Pushing the limits

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton was interviewed in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23clinton-t.html?_r=3&ref=magazine I totally agreed with one of her statements that “democracy means nothing if half the people can’t vote, or if their vote doesn’t count, or if their literacy rate is so low that the exercise of their vote is in question”. The understanding of this should come to those countries which today face gender inequality problems in their societies. I also agree with the fact that gender equality can be achieved through empowerment of women economically, politically and socially. And here the main question comes: how can this economic, political and social empowerment be exercised in the countries where that deep-seated cultural resistance exists.

Living in a country (Abkhazia) where the culture and traditions play important role in the society, I see the process of women’s empowerment as a quite complex and long-term one. It is a general belief that empowering of women should start with education (ensuring the access to education for girls) – of course education promotes the women’s empowerment process. There is another opinion that economically independent women have more power to make decisions. But my observations of gender problems within my own country make me believe that the real economic, political and social empowerment of women just can be achieved if there is a real understanding of the traditions and culture deeply rooted in the consciousness of the society.

There are a lot of examples when economically independent women are still not independent in decision making. Or like when a woman who was betrayed by her husband still has no right to leave him because of of reasons created by the society in order to follow the traditions. But a boy can refuse to marry a pregnant girl because of his “respected” parents since it is a big shame on his family.

All these are traditions which do not allow us to accept the reality even if we are well-educated, and economically independent. These are the values which are being given to us since the childhood and when you grow up, become educated and try to understand what is good and what is bad through analyzing the existing reality you are still not able to get rid of these traditional and cultural values which are deep inside you… 

/Gayane Chakayran

Gayane Chakayran, Abkhazia, fights for real democracy: "I would like people to understand that they have actual power to define their fates by themselves."

My body is loosing it’s mind, I don’t know what is really hurting more; the fact that I can’t move my swollen knee or the fact that things are getting out of hands and I am sinking in a kind of a nervous breakdown.

I am an activist and work passionately on women’s rights in my country. But some days, I experience an “emotional fall” which is usually accompanied by a physical illness that gives a tragic look to it. During those times, demons start roaming around, as they have been for the past couple of days when I was stuck in bed with an infectious swollen knee, unable to move.

During times like this, I start doubting and questioning everything; my work, my approach, and the things I believe in and fight for.

Fear is the second thing that comes to my mind; fear of not being able to do things as they should be, fear of hurting others, fear of being harassed for my work, fear of putting others in danger.

Loneliness comes when everything else fails. She stays with me until the end of this crisis situation to remind me, that not every moment you will find solidarity around you, that sometimes when you are pushing the limits too far, chances are that loneliness will hang in there for a while. And when I am talking about loneliness I am not assuming that nobody is around you, helping out. I mean more that nobody really understand your moves or opinions on certain things. And you feel alienated from the rest and if you are living in a region like South Caucasus, it’s common to feel like that most of the time.

I am writing this while in a lot of pain (knee pain) and if I read it again tomorrow I will probably not put it on the blog, because often it is difficult to admit that your work is emotionally draining you. It is hard because, most of the people around you will jump on this opportunity to tell you loud and clear: “enough already, why do you want to save the world, think of yourself first!”

But the thing is, I am thinking of myself when I am jumping actively in defending this or that issue related to women in my country and when I am actively working on this or that project, traveling around the regions, listening to women, their pain and their needs, as well as mine, that I am trying to listen to and find solutions for.

Tomorrow will be a better day. I am sure of it. I need to hang in there until the pain goes away. I mean the knee pain.

Lara Aharonian

Lara Aharonian is active in Women's Resource Center in Yerevan, Armenia. "We empower young women to take an active role in society – lobbying for women's rights in Armenia - supporting women in crisis situation - changing mentalities and stereotypes in society regarding gender issues - sexual rights and health -  peace building in south Caucasus".

Rape is often used as a weapon of war by the armed groups which operate in the east of the DRC with the aim of intimidation, forcing the civil population to flee their homes, but there are plenty of other methods used by these same armed groups to intimidate, plunder and force the civil population to flee. In this article, I would like to describe another strategy which these groups use and whose aim is the same. This strategy consists of “burning down the homes” of the civil population.

