Issues impacting Women in Mauritanian society include

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

,Female Genital Mutilation in Mauritania
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (September 2011)

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

, and

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

. The practice of

Leblouh ''Leblouh'' () is the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five to nineteen, in countries where obesity was traditionally regarded as desirable. Especially prevalent in rural areas and having its roots in Tuareg tradition, ''leblouh'' ...

() is the practice of

force-feeding Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term ''gavage'' (, , ) refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose (nasogastric tube, nasogastric) or mouth (o ...

girls from as young as five, through to teenagers, in

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

, and southern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, where obesity is traditionally regarded as being desirable.Popenoe, Rebecca. 2004. Feeding Desire: Fatness, Beauty, and Sexuality among a Saharan People. New York: Routledge. .LaFRANIERE, SHARON
In Mauritania, Seeking to End an Overfed Ideal
''The New York Times'', published on July 4, 2007. Accessed on June 30, 2011. *"Girls as young as 5 and as old as 19 had to drink up to five gallons of fat-rich camel’s or cow’s milk daily, aiming for silvery stretch marks on their upper arms. If a girl refused or vomited, the village weight-gain specialist might squeeze her foot between sticks, pull her ear, pinch her inner thigh, bend her finger backward or force her to drink her own vomit. In extreme cases, girls die, due to a burst stomach. The practice was known as gavage, a French term for force-feeding geese to obtain foie gras." Older women called "fatteners" force the young girls to consume enormous quantities of food and liquid, inflicting pain on them if they do not eat and drink. One way of inflicting pain is to pinch a limb between two sticks. A six-year-old girl might typically be forced to drink of camel's milk, and eat two kilos of pounded

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

mixed with two cups of butter, every day. Although the practice is abusive, mothers claim there is no other way to secure a good future for their children.Young Mauritanians reject forced fattening
''Al Arabiya'', February 24, 2009. The practice goes back to the 11th century, and has been reported to have made a significant comeback in

after a military junta took over Mauritania in 2008.Smith, Alex Duval
Girls being force-fed for marriage as junta revives fattening farms
''The Observer'', March 1, 2009.

Demographics

As of July 2016, the estimated population of Mauritania is 3,677,293 people. The median age of Mauritanian women is 21.4 years. Life expectancy at birth is 65.4 years. The ethnic groups are: black Moors 40%, white Moors 30%, sub-Saharan Mauritanians 30%.The World Factbook
/ref> All the population practices Islam (see

Religion in Mauritania The people of Mauritania are overwhelmingly adherents of Sunni Islam, of the Maliki school of jurisprudence. Mauritania is a country in Africa, bordering Algeria, Mali, Senegal, and the Western Sahara (currently controlled by Morocco). According ...

). Urbanization is 53.7%.

Education

Education in Mauritania History The first system of public education in Mauritania was established by the French colonial administration. The first schools were largely concentrated in the sedentary communities of the Sénégal River Valley. In 1950, the first teache ...

was strongly influenced by the

French educational system Education in France is organized in a highly centralized manner, with many subdivisions. It is divided into the three stages of primary education (''enseignement primaire''), secondary education (''enseignement secondaire''), and higher educat ...

. Girls' education is still valued less than boys', and women's

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

(age 15 and over) is lower than that of men: in 2015, the female literacy rate was 41.6%, compared to the male rate of 62.6%.

Women's rights

Child marriage

In 2017, 37% of girls in Mauritania were married before the 18 years old. 14% of girls are married before they turn 15.

Polygamy

Polygamy is legal in Mauritania. A man can marry up to four women, but must obtain the consent of his existing wife/wives first. Polygamy is common within the Afro-Mauritanian and Berber Moorish population, occurring less frequently among the Arab Moorish population. A 2007 MICS3 reports that 10.7% of women aged 15–49 are in a polygamous union.

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation is prevalent in Mauritania."FGC Prevalence Rates Diagram"
African Women's Health Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, accessed 7 September 2011. 71% of all women aged between 15 and 49 had undergone FGM in 2001. A 2007 demographic cluster study found no change in FGM prevalence rate in Mauritania. Berhane Ras-Work
LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)
United Nations (May 21, 2009)Female Genital Mutilation in Mauritania
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (September 2011) Type II FGM is most frequent. About 57% of Mauritania women believe FGM is a religious requirement.Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
UNICEF, (July 2013) Mauritania is 100% Muslim. The FGM prevalence rate varies by ethnic groups: 92% of Soninke women are cut, and about 70% of

Fulbe The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

and Moorish women. 28% of

Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...

women have undergone FGM. Mauritania has consented to international charters such as CEDAW as well as Africa's Maputo Protocol. Ordonnance n°2005-015 on child protection restricts FGM.

Force feeding

is the practice of

girls from as young as five, through to teenagers, in

, and southern

, where obesity is traditionally regarded as being desirable. Especially prevalent in rural areas and having its roots in

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...

tradition, ''leblouh'' is practiced to increase chances of marriage in a society where high body volume used to be a sign of wealth. The synonym ''gavage'' comes from the French term for the force-feeding of geese to produce ''

foie gras ; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding). ''Foie gras'' i ...

''. The practice goes back to the 11th century, and has been reported to have made a significant comeback in Mauritania after a military junta took over Mauritania in 2008.Smith, Alex Duval
Girls being force-fed for marriage as junta revives fattening farms
''The Observer'', March 1, 2009.

Slavery

Women who descend from slaves experience significant hardship in Mauritania.

Slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

has been called "deeply rooted" in the structure of Mauritania, and "closely tied" to the ethnic composition of the country. In 1905, an end of slavery in Mauritania was declared by the colonial French administration but the vastness of Mauritania mostly gave the law very few successes. In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery, when a Presidential decree abolished the practice. However, no criminal laws were passed to enforce the ban. In 2007, "under international pressure", the government passed a law allowing slaveholders to be prosecuted.

References

(data as of 1988) {{DEFAULTSORT:Women In Mauritania