Leveraging Media Literacy to Improve Gender Equality in Nigeria

The panel discussion began with an opening speech by the founder of the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria and the First Lady of Ondo State in Nigeria, Betty Akeredolu. She mentioned the need of more female representation in tech industry in order to bridge both gender and digital gaps. According to her speech, technology has redefined everyday life including employment and job description while she also stated that in the future, 90 percent of work will require information communication technology (ICT). She highlighted gender issues in Nigerian context related to cultural norms and religious beliefs and how ICT can either solve or worsen those problems depending how it is utilized. Thus, it requires deliberate and conscious efforts to make an effective use of media and ICT to promote gender equality.

The panel consisted of four individuals from different backgrounds and having different expertise. Asked how media could be use to promote gender equality, the panelists provided different responses including using social media campaign, providing access and media education to young girls, and producing gender neutral advertisements. Even though the panelists did not really discussed much of Nigerian context-specific innovation and challenges with media literacy, the discussion provided a certain degree of insight of media literacy projects in the country.

When asked about the sustainability strategies, the panelists highlighted the importance of involving community members either through funding or participation. In addition to that, they also mentioned the importance of mentoring and volunteering, training boys and men through gender-neutral programs, changing people's mindsets about gender issues, and creating role models for young girls.

Re-framing Social Protection Systems at CSW63

From left to right: H.E. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ms. Sherine Tadros, Dr. Phumzile Mlamo-Ngcuka       

            On the morning of March 10, 2019, the 63^rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) kicked off with an opening event also known as the Consultation Day attended by hundreds of participants from all over the world. A theater located in Borough of Manhattan Community of College was filled with powerful voices and occasional mix of applause and silence. The theme for this year CSW is "Social Protection Systems".

Following the welcome message by Dr. Susan O'Malley, the chair of NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, the stage around the theme was set by a dialogue with Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women and H.E. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, the Permanent Representative Mission of Ireland. 

"The infrastructures that supports care for women are missing in most countries." - Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

The conversation underlined the progress that the United Nations have made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 5 which focuses on gender equality and in putting forward the issue of lacking social protection services in public sectors in many countries. The dialogue also highlighted the history of struggles women faced, such as being forced to resign from work due to marriage; the guest speakers also emphasized the impacts of civil society on changing government policies and designing new social protection frameworks.

Continuing the discussion on the main theme, four panelists from various organizations engaged in a meaningful conversation to provide explanations of the definition, contexts, and vision of social protection. The deputy director of International Labor Organization (ILO), provided a broad definition of social protection as basic social security guarantee, but he emphasized the importance of focusing on what is needed within specific contexts, rather than what it generally is. The contexts of United States, Africa, and Latin America were brought to the table. 

"26 wealthiest people own as much as the 50 percent of the poorest in the world." - OXFAM

Most interestingly, the context of United States, as explained by the head of OXFAM Washington office, illustrates the unfair taxation policies which benefit the big corporate companies and wealthy individuals but hurt the disadvantaged groups due to the legal element of tax evasion which, she said, requires a progressive reform to identify and eliminate the loopholes. 

The event committee did a wonderful job in setting a stage for the upcoming two-week conference. The event served as a great platform where conversations were encouraged and language was provided for an active engagement in some challenging topics regarding the issue of social protection for women.

"Gender inequality is not just an economic issue. It is an issue of injustice." - Ms. Nadia Daar (Head of Washington Office, Oxfam)

Addressing Sexuality to end Child Marriage

There is an important need to talk openly about sexuality and how it relates to child marriage, how sexuality is closely linked to gender roles and how understanding and addressing this link can help achieve sustainable development goal number 5, Gender Equality. Many have claimed that “talking abut sexuality” is a “personal matter” and not one that is discussed in the public eye, particularly in certain cultural context. However, the United Nations has been talking about sexuality for over 20 years, in negotiation rooms and spaces dealing with women’s health and other important issues. The panelist in the session Why Addressing the control of sexuality is critical to ending child marriage? address the topic with a cultural, social and professional lens noting the values and norms and how it relates to complex women’s issues. The idea that in order to address practices such as child or forced marriage, girls and boys need to be properly educated in order for them to take control of their own sexuality. The key is in programs that work closely with the community, men, women and most importantly religious leaders. Understanding the use of ‘language’ and how to talk to the community in a way that doesn’t add to the taboo and challenge of speaking openly about sexuality even in “safe spaces”.

