International women's day: a voice from Seguela, Ivory Coast

I am happy to be a woman. The woman can do what the man does. For example, if it happens that the man cannot pay the rent, I can do that for him because I am doing a small job. But women and men are not always treated the same way in Cote d'Ivoire. The difference is because we are not the same. Women have more sentiments than men and women suffer more than men. We women are born to suffer, so we accept the situation like that. This is the way it is in Africa.

There is violence against women because when they don't behave well, the husband can beat her. If the woman does not behave well and she is conscious that what she does is wrong, she has to apologise. Otherwise the man is right if he beats her. Yes, the man sometime talks to the woman but she may not understand. So he is sometimes obliged to beat her. To read the rest of this article, please click on this link to the Guardian's website.