Stop Violence: Moving Forward - International Women's Day!

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen

Women the world over on March 8, this year came out to mark what some people have now described as a 'yearly rendez-vous' . It was the International Women's Day.

Talks, march pasts, demonstrations, debates, conferences: are but a few of those activities organised on that day. They seek to heighten awareness and draw attention to the plight of the women the world over.

 Over the years, women in Cameroon,  are known to celebrate this day in a rather colourful and unique style. The special "Kaba" attire, the head-gears, the accessories, the march past - a forum to showcase women while denouncing acts of gender-based violence, discrimination, social ills and other acts carried out against them.  Fanfare is a typical characteristic of Women's day celebration in Cameroon .

 Follow the link to get bits and pieces of how women in some parts of Africa and the world spent March 8 2014.  http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/women-demonstrate-worldwide-calling-end-violence-abuse-n47951

Moving forward , how will the decisions and commitments which have been made in the course of this year's celebration be translated into concrete action rather than mere rhetoric? The challenges remain enormous.....
Please revisit an article I wrote on my blog titled :

 Stop Violence! Real Men Don't Abuse Women/Girls!

(simply click on this link for more)

Let the discussion continue as we look ahead with the hope of "inspiring change" -incidentally the 2014 theme !

What's the best approach to curb female genital mutilation?

An estimated 120 to 140 million women have been subject to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and 3 million girls continue to be at risk each year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement on the International Day against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.

UNICEF said on 6 February 2010 that there had been progress in tackling this issue that many international organisations view as a harmful practice against women.

I suppose such progress would include a recent decision by Mauritainian Muslim Imams to ban the practice. But how effective are such decisions and what are the best methods of tackling this issue. The following article by George Fominyen originally posted on Reuters AlertNet attempts an answer.

Mauritanian Muslim imams initiate rare ban on female circumcision

Human rights campaigners who have been struggling for years to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) in West Africa got a boost this week as news emerged that a group of Muslim clerics and scholars in Mauritania had declared a fatwa, or religious decree, against the practice.

The centuries-old practice involves removing part or all of a girl's clitoris and labia, and sometimes narrowing the vaginal opening. About 72 percent of the women in Mauritania have undergone FGM which health workers say often causes severe bleeding, problems urinating and potential complications during childbirth.

"Are there texts in the Koran that clearly require that thing? They do not exist," the secretary general of the Forum of Islamic Thought in Mauritania, Cheikh Ould Zein, told Reuters.

"On the contrary, Islam is clearly against any action that has negative effects on health. Now that doctors in Mauritania unanimously say that this practice threatens health, it is therefore clear that Islam is against it," he added.

In many parts of West Africa, FGM has been presented as a religious obligation for practising Muslim women, leading most to believe that if they are not circumcised they are unclean and their prayers will not be heard. Which makes the decision by 34 imams and scholars -- supported by the government of Mauritania and UNICEF, the United Nations' children's agency -- all the more unusual.

"The fact that the religious leaders in Mauritania are standing up and doing this is quite amazing. It shows how concerned Islam and the religion of Islam is about the health of women," said Molly Melching, executive director of Tostan, a Senegal-based organisation that has been working with 30 communities in Mauritania on FGM and rights issues.

MORE DECREES TO COME?

UNICEF estimates that 3 million girls and women are cut each year across communities in 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle-East. So, what is the likelihood of seeing similar bans on female circumcision in other countries?

Well, it's hard to say.

A fatwa in itself is generally binding only to those who follow a particular imam, so communities could be subject to contradictory decrees. Moreover, not all the communities in the other countries of sub-Saharan Africa where the practice continues are Muslim -- reflecting the fact that, as a longstanding cultural practice, FGM may be hard to end especially when campaigners use judgmental approaches.

"In the past, people have gone into communities and simply told them to stop this practice because it is bad and they display pictures of naked women and their reproductive organs in communities where this is shocking," Melching said.

