Everyday Heroes: Soyata Maïga (Mali)

It can be said that she has exceeded the ambition which her father nourished for his young daughter: to see her become a teacher in their village school. Today Maïga is looked upon as someone who is engaged, purposeful and lucid, who sees past limits and remains committed to protecting the rights of women and girls.

Having contributed to the creation of the Association of Women Lawyers of Mali in 1983, this former Deputy Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of Bamako has also conducted several studies and organized awareness and sensitization activities and training programs to help safeguard women’s rights. She also helped create a national network of women’s NGOs (Coordination des Associations et ONG féminines du Mali) as well as an institutional mechanism for promoting women and children.

Dating back to her first experiences as a young magistrate, Maïga has often seen injustice compounded for women in cases that came before the tribunal. For a long time she felt very frustrated because she was obligated by law to apply discriminatory legal texts as they applied to women, in particular in cases addressing matters such as extramarital relations and inheritance rights. The clauses in the Constitution pertaining to those specific areas have yet to be applied. These were some of the key factors that motivated the fight that she is carrying on today.

For her, the struggles to promote women and democracy are twin realities: the discourse and the actions taken by the authorities are not applied in practice because of the use of tradition, illiteracy and poverty of women.

Her Viewpoint

Soyata Maïga believes that the political participation of women has never been recognized for its full worth, in the sense that women are often called on to mobilize people but rarely gain access to leadership and decision-making posts within political parties, social pressure groups and especially the Parliament. A strong dose of political will is required to adopt a quota law for administrative posts. It is imperative that a solution be found, she says; if not, the country will continue to be deprived of the potential that women hold to contribute to its development.

Concerning polygamy, she believes this traditional practice continues in large part because it is tolerated by women themselves and because it is supported by inaccurate interpretations of Islam. It will likely be around for a long time, she adds, given the extent to which is it currently practices by many top officials, magistrates, lawyers and even intellectuals and young people.

As for the failure to promulgate Mali’s amended Family Code thus far, she faults the lack of a pertinent social communication strategy reflecting the obsolescence of certain existing provisions on marriage, such as limitations on the legal capacities of women and guardianship of minor children. Even so, she remains confident and hopeful that the amended Family Code will be operational as soon as possible.

This dynamic woman identifies her role models as South African President Nelson Mandela and Madame Sira Diop, a renowned Malian women’s social activist and educator. Soyata Maïga says she hopes her legacy to future generations will be a world of peace, justice and dignity — especially for the young girls and women who continue to suffer the ill consequences of certain traditional practices. She believes that such a world really is possible for all.