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The Pain Of Lost Innocence

2013-06-25T11:26:45Z

Today more than half of Indian children face child abuse at least once in their lifetime. The New Delhi rape of ‘Gudiya’ showed that child abuse is rampant across the country. The use of cyberspace and Internet-information systems has further aggravated the issue - children are not just abused, but even subjected to child pornography.

In January 2013, a brutal child rape in New Delhi reignited the critical issue of child abuse that we as Indians have conspicuously shied away from for several years. Five years-old, Gudiya was raped and brutalized by two men, Manoj (19) and Pradeep (21) living in the same building. They not only abused her, but even slashed her throat and left her unconscious in a pool of blood. Recently, an incident in Gurgaon was reported where a 45 year-old father raped his daughter for three years. In a privately run shelter home in Haryana, children and young women were beaten, sent out for sex work, trafficked and abused in horrible ways. Three years ago, we had the Nithari case, where an influential businessman and his servant were involved in child abuse and murdered 11 children, burying them in their courtyard.

Where our society is heading is hard to say and even fathom. I am deeply disturbed and shocked to read countless stories of young girls subjected to abuse by their nearest ones. Despite ubiquitous protests following these incidents, every day we discover even stranger cases of child abuse. We are also yet to discuss the root of this issue. Instead, we discuss violence against women in terms of rape as a property dispute. Even on news channels I hear patriarchal views during debates, where many blame the dressing style of women for ‘encouraging’ rapists to rape them. The Gudiya incident was a straight slap in the face to this chauvinist mindset and made us swallow harsh realities that we have until now knowingly evaded.

Today 53.4 percent of our children face child abuse at least once in their lifetime. These incidents have gone unnoticed for too long due to our negligence. More often than not, these abuses are perpetrated by a family member, a family friend or an uncle. They are kept private and not revealed as it becomes a ‘prestige’ issue for the family of the victim. I am sometimes appalled and ashamed by such hypocrisy. What about punishing the culprit? Why aren’t we bringing them to justice? According to the National Crime Records Bureau, between 2001 and 2011 there was a three-fold jump in registered child rape cases - from 2,113 in 2001 to 7,112 instances 10 years later. The majority of these incidents are not even recorded in police files.

Child rape incidents have increased by 336 percent since 2001 in India according to a study conducted by the Asian Centre for Human Rights. Our country finds it difficult to talk about sex, let alone sexual abuse. While our movies are full of thigh-slapping oafs dishing out double-entendres, our society’s redress of abuse victims, not to mention police insensitivity, is a travesty. Child sex abuse is a particularly taboo topic - it is not just brushed under the carpet, it is locked away in teak closets and swept under expensive sheets of more homes that you can even imagine. It is this silence that is frighteningly empowering to the culprits.

Recovering and Healing from Incest (RAHI), an NGO that was started by Anuja Gupta - herself a victim of child abuse - carries out extensive research in this field. The following are just a few startling observations:

64 percent of victims are abused between the age of 10-18 years
32 percent of victims are abused between the age of 2-10 years
87 percent of victims are repeatedly abused
19 percent of the abused are currently living with at least one of their abusers

Most of these abused children have their mothers at home. The study was even more shocking, as it showed that this rate does not depreciate according to the strata of the society - in fact, it even appreciates. More than 70 percent of the children from upper class families suffer abuse from family members and people whom they trusted.

The solution in my view lies in the fact that we need to advise and educate our children about their sexuality and about how someone can exploit them. Whether it is the dogmatic society structure or the conservative mindset here in India, we generally do not even talk about the necessary details of what type of touching is wrong and where it crosses line with our children. This makes them even more vulnerable as they do not realize when they are being subjected to abuse. Most are so scared they do not even report these incidents to their parents - many out of fear of being outcast for reporting incidents against influential members of their family. On one hand, they are pressured by the abuser and on the other hand, we disbelieve them so much that they plunge into the darkness of depression.

We should not be paranoid and deprive children of the joy of childhood, but we need to make sure we give them the confidence that they have our full faith when they report such incidents. We need to trust them and instill faith and confidence. These are incidents that haunt the victim for a very long time and can shatter their self-confidence. Let us hope that with time , the society changes and we can stand by our children both compassionately and vigilantly in this hour of crisis.

Opinions voiced by Global Minds do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Global Journal.

Bollywood And Gender Violence

2013-04-02T11:30:59Z

The proliferation of sexual violence and female oppression in India is truly disturbing. The Times of India recently reported that 95% of women in Delhi and the surrounding areas feel unsafe outdoors. While the recent gang rape of a student in Delhi has brought significant attention to this issue, male sexual dominance deeply associated with violent tendencies is a mainstay of Indian culture. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Bollywood, where "eve-teasing" – a euphemism in India that refers to everything from provocative comments to groping - is historically displayed by cinematic heroes.

Steve Derné conducted an in-depth analysis of Hindi films during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The study found that Hindi films not only tend to “eroticize” sexual violence but these films often legitimize such violence[1] by showing heroes who use milder forms of sexual violence to gain the affection of heroines. Derné interviewed Indian men on how films shaped their beliefs about romantic relationships and women’s place in society more generally. These interviews confirmed the hypothesis that men at that time idealized submission in women and that that ideal was often supported and even amplified by the images they saw in films. What is notable here is that, by simultaneously legitimizing “mild” sexual aggression by men and idealizing submission in women, these films rob women of their agency.

