Women of Tanzania

The tropical country of Tanzania, which is located in Africa, holds multiple opportunities for both industrial and agricultural progress, however with that said; Tanzania also has a lot of barriers to overcome, in particular, the barriers women of Tanzania face on a daily basis of which their primary issue is poverty. Tanzania is known as the “largest country in East Africa,” lies south of the equator and shares borders with eight other countries and the Indian Ocean (Mella 713). The Tanzania land mass covers a surprising 940,000 square feet of what is primarily 85% rural land, to a meager 15%, of which is actually urbanely developed. However, even with this much space and potential for agricultural and industrial growth, Tanzania remains the “third poorest developing country in the world,” as Tanzanian women share the brunt of the unfortunate poverty conditions found in the beautiful country (Mella 713). Among the many problems Tanzania women face, the most prevalent issues plaguing their lives seems to stem primarily from the drastic poverty conditions found within the country, which in turn produces domestic violence on the home front, to maternal child bearing healthcare problems, to inequality within the industrial workforce and agricultural land ownership.

On the home front, Tanzanian women are often viewed as their husband’s subjects or employees, rather than equal as partners of a marriage, it is within this perception of women as property, that becomes the breeding ground for domestic violence. A study completed by WHO, more commonly known as the World Health Organization, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, showed that “the percentage of women reporting one or more acts of controlling behaviors by their intimate partner,” consisted of almost, “90% of ever-partnered women in the United Republic of Tanzania, which suggests that the level of male control over female behavior is normative to different degrees,” and is considered socially acceptable within Tanzania standards for a country that typical has typically viewed women as subordinate to their male counter parts (Garcia-Moreno 1265).

Although the study produced significant findings resulting in a vast majority of Tanzanian women who have experienced abuse by partners, little remains to be done about the topic as the study claimed, “traditional criminal justice, for example, might be restricted for dealing with partner violence against women because of the emotional and economic ties between victim and perpetrator,” suggesting that real change needs to begin at the level of the institutions governing such as religion and state institutions, while cultural and societal views also need to change to ensure women a safe environment (Garcia-Moreno 1268). However in addition, to the Tanzanian women’s difficulty in achieving equal status within their marriages and an environment free from domestic violence, the traditional healthcare practices have also produced a decline in the maternal mortality of women of child bearing capacity, is also severely affected by the extreme poverty levels found within the country.

For a Tanzania woman, access to preventive or traditional health care is extremely hard to come by, which is due in large part to the overall poverty conditions and inadequate physician to patient health care practices. The proper definition of equity can be described as being, “unfairly deprived of something they want or require to protect them from an unwanted or undesirable condition,” as the “poor do not have the same access to life-saving and health-maintaining interventions as the rich,” as is the case in much of Tanzania (Creanga 258). A quick glance at the doctor to patient ratio tells us, “the ratio of doctors to the population is 1:21,000” which is a stark contrast to America’s, “ratio of doctor’s to patients as 1:1,600,” shows us there isn’t access to the medical professionals needed to maintain proper health status’s (Mella 714).

Due to Tanzania’s healthcare equity issues, women of Tanzania also suffer through poor or inadequately trained physicians of the prenatal and birthing processes. Complications in pregnancy, or during a pregnancy cycle, can result from numerous issues such as; excessive women’s workload from long hours, material depletion or improper food intake causing malaria and anemia, female genital circumcision which causes a near impossibility to deliver on one’s own, HIV and AIDS infections spread between mother and child, to improper child spacing in which the “interval between births is less than two years, and on average, women in Tanzania have more than eight pregnancies,” however, not all pregnancies result in live births (Mella 716). The actual number of live births per Tanzania household ranges from “4.1 – 6” children, which also shows an “unmet need” in contraceptive usages as, “20% or more of married women would like to limit childbearing but do not use any contraceptive device or technique,” necessary to accomplish that end, as the hope and pray method simply doesn’t work, leaving many Tanzanian women wishing for the monetary means to be able to seek affordable help (Seager 35-36). Another factor of the birthing process which cripples Tanzania women, can be seen within the maternal mortality rate statistics where once the baby is born, “3,000 to 4,000 women die annually in childbirth or from complications of pregnancy,” therefore, “75 % of the maternal deaths occur during the third trimester, during labor, or immediately afterward, that is, within 42 days after delivery,” in which most deaths could have been prevented, if these women had better access to preventive health care, health care practices, and more knowledgeable health care professionals (Mella 715).