Many organisations including Tostan and Save the Children believe this approach failed to stop the practice because it ignored the cultural context in which the targeted communities were living.

"I once asked a community: 'do you have the right to cut somebody's hand?' They said no. 'Do you have the right to cut somebody's head or foot?' They said no. So why do you cut somebody's sexual organ?" said Ame Atsu David, a former regional programme coordinator for HIV and harmful traditional practices of Save the Children (Sweden) in West Africa.

"This got them thinking," she told AlertNet. Many campaigners back an approach which involves human rights, education, community development, health care and leaves the decision to the communities themselves.

A Save the Children-backed campaign run by the Mali Centre Djoliba based on this approach has seen 40 villages abandon female circumcision and set up community groups to oversee the implementation of the decision in a country where over 80 percent of the women have experienced FGM.

In Senegal, 4,121 villages have abandoned FGM since 1997 with the support of Tostan whose work has been praised by U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, and has also contributed to a law against FGM which was passed in the country in 1999.

"But a law is not what will change a social norm. For it to be sustainable it has to come from the people, a decision made by the people, because they really believe in it," Melching said. "The key is empowering people to make their own decisions but with good information," she told AlertNet. (Additional reporting by Laurent Prieur in Nouakchott)

See Who's Behind This?

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen,

On my way from work, a well dressed woman approached me demanding for money to feed herself and her twin daughters. The children stood close to their mother, both of them shabbily dressed. As she put it, they" hadn't eaten since morning" translated from Wolof. I felt sorry for them and decided to give her a token so she could buy some food to eat and share with her children.

Upon opening my bag I noticed both children, who until then hadn't opened their eyes thus making me think they were suffering from some kind of eye problem, suddenly opened their eyes and quickly stretched out their bowls for me to drop in the money. At that point, the woman(their supposed mother) pushed them aside instructing them to close their eyes. She even used her hands to forcefully close their eyes. Unhappy with the lady, one of the children screamed saying she was going to inform her mother once she returned to her home.

Did I hear her well? I sure did hear her well!

But that sounded a bit tricky and aroused my curiosity thus I started asking questions.

And so it turned out that the woman was not the biological mother of the twin daughters. On the contrary, she had "hired " both children to go out begging throughout the week. While on the street, she claimed she and "her children" were so poor and hungry.

What a thing to do!

To say the least, I was shocked by that incident. Not by the fact that people would go begging on the streets but at what length some people would go to exploit children, evoke pity only to extort money from others.

On the occasion of the 47 edition of the African Women's Day(celebrated on July 31),discussions and activities in some parts of Africa focused on putting an end to the different forms of exploitation that women and girls suffer from. Many forms of exploitation exist today and include: physical, psychological, sexual, financial to name but those!

The consequences of such are many, causing enormous suffering, pain, regret, and even deaths. Unfortunately, some individuals and many communities continue to exploit women and girls, despite the numerous challenges some women and girls face, on a daily bases.

So who's behind this?

Arts and Craft: What They Sometimes Portray!

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen

If you live in or travel to Africa very often then you certainly are familiar with Africa’s great works of art and craft. Some of the crafts and artisan objects originate from the continent’s rich and diversified culture. Others attempt to depict everyday life, humanity, attitudes, believes, myths and realities. Perhaps that’s the beauty behind every piece of art!


While on the field as a culture desk reporter (2003-2005), I had the chance of interviewing a cross section of artists and artisans so too did my love for art and craft increased. Often I sought to understand what some works of art actually signified. For instance a painting could carry a message of hope. Sometimes that of suffering or love; to name but these.
I must admit my love for arts and craft has kind of doubled over time. Every piece I come across I tend to appreciate it and sometimes I would purchase it. I equally take delight in snapping or filming some of them. I sometimes put my imagination to test by crafting something! I may not be good at craft but I guess I could make an appreciation of what I see!