Archana Dwivedi, Director of the NGO Nirantar in New Delhi, India stated that sexuality is not an issue it is a perspective, as is gender and we need to find a wholesome way to view those norms in order to understand its construct. Dwivedi goes on to say that, sexuality has no beginning or end point, and is informed by gender and sexuality norms and gender norms are informed by sexuality norms. Research in India mapping early and child marriage found that poverty is linked to gender and sexuality norms, however, many young people are marrying out of their own choices, and young people are concerned about many issues other than sexuality. Gender and sexuality norms are linked, and at the same time are constantly challenged by changing cultural views of gender and sexuality which impact girls much deeper, without losing sight that boys are also affected. Panelist Anthony Keedi noted that, if we continue to look at women as the ones we need to provide for, ones that can not provide for themselves, that creates a perpetual need for paths such as child and forced marriage on a social, cultural and economic basis. The concept of taking control of one’s own sexuality and allowing for that control to be given to women is a step towards eradicating child and forced marriage.

In Times of Need, Women Stand Together As One

“Women are 14 times more likely to die in disaster-ridden areas.”
 

In times of crisis, from war to natural disasters, women are often neglected in the process of relief. The session titled “Ensuring Gender Equality and Sustainable Livelihood in Post-Disaster Situations” was lead by the Women’s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) Nepal. WOREC worked extensively in Nepal following the devastating earthquake thag struck the country in April 2015. As infrastructures collapsed to the ground, people lost their homes, businesses, and even loved ones. As people set up shelter alongside the debris, WOREC stepped in to provide help, particularly to the women and children. 

WOREC launched the Sneha Campaign, sneha meaning love and compassion in Nepalese. They recognized that lactating women, pregnant women, and elderly women were most at risk. They also recognized that third-party support can be viewed as a burden by the women in Nepal, a favor that they must soon repay. Instead of giving food and water, WOREC took a novel approach to provide “dignity kits”. 

What are dignity kits?

When asked what the worse part is about the earthquake, with no hesitation women said not being able to bathe. Those of us who are fortunate to not be living in a disaster area take simple things like bathing, brushing our teeth, and for the women, having access to menstrual products for granted. For the Nepalese women, not being clean was a hit to their dignity. With this knowledge, WOREC made dignity kits full of soaps, sanitary napkins, underwear, bras, etc.

WOREC also works to provide psychosocial counseling for all women. Though it often goes unnoticed, data suggests that sexual violence and exploitation increases during disasters. To combat this reality, WOREC set up “female friendly spaces” where the women can go to receive one-stop help.

It is normal in most governments that women groups are least funded. During times of crisis, the numbers don't seem to change despite the increased need for help. People must realize that even in crisis, women are still menstruating, still pregnant, still nursing. In crisis, the most affected and disadvantaged are women. More needs to be done to reflect this reality.

Sexuality: It's a Personal Matter...

“Take a moment to remember a time in our own lives when we did not have control of our own sexuality.”

That was the powerful opening statement to the CSW session “Why Addressing the Control of Sexuality is Critical to Ending Child Marriage”. Talk of sexuality is considered taboo in many contexts though it parallels gender, which receives much attention. People will shake off the topic as being a personal matter, a cultural tendency, that an outsider should not question. Yet, it is sexuality that fuels the gender inequality in the world even in 2016.

When a family is in poverty, why is the girl the first to be married off and not the boy? What is the underlying value in a woman’s virginity that would justify marrying off a 12 year old girl? Why is a child bride no longer considered a child after marriage, despite her obvious young age?

The panelists represented NGOs that work to end child marriage in various parts of the world. Anthony Keedi, a representative from Abaad, a NGO based in Lebanon, spoke on challenging the concept of child marriage in the Middle East. Abaad is currently working with government officials to revoke a penal code in Lebanon that states if a man rapes a woman but the proposes to marry her for a minimum of five years, he can escape a prison sentence. Laws such as these stem from a strong cultural background of male dominance and sense of entitlement. Keedi says that in order to end child marriage, one must first tackle the cultural gender roles and gender norms. He points out that in the context of the Middle East where religion is a strong identity, introducing a concept such as gender equality may face opposition as people do not want to go against what they believe to be a religious culture. For this reason, Abaad purposefully works with religious leaders in an effort to help people realize that gender equality can be accomplished while still exercising one’s faith. Though it is a work in progress, it is a step towards dispelling myths on the "unimportant" topic of sexuality.

Lack of control of sexuality is something everyone experiences at some point in life; it is the extent of the lack of control that creates the need for intervention.

The Truths of the Human Trafficking Industry

The reality of human trafficking? 

