The Exploitation of African Women: A Feminist Exploration of Darko’s Beyond the Horizon

Margaret Fafa Nutsukpo

Abstract


Gender and social inequalities in the African society have rendered African women vulnerable and susceptible to subjugation and various forms of exploitation. However, the insidious nature of women’s exploitation, the factors responsible for it, its magnitude, and overwhelming impact on both victims and society are yet to be fully comprehended and tackled in the African society. Bearing this in mind, this paper adopts the feminist perspective in its identification and exploration of the three major forms of women’s exploitation - socio-cultural, economic and sexual exploitation - highlighted by Darko in Beyond the Horizon. It is evident that the perceptions, systems, and structures in society that impel women’s exploitation repress and deny them of avenues of self-expression and development and, by implication, society loses potential contributors to its growth and advancement. It then becomes necessary to expose the strategies of the exploiters and proffer solutions to this anomaly.

Keywords


Darko, African Women, Gender, Inequality, Exploitation, Feminism

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.10n.2p.136

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