It’s Tuesday 25/08/2009, just gone 23.00, in Nyakabere, a village situated 54 kms from the town of Uvira and surrounded by armed men. After surrounding the village, they proceeded to make it disappear, and going from door to door they began to wake these peaceful citizens and force them to leave their homes. “When they came to our house, they made us go outside and then run away taking only an item of clothing of our choice, leaving everything else inside the house. We didn’t know where to go in the middle of the night, so we decided to take shelter in the bush. Behind us, they (the attackers) first looted our house, taking all our belongings, and then they started to burn down our homes,” says Nabintu , a mother of six who lives in the village.

According to the testimony of those present, this armed band burned down more than 50 houses and threw a hundred families out onto the street. This scene was repeated on 29/08/2009 in Luvungi, another village, 49 kms from the town of Uvira, where this band of criminals set fire to still more villagers’ homes. Who are these attackers and why are they turning on the civilian population? Opinion is divided as to the identity of the perpetrators; according to FARDC (The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), these men are the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda), an armed group made up of former genocidal murderers who continue to sow terror and despair among the Congolese civil population. According to the civil society in Uvira, which has carried out surveys in the area, and eye witness accunts, the men who attacked Nyakabere on the night of the 25th and Luvungi on the night of the 29th, came from the ranks of the FARDC. And what could have motivated this attack? The fact that the government had not paid their salaries for several months. “These soldiers, who have not been paid since the 4th of May, have turned on the civilian population with the aim of despoiling their belongings, “ concludes the report from the civil society.

The civil population remains the target of the various armed groups which make the laws in the Kivu on the one hand and on the other they remain the target of the FARDC which is supposed to protect them. As the American Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, emphasised on her latest visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo last month, the solution to the problems undermining the East of this country lies in the commitment of the governments of the sub-region and in the creation of a genuine Republican army which will be in a position to protect the population against the massacres, the looting and the raping of women and young girls. I believe that if the governments of the region act to find a solution to the problems posed by these negative forces, then tomorrow we will not be talking about the FDLR/ Interahamwe. I also believe that if the Congolese government commit themselves to paying their soldiers regularly we will no longer witness the phenomenon of plundering.

/Elysée Mwele, Uvira, Kongo.
Active in CEDEJ, a youth organisation that works with gender equality and raising awareness among young girls concerning for example sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV, LGBT-matters and education.

Irina, Ghana, Salome, Gayanee, Aynur, Pervana, Mirinda, Natia, Nanuka, Nur, Tako, Knarik, Viktoria, Inna, Lara, Nona, Leila, Nilufar, Nana ...

Det här är inte vilka kvinnor som helst, det är 24 aktiva unga kvinnor från södra Kaukasus, som har växt upp i områden där krig, konflikter och korruption var och fortfarande är vardag. Vi är från Armenien, Azerbajdzjan, Georgien, Abchazien och Sydossetien och lärt oss att se varandra som "fienden".
För tre år sedan fick vi möjlighet att träffas i Istanbul för första gången under ett seminarium för unga kvinnor där vi fick en chans att höja våra röster, tala om våra problem, gråta och skratta. En ny vänskap föddes och ett nätverk bildades i tron att fred börjar med att vi samarbetar för förändring i våra respektive länder.

I år har vi i Unga kvinnors nätverk i södra Kaukasus för första gången möte i Stockholm, Sverige för att prata om aktivism och lära oss av erfarenheter från lokala organisationer. Bland de intressanta gäster som hållit pass och workshops är Amnesty International, om hur man genomför en aktion, Hanna från Idyll om queer feminism och en representant från Glöm Aldrig Pela och Fadime (GAPF) om de många informationskampanjer de genomfört mot hedersvåld i Sverige.

Idag, sista dagen av vårt möte, tar vi tillfället i akt att utöva demokrati i praktiken. Vi åker snart till ett av de livligaste torgen i centrala Stockholm, Medborgarplatsen, mellan 12 och 13 genomför vi en  manifestation för att tala om vår region, öka medvetenheten om krig, men framför allt för att visa att vår vänskap är möjlig och en framgångsrik väg för hållbar fred i vår region.

Ärligt talat är vi är lite oroade. Att utöva demokrati är inte lätt i våra respektive länder. Sverige är ett säkrare ställe att börja vår resa mot aktivism på och ger oss kraft att fortsätta denna resa.

