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“HISTORIC STEP FOR SOMALI WOMEN AND GIRLS” AS 14 VILLAGES PUBLICLY DECLARE ABANDONMENT OF FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING

In Puntland, where an estimated 98% of the population practices FGC, declaration provides new way forward

GAROWE, PUNTLAND, SOMALIA October 5, 2009 — 14 villages in the Northeast Zone of Somalia – Puntland – made history on Monday as they became the first group of communities in the region to collectively pledge to abandon the practice of female genital cutting (FGC). These communities participated in an empowering three-year education program implemented by the NGO Tostan in collaboration with UNICEF and the Government of Puntland.

The Minister of the Interior of Puntland and the country representative from UNICEF Somalia presided over the ceremony. Also present were the Director General of the Ministry of Women (Puntland), the Director General of Justice (Puntland), the Governor of Puntland, the Mayor of Garowe, representatives of the religious leaders of Puntland, and representatives from women’s organizations in the region.

Approximately 2,000 people attended the declaration held in a soccer stadium in the city of Garowe.

FGC is estimated to be practiced in 28 countries in Africa and can result in serious health complications, including pain, hemorrhage, increased difficulties at child birth, infertility, incontinence, infections, and even death.

Participants read poems and performed a play on the harmful effects of FGC depicting a father who was against practicing FGC on his daughter. Two former cutters from Sunijiif also addressed the large audience and shared why they had decided to stop the practice. The declaration to announce the decision to abandon FGC, signed by participating communities, was read aloud by a woman leader from the village of Burtinle.

Following the declaration, the Puntland Director General for Women spoke in support of this historic decision and a respected religious leader from Garowe cited verses from the Koran and explained that FGC is not an obligation in Islam.

Since January 2007, over 700 participants in 14 communities have been directly involved in the Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in the Nugaal region of Puntland. The program, which is implemented over a period of 30-months by local facilitators and managed by village-elected Community Management Committees (CMCs), includes modules on democracy, human rights, problem-solving, hygiene, health, literacy, small business management, and microfinance. Teaching methods are participatory and learner-centered, based on positive Somali oral traditions such as poetry, story-telling, theater, and song.

Tostan believes that the reason for the success of the CEP in catalyzing communities to end FGC is its respectful, non-directive, and holistic approach. During the program, communities are empowered to make informed decisions on a range of critical issues, including FGC.

Tostan’s program is inclusive – it recognizes that social norms, such as FGC, involve all members of society, including men, women, adolescents, and elders, as well as religious and traditional leaders. In Somalia the involvement and assistance of respected religious, government, and community leaders was critical to the program’s success.

Over the course of the program, program participants in Puntland organized a comprehensive social mobilization campaign. They traveled to surrounding rural villages where they dialogued with relatives and respected local religious leaders. In collaboration with the Puntland Government’s Ministry of Women and Ministry of Health, they facilitated information sessions at which community members engaged with health agents and religious leaders. On August 5th, 2009, community representatives met in Sunijiif and organized a peaceful march calling for a unified decision to abandon FGC.

Since its founding in 1991, Tostan has implemented the Community Empowerment Program in 10 countries in West and East Africa. In addition to improvements in community health, respect of human rights, understanding of democratic principles, economic growth, literacy, and environmental protection, the program has led to communities pledging to abandon FGC and child/forced marriage in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and now Somalia. The particular circumstances in Somalia – namely, the near universal practice of FGC – makes this declaration of abandonment particularly significant.

The villagers from Puntland join a growing movement in which over 4,000 communities have followed a similar process of education and community outreach, followed by a public declaration for the abandonment of this harmful traditional practice. It is anticipated that similar public declarations will be made by neighboring communities in Somaliland in the coming months.

“The Garowe Declaration represents an important step forward for women and girls in Somalia,” said Molly Melching, Executive Director of Tostan. “This is a critical new development in the movement for the abandonment of harmful social practices in Africa, led by community members themselves.”

