CIVIL SOCIETY FOR ELIMINATION OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (CS4EGBV) PROJECT
, AFRIHEALTH OPTONET ASSOCIATION [CSO's NETWORK]
Submitted by : Faith Mvududu (Zimbabwe). Lead Platform Rapporteur, CS4EGBV
Project/Afrihealth Optonet Association (CSO's Network)
Date of Report Compilation : 17 January 2021
Contact:
CS4EGBV Project/Afrihealth
Optonet Association [CSOs Network]
Phone: +234 803 472 5905
Email: cs4egbv@gmail.com
Topic : Understanding and Ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV) In Our
Societies
Venue : Zoom Platform
Date : 14 January 2021
Time : 10:00am West Central Africa
Event Duration : Approximately 3 hours
Moderator : Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje (Nigeria). Global Coordinator/Chief
Executive Officer, CS4EGBV Project/ Afrihealth Optonet Association (CSO's
Network)
The Moderator gave Special
Recognition To:
Everyone
who has been working diligently on the Elimination of Gender Based Violence in
the world over.
Faith
Mvududu from Zimbabwe , The Lead Platform Rapporteur.
All
Media Partners, Mr. Emmanuel Gaudu from
African Security Investigation.
Great
Pioneers of CS4EGBV Project , Professor Hayat from Egypt , Mr. Azubuike Michael
Nwachukwu from Nigeria ,Alhaji Abdul Rashid Imoro from Ghana, and Ambassador Emmanuel
from Zimbabwe
Leader
in this sector Dr. Eleanor Nwadinobi , President of the Medical Women’s
Association and Every Woman Treaty. UK
Participants
from every Country present : Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Egypt, Tunisia,
Ghana, Sudan , South Africa, Belgium , Burundi , Uganda, India, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, South America, United Kingdom, Kenya, Malawi, Switzerland
Apologies
for Language Translations Facility not yet in operation.
Lead Speaker and Panelists :
Lead
Speaker Professor Hayat Gomma (Egypt), Former
Chairperson, Dept. Of Maternal and Child Health Nursing, Cairo University Egypt
and Mut'ah University, Jordan, Full Professor at Ahmadu Bello University,
Nigeria
Thina
Maphosa (Zimbabwe) ,Programmes Manager YES
Trust
Sophie
Shima (Belgium,Burundi) Pônt De La Solidaritré Co-Founder, Restore Dignity
,Coordinator
Alhaji
Abdul Rashid Imoro (Ghana) , Program Manager, SRHR ,Savanna Signatures
Mr.
Azubuike Michael Nwachukwu (Nigeria), Founder, Grow Cassava Palm Tree And Farm
Produce for Cash (GCPPC)
Countries Present: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Egypt, Tunisia, Ghana, Sudan ,
South Africa, Belgium , Burundi , Uganda, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, South
America, United Kingdom, Kenya, Malawi, Switzerland (19 Countries and
approximately 70 participants).
Summary of Presentations:
Professor
Hayat Gomma -Lead Speaker
Objectives:
Ø To Foster Critical
Community Awareness and consider GBV as an emergency situation needing to be
addressed.
Ø To Encourage non-GBV
specialist humanitarian actors to integrate GBV risk mitigation in their
day-to-day work.
Ø To provide the audience
with in-depth crucial knowledge to identify and reduce GBV and establish
collaborative activities among the attendees.
Ø To plant seeds of hope,
potential and possibilities for positive change.
Introduction:
Ø 1 in 5 women and girls
under the age of 15, have suffered physical or sexual violence by spouse within
the past 12 months according to data collected from 87 countries.
Ø World Health Organization
reported that GBV has put an enormous burden on health care services for women and
has proved to be more costly, as the cases in STDs, physical injuries,
miscarriages, death, severe psychological conditions increase daily.
Ø The cost and impact of GBV
is great even in societies.
Ø GBV is happening to all
men,boys,women and girls, however the focus is only on women and girls which is
unfortunate as then the data becomes inaccurate to a certain degree.
Ø Gender Based Violence
targets the weaker person in any situation, be it in the home, private or
public institutions/organizations.
Ø Gender Based Violence
defined as any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, which
includes physical, sexual, mental harm through threats, actions, coercion and
other deprivation of freedom inflicted in public or private.
Ø Globally Gender Based
Violence has a greater impact on women and girls due to the societal norms,
however men and boys are also affected, though there is not enough data on the
impact it has on men and boys.
Ø Men and boys are critical
change agents in GBV prevention efforts and are needed to be involved in the
fight of elimination against Gender Based Violence.
Ø GBV can be emotional,
physical, economic and sexual.
Ø The root cause of GBV is
the patriarchal gender norms and inequitable power dynamics.
Ø GBV has 8 core concepts
which are human rights,sex,coercion gender,abuse,consent, power and harm.
Ø GBV has an ecological
framework that was promoted by Lori Heise in 1998, that recognizes the
relationship between an individual and various factors in his/ her community
for the acts of intervention for GBV prevention and response. These are
individual level, relationships fostered, community level and society level.
