According to The Global Gender Gap Report, in 2021, Rwanda moved up from ninth place to seventh in the world’s top 10 gender-equal societies. In 2008, the Chamber of Deputies – the lower house – was the first elected national parliament where women were the majority, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Among others, the proportion of lawmakers who are women in Rwanda is at 61.25 per cent today, way above the global average of 26.4 per cent. ALSO READ: Kigali declaration outlines ‘actions to achieve gender equality in Parliaments’ Rwanda has been at the top of the IPU’s monthly ranking of women in national parliaments for years. Despite the gains made in this and other areas of the country’s life towards gender equality, findings continue to show that a long journey has to be made to fully achieve gender equality in the country. Nonetheless, the country, or nation, has come a long way. Women weren't always treated fairly. They were not allowed, for example, to do certain things. Here are just five things Rwandan women could not do 50, or so, years ago. 1. Eating chicken or goat meat Shocked? On my part when I learned about it, I was surprised. It never occurred to me that one had to be a certain gender in order to enjoy a dish such as chicken or goat meat. Meat from goats is called chevon, by the way. In Rwandan cultural norms it was said that chicken or goat meat was a man’s dish. Rwandan women were advised to avoid goat meat. And according to old cultural belief, women or girls who ate goat meat would grow beards. 2. Building houses or climbing trees Due to the outfits or attires worn by Rwandan women in the past, they were not allowed to climb trees or build houses. This was seen as taboo when women were building or climbing trees because they exposed their bodies when doing so. As such, till this day, climbing trees is still engraved as something not very feminine, or ladylike. 3. Beating drums Rwandan women would do other forms of entertainment such as singing or dancing. They could dance and sing with men. However, when it came to beating the drums, only men were allowed. The Intore dance, the most popular traditional dance in Rwanda is performed in three forms including the ballet, or gushayaya, often performed by women. There is also the heroes' dance performed by men and, lastly, the drums that used to be performed by men. But now, women drumming is no longer taboo in modern Rwanda since women rose above the stereotypes and are drumming beautifully next to their male counterparts. 4. Whistling Women who whistled were regarded as ill-mannered which resulted in them being disrespected if they were caught whistling. In Rwandan culture, it was believed that whistling was not feminine. People considered it undignified when a female whistled. ALSO READ: Kagame: Gender equality is not just a women’s issue 5. Milking cows Milking a cow was considered a man’s job in Rwandan culture. When the women were single and did not have a husband to milk the cows they would ask for assistance from their neighbors or other male figures present in their lives. It was believed that when milking a cow the position or sitting posture a lady used did not dignify women due to the attires they wore in the past. This is the reason why they were not allowed to milk cows.