From: TOSTAN

Na TV Pink ženu pitali da li je uživala dok ju je otac silovao
km – sp – 09.10.2009. – 03:31

Nasilje se mora ozbiljno istraživati, a ne eksplicitno predstavljati bez ikakvih ograda…
Članovi Saveta Republičke radiodifuzne agencije juče se nisu oglasili povodom poslednje emisije „Trenutak istine” emitovane preksinoć na TV Pink, u kojoj je voditeljka ovog kviza Tatjana Vojtehovski svoju gošću pitala „Da li ste ikada doživeli orgazam tokom seksualnog odnosa sa vašim ocem?”
ZAKON – „Trenutak istine” ugostio je u sredu uveče Julku Mitrović (49) iz Velikog Sela, koju je otac prvi put silovao kada je imala 11 godina.
- Rodila sam mu troje dece i abortirala sam oko 50 puta – rekla je Julka u kvizu u kojoj gosti, da bi osvojili novac, moraju iskreno da odgovaraju na pitanja voditelja. Ako detektor laži pokaže da to nije slučaj, takmičar ispada. Julka Mitrović osvojila je 500.000 dinara, ali je morala da odgovori na pitanje sa početka našeg teksta.
Zakon o radiodifuziji, u članu 68, kaže da emiteri ne bi smeli da emituju programe „čiji sadržaji mogu da škode fizičkom, mentalnom ili moralnom razvoju dece i omladine”, kao ni programe čiji sadržaji „ističu i podržavaju nasilje”.
Čak i ako bi se prenebregla činjenica da su na TV Pink u emisiju zabavnog karaktera doveli osobu koja je doživela tešku traumu i za novac joj ponudili da to ispriča javnosti, teško je preći preko pomenutog pitanja. Kada smo od TV Pink pokušali da dobijemo objašnjenje, stigao nam je odgovor (vidi okvir) u kome nas optužuju da smo svojim pitanjima oblatili čestitog novinara koji istražuje nasilje.
Rade Veljanovski, profesor Fakulteta političkih nauka i jedan od tvoraca Zakona o radiodifuziji, kaže da se pomenuto pitanje direktno kosi i sa Zakonom o radiodifuziji i sa Zakonom o javnom informisanju.
- To je nedopustiva promocija ličnih nesreća, čak i uz saglasnost osobe koja se ispituje. RRA treba da reaguje jer se krše odredbe Zakona o radiodifuziji koje se tiču psihofizičkog razvoja dece. Takođe, to je promovisanje nasilnog ponašanja, jer se spornim pitanjem implicira da je, možda, žrtva nasilja i uživala. Nasilje se mora ozbiljno istraživati, a ne eksplicitno predstavljati bez ikakvih ograda. Treba da shvatimo da nije sve na prodaju – kaže Veljanovski.

Žarko Trebješanin: Mentalni striptiz
Psiholog Žarko Trebješanin smatra da su na TV Pink ovim pitanjem prešli sve granice dobrog ukusa. „Gledao sam ranije te emisije i mislim da su skandalozne, ali pitanje da li je žrtva silovanja doživela orgazam u seksualnom odnosu sa sopstvenim ocem je vrhunac neukusa! Ne razumem, prvo, da neko može to da emituje, a zatim da Radiodifuzna agencija ne reaguje! Ne znam ni zašto nisu reagovale nevladine organizacije za zaštitu žena, jer se na ovaj način promoviše nasilje nad žrtvom silovanja. Ovakve emisije su mentalni striptiz i ponografija”, kaže Trebješanin za „24 sata”.

Ćutanje u RRA
U Republičkoj radiodifuznoj agenciji juče nismo mogli da dobijemo komentar emisije „Trenutak istine”. Ni od oca Porfirija, predsednika Saveta RRA, ni od Gorana Kneževića, njegovog zamenika. Portparolka RRA se uspešno skrivala od naših novinara ceo dan sve do kasno uveče… Jedino smo „nahvatali” bivšeg predsednika Saveta RRA, sada običnog člana, Nenada Cekića koji nam je, makar, iskreno priznao da nema komentar…