In an effort to help Tanzanian women become more knowledgeable in regards to their own health care options and preventive measures, Tanzania has established the “Ministry of Community Development, Women Affairs and Children, to address issues of Women in Tanzania,” in which, women’s issues could come before the government in attempt to change policies for the betterment of women (Mella 718). The Safer Motherhood Initiative, calls for “interventions from health-related sectors to perform such services as raising the status of women; reducing the workload especially during pregnancy; and educating women about traditional practices including FGM,” in attempt to further educate women at the level of the population and not the government (Mella 718). Tanzania has also started clinics which specialize in Maternal and Child Health Services or MCH services, in which, pregnant women are being followed up, and the “‘at-risk’ mothers are being detected and referred to higher levels where the intervention is done,” as well as, getting women the necessary shots for tetanus and other diseases, while providing doctors with better information and training regarding the services women need (Mella 719). Since Midwives are the most common method of delivery for most expecting parents, the formation of the African Midwifery Research Network, in which, “midwives in Africa have formed a networking group to build the capacity in research methodology,” so as to educate at the level of the midwives, since many women still deliver in the home, in order to further help women of child bearing age (Mella 721). While strides for progress are being made within the medical field, much remains to be done at the level of the workforce, in order for Tanzanian women to receive the recognition they deserve for the work they complete.

Although much of Tanzania is agriculturally inhabited, there are a large number of women who work within the public and private spheres of society. According to The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, the “percentage of women who work for pay” in 2005, ranks Tanzania as second to Burundi, a neighboring country, with a grand total of “86%” of women working in the traditional workforce sphere of society (Seager 63). However, even with such astonishing numbers for women in the public, Tanzania women also occupy a large sector of the hidden workforce, with at least “50%” of women seeking work in the “informal sector,” which includes, “petty trade food processing and domestic work. It is paid work but unstructured and unregulated,” leaving many Tanzania women susceptible to working long hours for little pay (Seager 65). There is also a third job market possibility for Tanzanian women, within the “fish farms workforce in aquaculture,” in which “70% of women,” participate in the areas of “shrimp farming, seaweed processing, and pond fisheries,” whereas the rest of Tanzania women are involved in the countries traditional agricultural farming sector (Seager 69).

Tanzanian women have come a long way in terms of land rights and land ownership; however, they still face many struggles associated with inequality even with the newly established Land Acts Rights of 1999. Traditionally, women were purchased from their families for the price of cattle or other desired goods, leaving many women with little recourse for land claims in the event of a divorce or death of a husband. The Land Acts Rights of 1999 establishes in practice, “gender equality. A particular cause for celebration in the Acts themselves was the possibility of co-spousal registration and titling of customary rights,” however the main issue resides in the fact that this law “has not been made mandatory,” leaving many women with no more rights than they possessed prior to 1999 (Yngstrom 13).
The Tanzanian Land Acts allows for statutory courts the ability to handle their own land issues, however the courts are not “equipped to deal with the perplexing array of customary land rights, and the flexibilities embedded in them,” at the level of the statutory courts themselves, leaving many cases to be handled by the Village Council (Yngstrom 13). Although Tanzania has made significant strides in having women represented among the Village Councils as a “measure intended to address the lack of female representation on decision-making of Tanzania. Women elected to these Councils are unlikely to demonstrate particular support for women’s land claims,” as the dominate status quo remains unaffected by these female representatives, causing many women to receive unfair treatment at the hands of their peers (Yngstrom 14). To this day the only secure way for a Tanzanian woman to receive land unquestionably is through marriage, while widows generally inherit land from their deceased husbands, this inheritance only lasts until their sons are old enough to resume the family farm.

The tropical expanse of Tanzania land mass provides many options for upcoming improvements not only agriculturally based but also for industrial growth, as a country currently struggling with poverty tries to move forward with its initiatives to help women and children. Although The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, places the women of Tanzania as equal to that of women in the United States in terms of “high rank” for countries “taking the measure of women’s status,” the investigations above prove Tanzania women are actually a lot worse off than their American counter parts (Seager 17). Much still remains to be done in Tanzania, if women are to ever obtain a truly equal status, although they have made a start, their highest priorities need to begin with equality amongst the family unit, freedom from domestic abuse, an ability to achieve adequate health care and health preventive measures to ensure maternal mortality, while equal legal rights to agricultural land, needs to be enforced so their contributions to the family income becomes acknowledged as separate and or equal to that of their husbands.


Works Cited

Creanga, Andreea A., Duff Gillespie, Sabrina Karklins, and Amy O. Tsui. "Low Use of Contraception
Among Poor Women in Africa: An Equity Issue." Bulletin of the World Health
Organization 89.4 (2011): 258-266. Print.

Garcia-Moreno, Claudia P., Henrica Jansen, Mary Ellsberg, and Charlotte Watts. "Prevalence of
Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the WHO Multi-County Study on Women's Health and
Domestic Volence." Lancet 368.9543 (2006): 1260-1269. Print.

Mella, Pauline P. "Major Factors that Impact on Women's Health in Tanzania: The Way Forward." Health
Care for Women International 24.8 (2003): 712-722. Print.

Seager, Joni. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. Fourth Edition. London WC2R ORL, England:
Penquin Books Ltd, 2009. Print.

Yngstrom, Ingrid. "Women, Wives and Land Rights in Africa: Situating Gender beyond the Household in
the Debate Our Land Policy and Changing Tenure Systems." Oxford Development Studies 30.1
(2002): 21-40. Print.