Sao Tome and Principe: Country gender assessment
7 June 2004
The World Bank
Sao Tome and Principe (STP) has a distinctive gender profile, different from that of neighboring African countries. Gender equality is emphasized in the Constitution and reiterated across the various laws and legislation. STP is a signatory of all international conventions that promote gender equality and combat discrimination (CEDAW, MDGs, etc.).
In practice, the results are mixed and somewhat contradictory. On the positive side, there are no gender gaps in access to education and health, not a big difference in poverty levels between male- and female-headed households, several women occupy very high
decision- making positions, there is perfect legal equality, and an official discourse that espouses gender equality. On the negative side, average income is lower for femaleheaded households, there are very few women among local decision makers, there is some evidence on high levels of domestic violence against women (and children), and cultural attitudes relegate women to stereotypical and low-status roles (solely responsible for children, with access primarily to (self)employment in the informal sector).
Keywords: gender assessment
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