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 AFROL
Gender Profiles:
Guinea
Guinea is located in Western Africa. It has had a rich and
special history. Choosing independence in 1958, ahead of its neighbours, Guinea fell victim to a "socialist experiment"
by the dictator Sekou Touré. Isolation, poverty and oppression has
marked much of its history, but also political stability in contrast
to its neighbouring states. The Lansana Conté regime has opened up
and initialised some democratisation.
However, presently there is a
threat of civil war in Sierra Leone and Liberia spilling over to
Guinea. Fighting has been fierce between government troops and
terrorists sponsored by the Liberian government and the Sierra Leonean RUF.
Entire regions have been depopulated, especially around the border town
Guékédou. Women and children are the main war victims and rape is common.
There is a major ongoing effort to expell the so-called rebels and hinder Guinea
from falling into the same tragedy as Sierra Leone.
Women in Guinea are objects to polygynous marriages. Divorce laws
favour men. Legal evidence given by women carries less weight than that given by men.
Every woman in Guinea averagely gives birth to 5,46 children. Up to
90% of Guinean women undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Social data
Life expectancy: Total population: 45,56 years
male: 43,16 years
female: 48,02 years (2000 est.)
Infant mortality: 130,98 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Alphabetization rate: Total population: 35,9%
male: 49,9%
female: 21,9% (1995 est.)
Medical services: 45% of the people have access to medical
services. (6.666 persons per doctor).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1,03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0,95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0,7 male(s)/female
total population: 0,96 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Religious data: Muslim 85%, traditional African religions
7%, Christian 8%
Family and tradition
The Constitution provides for equal treatment of men and women, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Women's Promotion works to advance such equality. However, women face discrimination, particularly in rural areas where opportunities are limited by custom, and the demands of child-rearing and subsistence farming. Women are not denied access to land, credit, or businesses, but inheritance laws also favor male heirs over females. Government officials acknowledge that polygyny is practiced commonly, although it is prohibited by law. Divorce laws generally tend to favor men in awarding custody and dividing communal assets. Legal evidence given by women carries less weight than that given by men.
The CPTAFE, in conjunction with the Government, local journalists, and international NGO's, also is promoting an education campaign to discourage underage marriage. Although such marriages are prohibited by law, parents contract marriages for girls as young as 11 years of age in the forest region.
Gender sensitivity in society
The Government has affirmed the principle of equal pay for equal work, but in practice women receive less pay than men in most equally demanding jobs.
The Government provides free, compulsory primary school education for 8 years. Approximately 50 percent of all eligible students are enrolled in primary school, including 66 percent of eligible boys but only 35 percent of eligible girls.
The Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, language, beliefs, political opinions, philosophy, or creed; however, the Government does not enforce these provisions uniformly.
Health data
Access to potable water: 46%
Medical services: 45% of the people have access to medical services. ( 6.666 persons per
doctor).
Maternal mortality rate: 1.600/100.000
Infant mortality: 130,98 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Between 65 and 90% of women undergo the practice of FGM.
It is performed on girls and women between the ages of 4 and 70. Infibulation, the most dangerous form of FGM,
is performed in the forest region.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is widely condemned by international health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological health, is very widespread. It is widely practiced in all regions and among all religious and ethnic groups. FGM is illegal under the Penal Code, and senior officials and both the official and private press have spoken against the practice; however, there have been no prosecutions for violations of the Code. FGM is performed on girls and women between the ages of 4 and 70, but exact figures on this procedure are difficult to establish due to its private nature. The Coordinating Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting Women's and Children's Health (CPTAFE), a local NGO dedicated to eradicating FGM and ritual scarring, cited a recent decline in the percentage of females subjected to FGM, estimating the figure to be between 65 and 75 percent. Expert estimates vary between 65 and 90 percent. The lower figure, if accurate, would represent a decline over recent years due to education of the population by women's rights groups about the health risks involved with the practice. However, infibulation, the most dangerous form of FGM, still is performed in the forest region. Despite diseases resulting from crude and unsanitary surgical instruments and deaths resulting from the practice, the tradition continues, seriously affecting many women's lives. FGM also increases the risk of HIV infection since unsterilized instruments are shared among participants.
The Government has made efforts to educate health workers on the dangers of this procedure and supports the CPTAFE's efforts. The CPTAFE reports high rates of infant mortality and maternal mortality due to FGM. In March 1997, working in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Government initiated a 20-year strategy to eradicate FGM.
A growing number of men and women oppose FGM. Urban, educated families are opting increasingly to perform only a slight symbolic incision on a girl's genitals rather than the complete procedure. In November the CPTAFE held a large public ceremony celebrating the "laying down of the excision knife" in which some traditional practitioners of FGM pledged to discontinue the practice. However, most of those who perform FGM oppose its eradication since it is quite lucrative for them.
Violence against women
Violence against women is common, although estimates differ as to the extent of the problem. Wife beating is a criminal offense and constitutes grounds for divorce under civil law. However, police rarely intervene in domestic disputes.
Although the Government has made regular statements in the media against sexual harassment, women working in the formal sector in urban areas complain of frequent sexual harassment. The social stigma attached to rape prevents most victims from reporting it. The Government has not pursued vigorously criminal investigations of alleged sexual crimes.
Prostitution exists in the informal economic sector and employs girls as young as 14 years of age. The Government does not take action even if prostitution of minors is brought to its attention and does not monitor actively child or adult prostitution.
Main sources: U.S. Department of State, CIA,
UN, HRW, Mundo negro
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