Vojtehovski: „24 sata”, sram vas bilo!
Julka Mitrović se prijavila za trenutak istine ne zbog novca već iz sopstvene želje i odluke da podeli svoj težak život sa javnosti, da na neki način skine taj jezivi teret sa sebe, da se olakša tako što će ispričati svoj život svima. Julka Mitrović nije zaštićeni svedok koji treba da se pojavljuje sa skrivenim licem….
Ona je htela da ispriča svoj život, a oni koji daju svedočanstvo o nečemu a ne žele da se vide njima se sakriva identitet. Julka je želela da ispriča i da se olakša i ne vidim zašto nama spočitavate to da smo povredili na taj način dostojanstvo njene ličnosti….. a pravila kviza su da novac može da se zaradi ili izgubi…
Ja stvarno ne znam kako možete da izletite sa ovakvim pitanjima.. i to meni koja se sve vreme u emisiji i na vrlo direktan način borim protiv nasilja svake vrste…. Da li smo podržali nasilje? Kakva vam je to postavka… Da li ste vi uopšte slušali moje razgovore sa Julkom između postavljenih pitanja? Da li ste čuli obrazloženje? Da li shvatate težinu vaših reči ili vam je malicioznost jedina ideja sa kojom se obraćate??? Meni ste se usudili da se obratite iz nivoa da podržavam nasilje, koja se godinama borim i to vrlo javno protiv nasilja?? Skaradniju i skandalozniju postavku nisam čula…. Slušate li vi uopšte šta ja govorim u toj emisiji…
O kakvoj vi moralnoj granici pričate??? O ženi koja je javno ispričala svoj pakao incesta kroz koji je prošla, koja je smogla snage i hrabrosti da to uradi jer to je i želela – samo da ispriča…. O ženi koja je dala vrlo direktnu poruku svima onima koji se nalaze u sličnoj i istoj situaciji a to je – da žrtva ne sme da ćuti, da mora da govori okolo dok ne nađe nekog ko će da joj pomogne… Šta je nemoralno?? Poruka koja je poslata žrtvama od nekog ko se iz svega izvukao, ne bez posledica, ali se izvukla??!! Šta to znači? To znači da se vi zalažete za tezu da o nasilju ne treba pričati!! Da žrtve treba da ćute jer je nemoralno da žrtve pričaju o tome što se dogodilo!!! Po vama žrtve treba da ćute!!! Šta je vaša teza?? Zatvarati oči pred nasiljem? Ne govoriti? Ćutati? Vaša teza da je nemoralno pričati o nasilju i da je nemoralno poslati poruku žrtvama i na taj način možda nekom pomoći, da o tome treba ćutati i praviti se da se nije dogodilo je apsolutno skandalozna.Vaša drskost da meni, koja se godinama javno borim protiv svake vrste nasilja i ne znam koliko sam puta javno iznosila svoje stavove ne samo u trenutku istine je drskost neviđenih razmera.I sigurno nećete ovo objaviti…
Nemojte da vam padne na pamet da objavite nešto drugo, jer čuvam ovaj mail. Sram vas bilo!!!!
Tatjana Vojtehovski

Redakcija „24 sata” smatra da ovo pismo NE zaslužuje odgovor u idućem broju.

A Conceptual Guide to “Gender”

The term “gender” refers to economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female. In almost all societies, women and men differ in their activities and undertaking, regarding access to and control over resources, and participating in decision-making. Gender roles and responsibilities, therefore, refer to the differences between women and men in societies based upon their sex. The use of the word “gender” highlights the insight that these differences are not innate or predetermined and are not the same as the biological differences between women and men. Gender differences have been built up and reinforced by socio-cultural and economic institutions, over time and are therefore different in diverse contexts and societies. Gender roles, responsibilities and differences are not the same in different societies, but differ according to the historical development and institutions of that particular society, although there are similar inequalities between women and men, girls and boys, globally.

A focus on gender inequalities does not imply that all women are worse of than all men. Rather, the argument is that gender (being male or female) is an important social division characterized by inequality. Whether you are a woman or a man will influence how people see you, the social expectations about how you should behave, people’s assumptions about what you might be “good at” or what skills you might have, and your life chances. (Sida, 1997)

There is a danger, and a frequent mistake, to confuse “gender” with “women”; it is therefore important to understand the differences between these two concepts. In order to focus on gender inequalities one must have knowledge of both women and men’s roles and responsibilities as it is the comparative analysis between these that will highlight the gender (in-) equalities of any society. An analysis of women or men separately can be of importance but can never replace a gender analysis or perspective as it only highlights part of the reality. To only state that girls don’t go to school adequately isn’t necessarily based upon gender inequalities as boys might attend in equally low numbers, it is when you compare these two data that a gender analysis can be made and its origin further investigated.

For UN-HABITAT’s work, this implies that the Programme must take into equal consideration and equally address equality in control over and access to land, equal participation and roles in decision-making forums as well as an equal say in urban planning and development.

Women, or men, as a constituency can organise themselves around any common cause or interest but it is equally important to remember that these groups are not homogenous. There is a need to take into consideration a variety of different criteria, such as class, ethnicity, backgrounds and so on. Consequently, the interests of women and men, separately or linked, may be determined as much by their class positions or their ethnic identity as by their sex or gender roles. (UNCHS, 1996)

From UN-HABITAT