Sexism, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, and the Schooling of Girls in Africa: A Case Study from Lusaka Province, Zambia

Introduction 38I. Zambia: The Context 40II. Methodology 44III. Findings 48A. Sexism Within and Outside of the Classroom 49B. Sexual Violence 54C. Sexuality and Its Consequences 63Conclusions and recommendations 69IntroductionSince at least 1990, international organizations have identified the education of girls as a key indicator of economic development.1 This relationship can be understood in at least two ways. First, the elimination of illiteracy and other indicia of increased life skills count among the "capabilities" enumerated by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum as the very definition of development itself.2 In this sense, education has come to be defined as a basic human right.3 Second, the education of girls has been seen as causally related to the process of economic development. Educated girls may themselves contribute to the life of the nation and the economy by expanding the pool of educated and skilled workers. Girlchild education also indirectly attacks a variety of obstacles to economic development in developing societies, such as overpopulation and health problems. Generally, educated girls marry later and have fewer children.4 Moreover, educated women can provide better health care and education to their families.5Cognizant of the benefits of education, and long deprived of it by colonial powers, newly independent African nations embraced universal education as one of their first goals. However, their understanding of the importance of educating girls came somewhat later.6 Along the way, nations encountered problems resulting from economic decline, increased debt, and Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) imposed as a condition of international credit and/or loan forgiveness, resulting in the imposition of user fees for education previously provided free of charge.7 More recently, African countries have made significant progress in expanding access to education and narrowing gender gaps in schooling that had once discriminated against girls.8 Yet, although their school enrollment and retention rates have significantly improved, African girls seeking an education face important obstacles not shared by their male peers.This article explores three primary obstacles identified during interviews with 105 schoolgirls undertaken in May 2012 in the Lusaka province of Zambia: the persistence of sex discriminatory attitudes, sexual violence directed at girl students, and problems posed by sexuality in general. Our goal is not only to give a lively sense of these obstacles but also to discuss what legal or policy changes might address them. Part I describes the context in which these issues are encountered, and Part II explains the methodology of our empirical study. In Part III, we discuss persistent obstacles described by the girls in their responses to our interview questions: (1) discriminatory treatment of girls within and outside the classroom; (2) sexual violence and the fear of sexual violence; and (3) issues of sexuality involving pregnancy and attitudes toward sex. The final section, Part IV, deals with possible remedies, including both those suggested by the girls interviewed and others implicated by this discussion.I. Zambia: The ContextZambia's economic welfare has long been tied to the fortunes of the market for copper, which is mined in the northern Copperbelt region. At independence in 1964, Zambia was relatively prosperous, but a decline in the price of copper in the 1970s and 1980s had a disastrous effect on the economy.9 Due to the decline in the price of copper, substantial financial mismanagement, and corruption by early governments,10 Zambia became one of the poorer nations in Africa by 1998. …