According to Country Reports, purdah, the practice of keep girls and women in seclusion outside the family continued in 1999 in the northern parts of the country (1999 2000). A paper on Islam and Gender in Nigeria states that purdah can be classified under three categories: complete seclusion, partial seclusion and voluntary "seclusion of the heart" (Thomas-Emeagwali 1994, 2). In the first two cases, women may partially or completely withdraw from the public view. The paper asserts that class underpins the practice of purdah as men from the peasant or working class can hardly afford to permit their wives not to work (ibid.). According to this paper, in some parts of the Muslim north such as Kaduna, Bauchi, and Kano, about 65 per cent of the women were actively engaged in farming and general trade in 1994. Surveys conducted in Illorin and Zaria also revealed that women who were traditionally associated with the purdah were abandoning the custom due to economic conditions. "It is in the context of these economic difficulties that modifications have been taking place in terms of what some believe is a prime pillar of Islam, namely the principle of seclusion" (ibid.).

Aisha Imam, a Nigerian academic, currently national coordinator of Baobab, a woman's rights group dedicated to the rights of women to justice and freedom from oppression, explains that the purdah, which was introduced when northern Nigeria came into contact with Islam around the eleventh century, is one of the most contentious issues in Islam (WLUML 1991, 10-16). She states that the practice cannot be generalised because the manner in which it is observed differs from one state to another (ibid.). She agrees that initially complete seclusion was common among Islamic leaders, the wealthy, the aristocrats and titled men who practised total seclusion (ibid., 11).

Imam states that there has been an attitudinal change on the part of the Muslim leaders with regard to women's participation in public life.

Even for the most conservative and fundamentalists of the Ulama [Muslim leader], the discourse on woman has been shifting. Almost all scholars now accept that Muslim women in Nigeria must vote, though there is no absolute consensus on the conditions and extent to which they think that women can be politically active and be good Muslims...Similarly the insistence on separate voting booths, seating arrangements, women's wings of parties, positions reserved for women, and the like are to prevent interaction between men and women...the goal is not to serve women's interests but to ensure the political and economic prominence of elite Muslim men in Nigeria, and their control of the state (WIN News 1994, 49).

According to Tempo, Aisha Imam's efforts to prove that the Koran does not condone the oppression or segregation of women have met with opposition and threats to her life (13 Jan. 1999).

No reports on the attitude of the current government towards the purdah could be found among the sources contacted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Tempo [Lagos]. 13 January. "Nigeria: Imam of Women." (NEXIS/Africa News 5 Jan. 2000)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1999. 2000. http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/nigeria.html [Accessed: 4 May 2000]

Win News [Lexington, Mass.]. Vol. 20-1. Winter 1994. "Women's Seclusion in Northern Nigeria's Hausaland."

Women Living Under Muslim Law (WLUML). 1991. Vol. No. 9-10. Iman, Ayesha. "Généralisation de l'enfermement des femmes en pays Haoussa, le nord du Nigeria."

Thomas-Emeagwali, Gloria. 1994. "Islam and Gender: The Nigerian Case." http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/007.html [Accessed: 4 May 2000]

Internet sites including:

Dogpile

Google

Mamma

Unsuccessful attempts to reach oral sources.