Answer:
Dee and Danielle,
Good question. In the refugee camps where about half of the Sahrawis
live the women played the greatest part in organising the lives
of the people. They ran the schools and hospitals and food distribution
systems. They did not just do the physical work, they also ran
the committees that organised all these things at a local level.
That was between 1975 and 1991.
After 1991 things began to change
a bit because there was an end to the fighting and many men
came back to the refugee camps from the front line and looked for
other things to do.
To some extent they replaced women. Some women are quite happy
about this, saying they had enough of humping sacks of grain
about or building
mud houses. But others feel they have been edged out a bit,
particularly in some of the organising roles in the camps.
The Sahrawi women in the camps are certainly more equal with
men than in many other parts of the world but they are still
not properly
represented in the government.
In the areas of the Western Sahara controlled by Morocco,
Sahrawi women are involved in protesting in support of
political prisoners
and demanding rights for the Sahrawis. There is an interesting
contrast between Sahrawi women and Moroccan women. Sahrawi
women are much
more able to run their own lives. For example, they have
always been able to demand a divorce and then re-marry.
This relatively
greater
freedom is historic. I had the privilege of meeting a
very old woman who fought alongside her husband on her own camel
in battle
against
the French in the 1950s.
I hope this helps.
Toby
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