Mbandaka, July 24th, 2021 (CPA) .- « If a dowry law should be passed, it must be equal for all Congolese women, » said Ruth Bengo, social actor and defender of women’s rights who reacted to the press, to the bill of the national deputy Daniel Mbau which feeds daily discussions since it was deposited at the office of the National Assembly.
For this defender of women’s rights, the fact of offering a dowry of US $ 500 for a girl living in an urban environment and 200 for her sister in the rural world, amounts to discrimination. Because, she explained: “Women in towns and villages face the same realities at different levels, whether in Ecuador or in any other province of the DRC. These difficulties relate in particular to health, education, training and their empowerment. But, they fight and organize themselves to get out of it. «
He adds, « If in the past, young girls did not have access to education, today they hold university degrees both in remote areas of the provinces and in the cities. They have the same intellectual level despite their backgrounds”.
Article 363 of the law on the family code in force provides that the dowry is determined according to the habits and customs of the future spouses. Ruth Bengo, who is also the coordinator of the NGO « Actions des Mamans pour l’Evolution de la famille », believes that the sum should be equal for all Congolese women.
“These amounts present the idea that women in the provinces have a very low level and have no value. The dowry is symbolic. If it is necessary to pass a law on the dowry or to fix an amount that the family of the husband should pay to the family of the wife, this law must be equal for all Congolese women, regardless of their background, ”he said. -she insists.
Among the potential risks to the adoption of this law by the National Assembly, the activist notably highlights the fact that women in the provinces are no longer taken into consideration. “There is marginalization,” she laments.
To elected nationals, she suggests passing laws that are beneficial to all Congolese territories and to be able to set aside « this law which tends to discriminate against women in the provinces ».
In addition, among the new provisions of the law of Daniel Mbau, there is also article 340 which states, « The engagement is dissolved 12 months later when the future spouses are unable to contract the marriage. They can be renewed for the same period when there is no fault or culpable abstention « . This provision goes against nature, the activist said. ACP/Fng/nig