Bilder!

Foto: Emma Söderström

If the Swedish newspaper wouldn't have published its bizarre article about Israel and organ trafficking, Israel really would have to plant it there.

Isn't it comfortable to occupy newspaper headlines with this useless story, instead of dealing with the actual political events today? And isn't it comfortable to mention Holocaust in order to shut the mouth of the state that just took on the EU presidency?

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has apparently decided that attack is the best defense. And so it tries to force Sweden to interfere with freedom of speech, and to accuse Germany in releasing irresponsible statements out of context, when they demand to put an end to the settlements in the Palestinian Territories. Out of which context exactly is it?

When Israel is so angry, there is no anger left to anyone about the thousands and a half people killed in Gaza last January, as it is still under siege; about the house demolitions and eviction of entire families in East Jerusalem from their lands; about the ongoing construction of the Separation Wall; the murder of peaceful activists in non-violent Israeli-Palestinian demonstrations; the expansion of settlements in the West bank, and the many other actions that make living in this place intolerable.

The Israeli media is filled with racism and hate speech in every form. The government of course would never interfere, because racism and hate speech became the norm. In this recruited and patriotic media, independent journalists with critical thinking are struggling to keep their jobs.

I am pretty much certain that both Israel and Sweden are more interested in this political theatre staged in our newspapers, than in generating actual change in the political reality in the Middle East. More and more Israelis are now coming to the conclusion that massive international pressure is the only factor likely to influence Israel's politics and put an end to the occupation [see an article by Neve Gordon http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gordon20-2009aug20,... ].

However, during the January bombardment of Gaza, Sweden and the majority of European countries stood in silence, mumbling a few confused words. With the increasing power of the right throughout Europe, many of the left parties were isolated in their anti-war position within right-wing parliaments.

As for me, I am much more concerned with the actions Sweden will take in the course of its EU presidency in relation to the Middle East. I advise them to be concerned with the same thing.

A word about anti-Semitism. Last Thursday I met with an Italian delegation of young people to Israel/Palestine. One of them asked me, don't I think that Israel, because of its politics, is responsible for the increasing anti-Semitism in the world.
People, who believe that, tend also to believe that 9/11 caused increasing Islamophobia.

I think that the only thing responsible for anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism. People choose their own narrative of explanation for current events.

You can choose to see 9/11 as a proof for your prejudice against Muslims, or you can choose to see it as a chance to rethink relations between global capitalism and violence.

You can choose to see the Israeli occupation as a proof for your prejudice against Jews, or you can choose to see it as a chance to rethink colonialism and ideology of apartheid.

If you consistently choose the first option and direct these events toward strengthening your hostility or hatred, I am pretty convinced that the racism was there long before the event that gave a chance to "justify" this racism. Racism cannot be justified.

/Inna Michaeli, acitive in Coalition of Women for Peace, Israel

is it possible or not – I am often asking to myself.
As it is known across the generations the Caucasian peoples follow the traditions which form our way of thinking, behavior and thus, our life-style. Traditions which are carefully inherited by the old generation to a new one are certain frames within which you should exist otherwise you are at risk to be condemned by the society you live in. Another way the term “Caucasian traditions” can be interpreted is a lot of limitations and taboo in many spheres of our life and the worst thing here is that we are living as we are used to, without asking ourselves whether we are happy with that.

We are told by the older generation that traditions are good and necessary – they help to preserve morality. But what are the consequences of that morality – when a young unmarried girl having delivered a baby leaves him at maternity hospital being afraid to be stained; when a husband leaves her bride having learned that she is not virgin; when a wife endures the roughness of her husband and does not leave him just because she knows that a divorced woman in Caucasus has no right to private life and happiness. And these are our traditions which we keep on following.

Of course, each thing has its advantages and disadvantages and our task here is to decide what overbalances for each of us.

Thus, in the frames of “Caucasian traditions” it is very difficult not to break one of the main principles of democracy – “freedom of choice” since we do not choose we just follow our traditions…

/Gayane Chakaryan

As I wrote before, people who are organizing the Universiade 2009 in Beograd first used their bulldozers and removed parts of the Roma settlement next to the block of newly-made buildings where sportiest from around the world will be accommodated during this students Olympics event. Campaign and protest were made, but it seemed that most of Beograd’s citizens don’t really care or think that Roma people deserve to be sent “where they came from”.

