Casa África awards a prize to an essay telling the stories of the women who fought for independence and equality in Sao Tome and Principe

An essay on the role of the women in the struggle for independence and equality in Sao Tome and Principe has been awarded first prize in the eighth Casa África Essay Awards. The author, Lurdes María Viegas Pires Dos Santos, not only has an in-depth knowledge of the subject of her work: she is actually one of those women who contributed to the development of this small Portuguese-speaking country located in the Gulf of Guinea and, above all, to the empowerment of its women.

The winning text is titled The Role of Sao Tome women in the struggle for liberation and equality and presents the history of the small African island country located off the coast of Gabon, through the struggle of the women at the time of colonization, national liberation and today. Sao Tome and Principe has fewer than 200,000 inhabitants and became independent from Portugal in 1975.