A more recent study of nine randomly selected Bollywood box-office hits from the late 1990’s reveal that over 40% of sexual scenes included sexual violence [2], and perhaps even more shockingly, nearly 70% of the perpetrators of this violence were the “heroes”. The same study found that while “serious” sexual violence was shown in a negative light – moderate sexual violence, of the sort often perpetrated by the film heroes, was framed as fun. Once again, the narratives of these films serve to rob women of their agency, by treating them as prizes to be won by force.

Notwithstanding this, Hindi films have certainly evolved over time. More recent films have celebrated women’s abilities beyond their role as sexual objects. In the 2009 film “Wake Up Sid”, the heroine is not only a successful writer but encourages the hero to be self- sufficient, forcing him to grow up and effectively educates him. Furthermore, in the 2012 the sleeper hit “Kahaani”, the heroine is elevated to the status of an action hero and mastermind, manipulating a series of events to avenge the death of her husband and destroy a terrorist cell. Even with this substantial progress, however, many of old social mores remain. Another highly successful 2012 romantic comedy, “Cocktail”, again reinforced the image of the “ideal” Indian woman with a shy, traditional and selfless heroine juxtaposed to her modern and more liberal best friend.

These common film images, reflected in the attitudes of Indian youth, reinforce specific ideals of both masculinity and femininity. In a recent pilot study of college-aged students, researchers found that 32% of female respondents thought that eve-teasing was a way to display masculinity.[3] The acceptance of male aggression as a legitimate expression of masculinity by this group of educated women confirms the fact that these norms are still deeply entrenched in Indian society. In addition, the majority of male respondents reported enjoying watching scenes of eve-teasing in movies and 50% asserted that they believed women liked to be “teased”. The vast majority of male-respondents, 76%, reported that films and television played a role in the prevalence of eve-teasing behaviors. This shows that, over 20 years following in-depth studies and interviews by Derné, these “minor” acts of sexual violence are still eroticized by the Indian media industry.

Moreover, these images and storylines continue to rob female characters of their agency. This loss of agency affects young women and men’s attitudes and responses in their own lives. On the one hand, the same survey study found that 51% of female respondents ignore eve-teasing situations due to feeling helpless. 45% of women and 39% of men also revealed that not only was there no point in protesting against eve-teasing, but that such protest was likely to aggravate the situation. On the other hand, The Pink Gang, an impressive group of Indian women collectively acting to protect themselves, is taking pro-active steps to reclaim their agency. These women reject the deeply ingrained belief that women are helpless and take action to change their own situations and even their communities. This fundamental shift in these beliefs is vital for Indian women. These beliefs, however, will remain deeply rooted in Indian society, as long as young Indian women and men are subjected to images idealizing outdated and harmful notions of sexuality.

The recent commercial success of films, such as “Kahaani”, show that there is a growing demand for empowered heroines in Hindi films. This presents a significant opportunity for the Indian media to not only reflect present and past Indian societal attitudes towards women but also help re-shape them. In this way, it encourages the development of more three-dimensional, empowered heroines and heroes who fully respect women, thus condemning even mild sexual violence and its perpetrators. The films mentioned above highlight that this shift in media portrayals is already underway. In fact, over the last several years, public service announcements against eve-teasing have multiplied. However, the unification of the nation after the horrific Delhi gang-rape coupled with the proof that pro-feminist films can be commercial successes should lead to a rapid rise of more empowering portrayals of women in Indian entertainment.

References

1. Derne, S., Making Sex Violent: Love as Force in Recent Hindi Films. Violence Against Women, 1999. 5: p. 548.

2. Ramasubramanian, S. and M.B. Oliver, Portrayals of Sexual Violence in Popular Hindi Films, 1997-99. Sex Roles, 2003. 48(7/8): p. 327-336.

3. Ghosh, D., Eve Teasing: Role of the Patriarchal System of the Society. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 2011. 37: p. 100-107.

Opinions voiced by Global Minds do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Global Journal.

The Pink Face Of Indian Vigilantism

2013-03-27T11:21:14Z

The horrific gang-rape of a 23 year-old physiology student in a moving bus shortly after nightfall on December 16 in New Delhi has laid bare the failure of the Indian state to carry out one of its most basic duties: the protection of its female citizens. With the silence surrounding sexual violence pierced, mass protests have focused on the deficiency of official justice processes. In the northwestern state of Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, a growing group of female vigilantes had already begun to take the law into their own hands.

Uttar Pradesh, with a population matching that of Brazil, is considered India’s wild west and has been written off as “lawless” by the central government. Despite being run from 2007 to 2012 by Kumari Mayawati, a lower-caste woman, the state has remained a dangerous place to be female – feudal rape is widespread and lower-caste women remain the most vulnerable to sexual violence.

It is in a bandit-plagued region of Uttar Pradesh called Bundelkhand, located in the southwest of the state, that one of the world’s most successful women’s vigilante organizations, the Gulabi Gang – known as the Pink Gang in English – is based. The group, which is named after its distinctive hot-pink sari uniforms and pink-painted bamboo sticks, formed in 2006 and is now reported to number 20,000 women. That is, double the size of the Irish Army and eight times the estimated number of al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.

