homes as domestic workers (housekeepers and nannies). Due to easy access, they are drawn into this work, which reproduce
Discrimination based on descent and its impacts on Haratine women in Mauritania Mrs. Mariem SALEM, SOS-Slaves / Minority Rights Group International
[email protected] Geneva, 04/06/2013 (presented in French at side event on Dalit women) Nouakchott, Mauritania Social hierarchy in Mauritania is at the origin of the domination and marginalisation of Haratine people. Descendant of slaves and of freed slaves, Haratines' status is passed from generation to generation. Performing mostly domestic work for their Masters, they also accomplish other socially degrading, unremunerated and physically strenuous work. Discrimination linked to their social status plays a key role in maintaining inequalities: even when freed, Haratine women and men are trapped into work patterns which closely reproduce the relationship of servility. Today, the overwhelming majority of Mauritanian Mariem Salem at the UN side event in Geneva. population suffers from a growing impoverishment. While the practice of slavery was remarkably reduced (several laws have been adopted), the remnants of this historical phenomenon frame the life experience of Haratine women (also called Hartaniates), and create multiple barriers for Haratine women in today's world: (1) A key challenge for Haratine women lies in the pervading social attitudes and perceptions which stigmatise Haratine in general. Specific types of work continue to be assigned to them on the basis of their hierarchical status; these include forms of work which do not require significant capital or qualifications, such as sewing, dyeing and selling tobacco, vegetables, fish and itinerant trading. The production and sale of the traditional dresses and the preparation of couscous have also become one of the main income-generating activities of Haratine women. Although new, these occupations keep Haratine women in precarious economic conditions. The demand for 'new services' is also growing as a result of urbanisation and life-style modernisation in Mauritania. Haratine women are now working as public bath workers and guardians of building sites or depot. These occupations particularly impact on Haratine women’s self-perception and compromise their ability to improve their status and conditions. For instance, Haratine women are required to live on the property they are guarding. Located in wealthy neighborhoods, this situation maintains their affiliation to the richer layers of society, and even gives them an illusion of a nearby luxurious life-style from which they remain excluded: In fact, they still live in precarious conditions (home-made huts with no running water and irregular electric supplies). (2) Economic vulnerability is another key challenge Haratine women face after years of dependency as slaves (note that 42% have paid compensation in exchange of freedom). As mentioned earlier, Haratine women are locked into informal work, sometimes humiliating and with very low, irregular, even insignificant income despite labour regulations. This social and economic situation (unpaid domestic work, inheritance appropriation, payment in exchange of freedom, etc.) deserves a particular attention. In fact, in urban areas, approximately 85% of Haratine women are involved in economic activity in one form of another. While 60% of them are involved in manual trades, 77% of them are trapped in informal work. After the massive arrivals of Haratine communities in the Capital-city at the beginning of the 80s, Haratine women found themselves heavily working in
homes as domestic workers (housekeepers and nannies). Due to easy access, they are drawn into this work, which reproduce initial dependency patterns. Those are reassuring both for the slaveowners and for the Haratines established in new urban areas. (3) Life in rural areas also poses particular challenges for Haratine women. Nearly 45% of Haratine women living in rural areas do so in precarious conditions. Those who live in camps alongside their former Masters are mostly involved in agro-pastoralist activities. They are also in charge of all the domestic work in their former master’s house (preparing meals, fetching water and wood, pickings, feeding girls, breastfeeding infants, etc.). Again, this proximity fosters the development of a relationship and bonding between the Haratine women and the family of the dominant group and impedes the effective emancipation of Haratine women. Even Haratine women who live in Adwabas (Haratine villages) continue to do some unremunerated work for their former master on a punctual basis, which will reduce their ability to work and provide for their own household. Furthermore, with the economic migration of Haratine men, Haratine women are often the last to remain in Adwabas with the children, and must combine chores which were usually ascribed to men, such as work in the fields, harvesting, etc., in addition to their own work. (4) The low level of access to education is another challenge faced by Haratine women and girls, and which further entrench the discrimination they experience. There has been a massive opening of private schools in Mauritania, which led to the decreasing quality of in public education, where the Haratine women and girls who are able to access the education system are found predominantly. This being sais, it is worth nothing that more than 32% Haratine women do not have access to any form of education. Lower quality education will in turn limit their children's ability to improve their social status: more often they will perform heavy work such as shepherding, begging, fishing, garbage collecting or work as mechanics, domestics and nannies. (5) Whilst legislative changes – such as the 2007-042 law criminalizing slavery - has presented opportunities to improve the status and condition of Haratine women, the lack of specific measures, tailored programmes and funding impede their real emancipation. In its review of Mauritania in 2009, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concerned over the lack of effective implementation of the above-mentioned law, as well as the continued existence of caste-based slavery, which has a particular impact on girls in domestic service and called on the State of Mauritania to take all necessary measures to eradicate slavery. I hope this brief overview enabled you to better appreciate the specific manner Haratine women in Mauritania experience multiple discriminations on the basis or their gender and their belonging to the Haratine group. Thank you.
