Equitable relationships between men and women: Madagascar, an African example

Anne-Pascaline Briet, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)

Many authors described the inequalities that exist and last between men and women in Africa. Inequalities in terms of schooling, of inheritance right, of participation in economic and household activities, of decision-making within a couple, etc. After the study upon several types of data (socio-demographic data from national, regional, qualitative, biographical investigations), it seems as if Madagascar outstood the African outline. Without being a totally egalitarian society, the status and the role given to women are different from those of west African women for instance. We could attach ourselves to show that in Madagascar and particularly in the rural zones of the High Lands, the rates of schooling are the same whatever the sex may be, the inheritance system becomes more and more egalitarian, women receive a salary as men, the power to decide within a couple is shared in the same way as the household activities.