Women in Tanzania

Submitted by Julia Tortu on the 2018 winter session program in Tanzania sponsored by the Department of  Entomology and Wildlife Ecology…

In addition to the phenomenal wildlife we have already seen on our drives through national parks, we have also had the opportunity to hear a lot about life for women in Tanzania. We have heard mostly from one of our guide’s perspective. Her name is Mama Maggie and she is already one of the bravest and most forgiving people, I’ve ever met. She first told us the story of how she met her husband, which also contributed to how she became a safari guide. While she explained to us how supportive her husband is of strong women who want a career, she had many stories of women who were not so lucky. One of the most upsetting and powerful stories from today came up when Mama Maggie asked us about divorce in our country

A woman Maggie knows from the NGO she founded is an all too common example of what women could face in Tanzania. The woman was alone one night. She was taken by three men and assaulted by one whom she had previously turned down a marriage proposal from. A few days later, the father of that man came to her father’s house to set up wedding arrangements. Apparently, the fathers had arranged for the woman to be taken and a dowry was exchanged. This woman is still married to her rapist today because divorce is seen as taboo and shameful in the eyes of the church and local communities.

Today’s stories demonstrated to me how different each woman’s experiences can be in different parts of the world. Divorce in the United States is not very taboo anymore and is even quite common. Comparatively, Maggie says she knows of many women in the same situation as her colleague who is stuck in an unhappy marriage with no ability to change. However, Maggie’s personal experience with her husband gave me some hope that things could be changing in Tanzania in the future.

Mama Maggie and I, Arusha, Tanzania