The impact of gender equality policy on peace within the Rwandan household: A case study of women leaders

Abstract

The study explored the impact of gender equality policy on peace within the Rwandan household using experiences of women in leadership positions and supplementary information from their husbands. The objectives of the study were to identify the effect of gender policy on division of labor in the household, to find out the effect of gender equality policy on household decisionmaking and to establish the role of gender equality policies/laws in mitigating marital conflicts. The researcher used a case study design with both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. The population of study included Ministers and State Ministers, Senators and Deputies, Governors and Mayors. The sample size was 60 respondents but 26 out of 48 were from Deputies who were selected using convenience sampling. The rest were taken out the entire population, but 15 of them did not return the questionnaires. The questionnaires, interview guide and secondary sources were the tools used for data collection. Therefore, 45 (75% response rate) were able to provide data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics generated using SPSS. The results revealed that to a largest extent, the Gender equality policies have had a positive effect on household labor and women‟s decision making in the household but did not comprehensively help in mitigating marital conflicts in Rwandan families. Some men have more than one wife secretly outside their marriage and this creates conflict, marital rape and neglect of children in case divorce takes place. Findings from men revealed that cultural norms are still deep rooted among families where the man believes that he should dominate his wife and has a final say in all household matters. The study recommends that there is need to sensitize men to abandon their beliefs in traditional cultures where women are subjected to their domination, women should also be sensitized to understand their roles as wives and to report cases of men who abuse their marital rights.