Women in Chad, a landlocked country in Central Africa, are the mainstay of its predominantly rural-based economy and they outnumber the men. Chad is a country with diverse and rich cultural practices, such as male beauty pageants (judged by women) and long-kept-secret hair products. Despite their numbers in the general population, there are very few women in governmental positions and gender equality is far from being a reality in Chad. Chad is rated by the World Bank as the third least gender equal country in Africa. Additionally, there are few women who attain higher education, and many who receive a college degree do so outside of the country.
Women face discrimination and violence. Female genital mutilation, while technically illegal, is still widely practiced.Chad (2007) Freedom House. Retrieved 4 September 2007. Child marriage and adolescent pregnancy are commonly practiced, although some policies have been implemented to combat them. Extrajudicial killings, beatings, torture, and rape were committed by security forces and other abuses with "near total" impunity."Chad" Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006. United States Department of State. Retrieved 4 September 2007.Chad: Events of 2006 Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 4 September 2007.Annual Report: Chad Amnesty International. Retrieved 4 September 2007. Amnesty International has reported that "the widespread insecurity in eastern Chad had particularly severe consequences for women, who suffered grave human rights abuses, including rape, during attacks on villages" by Janjawid militia from Sudan.
Education
Despite government's efforts, overall educational levels remained low at the end of the first decade of independence. In 1971, about 99 percent of women over the age of fifteen could not read, write, or speak French, which at the time was the only official national language; literacy in Arabic stood at 7.8 percent. In 1982, the overall literacy rate stood at about 15 percent.Chad country study. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Major problems have hindered the development of Chadian education since independence. Financing for education has been very limited. Limited facilities and personnel also have made it difficult for the education system to provide adequate instruction. Overcrowding is a major problem, with some classes having up to 100 students, many of whom are repeaters. In the years just after independence, many primary school teachers had only marginal qualifications. On the secondary level, the situation was even worse.
In 2004, 39.6 percent of children aged 5 to 14 were attending school. Educational opportunities for girls are limited, mainly due to cultural traditions. Fewer girls enroll in secondary school than boys, primarily due to early marriage. In 1999, 54.0 percent of children who started primary school reached grade 5."Chad". 2005 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor . Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (2006). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Cultural Practices There is a wide range of cultural traditions among the many ethnic groups within Chad.
Chebe Chebe powder is a hair-care product used by rural women of the Basara Arab ethnic group in Chad. It is made from ground up natural herbs and ingredients, some of which are derived from plants unique to the region. These Bassara Arab women use Chebe as a protective styling agent, and credit the product as the secret to their famously long and healthy hair. The ground-up powder is roasted then mixed with hair oil or animal fat. It is applied liberally to hair several times per month, to hydrate it. The hair is then braided for further protection. The frequent Chebe application and hair-braiding is also a community bonding event for the women in these rural Basara groups. Some western beauty companies have used Chebe powder as a selling point in their hair-care products, but it is unclear whether or not these products contain genuine Chebe.
Facial Scarring and Adornment Facial scarring has been a common practice in Chad and the surrounding region for many decades. The nature of the scarring is extremely varied throughout the region, so there is no single style followed. Some are opposed to facial scarring especially on children, as children are often scarred as infants. Much of the pushback has also stemmed from the AIDS epidemic, as some religious leaders have refused to use a fresh blade with each new client.
A now relatively out-dated practice in the Sara tribe was to wear decorative facial jewelry that stretched the lips and skin.
Clothing
Traditional women's clothing styles in Chad can be separated into two general cultural categories: that of Muslim women and that of non-Muslim women. Muslim women in Chad typically dress similarly to Muslim women around the globe. This consists of wearing robes that cover the body and a hijab and/or niqāb. A traditional style for Non-Muslim women is to wear a short-sleeved shirt, along with a pagne (or body wrap) which covers the upper and lower parts of the body, and decorative scarf called a lafai. Sandals are a common footwear worn by Chadian women.
Pageants
Gerewol (var. Guerewol, Guérewol) is an annual cultural festival of the semi-nomadic Wodaabe people across Niger and Chad. It takes place each year at the end of the rainy season in September. The festival is centered around a courtship ritual beauty pageant, but unlike traditional western pageants the competitors are male. The men adorn themselves in dramatic makeup and flashy garments to attract the attentions of female suitors, and the women are responsible for judging their beauty.
