70 % des femmes mariées victimes de violences : histoires effarantes derrière le silence des chiffres
Behind the coldness of statistics and the rigor of technical reports lie shattered lives, silenced voices, and unfulfilled quests for justice. In Dakar, during a day of reflection organized by the Association of Information and Gender Professionals (APIG), in partnership with UN Women and the Directorate for Equity and Gender Equality (DEEG), stakeholders in the sector challenged the media: to transform raw data into human narratives capable of engaging public opinion and decision-makers. Because behind every statistic lies a reality that is often brutal for women.
When numbers tell the story of injustice
In Senegal, legal texts and international commitments are numerous. The country has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and has committed to Sustainable Development Goal 5. Yet, behind these legislative advances, figures from the National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD) reveal troubling realities: 31.9% of Senegalese women report having experienced at least one form of violence, and 70% of married women say they have been exposed to it since their first marriage. Even more tragically, some forms of violence occur before the age of 12.
For sociologist Ndeye Fatou Cissé, an expert in gender and social inclusion, this data shows the limitations of the legal framework: "The laws exist, but social realities show that access to justice remains very unequal for women."
The economy and the land: the reign of precariousness
Inequality also affects the wallet.
Women represent only 31.3% of formal business owners. The vast majority operate in the informal sector (92.9%), without social protection. In the agricultural sector, the paradox is striking: women make up 70% of the workforce and provide 80% of food production, but they manage only 11% of farms and own a tiny fraction of the land.
A superficial parity in governance
While the parity law has enabled women to hold 41% of seats in Parliament, the glass ceiling remains intact at the local level. There are only 18 female mayors out of 558 municipalities and just 3 female presidents of departmental councils out of 43. These figures illustrate the gap between political promises and the reality on the ground.
Media: between invisibility and sexism
The media landscape is not immune to this trend. In Senegal, women occupy only about 13% of the space in media content. Worse still, their expertise is ignored: during the Covid-19 pandemic, only 27% of the experts interviewed were women, while they represent 46% of healthcare personnel.
Ndeye Fatou Cissé also denounces the media treatment of sexual violence: "When a rape is mentioned, the focus is often on how the victim was dressed instead of concentrating on the perpetrator. How then can we explain the rape of a three-year-old girl?" she asks bitterly.
Giving a face to statistics
For Adama Diouf Ly, president of APIG, the challenge is to "give a face to the statistics" so that the public can no longer look away. Seynabou Sarr of UN Women adds: "This data will change nothing if it remains confined to technical reports. It is you, journalists, who bring it to life." For DEEG, the time for observation is over; now is the time for action to make gender justice a measurable reality.
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