Mozambique’s recorded history presents evidence that the liberation of its country would not have been possible without the many contributions of its women during the liberation war which lasted for 10 years. The African continent unfortunately is not exempt from the erasure of women’s stories, which is what makes the archives of the “Destacamento Feminino” the first group of women deployed to the front lines of the liberation struggle. The Dora Milaje, may have been fictional Marvel Comics characters but in Mozambique the stories of female warriors are very real. Mozambique champions these stories, yet many of these women including the great Josina Machel have not received the global recognition they deserve. To build a better future it is important to look to the past and explore the lives and legacies of change-making women like Josina Machel.
Josina Machel was born in Vilanculos, Inhambane on August 10, 1945, to a family considered part of the “assimilados” (Portuguese for assimilated) who were granted the honorary status of whiteness by the colonial Portuguese authorities. Despite that, they used their status to engage in anti-colonial activism. Machel was born into a life of privilege as she was one of the few Mozambican girls to receive an education up until secondary school where she was taught technical skills which she attributed to her parents' sacrifices to provide her with a better quality of life. Machel was noted to be quite clever and was cognizant of the colonialist ideologies taught in schools and refused to abide by them. As a young teen, she became an active member of the Núcleo dos Estudantes Africanos Secundários de Moçambique (NESAM) a student group that Eduardo Mondlane (later to become the first President of Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO) had helped establish in 1949. Her interactions with Eduardo Mondlane would empower the young activist to flee the country and join FRELIMO in Tanzania. However, she was stopped at Victoria Falls in Northern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and was arrested by Portuguese authorities and taken to Lourenco Marques (now Maputo). At 18, she was imprisoned for six months along with several of her family members. She was not finally released as a result of the many efforts of FREMILO including international campaigns. Four months afterwards Machel fled Mozambique for a second time, again with a group of fellow students and from this point, Machel never saw any of her family members again as they sought asylum in Swaziland.
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By the time she had turned 20m the country’s resistance was growing stronger, and this presented Machel with several notable opportunities. She was recognised for her brilliance and was offered a chance to study in Switzerland to which she later refused. Instead, she joined the Mozambique Institute, a residential education centre for Mozambican students in Tanzania, working under the director Janet Mondlane, the American wife of Eduardo Mondlane. Machel soon became a pillar for the Destacamento Feminino in 1967. The Destacamento Feminino main duties were providing women with political education and military training in order that they may be fully integrated into the liberation struggle. This proved to be a unique moment in Mozambican history as it deviates from the traditional African cultural norms. Machel along with 24 other young women underwent three months of military training at Nachingwea in southern Tanzania where Mozambique liberation fighters received their military training for the Mozambique guerrilla war. During her training, she would go on to meet Samora Machel, the future first president of Mozambique and her future husband, who served as the director of this training centre. This division of labour frees up additional men for direct military action and delimits the power and control that men exercised over the productive and reproductive function of women.
Within FRELIMO, the liberation of women was not a unanimous decision. However, a speech delivered by Samora Machel, President of the party and later of the People's Republic of Mozambique, sparked a strong notion of female emancipation. As emancipation was prominent in socialist discourses around the world, FRELIMO understood its relevance in national liberation and the structuring of socialism, with female participation being essential in the revolutionary process. A large part of the women who participated in the movement identified with the struggle for national liberation as a way to defend their interests. However, the progressive character of FRELIMO in relation to female emancipation diverged from the ideal defended by international feminism. The role assigned to women in the revolutionary process, therefore, even though named as liberation and emancipation, valued the functions performed in the home, exalting motherhood. The guerrillas were expected to form a new generation, introducing a new mentality to children, tasks that reinforced gender conceptions that place motherhood inherent in women, invoking the idea of “female nature.”
FRELIMO, as the struggle unfolded, saw the need to have a more comprehensive organization, with the Destacamento Feminino as the epicentre. Thus, despite the opposition of some guerrillas, in 1973, the Organization of Mozambican Women (OMM) was created.
Although thought to be a progressive country in some regards, Mozambique is not exempt from patriarchal notions. Born Josina Abiatar Muthemba, her life and story became tied to the man she married, Samora Machel, the first President of the free nation. Her name in history soon metamorphosed from freedom fighter and activist to wife. When one hears the name Machel the first person that comes to mind is her husband before any of the women who share the name such as her, or Graca Machel (his second wife) or Josina Machel his daughter.
Mozambique is among the few African nations that have women representated in its government in large numbers, with women occupying high positions of power. Over the years, the percentage of women in the Mozambican parliament has undergone a remarkable change from 25.2% in 1997 to 41.2% in 2019. As a relatively young country, it still faces a gender imbalance where women have less access to education, medical aid, and resources. As we have seen in the past, it takes women to lead the way. At the forefront of this new wave of change is the late Josina’s namesake Josina Z. Machel, a human rights activist, who was a victim of gender-based violence has been speaking on these issues on a global stage. With this one hopes that more voices can be amplified and more stories can be heard both of the present and past.
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Looking at present-day Mozambique, there have been great triumphs, but the country has a long way to go in terms of protecting women and girls and enabling them to contribute to collective efforts for the country's development. In memory of all the women who so courageously dedicated and sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the country, one hopes that someday the country can repay them.