Gender equality: what changed (and what did not) in ten years

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Gender

Gender equality: what changed
(and what did not) in ten years

Angolans' attitudes towards women's political, economic and social participation, comparing Afrobarometer Rounds 7 to 9.

Autor: Carlos Pacatolo  ·  9 min read

Study
WHAT ANGOLANS THINK

GENDER

Gender equality: what changed
(and what did not) in ten years

Progress in attitudes, persistence of structural gaps

Between 2016 (Round 7) and 2022 (Round 9), the percentage of Angolans who agree that women should have equal rights to men in all domains rose from 58% to 71%. Among young people between 18 and 35, the figure reaches 79%. In formal terms, this is a significant generational shift.

But structural gaps remain

Despite improving attitudes, women remain severely underrepresented in positions of power. In the National Assembly, women hold 30% of seats — a figure that has barely changed in a decade. In local management and senior civil service positions, the figure falls to 18%. In the private sector, to 12%.

The data from Afrobarometer also reveals a persistent contradiction: while most Angolans say they support gender equality in the abstract, when asked about specific situations — whether a woman should earn more than her husband, whether women are better leaders in some sectors — the level of agreement falls by between 15 and 25 percentage points. Attitudes are changing, but more slowly than self-reported values suggest.