The founder and self-appointed Commander-in-Chief of the gang, Sampat Pal, is an illiterate woman who was married off at the age of 12 and bore the first of her five children at the age of 15. Despite her humble background, Pal’s spartan tworoom office in the dusty town of Atarra sees a steady flow of people arriving from sunrise to sunset with problems ranging from domestic violence and rape, to crimes like ‘dowry deaths’ – a widespread phenomenon whereby brides who do not offer a high enough dowry after marriage are murdered by in-laws seeking more money.

When new cases arrive at her door, Pal asks detailed questions about what is alleged to have happened, making sure to hear both sides of the story. Often, she gathers the whole village together to determine the truth of a certain claim. Then, Pal will either seek a resolution in an Oprah Winfrey-style group discussion or, if that is not possible, will accompany the alleged victim to the police station to make a formal complaint. This is, by far, one of the Pink Gang’s most subscribed services.

According to NGO Human Rights Watch, 87 percent of Indians mistrust the police. Despite the fact that virtually all complaints in India are made by visiting a police station, as opposed to calling an emergency hotline, many hesitate before doing so. Registering what is called a ‘First Information Report’ is a fraught process. Often, citizens are turned away because stations are short-staffed and lacking stationary. It is common for police, who are under-paid and over worked, to demand bribes in return for registering a complaint. If a case is brought against a powerful individual – a politician or well-connected businessman – police will likely shoo away petitioners as law enforcement officials are often under their patronage.

Apart from rampant corruption, women face an additional barrier to approaching the police. Most Indian women would not enter a police station on their own, especially not at night, given the numerous cases of custodial rape that occur in these facilities. Before the recent gang-rape case in New Delhi, the last time mass protests were held in response to sexual violence was in the 1970s. Back then, Indians took to the streets to decry the rape of a teenage tribal girl called Mathura by police officers in the state of Maharashtra, which resulted in the reform of laws pertaining to custodial rape. Despite the advances made since the Mathura case, such crimes remain widespread. The policing problem is particularly bad in Uttar Pradesh, which boasts the world’s largest police force under a single command. A.N Mulla, an Indian High Court judge, once described the Uttar Pradesh police force as the “biggest criminal organization in the world.”

Text and Photography by Amana Fontanella-Khan

The Return of the Veil

2013-01-23T08:21:16Z

A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East To America, Leila Ahmed, Yale University Press, $30.00.

The hijab is back – on an increasing number of women’s heads, and as a subject of public debate. This discussion is often premised on contentious and stereotypical images of veiled women as a reflection of Islamic oppression. To what extent is the veil’s resurgence a reaction to these perceptions? Are there different meanings to the hijab? What do Muslim women – veiled and unveiled– have to say about their choices? These are just some of the questions that Harvard professor Leila Ahmed poses in A Quiet Revolution.

Ahmed provides an interesting historical analysis of the issues surrounding the hijab since the beginning of the 20th century, before exploring in detail the “unveiling movement” in Egypt. She then reflects upon the revival of Islam in the United States, and the different forms of activism that have emerged as a result. A key theme throughout is the connection between the reappearance of the hijab in the East and West. Ahmed argues that understanding the situation in Egypt – a non-Islamist society that went from unveiled to predominantly veiled society in less then 30 years – will help shed light on contemporary dynamics in the West.

In the same vein, Ahmed demonstrates how religious movements are not static. They can transform across frontiers and generations “and take root in environments where new social and political conditions open up new possibilities of belief, practice and interpretation.” Ahmed’s critical perspective on the politics of the veil in Egypt and the United States is a valuable contribution to the study of hijab, and, thus, to a better understanding of the status of women in Islam.

Z. K.

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Which Way Forward in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka?

2012-11-08T15:17:07Z

Lessons from the So-Called ‘Powerless’ Women of the North.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced last month it was closing down operations in Sri Lanka, where in 2009 it had run the world's largest camp for internally displaced people (IDPs). Hailed as a significant step towards ending displacement within the country, this announcement, along with relatively strong economic growth and social indicators seemed to confirm Sri Lanka as a ‘post-conflict success story’. Three years after a 30-year long civil war, however, the government has shown little willingness to find a political solution to the original causes of the conflict, and continues to face accusations of human rights abuses against its own citizens. As a result, the international community has been left struggling to adopt a coherent position towards the small island state.

At the same time, this situation represents a unique opportunity for donor countries to put into practice their own rhetoric about listening to the needs of ‘those most vulnerable’ – a discourse that has emerged strongly over the past few years within humanitarian and development circles. According to this idea, the needs of ‘vulnerable’ groups (once identified) are prioritized in the context of donor nations’ aid and diplomatic policies towards the recipient country. This is in opposition to traditional approaches, where political and economic engagement was based on the donor’s (self-interested) political and economic agendas. Although most realists would argue that aid and diplomacy will always be based on national interests, multilateral initiatives designed to improve the quality and impact of aid such as The Paris Declaration (2005), the Principles and Good Practice of Good Humanitarian Donorship (2003) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008) offer some hope of an alternative.

