Thursday 24 February 2011

Join us on The Bridge

This year Women for Women International are asking women to join together in high profile and home made bridge events to draw attention to the problems faced by Afghan women in their own country  and to show solidarity  with Afghan women’s demand for greater involvement in their country’s peace protests.


Go to http://www.womenforwomen.org/bridge/our-mission-on-bridge.php  to find out more.

In the early days of asking myself whether I was a feminist and of answering other people, mostly my sixth formers , who told me that feminism was outmoded and no longer relevant,  I remember thinking and saying that even if  feminism’s fight in this country is drawing nearer an end point, that it was dangerous to think that feminism wasn’t desperately needed internationally. I have since been led to understand quite how far from the truth I was about how much feminism was needed in the UK, but I still believe that one of the most important jobs that we can do as feminists is to raise awareness of the particular problems facing women internationally and to stand in solidarity with these women whenever we can.

Women for Women International, with their Bridge Events, are providing an opportunity for us to do exactly that. WWI are an organisation who work to support women who are survivors of war and conflict by helping them in practical ways to move towards self sufficiency through year-long programs of direct aid, rights education, job skills training, and small business development.

This year WWI want to use the media attention harnessed by the International Women’s Day on the 8th March to draw attention to the situation faced by women living in Afghanistan. They have asked us to stand in solidarity with these women in their demand for greater involvement in the peace process that will determine their future and within which they are currently being marginalised.

The focus of this year’s 100th International Women’s Day is the demand to end violence against women so it seems a particularly appropriate time to remind ourselves of the violence being faced by women in Afghanistan. Whether this is to recall the personal and tragic case in which Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old woman, who was, at the pronouncement of a Taliban commander, held down by her brother in law while her husband sliced off her ears and then cut off her nose ; or the more public tragedy of the murder of Lt-Col Malalai Kakar , Afghanistan’s most prominent policewoman and the Head of the Department of Crimes against Women , by Taliban gunmen in 2008.

Despite the fact that the brutal suppression of women’s rights were cited as part of the reason for military intervention in Afghanistan, it is feared that violence against women is actually on the increase there. Research by Global Rights Afghanistan in 2008 concluded that 87 percent of Afghan women and girls are faced with at least one form of sexual, physical, economic or psychological abuse. Womankind Worldwide have produced disturbing figures showing that 80% of women experience domestic violence,  60% of marriages are forced and 50% of girls marry before they are 16. According to the 2008 Violence Against Women Primary Database Report (UNIFEM) 92% of reported cases of abuse of women and girls is by close family members and other relatives. When they seek recourse from the government they are further molested by the government representatives.

It is unfortunate that women’s day falls on a week day when I know that many of us will need to be in work. In my lucky position as part time teacher, I’m hoping to travel up to the London event with my girls on the 8th. If anyone is able to join us it would be great to travel together and show Kent Feminista’s support for the women of Afghanistan at this important and lively event!

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