• USA is the #1 destination for Americans who seek to have sex with children
• There are over 636,000 registered sex offenders in the USA
• Child marriage is legal in 20 countries, and 15 million girls will be sold as brides before they are 18
• Trafficking is a $99 billion industry
• The sexual exploitation of children is driven by the Internet
• In the Bolivian context, human trafficking has increased 900% in the past nine years

This is a small list of the harsh truths of human trafficking shared at one of the first panel sessions of the 60th NGO Commission on the Status of Women (NGO CSW) Forum on March 15, 2016. The panel was titled “What Will It Take to END Human Trafficking? The Role Media Plays & A Rarely Heard Voice from the Trafficker’s Perspective,” sponsored by Pathways to Peace, The Fyera Foundation, and Operation Big Sister, as well as panelists from The Nest Foundation, Media Impact, and GWEN.

“Where drugs are being sold, children are being sold,” one of the panelists remarked. This reality is incomprehensible, yet it exists. Another panelist reflected on her position in the world, growing up in the United States, middle class, well and highly educated. In her experience, she was under the impression that we, here in the USA, have achieved almost full gender equality. Her first experience at the NGO CSW Forum three years ago changed her understanding. As it very well did many conference participants attending the panel. It brought her here, three years later, leading NGOs and advocating for the end of human trafficking. 

Recognizing the role media has to play in perpetuating the human trafficking industry across the world, the panelists urged us, as members of civil society, to be the “hands and feet of policy makers,” and transform the media we create. The only way to change the status of women, it was stated, is to change the perceptions of boys and men. 

Upon finishing this blog, Google image search “women in advertising.” Reflect on what populates on your browser. 

An attempt to challenge patriarchy

Development in Practice and Christian Aid Nigeria sponsored an event called “GEADOR: Breaking Down Gendered Barriers in a Patriarchal Society”, an inspiring panel focused on the organizations’ attempts to work together to challenge existing social structures and give voice to women in rural Nigeria, a society where they are traditionally excluded and oppressed.

This approach was called GEADOR (Gender Empowerment And Development Organizing Resource), and worked at local, village levels with both sexes in order to improve gender equity perspectives and empower women in a nation where women constitute merely 6.4-6.9% of the country’s government. These NGOs believed that the key to improving women’s degrading conditions under traditional patriarchy lay in promoting female statuses within Nigerian communities along with encouraging greater contributions of women and girls at all levels of development. 

Specifically, the approach tried to work together in unity with older men, older women, younger boys, and younger girls in order to tackle barriers upholding inequality of opportunity for female achievement such as the absence of women in decision-making positions, the poor accountability of the state to implement and support women’s rights, and underlying traditional customs such as the inability for women to inherit land or property of their own. Such obstacles were self-identified by focus groups separated by age and gender, since it was assumed that such controversial topics would be more easily discussed among peers. Later however, these groups were brought together for an open discussion as a cohesive group in order to analyze participants of all ages and genders in their ability to listen to and accept different perspectives on gender issues and challenge the accepted, yet oppressive, norms of their society. 

These organizations were thrilled to report that open dialogue among village men and women of all ages had positive consequences for the communities in which GEADOR was implemented. Since the approach was put into practice in 2013, more women have been invited by village members and chiefs to participate in community practices and public meetings than ever before. Additionally, threats facing women are increasingly brought up in discussion and are being addressed by the village community, such as the traumatic customary practice of exiling widows for three months following their husband’s passing being reduced to just one week.

 The organizations attribute this monumental success to their realistic approach, such as agreeing to avoid certain “no-go” topics as discussion of women becoming King, or the questioning of non-harmful traditions such as the women offering male guests sacred fruit. This is also helped along with the support offered by community leaders who back the GEADOR programs and volunteer specific male participants from their villages that they believe would best be open to gender equity ideas, and best be willing to share what they have learned with the rest of their community. In this way, GEADOR has allowed NGOs to defiantly create safe spaces for women and girls to capture their voices and build a strong sense of self-esteem in a region where females are often the least seen and the least heard.