In Sri Lanka’s case, vulnerability – according to almost every definition [1] – is high in the north of the country [2], which is the region that was most devastated by the war. Considered the country’s Tamil ‘homeland’ with over 95 percent of its population of Tamil ethnicity, it saw the birth of (and eventual control by) the LTTE, and was also the site of the last and most destructive phase of fighting in late 2008 and 2009. A 2011 assessment found that more than 60 percent of households in the Northern Province remained food insecure [3] and as of June 2012, approximately 100,000 houses in the area were still left to be rebuilt or repaired [4]. Intensifying militarization, oppression of free speech and the so-called ‘economic revival’ of the north (in which resources have been devoted to mega-infrastructure projects, at the indirect cost of food security and housing needs) have heightened the daily challenges facing residents – most of whom have been recently resettled to war-ruined villages and towns following months or sometimes even years of displacement.

Within this context, 40,000 female-headed households (FHHs) are estimated to exist – most born from the loss of husbands and male kin during the war – and are thought to be especially impacted in the post-conflict environment [5]. As lone wives and mothers, they are more exposed to increasing sexual violence in the north [6], face severe disadvantages in claiming and maintaining control over property [7], and in securing the few jobs that are available and getting the same wages as their male counterparts [8]. As de Alwis has observed, the emotional burdens that these women shoulder in a conflict or post-war context can also be crushing:

These women have not only been traumatized by the violence they have witnessed and the loss of their loved ones, but they have to both financially and emotionally support and nurture similar traumatized and devastated offspring […] The majority of widowed household heads in this country face a constant battle for economic stability, privacy and physical safety and most importantly, for self worth and social dignity [9]

At the same time, it is important to avoid painting an incomplete picture of these lone widows and mothers as ‘helpless victims’: women’s movements, in which FHHs in the north have participated, have a long history [10] in Sri Lanka, and the women’s wing of the LTTE became infamous for using female suicide bombers on high-profile targets, including Rajiv Ghandhi, the former Prime Minister of India.

Anthropological research has also revealed that populations perceived as being ‘powerless’ often have nearly invisible, but nonetheless powerful, ways of surviving and even resisting oppression and poverty [11]. For example, this could include acting the part of the ‘helpless victim’ in order to access aid from NGOs, or restricting their behavior to align with the stereotype of the ‘good Tamil housewife’ in order to access aid from kin. Research on FHHs in eastern Sri Lanka reveals that “the quest to maintain respectability often involved not only sacrifices in terms of isolation and loneliness but also constraints on economic activities … [required for] the maintenance of that genteel status needed to secure kin solidarity and support” [12].

FHHs in the north also seem to deal with living in environments of fear and constant uncertainty – inspired mainly by the oppressive presence of the military whereby there is now estimated to be one soldier for every 18 residents [13] – by ‘normalizing’ such conditions as part of their daily lives. A 2009 study [14] carried out in Jaffna found that the prevalence of common mental health problems experienced in conflict and post-conflict situations, such as PTSD, depression and anxiety, were actually less frequent than those found in similar studies carried out in Kosovo and Afghanistan. The researchers hypothesized that given the protracted period of the conflict in Sri Lanka, affected populations had learned, over time, to better cope with ongoing exposure to conflict and to ‘normalize’ it in their thought processes as part of daily life. This is in line with the medical anthropologist Ananda Galapatti’s argument that trauma in the Sri Lankan context is not necessarily outside the bounds of normalcy, given that the civil war which endured for three decades effectively dismantled traditional conceptions of what is ‘normal’ [15].

Research carried out in IDP camps in Sri Lanka also substantiates the argument that women are generally moreadept than men at coping with drastic changes in their gender roles (that is, from ‘only’ caring for the house and children to also becoming the primary breadwinner) [16]. Perhaps the best illustration of this is FHHs’ ability to find new ways to earn livelihoods, usually through self-employment and other types of informal sector activities [17]. Several scholars[18],[19] have documented how the Sri Lankan conflict has undercut the sexual division of labor, resulting in women engaging in non-traditional vocations such as mechanics, fishing and cement making. Thus, FHHs’ ability to not only perform what they have been ‘gendered’ to do – household work and taking care of children – but to step out of the feminized sphere of the home and into the roles and expectations of men is remarkable.

Groups such as FHHs in the north are therefore neither ‘fine on their own’ nor ‘helpless victims’. It is also evident that donors, aid agencies and the international public must continue their engagement with Sri Lanka, in spite of the World Bank recently labeling it as a “middle income country at peace” [20]. International support should focus on helping to create the environment necessary for affected populations to rebuild their lives.

This could be done in several ways: with the Sri Lankan economy heavily export-oriented, foreign countries have significant leverage that they could use to insist that the government prioritizes meeting urgent, basic needs in the areas that were most impacted by the war (rather than mega infrastructure or tourism development projects). The international community could also build on the momentum that it created earlier this year by passing a resolution at the Human Rights Council that urged Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its own lessons learned and reconciliation commission. In March 2013, the council will review progress on the implementation of these recommendations – and perhaps even set a new precedent by passing a second resolution with the same aim. Special efforts to include the participation of FHHs in both NGO and government-led development and reconstruction projects – including in decision-making processes – should also be strongly encouraged by donors.

The current situation in Sri Lanka demands that the international community does not retire its attention from the country if it wants to abide by its own principles of providing assistance based on the needs of those most vulnerable. In spite of encouraging macro-level socio-economic statistics, ‘pockets of vulnerability’ clearly still exist in Sri Lanka, with FHHs in the north being a prime example. Rather than providing the impression that FHHs are either powerless or completely self-sufficient, an improved understanding of both the challenges and the coping strategies that this group is already employing can offer donors a better idea of the kinds of support that are most needed.