This is perhaps the most annoying piece of art/craft I have ever come across. I walked into an “open- air African designed restaurant”, decorated with beautiful calabashes and nice paintings; depicting a typical African village setting. Behold I saw these “nude-feminine-structured works of art”.
I pulled out my camera to get some shots I would use on my blog. As I took these photos I noticed some Europeans were doing same and I kept wondering why some artists would rather portray "nude feminine objects" as if that’s all a woman’s got to show! Unfortunately some artists/sculptors are specialized in carving such pieces!

“She” is rather decent. In most African cultural and traditional settings the woman is obliged to cover her body (at least her private) while in public just like the man. Ironically, many works of art that seek to portray African men, are hardly left unclad (if not partially).
This is a case in point (a photo I took at the same venue).

Generally, I hold women in high esteem not just because I am a woman ! A woman is worth respecting! She has many virtues known to many of us. Of course as a human being she has her own weaknesses! That notwithstanding I believe she is a lovely human being, full of dignity! Seemingly and unfortunately so, the "woman" is yet to completely wipe off the "negative and sometimes indecent tags" her society continues to put on her. If only she could be perceived by many (especially artists)from a more decent perspective, perhaps…………………..!!!!!!!!!

Stop Violence! Real Men Don't Abuse Women/Girls!

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen

She is sometimes beaten in class by her male classmate, threatened at home by her brothers, sexually harassed in her office by her male colleagues, raped in her community by a man, coerced into sex by another man , molested by her husband or male partner, abused by a family member, assaulted by a neighbour, a stranger.................. .....................! Yet she deserves a better world!

Violence and abuse may vary in form. Sometimes it's the physical.This includes, pushing, slapping, hitting with fist, pulling of hair, chocking and the use weapons. It could be sexual and in some cases men use damaging objects without the woman's consent (stories of such acts are now common in the media ). It could be psychological as well as emotional- sometimes causing traumas.

Throughout the world, violence against women and girls, kills and maims vast numbers; it fills their lives with pain and terror from which some never recover.It affects the young and the old, the married and unmarried. It also affects people who are dating, single, cohabiting, divorced, gay or lesbian. People from all social, ethnic, religious, racial and economic groups.

"Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation.And it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot be making real progress towards equality, development and peace" (Kofi Annan, March 8, 1999)

In spite of efforts to curb violence and abuse, statistics still paint a horrifying picture of what women go through in different communities. Violence has not been abated. Some gender specialists and activists have opined that violence against women has become as much a pandemic as HIV/AIDS or malaria.

Why then do men continue to abuse women/girls ? And how comes women continue to bear it?

At this point am tempted to share some of the responses and words I got when I put this question to a cross section of people as I sampled opinions needed for my radio programme:
"because some men think it makes them stronger", " because many societies celebrate male dominance and encourage men to do so coupled with rigid gender roles", " some cultural, traditional, economic and social factors put women in a tight corner, making her vulnerable thus she gets abused by the man", " men who abuse women were equally abused in their childhood ", "some men are weak , alcoholics, possessive and think by using violence it makes them appear macho", " marital violence", "some women bear it out of love, others have no other option so the men take them for granted hence, some are poor so they are used and abused, others just fell into the wrong hands ........................."

In addition to raising awareness on issues surrounding violence and abuse, there's certainly the need for a change in perception and attitudes. The need to move from mere rhetoric to concrete actions such that perpetrators of acts of abuse get adequately exposed and punished, while victims report to the right quarters and survivors speak out in a bid to check such abuses. Of course governments and other individuals would have to give it more attention than is the case in most countries today.

To the woman or girl who is being abused , its important to asses the situation and look carefully at the options in front of you. Meantime, you might want to draw up a strategic safety plan , stretch out for help from family members, individuals and organisations and try getting much information that could be helpful even as you try to make better the situation.

To you the man, why not start treating 'HER' like a queen? Afterall 'SHE' treats you like her king quite often. Besides she is a human being and not an object meant to be abused. Above all she is your sister, friend, mate, wife, mother, colleague, neighbour, daughter, partner, grandmother, aunt, niece and you name it.