Marie-Paule Djegue Okri, an agronomist and agroecology guide from Côte d’Ivoire, has been honored with the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for her contributions to gender equality.
The award, established in 2008 on the centenary of Simone de Beauvoir’s start, is offered to people or associations devoted to defending and selling girls’s freedom.
Okri, who co-founded the Ivorian League for Ladies’s Rights in response to perceived shortcomings in politics, stated girls should have the ability to benefit from the common proper to freedom, as reported by RFI.
“The ladies in Côte d’Ivoire are victims of a patriarchal society, sexism, and sexual violence, and they aren’t represented in politics,” she instructed RFI’s Christophe Boisbouvier on Tuesday after receiving her award in Paris.
Okri’s achievements embody the creation of agricultural coaching applications for unemployed moms with restricted literacy expertise in rural areas. She additionally champions training for younger women within the rural communities of Côte d’Ivoire, the place entry to education is restricted.
“Ladies in these areas are born with the concept that they are going to get married. Issues are beginning to change with new calls for and actions by NGOs,” she added.
The Ivorian League for Ladies’s Rights offers assist for girls who’re victims of sexual harassment and rape.
The emphasis of their assist is on lowering the disgrace related to such experiences. Okri defined that they guarantee survivors that they aren’t accountable for what occurred to them, particularly in a nation resembling Côte d’Ivoire the place individuals are inclined to trivialize situations of rape.
The league additionally encourages girls to file formal complaints in opposition to their attackers as a method to interrupt the cycle of abuse inside society. Okri, although at present not engaged in politics, has plans to run in legislative elections in 2026.
The 2023 Simone de Beauvoir Prize was devoted to Iranian girls advocating for freedom, commemorating the reminiscence of Jina Mahsa Amini.
Amini reportedly died in custody for violating Iran’s costume code for girls. In response to her dying, Iranian girls staged protests by burning their headscarves and publicly showing with their hair uncovered as a symbolic demonstration in opposition to the restrictions imposed on them.
