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Elizabeth Mataka, United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa:
“We are no longer fatalistic about HIV and AIDS. There is hope.”
Women need to become more Bold
Thu - 11/12/08
Thank you very much for encouraging us to talk freely Violence Against Women, and I can say easily the Violence Against Women doesn't need so much definition, it is what we always do.
The roots of violence against women came from the women, because we have taken all discrimination completely, we deal our selves exactly what Society does to us, we have prioritized what the men prioritize, such as "education between boys and girls, decision making, participation and so on" we always use bad cultures which are harmful to our selves, eg. we practice FGM even though it is a very bad and dangerous for our small girls, we force marriage on our little girls or when they are teenagers which causes domestic violence, physical assaults, divorce, family separation, lack of care for small children when the father has taken them and they miss their mother and so many other acts of violence that we can't summarize here.
If all women are to stand as one the we must be ready to talk about this complicated situation and start with our selves, I believe that we can change at least by 1% .
What surprises me when we talk about programmes that address this issue is highlighted in my following experience:
One day while I was in a workshop where we were discussing how to reduce FGM practices, I met a lady who told us that in 1978 she participated in a conference that discussed the risks of FGM, now in March 2006 she was telling us this story. When she finished her presentation I asked her if she has any daughter, she said, “yes I have two daughters”. I asked her another question if she circumcised her girls, she said, “why not? There is a proverb that says ‘take your culture every where that you live ’and while I do not live in Somalia how can I leave Somali culture? "
I mean if this woman who has been to conferences and workshops prioritises her culture over every thing, how about the one who doesn't know anything? We are the ones who others are expecting to do campaigns and awareness about how to reduce the Violence Against Women and how to support and mobilize vulnerable women, we have to understand how to realize what we are talking about, we have to continue to spread our speech in a far distances, we have to understand how we can tell this situation to the whole society like men, youth groups, religious leaders, traditional leaders, women groups, young girls, and so on. We are the ones who can decrease or increase their reputation, no where else that we can get that.
So please wake up, next Saturday is a WORLD AIDS DAY so we have to understand how we can mobilize the women, how they can avoid the risk of HIV/AIDS, how it is transmitted, how they behave if they see a person who is effected HIV/AIDS, how they can get best counselling "if VCT is available". If there is no VCT we have to do counselling with survivor women who are vulnerable. Every thing we have to increase, mobilization about RAPE AND FGM they are the key factors spread HIV/AIDS.
Thank you very much.
Khadra From WE ARE WOMEN ACTIVISTS NET WORK (WAWA)
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Commentaires
Women need to become More Bold
I couldnt agree with you more. Time has come to move the agenda from discusion to action. I am happy I have had the opportunity to contribute to inclusion of Gender into the Global Fund funding mechanism for Round 8.
It is now up to women to demand to the respective Country Coordinating Mechanism - CCM that funds be allocated for programmes that target them through a wide range of resonses such as, but not limited to; Economic Empowerment, Legal & Policy Reform as well as Social Empowerment. To achieve this, we need to have well planned out and well targeted social mobilization strategies in our communities which should encampass men because we can not do much without involving men.
Women need to bond more
Thank you for your contribution, I agree entirely with what you said. My view is that we have talked and talked about violence against women for too long, what is urgently needed now is concrete action to carry this agenda forward. I am happy that now through the Global Fund women can apply through Country CCMs to fund activities that target women and girls. I believe that all laws and policies that disavantage women and girls need immediate review and societies must also be sentised to this issues as well as supporting the empowerment of women and girls economically, socially and legally. Thank you for your comments.
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