Women’s Empowerment in Togo Requires an End to Dictatorship

The regime in Togo continues to try to present itself as a progressive government which is striving towards improving conditions in Togo. The most recent example of this is the hosting of a forum on the empowerment of girls and women as part of the effort to combat poverty. Togo was apparently selected to host this event because of Togo’s “efforts on issues of education and promotion of women’s empowerment.”

These efforts have not led to significant change in terms of empowering women because real change will have to be structural in nature. It will require the reshaping of Togo’s society into a more just and democratic society, but this cannot be possible so long as Togo remains under the control of dictatorship.

For all its attempts to portray itself as being progressive on gender issues — such as appointing Victoire Tomegah Dogbe as the nation’s first prime minister — one cannot forget that the regime in Togo is one which regularly violates the human rights of its women citizens. This a regime which has used sexual torture to force confessions. This is a regime in which female journalists are assaulted and where female opposition leaders are arrested merely for daring to challenge the dictatorship. These are the types of abuses which happen regularly in Togo and which continue to happen. Togo is also a nation where women are made to give birth to their children on the floor. These are the conditions that the government of Togo has imposed on the women of Togo.

The women in Togo themselves recognize this reality, which is why women have played a major role in the effort to combat dictatorship in Togo. For example, women marched in 2018 to demand an end to dictatorship.

Human rights and democracy are indispensable in empowering women, enabling them to achieve equality and fulfill their potential. For women in Togo to truly be empowered and to advance, it will require an end to dictatorship in Togo.