Probably empowered by such a situation, our city government made another shocking move in the middle of June – this time they put a two-meter high fence around the settlement – blocking the way to the only water supply for the people living there.
The purpose of it – well, our city leaders think that poverty is something to be ashamed of – so by putting this fence for the time of Universiade they are “only” trying to “protect” sportiest from the “ugly” sight of poverty.
After some human rights organizations protested, cisterns with water were sent there.

People of good will then organized an action to use their bodies as weapons to break the fences.

/Majda Puaca

Operation “KIMYA 11” which was launched jointly three weeks ago by the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and MONUC on the high plateau on the plains of the Ruzizi (Lemera, Kidoti, Kiringye) in South Kivu and which consists of the disarming and forced repatriation of the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda) is having disastrous consequences for the civil population in general and the women in particular. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) 35,000 people have already fled the fighting and 20,000 of them have gathered in the villages of Kamanyola and Luberizi, which border on Rwanda and Burundi respectively. More refugees from the combat zones are arriving each day in the town of Uvira, causing a serious logistics problem as the need for shelter was not foreseen by the local authorities. Some of these refugees are sleeping out under the stars and others spend the nights in schools with no support whatsoever.

This operation is being conducted without any plan to protect the civilian population and in particular the women, who are the main target in this type of conflict. According to information from the refugees, the women and girls are being subjected to sexual abuse by certain elements of the FARDC, the MONUC and the FDLR. And this recurrence of inhuman behavior by the fighting forces is a result of the impunity which has become commonplace in the DRC. The perpetrators of rape fear no-one. This is a deplorable situation which is undermining the dignity of women. For this reason, we call upon the protagonists to show respect to the civil population by putting an end to this kind of behavior, and the international community to put pressure on the Congolese government and the FDLR so that the perpetrators of rape can be brought to justice without delay.

Enough is enough.

/Lucie Zawadi

I was waiting for the end of the election process here in Albania before writing my txt. But as far as I can understand it will not end with the creation of the new government nor with the resignation of socialist leader (determined as the principal cause of the lose of left wing in this elections)

Of course I am not writing for this. I would like to announce that we will have 11 women in more as MPs for the next 4 years (21 in total). This is a good thing in terms of numbers but talking about what they will bring in the parliament – this is too early to be judged. Different backgrounds of these women can (should) affect decision making process in the parliament especially for drafting and improving the legislation.

In this case my glass remains half empty because I’m still wondering if these new politician women recruited so unexpectedly (at least for us) by the parties, will be strong enough to resist to the harsh politics. While talking for this achievement in the context of representation of women not so far away, in those areas when they were elected as MPs, rural women are not so lucky. Many of them cannot vote, although by law they have this right. It is still a privilege of the man to vote for the whole family expressing his own political preference.

I was an observer during the last elections in one of the communes of Durres and I was keeping my notes regarding the number of women presented in the voting centre. Often more than two women were accompanied by one or two single men. He was walking in the head of the queue and after him three, four… nine women were walking silent, watching the ground. He was the head of the family the one to decide for all of them; wife, daughters, sisters in law, nieces. They were physically present in the voting centre at least to sign in the voter’s registry while the votes for all of them were putted by him in the voting box.

In some other cases when the woman had to vote by her own her lovely husband was there to support her and to be sure she will not mistake the name of a specific party “misusing” so her vote. Unfortunately these elections were considered very important for Albania who aspires to become an EU member. Achievement of the standards remained an issue of a secondary importance while elections were perceived as the battle among the prime minister and the leader of Socialist Party. When both of them were waiting the results they didn’t forget to mention the standards the citizens and EU countries were waiting but it was to late…

Age: 28 years old
Lives in: Durres Albania

Active in:  Association for Women with Social Problems (the main focus; improvement of women situation in Durres region through reduction of gender inequity, domestic violence and through the increase of women involvement in politic)

I fight for: Equal chances and equal rights; our sexual appurtenance is just a detail in the complexity of a human being
Your activism recommendations: Activism is a way to follow your own principles and the fight for making them reality is a manner to complete even your own self through the improvement of someone’s life/conditions.

Links:
shoqatagrave@yahoo.com
qendraekeshillimit@yahoo.com