Rokaya Diagne's Thesis Defense

Mrs. Rokhaya DIAGNE will publicly defend her thesis work entitled
The law on parity from 2010 to 2022: study of the political participation of women in representative institutions in Senegal led by Mr. Eric Savarese and Mrs. Mame Penda BA Cotutelle with the university “Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis” (SENEGAL) on Friday April 12, 2024 at 2 p.m., Salle Justicia.

The jury is composed of:

Ms Christine PINA – Côte d'Azur University – Rapporteur

Mr. Abdou Rahmane THIAM – Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar –
Reporter

Ms. FatoumataHANE – Assane Seck University of Ziguinchor – Examiner

Ms. Mame Penda BA – Gaston Berger University – Co-thesis director

Mr. Eric SAVARESE – University of Montpellier – Thesis Director

Keywords: parity, political commitment, women's political participation, Senegal

Summary:

On May 28, 2010, Senegal adopted Law No. 2010-11 of May 28, 2010 establishing absolute parity in fully or partially elective bodies. The new law, which constitutes a major step forward in the fight against the political underrepresentation of women, aims to rebalance the political space dominated by men and to promote the development of policies sensitive to women. However, despite the existence of the law with the obligation of alternation of gender on candidate lists, men continue to dominate political life. This thesis aims to question the explanatory logics of male control of the Senegalese political space, but also the responses that women provide to this situation. It also focuses on the place that they give to taking into account the main needs of Senegalese women. This last consideration was one of the major arguments of the defenders of parity during the mobilization for the adoption of the law. In doing so, we show that male domination of political life dates back to the colonial period and was consolidated during the first years of Senegal's independence. Furthermore, women, who have always supported men in politics, acquired citizenship late under colonization, allowing them to officially participate in political life. Nevertheless, each time they try to make a place for themselves in the public square, they find themselves constrained by men who limit their actions to electoral mobilization for their own benefit. Seizing the international context and the will of the head of state, Abdoulaye Wade, favorable to the improvement of their political representation, women obtained the law on parity which establishes gender equality in elective mandates. Similarly, the thesis returns to the content of the law, its sources but also to the various oppositions and obstacles which affect its effectiveness. It also looks at the resistance developed by men, allowing them to circumvent parity and dominate the decision-making bodies of representative institutions. Finally, through interviews conducted with elected women of the National Assembly, the HCCT, the departmental council of Mbacké and the municipal council of Saint-Louis, the research looks at the strategies and resources that women have developed to legitimize themselves in politics and try to escape male control. It also looks at the identity and political trajectory of elected women and shows that the organization and functioning of institutions as well as the political dependence of these women on political leaders, particularly at the local level, constitute difficulties in the substantial representation of women in representative institutions in Senegal.