[1] Vulnerability theories exist across different disciplines, each with differing views on risks, responses and outcomes. For example, economics tends to focus on incomes, with vulnerability commonly conceptualized as the risk probability that a household will fall under a poverty threshold or a certain level of assets in a given period of time. Sociologists and anthropologists have expanded the discussion on vulnerability beyond physical and financial factors to include social capital and the strength of social relations. The disaster management literature focuses on groups’ exposure to, and ability to cope with environmental hazards and shocks.

[2] IRIN news (September 9, 2010). SRI LANKA: Women take over as breadwinners in north.

[3] Petersson, A., Nanayakkara, L., Kumarasir, R., & Liyanapathirana, R. (2011, April). Food Security in the Northern, Eastern and North Central Provinces: A Food Security Assessment Report – Sri Lanka.

[4] International Crisis Group (ICG). (2012). SRI LANKA’S NORTH II: REBUILDING UNDER THE MILITARY.

[5] International Crisis Group (ICG). (2011). Sri Lanka: Women’s Insecurity in the North and East.

[6] BBC. (2012, March 9). 'Alarming rise' of sexual abuse in Jaffna.

[7] Fonseka, B., & Raheem, M. (2011). Land Issues in the Northern Province: Post-War Politics, Policy and Practices. Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives.

[8] See IRIN news (September 9, 2010). SRI LANKA: Women take over as breadwinners in north.

[9] P. 94, see de Alwis, M. (2002). The changing role of women in Sri Lankan society. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 92-100.

[10] See Emmanuel, Sarala (2009). Strategic Mapping of Women’s Peace Activism in Sri Lanka. Published by Women and Media Collective.

[11] See, for example, Scott, James C. (1992). Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. Yale University Press.

[12] P. 198, Ruwanpura, K. N., & Humphries, J. (2004). Mundane heroines: Conflict, Ethnicity, Gender, and Female Headship in Eastern Sri Lanka. Feminist Economics, 10(2), 173-205.

[13] See Pieris, N. (2012, February 17). Terrorists Out, Army In – Part 1.

[14] Husain, F., Anderson, M., Cardozo, B. L., Becknell, K., Blanton, C., Araki, D., et al. (2011, August 3). Prevalence of War-Related Mental Health Conditions and Association With Displacement Status in Postwar Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. Journal of the American Medical Association, 306(5), pp. 522-531.

[15] Galapatti, A. (2003). Psychological Suffering, "Trauma," and Ptsd: Implications for Women in Sri Lanka's Conflict Zones. In W. Giles, M. de Alwis, E. Klein, N. Silva, & M. Korac (Eds.), Feminists Under Fire: Exchanges Across War Zones (pp. 115-130). Toronto: Between the Lines.

[16] Schrijvers, J. (1999). Fighters, Victims and Survivors: Constructions of Ethnicity, Gender and Refugeeness among Tamils in Sri Lanka. Journal of Refugee Studies, 12(3), 307-333.

[17] See IRIN news (10 November 2011). SRI LANKA: Cottage industries offer hope in former war zone.

[18] See Rajasingham-Senanayake, D. (1998). After Victimhood: Cultural Transformation and Women's Empowerment in War and Displacement. Women in Conflict Zones Network Conference. Hendela, Sri Lanka.

[19] See Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). (2006). Rural women and livelihood activities.

[20] See http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka

Photo © IRIN

All Remedies for Syria Exhausted – Why Don't We Try a Woman?

2012-09-05T11:40:03Z

No stone has been left unturned – or so it seems. Syria is experiencing a full-scale civil war. If Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, the world's most eminent diplomatic figure and renowned mediator resigned (read: gave up), who else could even imagine trying to achieve a cease-fire (not to mention peace) in Syria? What about a woman for a change?

In early August, Kofi Annan announced his resignation from his post as Special Envoy of the UN and Arab League for Syria, as well as Chief Mediator charged with finding a solution to the Syrian crisis. As a result, Lakhdar Brahimi has been appointed as his successor. There has been much subsequent speculation about why Annan and his proposed six-point peace plan failed, including many analyses that have gone into detail on why he was not able to be insistent enough on some ground rules, such as Assad resigning. Other observers maintain that he may not have tried hard enough to get China and Russia on board.

He may also not have had the right people around him.

Annan's support team, across all UN ranks – as a UN staff member confirmed – consisted only of men. In other words, not one single woman. Annan's mediation arguably, therefore, had at least one flaw this time around.

Didn't he learn from Kenya? Back in 2008 during the Kenyan election crisis, Annan, together with a team of mediators and advisors, successfully assisted political leaders in negotiating a settlement and end to the violence and evolving humanitarian situation. During the mediation, women were well-represented and played crucial roles as negotiators and advisors. Led by former Mozambican politician Graça Machel as an eminent adviser, two lead negotiators, as well as two additional female advisors participated in the mediation team. These women also sought to include more women on both sides of the table to represent the conflicting parties.

Many studies have demonstrated that the impact of women in such situations is manifold. They bring a different experience and a different perspective to the negotiation table, and direct the focus towards distinct issues. A dissimilar way of communicating and dealing with emotions may also change the dynamics of a negotiation. Ultimately, the participation of women naturally alters the outcome. Aside from these aspects, however, if the outcome of peace negotiations, be it a failure or a peace accord, affects women as well as men, why shouldn't both be represented and take a share of the responsibility and burden?

