Abidjan - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there problems with ethnic, race/racial minorities or religious prejudices? Gender equality?
I am sure there are, but I am not familiar with them. - May 2020
Not really, obviously like most places it is a "man's world". - Feb 2020
This is a male-dominated society that sees nothing wrong with abusing women and children. - Mar 2017
It's a mixed religious culture here, and people seem to get along. Most people here don't care for atheists, though. There are some gender stereotypes, but it's far more benign than more religiously conservative countries. Almost all jobs here are gendered, i.e. all the cashiers at grocery stores are going to be women, and all of the people selling junk in traffic are going to be men. - Aug 2015
As an expat with diplomatic plates - no. As someone who has read the human rights report on Cote d'Ivoire - hell yes. Women really do not have equal rights, no one has equal protection under the law, and there are a lot of tribal prejudices. It seems to me that religious intolerance is not that big of an issue here. - Jun 2009
Cote d'Ivoire is very tolerant of different religions, and you can find mosques and churches throughout the city. Although men still hold most positions of power here, women occupy ministerial positions and you can find them working in nearly every sector, including the National Police. That said, part of the explanation for Cote d'Ivoire's political crisis lies in the ethnic tensions that are constantly simmering beneath the surface of things. There have been violent clashes between tribes even near Abidjan, though tensions are highest in the western part of the country. For daily living, African-American embassy employees have been subjected to different treatment than other diplomats, including being stopped or shaken down by police at checkpoints. - Jan 2009
