Caracterización de las variables del clima de aula, propuestas por Moos y Trickett

plants in places like Ozubulu and Agulu in Onitsha Archdiocese especially after the Nigeria/Biafran civil war. They also built a modern leadership training centre and women hostel (Bethany house) in Onitsha which was officially opened on 9^thJune, 1984.

Commenting further, she also said that in pursuit of civil rights for all, especially for young women, the C.W.O. joined women societies in other parts of Nigeria to successfully oppose the attempt to legalise abortion in Nigeria in 1981.

laid down rules in the world since those rules were put in place by men without the permission or consent of the women.

Another factor that forms a challenge to Catholic Women is male child preference. One of the most considered factors to this socio- economic deprivation of women is the male child preference. In this situation, if a woman fails to deliver a baby boy; she is regarded as fruitless in the family and in extreme cases she is chased away. The disparities between Igbo women and their male counterparts in terms of political, social, educational, economic spiritual/pasotral involvements cannot be divorced from some problems which hinders parity between the two groups. These problems, according to Adamu (1999) are illiteracy, stereotype, religion, domineering and discriminating attitude of males. These problems are discussed as follows;

i. Illiteracy: In Igboland, cultures usually accord preference to male children as they are regarded as the heirs or pillars of the family. On the contrary, female children are usually less privileged and consequently, not given adequate opportunity to acquire education and formal training. Adamu (1999) notes that the girl-child is valued not for who she is, her true potentials or achievements, but for her services, submissiveness and at best good looks. He further states that in any Igbo community, it is believed that the place of the girl-child is in the kitchen or at home. The author stresses also that women in Igboland are socialized into accepting the traditional roles of bearing and rearing children and of maintaining the welfare of the family. Thus, in most parts in Igboland, especially in the rural settings, the education of the girl-child is to keep the home. This issue has over the years held down the Igbo women from attaining their full and true potentials in spite of their attempts to break even.

ii. Stereotype: Right from the cradle and throughout the period of socialization, females are usually trained to from believe that there are different role for males and females as well as the superiority of males over females. Rhinehart and Kols (1988) opine that adults discourage competition between females and males the groups are thus exposed to different roles. The females are encouraged to be obedient, caring, kind and appreciative while males are rewarded for display of aggression, decisiveness and detachment.

iii Religion: The leadership of religion in Igboland has different views as regards the position of women in worldly affairs. Some leaders of cultural religion and their adherents strongly believe that women should only be seen and not heard. Rhinehart and Kols (1988) state that “the differences in beliefs adversely affect the way women are treated and the opportunities provided to them‟‟ (p. 153).

iv. Domineering and Discriminatory Attitudes of Males: The Igbo men have the control of political, economic as well as social spheres of life. Okafor (1997) observes that „many provisions on inheritance and domestic violence have been described as more favourable to the male gender than the female. Consequently, women experience series of violence in the hands of men. Some of these are manifested in the form of wife battering, assaults, acid attack, sexual harassment, including rape, girl-child abuse, ritual murder and unfavourable widowhood practices.

Boateng (2009) states that „violence against women and gender inequality are strongly intertwined; however, violence is often seen as legitimate, considering that women are seen

as inferior in numerous societies‟ (p.156). It is therefore, necessary to fight against these and empower women. However, with requisite emancipation of women, this violence against women will be arrested. It is in a bid to arrest this, that brought the Immaculate Heart Sisters into striving to beef up the status of the women and the entire people of God in particular, in Onitsha Archdiocese through education, medical, social works, and other works in keeping with the charism and spirit of the congregation as a way of enhancing their pastoral development.

The founder of Immaculate Heart Sisters saw empowerment as an engine of development;

as a result, he founded a group of native women to raise the status of other women because he strongly believe that when a woman is trained, a nation has been trained as well. This is as a result of natural endowment on women. It is pertinent to state that in spite of the aforesaid ill-treatment meted on women they willingly and effectively have contributed to both the development and progress of the people in the society in which they live. From historical evidence, it suffices to state that the will and the desire to initiate and sustain the execution of developmental project are innate in women. Consequently, their contributions to the progress of the people should not be undermined. It is this culture that gave birth to Women Religious.

CHAPTER FOUR

WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN ONITSHA ARCHDIOCESE 1967-2015