Specifically addressing women in Syria, who suffer disproportionally from ongoing violence, means gathering a critical mass of potentially regime destabilizing opposition in the country as well as in the refugee and immigrant communities. Women in Syria are involved in the political scene. The Syrian National Council (SNC), recognized by several states as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, has a number of female members. Indeed one of its three spokespeople is a woman, the academic Bassma Kodmani. Another woman who could equally be mobilized for dialogue and mediation from the opposition side is human rights lawyer Catherine al-Talli, who was until March also a member of the SNC. Assad's cabinet contains few women. Nonetheless, in its current form (subject to likely further defections), there is Lamia Assi, Minister for Tourism and former Minister for Economy and Trade, as well as Kawkab Sabah al-Daya, Minister of State for Environment Affairs. These individuals alone are enough to make a start and allow for a female presence in any dialogue and negotiations.

More broadly, this is – sadly enough – an old story. Despite the fact that women constitute half of the world's population, they are surprisingly under-represented in the field of conflict resolution. Research conducted by UN Women revealed in 2010 (ten years after the vote on the famous Resolution 1325) that women made up only 10 percent of participants in negotiations and even less (3 percent) of the signatories of peace agreements. Women are largely excluded from conflict mediation and official diplomatic resolution processes. Within the UN, women occupy 6.5 percent of peace and conflict related posts. The current UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has led a big step forward in supporting women's careers within the UN. Since his appointment, the number of women in the organization’s highest ranks has increased by 40 percent. Today, five UN field missions are headed by women (previously, that figure stood at one). Similarly, around 38 percent of the mediators on the UN Mediation Unit's roster are women, with 39 percent originating from the global South. Despite this increase, however, there is still not parity.

So in the case of Syria, who could be the female successor to Annan? Admittedly, it is a difficult question to answer. There are indeed far fewer eminent female than male leaders in this world. The most powerful (Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel) are hardly an option – for obvious political reasons stemming from a lack of perceived neutrality in the eyes (of at least one) of the parties to the conflict. Notwithstanding the need to cast a wider net, we could at least consider the following women in the meantime: recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Liberian peace activist, Leymah Roberta Gbowee, former President of Kyrgyzstan and mediator Roza Otunbaeva, or Queen Rania of Jordan. There are certainly pro's and con's for each.

The alternative option of course would be for the international community to simply wait; wait for more high-ranking figures within the Assad regime to defect, wait while the massacres continue. We are in agreement that buying time is not really a solution. Yet saying we have tried everything is wrong, as long we have not. If we claim to have explored all options already, then we could also attempt a more gender-based mediation. Why not?

Opinions voiced by Global Minds do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Global Journal.

Firliania Purwanti - The O Project

2012-05-18T17:54:34Z

Talking about sex and orgasms in Indonesia’s Muslim society is taboo. But this is exactly what Firliana Purwanti, a human rights activist and development practitioner, is doing. Not only is she talking about orgasms, she also wrote a book about them, The O Project.

You have a career in human rights. Did something specific happen that made you choose this path?
My turning point started when the big riots took place in 1998. You might be aware that in 1998 we had a change of president. So basically, in that year we toppled down the authoritarian leader, Suharto, of that time. And during that riot when we were toppling down the dictator, there was a massive rape against Chinese women in Indonesia. They are Indonesian with Chinese ethnicity. At that point I was wondering, “Why was it only Chinese women who are being attacked?” There were no significant measures from the state to resolve the case until now. They recognize the rape but we still have not caught the perpetrators. At that moment I was still in law school and I realized that crimes against women are more than just crimes. They are human rights violations as well. Women’s bodies were being used in order to topple power. Since 1998 I always use women’s issue as my subject of research. I have been in this women’s movement for more than 10 years now.

You wrote the book The O Project about the experience of the female orgasm. Why did you write this book? What did you want to achieve with this book?
I think the way we do campaigns is very conservative and very boring. We have a public workshop on domestic violence. We examine laws. We show videos documenting women and wives who are being beaten. For some groups that is ok, but with that traditional way of campaigning you cannot really reach out to the general public. I want to do an innovative campaign.

In 1998 I started to read a lot of books on feminism and sexuality. And that is how I found out about orgasm as well, by reading and understanding that we can have orgasm and that we have the right to orgasms. Statistically, women who experience orgasms make up only 30 percent and men who experience orgasms are 70 percent. I wanted to know why only 30 percent of women have orgasms. That question brought me to the hypothesis that women probably always prioritize the men, which also implicates their sexual life in that they also prioritize their partners to have orgasms first and they don’t really think of themselves. At that point my hypothesis was that orgasms become a political indicator. If you do not have equal relations there is the possibility that you cannot enjoy your sex. So I decided to have a personal project, that I called the O Project, the Orgasm Project. What I did was, I interviewed 16 different Indonesian women: married, single, sex workers, women who are HIV positive, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender women, overweight women, second wife women, and women who have been circumcised. The only question was, “Tell me about your orgasm.” Based on their orgasm stories, I can confirm that my hypothesis was correct because almost all these women experience orgasms, and I can tell you the reason why they can have orgasms is because none of them are in a violent relationship and they can communicate what they like about sex. Communication in this situation can only happen when you have equal relationships. During my speaking tour talking about orgasms, it was not just women who came to the event; sometimes more men come to my bookspeaking event. The problem with our campaign discussing women’s issues is that it usually only attracts women. And we are frustrated about that. We have to involve men as well.

