“We must break past the barriers of selfishness and contempt” -Constance Yaï (Côte d’Ivoire) 2/2
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We are in conversation with Constance Yaï from Ivory Coast. In the first part, she told us about the birth of her feminist engagement and the creation of l'Association Ivoirienne des Droits des Femmes (AIDF - the Ivorian Association for Women's Rights), and its actions. In the second part of the interview, we hear about her vision for an intergenerational feminist movement in Africa.
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Let’s talk about intergenerational collaboration. It’s a topic at the core of the feminist movement. In your time, did you have older feminists or women who supported you at all?
Yes. Some women supported us. But I must admit that in 1990, the term was scary. Women would tell us in private “We support you”.
Speaking of privately supportive women, it reminds me that indeed, there is a fear of speaking out, claiming to be a feminist, or declaring solidarity with the fight that is still publicly present. I believe one of the reasons is that African feminists who express their vision of feminism are told that they are fighting the wrong battle, that feminism is an invention of the West to destroy African culture. Is this also a rhetoric that you have heard?
Nothing was imported. Women’s oppression isn’t something that we created. It exists in our societies. And feminism is the response to women’s oppression. I was born in this environment. I didn’t make the patriarchy up. These fights emerged when there were issues to tackle. Nowadays, many realize that feminist movements are gaining momentum. African women have done nothing but take part in a large international movement from which we were absent. Women would fight alone, isolated, and no one would know about them.
When I think about our beginnings, you know, it was hard to get invited to a television program. We were young, in our thirties or early thirties. We had little means and didn’t benefit from any financial support nationally. Those who did invite us tried to mock us, bully us, and discourage us. You would come and people would tell you “Madam, are you sure you’re talking about Ivory Coast? Are you sure that the women of the country need that? Don’t you think you’re coming to shake up marriages? Are you coming to throw this country’s peace off balance?” You are introduced as this rebel, who came to cause trouble when everyone was happy, where all is fine.
So, you can imagine that being isolated in your country is surely not the best thing. I believe that people react like this because African feminists have become more vocal, are more visible, and most importantly are build a network.
Indeed.
When I take the list of laws that we contested… For those who say that feminism is a movement imported from abroad, we tell them to look at the Ivorian civil code. It is a copy of the Napoleonic code. This is what was imported to suppress African women’s rights. Since our countries became French colonies, women's rights have regressed, in the sense that they used to participate in political life.
You mentioned the support of older women in private. Don't you think that today, young feminists need public support from their elders?
We need to openly express our support for our daughters and young sisters because the patriarchy is a smart system. It has created spaces and ways to create conflict among people who are fighting for the same cause.. What I hear being unfairly said to young feminists is “You’re just lost, your mothers or elders were more compliant…” Nonsense! These are only lies told to say that there are good and bad feminists. I support them because they're honest and because the fight must end. If we break that bond… It’s over! We must support them. I feel no shame, and I openly and publicly support them.
So, how do you support young feminists now?
First, through visibility. The means and opportunities that we have now, allow us to amplify young feminists’ voices. I’m thinking about social media. I believe they also have a space to take. We need to participate in having them effectively on the field and distance ourselves from those who trivialize their fight; we can do this by openly being by their side. In Ivory Coast as much as in the subregion. They need our support and our presence. When it comes to Ivory Coast I tell young feminists, if you need my name, use it. You don’t even need to ask for permission. As elders, let’s be a steppingstone for the young generation.
How can we strengthen intergenerational cooperation within the African feminist movement?
You said the keyword: cooperation. We don’t need to lead the same actions, but we need connections. We need to get together. You’re not less efficient because you’re younger or older. Some have time to spare. Others don’t. Some offer training, advice, and programs. Some are simply present… All this matters.
I know a woman who was the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ivory Coast’s biggest workers’ union, UGTCI – Union Générale des Travailleurs de Côte d’Ivoire. From her, I asked nothing but her presence. I told her “Auntie if you want to speak, please do; if don’t want to, that’s fine as well. Your presence is more than enough for me”. When the debates started, she wouldn’t be able to contain herself and she would speak out. She became part of us, and we were very happy to work with her.
We’re talking about intergenerational cooperation within the movement. It also implies conflict management. How do we go beyond conflict or differences to keep on doing what brings us together?
I believe that conflicts are inherent. But we must ask ourselves: what are the values that unite us? Why are we here? Why are we together? And to have that in mind often so that we can transcend the small conflicts. Kindness for me is the foundation. When another person speaks, it's based on their perception of things at that time. When kindness is the foundation of our relationship, I listen to you.
Feminists have a lot to contribute to humanity. We must not be an obstacle to ourselves. I forbid myself to be responsible for the delay of this fight. On the contrary, I must be the one my sister relies on to move forward. We have no choice. We must break the barriers of selfishness, the barriers of contempt. We are the future of the world, we are the future of politics, and we are what will allow the world to put an end to wars, to put an end to injustice, to put an end to suffering. A movement like that has a future.
This is a beautiful articulation of what sisterhood is.
Exactly. Without using the word, that's exactly what I'm saying. Thanks to feminism today, I always look at other women with kindness. Feminism has taught me to be in solidarity with women in struggle. I can't attack other women. My sisterhood forbids it.
You were Minister of Solidarity and Women’s Advancement in Ivory Coast. Many young feminists have political ambitions. Tell us a little about this experience in politics.
I think that feminists will be stronger if they accept to break the barriers that are considered political. Everyone chooses the political party of their choice. Feminists must transcend these choices and get together. They do not have to support the same party. I dream of a collective of feminists from political parties in our countries.
Why?
When I was in the government, it was a single-party majority, and I was not in the majority, unfortunately. But when I arrived at the council of ministers, I took the time to speak. In the beginning, we were only two women in this government. And the other lady, who was much older than me, was very much listened to. And she is precisely the one who became the first woman in charge of an Ivorian institution, Henriette Diabaté. I used to say to her, “Auntie, I am going to present such and such a thing next week, we have to discuss it, we must...”. I needed help and it was a strategy I was implementing.
I figured we're in gerontocratic societies, so people look at age a lot, and we respect our elders. Let's give our elders the respect they deserve, without being sycophantic, without sucking up, without getting down on our knees in front of people, and by keeping our dignity while respecting them. And personally, it helped me to make some difficult decisions that I needed to push at that time.
So no, we can't do anything if we don't create, as I said earlier, connections. Feminists have no choice, they can't do otherwise; we must create connections. And they don't have to be of the same party. We must encourage our women, our girls, to enter politics, to be in the unions. We must be there, we must be present, and above all, we must be unapologetic.
All this could be accessible to more feminists through the production of knowledge. How can we also encourage this production in our region? I am thinking, for example about your book, “Traditions-Pretexts, the Status of Women in the test of the cultural”.
It is important, and we’re currently working on it. I took advantage of my stay here to meet some feminists from Niger and Benin. I believe we need to create our own publishing house to encourage feminists to write. There are many manuscripts. I advocate for the creation of publishing houses and for those that are already established to open and become interested in feminist literary work.
What do you hope for girls and women in Africa today?
Our countries must fund feminism. I believe this is my next fight, find domestic funds for women, for women’s rights. The economic issue will be the center of my next actions. We tend to forget that without the means, the needs won’t be met. We need support, nationally as well as internationally. As long as our funding is international, our fight will keep on being perceived as others’ fight. We also need endogenous funding. It is abnormal for countries to watch their youth and women despair when there are means to change things.
It’s a pertinent wish. Constance, thank you so much for making time to speak with us and share your experience.
