Africa: Africans Endorse Women's Rights, and Want Institutions to Do More to Protect Them

Majorities support women's autonomy in decisions about marriage and childbearing.

Key findings

On average across 38 African countries, majorities support women's autonomy in marriage decisions (75%) and reproductive choices (62%).

But women are less likely than men to say they make household financial decisions themselves (36% vs. 44%).

A majority (57%) of Africans endorse women's equal rights to jobs, though more than one-third (38%) say that men should have priority for scarce jobs.

Employer preference for hiring men and a lack of necessary education or skills are most often cited as the barriers preventing women from entering and advancing in the workforce, followed by a lack of childcare and remote or flexible work arrangements.

Nearly one-quarter (23%) of respondents say that women are "often" or "always" prevented from taking employment by their husbands or families.

More than one in four respondents (27%) say schoolgirls "often" or "always" face discrimination, harassment, and requests for sexual favours from their teachers.

About the same proportion (28%) say that women "often" or "always" experience sexual harassment in public spaces, such as in markets, on the street, and in public transport.

About two-thirds (65%) of citizens say women and girls are likely to be believed if they complain about discrimination or harassment.

However, more than three-fourths (78%) say the police and courts should do more to protect women and girls from such treatment.

Two-thirds (66%) of women say that they or a family member went without medicines or medical treatment at least once during the preceding year.

Rural women are more likely than urban women to go without medical care (72% vs. 59%).

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Gender equality and women's rights are central to Africa's development agenda. The African Union's Agenda 2063 outlines "full gender equality in all spheres of life" as a core goal. This includes equal rights in property ownership, inheritance, contracting, and access to financial services, as well as a reduction in violence against women (African Union, 2015). Similarly, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) place gender equality at the heart of the global development agenda, both as a standalone goal (SDG No. 5) and as a priority that intersects with all other goals (United Nations, 2015). African governments have formally endorsed these commitments: Most countries have ratified the 2003 Maputo Protocol on the rights of women in Africa (African Union, 2003, 2023) and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

But substantial gaps remain between these commitments and women's lived realities. Recent evidence suggests that progress has been uneven and, in some areas, reversed. The Africa Gender Index reports that the continent's economic gender equality score declined from 61.0% in 2019 to 58.2% in 2023, reflecting worsening economic conditions that have disproportionately affected women (African Development Bank Group & United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2024). Across the continent, women are more likely than men to work in vulnerable and informal employment, with lower earnings and poorer working conditions. They also continue to face unequal access to land, finance, agricultural inputs, and productive assets, despite their central role in food production.

Recent global estimates further indicate that progress toward gender equality remains far off track, with discriminatory norms, unequal care burdens, and weak institutional protections continuing to limit women's economic and political participation (UN Women, 2025). The 2026 Women, Business and the Law Index shows only gradual progress across the African continent, while the 2024 SDG Gender Index found that globally, no country is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030; most sub-Saharan African countries are classified as "poor" or "very poor" environments for women and girls (World Bank, 2026; Equal Measures 2030, 2024).

Afrobarometer Round 10 surveys, conducted in 38 African countries in 2024/2025, reflect this mixed picture. A majority of Africans support women's autonomy in marriage and childbearing, but women trail men in household financial decision making. Although more than half of citizens endorse gender equality in hiring, significant minorities report that husbands and families prevent women from taking employment.

Notable minorities also express concern about sexual harassment of women and girls in public spaces, including schools. While a majority of citizens are confident that victims of discrimination or harassment who come forward will be believed, an even greater proportion demand stronger action from the police and courts to protect women and girls against such treatment.

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These vulnerabilities extend beyond public safety and discrimination to other critical domains of well-being, including access to health care. Two-thirds of women say they or their families went without medical care once or more during the previous year, with rates rising above nine out of 10 in rural areas in some countries.

These findings point to persistent gaps between policy commitments and implementation. They also reveal a disconnect between broad public support for women's rights and the realities many women continue to face.

Anne Okello Anne is the assistant project manager for East Africa

Richard Adjadeh Richard Adjadeh is a data analyst for Afrobarometer and a master of public policy student in the Department of Political Science at MSU

Maakwe Cumanzala Maakwe Cumanzala is a Neubauer Family Economics and Public Policy PhD student at Tufts University.