Family Structure
Early Marriage In Chad, the mean age of women at their first marriage is 16, but experts believe the median age is likely even lower.United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2013). World Fertility Report (Report). United Nations publication. p. Table A.1. Retrieved 01 April 2022. Traditionally, girls in Chad are seen as women once they reach reproductive age, and immediately become candidates for marriage to bachelors in their respective communities. According to the World Fertility Report in 2013, the average (mean) age of women in Chad at their first pregnancy was 18.2, but the median age for this figure is also expected to be somewhat lower. The structure of promoting marriage is perpetuated by religious organizations, as over 73% of the population is Catholic or Muslim.
Polygamy
Polygamy is legal in Chad, and it is estimated that over a third of women live in polygamous marriages. Men in Chad often take multiple wives in order to maximize the number of offspring they can produce, because having large families is seen as virtuous, in traditional culture. Ordinance No. 03/INT/SUR of 1961 states that polygamy is legal as long as "spouses do not renounce it when signing the marriage contract". Knowledge about and access to contraceptives is scarce, which also contributes to high levels of poverty and child mortality, resulting from families' inability to provide for their children. Polygamy is, however, not limited to rural areas or remote communities; former President Idriss Déby publicly had multiple wives. During his presidency, he married Hinda Déby Itno who eventually was designated as the First Lady out of his eight known wives.
Adolescent Pregnancy Because girls are often married once they reach reproductive age in Chad, adolescent pregnancy is much more common than in other places. In Chad, the rate of childbirth for girls under the age of 15 is 47.8 out of 1,000, and nearly 14% of women in Chad have a child by this age. In addition to the potential financial problems faced by young mothers in poor countries with high fertility rates, medical experts warn against the increased physical risks associated with adolescent pregnancy—especially in regions with limited access to healthcare such as rural Chad.
Chad has a large number of nomadic and isolated communities which makes it much more difficult to ensure consistent healthcare access for all members of the population. This problem is exacerbated by nation-wide financial troubles that forced the government to cut the per-capita healthcare spending by nearly 20% from 2014 to 2015. Of the working healthcare facilities in Chad, only 18% are able to provide emergency neonatal and obstetric care (EmONC).
In Nigeria—one of Chad's neighboring countries—the maternal mortality rate among adolescents (ages 15–19) is more than double the maternal mortality rate of adult mothers (ages 20–34). Although it has decreased in recent years, Chad still has the second highest maternal mortality rate of any African country, topped on.ly by South Sudan. According to the data collected by the World Bank in 2015, 54.7% of pregnant Chadian women were receiving prenatal care from a skilled health professional. This is a significant increase from 38.9% in 2004, but Chad is still far underperforming in this area as compared to neighboring countries of Niger, Sudan, and Libya which reported rates closer to 80 or 90 percent.
It is difficult for women in Chad's rural communities to access healthcare and education regarding safe sex practices, as well as information on what proper prenatal care is needed during pregnancy. A weak education system is partially responsible for the lack of knowledge around contraceptives and women's healthcare practices in Chad, as very few women between the ages of 15 and 24 are literate. This age range is crucial to the discussion of contraception because traditionally, females in Chad are seen as women once they reach childbearing age (typically around 13–16 years old).
Women's rights Human trafficking
Chad is a source and destination country for children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. The country's trafficking problem is primarily internal and frequently involves parents entrusting children to relatives or intermediaries in return for promises of education, apprenticeship, goods, or money; selling or bartering children into involuntary domestic servitude or herding, as a means of survival by families seeking to reduce the number of mouths to feed."Chad". Trafficking in Persons Report 2010. U.S. Department of State (14 June 2010).
Underage Chadian girls travel to larger towns in search of work, where some are subsequently subjected to prostitution. Some girls are compelled to marry against their will, only to be forced by their husbands into involuntary domestic servitude or agricultural labor. In past reporting periods, traffickers transported children from Cameroon and the CAR to Chad's oil producing regions for commercial sexual exploitation; it is unknown whether this practice persisted in 2009.
Female genital mutilation
60 percent of Chadian women had been subjected to female genital mutilation in 1995. The procedure is a traditional rite of passage as a girl moves into adulthood and it is followed regardless of religious orientation. It is equally common amongst Muslims, Christians and animists. Those who attain adulthood without being mutilated generally avoid it for life. Over 80 percent of the girls in Chad who suffered genital mutilation were cut between the age of 5 and 14., 47, 183.
Gender Gap Report In 2012, the World Economic Forum ranked Chad as the third worst country on the continent for gender inequality in their Global Gender Gap Report, with an index score of 0.58 (1 is complete equality and 0 is complete inequality).
Women in Politics