How hard was it to find women who would be open to talk about their orgasms and sexuality?
Before the interviews started I thought, “Ok, it’s going to be difficult, we are going to talk about something very personal, and with our repressed culture on sex, people would probably be reluctant to talk about it.” But what happened was the other way round. When I asked women about their orgasms, their stories came like water out of their mouths. Sometimes it was difficult to stop them from talking! It shows how much our sexuality is being repressed because of the social pressure that women should be good women, and good women do not talk about sex. So when somebody asks you about your orgasm, it is a very exciting moment, it’s a release of stories that we hold in so much. For instance, when I ask people, “How is your orgasm?” they would say, “You know what? I have had orgasms since elementary school. I did it myself by masturbating.” These stories came out just like that! Finally we are being honest about our sexuality and we need that to have better quality of sex education for instance. Women finally have the room to speak about their sexuality.

Read the rest of this insightful interview in our latest issue, available on our webshop as an individual issue or subscription package.

By Janine Huguenin

Kasha Nabagesera - LGBT Activist

2012-05-18T17:39:53Z

Being gay in Uganda could soon attract the death penalty. Knowing and not reporting that your sister is a lesbian could soon be punishable with a prison sentence. Kasha Nabagesera is the founder and head of an LGBT (Lesbian- Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) rights NGO called ‘Freedom and Roam Uganda’ that is fearlessly leading the fight against this legislation. Despite living with constant risks, Kasha is committed to being a voice for the voiceless.

Can you tell us a little about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently before the Ugandan Parliament?
I feel my colleagues and I have reached a point where we see the Bill as just another project. It’s no longer something giving us sleepless nights. We need to fight it, to ensure it’s not passed. So we’re continuing with our lobbying, our one-on-one dialoguing with parliamentarians and policymakers, and we’re also continuing to sensitize the public, because a lot of support for the Bill stems from a lack of awareness of what it actually entails. Most people are unaware that the Bill doesn’t only affect homosexuals. It’s not just about closing LGBT organizations down – it’s about all organizations working on sexual rights, it’s about all human rights organizations that work with LGBT people. The Bill requires individuals to report someone they suspect is homosexual.

We’re trying to fight it, but it’s very difficult, because every time you attempt to use the media – which is a powerful tool to reach the masses – they say you’re promoting homosexuality. Many radio stations have been closed down or fined, radio hosts have been suspended for simply raising the issue. The Bill is threatening because of the way the parliamentarians support it, and those are the people we’re targeting, to see if there’s scope for attitudinal change. It’s already causing a lot of problems for my community – many people have been attacked, because some members of the public think the Bill has been passed when they see politicians in Parliament jumping and clapping.

Do you think the people pushing the Bill are doing it because of their own personal views, or because they think it has popular support?
I think the people pushing it are really just fundamentalists trying to bring everyone on board. And they’re using a clever strategy to gain public support by saying we’re recruiting children. They’re showing pornography in church, telling people this is how homosexuals behave, this is what they’re doing to your children. So there’s a lot of support generated because parents are worried. They have the opportunity to continue their anti-gay messages because they’re prominent religious leaders, or people in government who have power. Who am I when I try to go through the media? I’m censored, I’m closed down. But for them, they do this every Sunday in church. They go on television and they’re given airtime. Last month they were calling on people to give them money to fight homosexuals, because homosexuals have money – that’s what they say. People like me, we’re just young activists fighting for our lives.

Where do you think this hatred comes from – is it historically rooted?
No, it’s not. In Africa, before, you would never talk about sexuality openly, but now the women’s movement is talking about wife-beating and sexual violence. Things are evolving. This homophobia was actually imported. If you look back, we had kings who were homosexuals. Homophobia came with colonial laws, with religion. But most importantly, in 2009 we had evangelists from the United States who came to Uganda and began telling people how homosexuals were coming to take over the whole country, to take over the whole world. They had breakfast meetings with parliamentarians. I attended a workshop where for three days they were brainwashing Ugandans, telling them how we work in abortion clinics because we don’t believe in families. I sat for three days there and they took pictures with me and said, “by the way, we do not condemn you, we condemn the act. We love you.” They brainwashed Ugandans into thinking we were sick.

Read the rest of this insightful interview in our latest issue, available on our webshop as an individual issue or subscription package.

By Janine Huguenin and Alexis Kalagas

The New Global Generation of Female Change-Makers

2012-05-14T15:22:54Z

Pessimism seems to have spread across the globe. With high rates of youth unemployment, unfulfilled promises in the wake of the reformist zeal of the Arab Spring, and ongoing financial and economic crisis, leaders and citizens alike have developed an increasingly gloomy outlook as they look ahead to the future. What is required now is a bolt of inspiration. The international community needs visionaries – forward-looking leaders and individuals of action who believe strongly in the possibility of genuine change for the betterment of the societies they serve. Change-makers, not soothsayers.

When listening to the five extraordinary female change-makers from around the world that The Global Journal approached to participate in this feature, one thing became quickly apparent: they each believe deeply in change, they each believe – despite personal experiences of systemic discrimination and persecution – in the inherent good of humanity, and they each believe in speaking up for the voiceless. The optimism of these women is inspiring, due to their perseverance in the face of difficult, seemingly insurmountable challenges. Whether fighting for LGBT rights in a country where being gay could soon be punished by the death penalty, reporting on drug trafficking and violence in the lawless border cities of Mexico, or running for Afghanistan’s presidency, these women risk everything – often putting their own lives in danger because their passion and belief in a just world outweighs their fears.

