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Senegal |
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
In present day Senegal, there are huge numbers of single women and divorcees
Divorce in any climate is the sickness of modern times. In the courts of Dakar alone, divorces have increased by 8.41% between 1997 and 2000. However, this is not the overall picture, for in rural areas the situation is quite different. It is true that for the latter there few reliable statistics, the ties of marriage are still «sacred».
Among the reasons often quoted for divorce, there is the «omnipresence» of the mother-in-law, who, it is said, is responsible for the majority (i.e. 80%) of family break-ups. Sharing the blame is the hectic life of Dakar, flirtatiousness, fondness for ostentation, the «have you noticed me» of Senegal ladies, their irresponsibility, taste for superficiality and extravagance in family expenditure. Often blamed, too, are incompatibility of character, selfishness and individualism which is gaining ground more and more, not to mention conjugal violence.
Conversely, others say that it is because women are increasingly conscious of their rights that there are more divorces. They no longer want to be «submissive» as formerly, and they no longer want to be treated as «Kleenex tissues».
Another explanation is that good looking and elegant Senegalese women are «materialistic», an explanation which seems to be justified by the little value they place on «love». Hence, the fragility of their home life.
But in reality, is that not a rather facile explanation? Is it satisfactory when it is known that in Africa generally, love is a sentiment which is rather undervalued? In those societies where social cohesion is customary, the interests of the family take precedence over individual considerations. To found a family is (or was) one’s first duty. Love was not the aim of marriage. It was above all and still is a question of perpetuating the family line, hence the success of the endogamic marriage. In Senegal, the family generally includes the father, the mother, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins of both sexes. It is rarely a single nuclear family.
It should however be noted that, even if it is very rare, there are some women who have chosen celibacy. Though this is a status which is looked on in Senegal as «anti-social», they are not ashamed of it, and they enter it affirming that they feel at ease with it and take it on in «serene solitude». Evidently, if one does not take into account questions connected with caste, religion or its denial, as is sometimes the case, those are elements which often influence their choice.
Marriage in crisis
Marriage is in crisis everywhere. It often goes together with economic factors. In Senegal, 62% of the population are poor, that is to say, they are people who live on less than one dollar a day. That has repercussions on the stability or durability of the family group.
Beyond this, the marriage crisis, according to a psychologist, is due to «a loss of the family ideal and also a loss of traditional values». He states that formerly the man was the «foundation stone of marriage». Nowadays, it has a «confused image». If it is to be believed, today’s youth who approach religion from an «absolute distance»: are in the process of redefining the terms of a union.
At all events, people are no longer afraid of divorce. Even «kersa» (modesty) does not embarrass anybody. According to traditional values, the divorced wife would leave the family home at night, to avoid the disapproving or inquisitive looks of neighbours and likewise of relatives. The disparaging stares were also feared by the family for whom however, it was only a «fay», a temporary (and discrete) absence from the family home which did not exclude an eventual reconciliation.
In reality, nowadays, there is little chance that there will be a reconciliation. Increasingly radical solutions are favoured: «If I like it, I will stay; otherwise I’ll go», is the reasoning of many Senegalese women. Henceforth they consider marriage as a «contract»: «it is an interplay of interests. It is neither a barrier nor a restraint. Marriage contracts typify the modern world». Nevertheless, they hold that it is not they who «trivialise» marriage. The responsibility is shared by husbands who do not keep their promises, of which they are not very miserly «when it suits them».
Their final grievance: Some say that Senegalese men do not like financial autonomy in wives, as evidenced by their entrepreneurial drive. For them, it is a loss of authority. Enough said! Divorce is a problem on which we shall never see the last word.
The dowry: an obstacle to marriage
Another fact: the prohibitive cost of the dowry in Senegal also swells the ranks of the unmarried, both men and women. Marriage here, as elsewhere, is a victim of the economic crisis, change of values, and an outfall of the scarcity of jobs. The rate of unemployment (about 25% of the workforce) is very high and buying power is low (averaging 350 FF) while the cost of getting married is constantly going up. It varies between 1,500 and 20,000 FF, a sum which is not within the reach of everybody.
Explanation? It is the aunts, who cannot be ignored in this kind of operation, who «over-charge» the candidates. They want their slice of the cake. To justify their stance, they say that they do not want to «undervalue» their nieces. It should be remembered that here the men (fathers), do not have any say in the matter.
The majority (90%) of Senegalese are Muslims. Some hold that the dowry is paid in defiance of the rules of the Muslim religion. According to the Koran, they say, the dowry should be «a licit amount», that is, what the man gives to the woman for the privilege of marrying her. Clearly its value should not exceed about 1.25 grams of gold. It could be paid in cash, once the contract has been concluded, paid in part or totally deferred. However, it is recommended that it would be better to pay a part of the dowry in advance before the marriage, otherwise it would not be entered into with a solid foundation. The reality is often quite different. The intended have great difficulty in getting the amount demanded or insisted on. Whence the disputes and conflicts between families.
Often delays aggravate these difficulties, if it does not completely put off the intended parties. It sometimes happens that in order to bypass these difficulties, the couple carry out some «coup d’etat» (a pregnancy), which radically changes the situation. In these cases, there is no obligation to pay a huge sum, and the aunts have to be satisfied with a symbolic dowry or even do without. If there is one fear which haunts the aunts once they fail to reach their aim (to pocket a fortune) it is that, through their own fault, they are only creating old spinsters! An unbearable dishonour, in as far as Senegalese society looks very askance at the celibacy of women old enough to marry.
The aunts play a tight game, without guarantee of success, for they know that they risk bringing about conditions where their nieces are ostracised and marginalized, since women have no social status or even identity except through marriage. It is this kind of social pressure which pushes some girls to agree to marry polygamous men.
At all events, for numerous reasons, marriage in Senegal, as in many other countries, is an institution which nowadays attracts few young people. Sign of the times!
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