The United Nations Development Programme has reported that in almost every African country, women's literacy rates are lower than those of men. Women likewise tend to earn less in income, and on the whole, women have disproportionately little power when it comes to politics and law-making. In some countries, women have few formal land ownership rights, which makes their lives particularly difficult if their husbands move to the cities in search of work, leaving their wives to manage land they have no legal authority over. More direct abuses, such as female genital mutilation and rape as a weapon of war also occur.

All in all, though the situation is in many cases improving, there remains a long way to go if the female is to be offered an equal place in African society.