the City Hall for civil wedding, you are asked to choose between a polygamous or monogamous marriage. Then, during the inquiries that preceded the establishment of the Family Code, we noted that some women wanted polygamy perpetuated. Our duty now is to demonstrate to both women and men the disadvantages of polygamy. However, some people see some advantages in polygamy, such as a larger workforce, and the fact that every woman can have a husband, for women are more numerous than men. Those are considerations that I cannot take into account. Q: How do you explain the small percentage of girls in schools? A: This is something that is linked to the problem of emancipation. This phenomenon is primarily due to social and cultural considerations, added to customs and early pregnancy. It is also due to the lack of perseverance and personality that prevents women from persevering with their studies. Fortunately, we have noticed that more girls are now persevering in their studies.