The Situation and Tendency of Gender Equality in China since 1995 《北京宣言》后中国性别平等的发展现状

By  赵霞 (Xia Zhao)， 美国里海大学(Lehigh University)

美国东部时间2015年3月12日上午8点30分，来自中国大陆和香港地区的非政府组织代表于亚美尼亚会展中心（Armenian Convention Center）就关于1995年《北京宣言》后中国性别平等问题的现状和发展趋势进行了深入地研讨。具体而言，会议针对中国女性教育，农村地区以及少数民族地区的女性发展问题进行了精彩的演讲。

教育方面，柯教授讲到，中国初等教育女童入学率和辍学率都大于男童。课本中对男性和女性的描绘具有不平等性。中国高等教育入学率女性高于男性。但女性在找工作过程中处于明显的劣势。

中国妇女发展协会的周副会长同时表示，中等教育是中国农村女童教育的一大瓶颈。进入中学后，女性入学率开始大大降低，特别是落后的农村地区。经济原因和男尊女卑的传统观念是导致这一问题的主要原因。

来自云南的杨教授表示，改变云南少数民族地区女性平等问题的关键在改变文化对人们思维观念的影响。社会应该渐渐抛弃传统陋习，给予女性更多选择的权利。这种权利来自于整个社会对女性的帮助，包括健康医疗，社会保障，教育机会以及就业等帮助。

此次报告吸引了世界各国人民的参与，会后观众就中国女性发展问题进行了相关的提问。

Paradigma baru tentang kesetaraan Gender setelah 2015 | New Paradigm of Gender Equality Post-2015: Girls and Boys Together

Judul panel: Paradigma baru tentang kesetaraan Gender setelah 2015 | New Paradigm of Gender Equality Post-2015: Girls and Boys Together
Waktu        : Sabtu, 14 Maret 2015, pukul 12.30 - 02.00
Organisasi  : Mental Health Association in Taiwan

Denise Scotto, Wakil Presiden dan Perwakilan PBB, menjadi moderator

Perubahan paradigm tentang kesetaraan gender harus dimulai dari usia dini, masa kanak-kanak. Sebagai contoh, terkait dengan mainan, ditempat bermain anak-anak perempuan akan ditemukan semua mainan yang berkaitan dengan masak-memasak atau feminis, tetapi hal yang berbeda ditemukan di tempat bermain laki-laki dimana semua bentuk mainan seperti pistol-pistolan dan mainan-mainan yang digunakan dalam kekerasan. Disini mulai terlihat perbedaan antara laki-laki dan perempuan. Hal yang perlu diperhatikan adalah dalam beberapa situasi di tempat bermain anak-anak, perempuan sering kali ditempatkan sebagai objek, kaum yang lemah. Sejak usia dini anak-anak sudah di didik untuk mendeskreditkan perempuan, maka tidak heran jika kondisi yang sama terlihat dalam kehidupan nyata.

Video game merupakan satu hal yang berkontribusi dalam membangun persepsi bagaimana memperlakukan wanita dengan tidak benar dan kasar. Permainan tentang pembunuhan sampai kekerasan terhadap perempuan tersebar dan dimainkan anak laki-laki seolah mengajarkan mereka bagaimana memperlakukan wanita. Dari sini, bisakah kita merubah dan mulai membangun paradigma tentang memperlakukan perempuan dengan penuh hormat dan setara. Tidak ada perbedaan perlakuan berdasarkan ras. Tidak ada kekerasan yang dilakukan hanya karena dia seorang perempuan. Ketika mereka bermain game, mereka memainkan permainan bagaimana memperlakukan manusia dengan penuh hormat dan setara satu sama lain.

Seorang perwakilan dari Zonta International, yang berkomitmen membantu perempuan melalui advokasi dan pelayanan, memberikan contoh sebuah program yang sedang dilakukan dalam mencegah dan merubah persepsi tentang kekerasan gender. Projek ini fokus pada kekerasan gender di sekolah atau disebut dengan terminologi school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). Kekerasan yang dimaksud disini tidak hanya terbatas pada kekerasan, tetapi juga meliputi komentar kasar, kekerasan fisik, penganiayaan atau pencelaan, dan kekerasaan dalam bentuk perkataan.

Sebuah penelitian dilakukan di Asia menunjukkan kekerasan gender masih tinggi di sekolah. Oleh karena itu, satu pilot projek untuk mencegah kekerasan gender disekolah diterapkan di Hanoi, Vietnam. Dengan dana sebesar $644.000 yang dibantu oleh pemerintah nasional, projek ini diterapkan dengan beberapa hasil yang diharapkan: 20 sekolah yang terlibat dalam mencegah kekerasan gender, 30.000 anak-anak usia sekolah usia 11-18 dan 45000 orang tua aktif terlibat dalam mencegah dan merespon SRGBV, serta menyiapkan training untuk 700 guru dan staf sekolah pada kekerasan gender.

Pencegahan kekerasan gender disekolah akan menjadi agenda selanjutnya setelah MDGs berakhir. Ketika anak-anak mulai mengenal kekerasan ini, dukungan dari sekolah dan komunitas dibutuhkan.