In exclusive interviews our five change-makers – Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera from Uganda, Soraya Salti from Jordan, Firliana Purwanti from Indonesia, Fawzia Koofi from Afghanistan, and Adela Navarro Bello from Mexico – talk to The Global Journal about their lives, the obstacles they have faced, and their unique perspectives on the individual’s role in achieving societal change. All are under 45 years old, all have effected change looking on from the outside of an established world of leaders and institutions, and all have grown up in countries where being a woman represented an additional hurdle that had to be overcome.

From the age of eight, when a school teacher told her she was displaying ‘lesbian tendencies’, Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera has lived her entire life as an openly gay woman in Uganda. The courage, dignity and determination she displayed in the face of constant discrimination, threats and even physical violence has positioned her as the public face of homosexuality in a country where a coalition of evangelical leaders and conservative politicians are currently pushing for the introduction of the death penalty to punish ‘repeat offenders’. Running an NGO advocating for LGBT rights, and travelling the world to rally international actors in support of her cause, she has emerged as an empowering inspiration to the largely silent community she provides with a voice.

Many pundits claim to have seen the Arab Spring coming. For Soraya Salti though, it was always a question not of ‘if’, but ‘when’. As Regional Director of the NGO INJAZ Al-Arab based in Jordan, Soraya has spent the last ten years working tirelessly to re- shape the educational opportunities of young Arabs. Witnessing first-hand the structural barriers facing the demographic ‘bulge’ about to be unleashed on to stagnant labor markets across the region, she has been the driving force behind a rapid scaling-up of innovative public-private sector partnerships teaching entrepreneurship skills – and in the process inculcating a new start-up culture and mindset – to Arab youth in 15 countries. Ultimately, she sees females as the key to future economic growth and prosperity.

Firliana Purwanti is a taboo-breaker. Growing up in a sexually-repressed society, she witnessed the violent riots that toppled Indonesian dictator Suharto, studied human rights law, and recently wrote a book about the female orgasm. Inspired by Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, Firliana asked a diverse group of Indonesian women to talk about their orgasms. By using sex language she engages women and men to talk about female sexuality in an innovative and fun way. Because talking about sex is not socially accepted in Indonesia, Firliana did not tell her parents that she was writing a book about orgasms. Now she is happy that she was able to provide women with room to voice their sexual experiences.

After her birth, Fawzia Koofi was left to die because her mother wanted a boy. Years later, she won two Afghan parliamentary elections and is now running for Afghanistan’s presidency in 2014. During her life she has endured the repression of the Taliban and the death of her husband and closest family members, as well as surviving several assassination attempts. Despite these incredible hardships, Fawzia found purpose and strength in helping people, especially rural women and children. What drives her today is her belief that Afghanistan is ready for change – for human rights, civility, and the rule of law.

First, Adela Navarro Bello wanted to become a lawyer, to fight for social justice in Mexico. But her love for writing soon put her on the path of journalism. Since the 1990s, she has been investigating drug trafficking and government corruption. As a result, one of her colleagues was murdered in front of his children. She has also been on the receiving end of death threats. Now, as the General Director of the weekly magazine Zeta in Tijuana, Adela believes unwaveringly in the importance of journalism, even if, as is the case in Mexico, it is a dangerous profession: “As a journalist, I must listen to society, particularly when it is voiceless, when it is the victim of governments or criminals.”

The Global Journal was inspired profoundly by the bravery, passion and determination of each of these women, and we are proud to be able to present their stories as a feature in the print issue, as well as here on the website for the next 5 days. Keep an eye on the home page for daily portraits on these amazing women.

The New Frontier

2012-03-06T18:07:58Z

The End of Straight Supremacy, Realizing Gay Liberation, Shannon Gilreath, Cambridge University Press, $26.95/£18.99

Shannon Gilreath writes his new book with a certain fire that is at first sight off-putting. Throughout, Gilreath wavers between alienating not only the hetero community but also the gay community. While admitting that his book is radical and that it will be considered ‘extremist,’ Gilreath maintains its necessity in pointing to an emergency: Gaynocide – caused by ‘Heteroarchy’. His message is that this pervasive heteroarch renders current equality dialogue victim to its oppression. One can only hope that his radical language does not block the average reader from taking his point seriously – that seeking equal rights in traditional institutions is not truly seeking equality. Those institutions are laden with gender stereotypes – based on dominance versus docility – and the gay community finds itself coerced to act out stale gender norms created long ago by ‘straight’ men. The End of Straight Supremacy is hashing out a “new order in which homosexuality is something other than the absence of heterosexuality and where Gay people are more than counterfactual to straight supremacy.” Gilreath’s work is as important to the gay community as it is to the hetero community – calling for an evaluation of the equality movement from all angles. It may not be a book for the faint of heart – those easily offended by a four letter word beginning with the letter F or by graphic psychoanalysis of raw pornography - but it is likely that Gilreath is hoping this very audience will take a gander at his piece. After recovering from the shock of his radical language, one can admire his smart analysis of hetero-dominance and the dire need to finally reject clinging to the gender binary.

–M.B.