Ø There is need to
strengthen local initiatives and structures, rather than creating parallel
initiatives, thus creating genuine partnerships that are transparent and hold
good communication.
Ø Engage more in capacity
building and training to develop local competency, including skills for leadership,
advocacy, coordination and networking.
Ø Collaboration amongst all
organizations is crucial for effective, awareness raising, implementation and
monitoring and evaluation of programs and initiatives in the fight against elimination
of GBV.
Conclusion:
Ø Achieve Gender Equality
and empower all women and girls according to Sdg5.
Ø Eliminate all forms of
violence against women and girls in private and public spaces including human
trafficking and other types of exploitation.
Ø Coordination and multi-sectorial
approaches are urgently needed.
Recommendations:
Ø Apply the ecological
framework as an analytical tool and design of interventions at specific levels
for transformative change in contexts affected by violence.
Ø Prevent GBV at each level
Panelist:
Rashid
Abdul Imoro
Gender Based Violence abbreviations according to United Nations:
Ø
VAW- Violence Against Women
Ø
IPV – Intimate Partner Violence
Ø
FGM- Female Genital Mutilation
Ø
EFCM – Early and Forced Child Marriage
Ø
TIP – Trafficking In Persons
Background:
Globally
1 in 3 women have experienced physical and or sexual violence by an intimate
partner ( WHO,2020).
Gender
Based Violence has been on the rise during the lockdowns, pre-COVID “Epidemic”.
Ø 30% of married/partnered
women have experienced Intimate Partner Violence.
Ø 7% of women have experienced
non-partner sexual violence.
Ø Yearly, 12 million girls
are married before the age of 18 years.
Ø 31 million additional
cases during average lockdown of 6 months.
Protective laws in Ghana:
Ø Child family welfare
policy
Ø 1992 Constitution
Ø Children’s act 1998 (Act
560)
Ø Justice for children’s
policy
Ø National gender policy
Ø Adolescent RH policy,
2020/revised 2014/15
Ø National Youth Policy 2010
year
timeframe, female victims were 30 333 whilst males were 4 554.
Statistics and Causes:
Ø 4 697 In 2010 to 7 572 in
2014 and out of a total 34 887 cases recorded within a four The Causes of these
statistics vary and largely due to economic devastation, transactional sex, unemployment
(Star Ghana Foundation 2020).
Ø Some of the contributory
factors include, patriarchal system of the Ghanaian society makes intimate
partner violence cases not to be reported or their urgency seen and if
reported, families tend to favor out of court settlements.
Ø Lack of understanding of
the law regarding GBV by local and religious leaders.
Ø Inadequate resources and
budget for cases dealing with GBV under Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit
and Commission on Human Right and Administrative Justice.
Ø Political Interference.
Way Forward:
Ø Domestic Violence Helpline,
0551000900 activated by DOVVSU In partnership with UNFPA ,must be widely
publicized.
Ø Governments call center
should be equipped with dedicated lines for reporting SGBV and linked to the
DOVVSU hotline.
Ø Safe spaces should be designated
for women where they can report abuse without alerting perpetrators, for
example, in supermarkets, pharmacies,etc.
Ø Local communities and
leaders should be engaged and donors should allow programmatic flexibility with
current funds and provide additional resources to respond to the issues of GBV.
(Source: UN in Ghana, socio economic & health impact of COVID-19 In
Ghana)
Panelist:
Thina
Maphosa
About YES Trust Zimbabwe
Ø Youth led CSO based in
Plumtree, formed in 2009 and formerly registered in 2013. Our focus is on:
Ø Promoting youth increased
access to information as provided by the country’s constitution.
Ø Driven by the axiom that
information is power.
Ø Informed young women and
men are bound to make informed decisions that assist them to effectively engage
in life processes that determine their destiny.
Ø Advocacy through theatre,
community dialogues, awareness campaigns, storytelling, youth awareness
festivals, short awareness films just to mention a few.
Programs:
Ø Spotlight Initiative
Pillar 6 on Strengthening and Coordinating Social Movements to end violence
against women and girls.
Ø Where: 11 wards in
Bulilima and Mangwe District- Matabeleland South Province-Zimbabwe Introduced
the Heforshe campaign as a strategy to mass mobilize men for the promotion of
gender equality as well as change agents and role model for social movement to
end GBV.
Ø Use of Social media
(WhatsApp, FB, Twitter) to raise awareness esp. during lockdown.
Ø Multi-stakeholder
Awareness- Support District stakeholders (GBV taskforce) to reach to the
community during Covid 19/lock down
Ø Villagised awareness
raising- meetings were done at village level to ensure adherence to Covid 19
protocols.
Ø Advocating for GBV
services to be included as part of the essential services.
Ø Advocating for
establishment of a one stop center (OSC) at district level through Min of
Women.
Let`s talk:
Focusses
on Youth engagement (non-confrontational) with their duty
bearers
on SRHR, GBV and HIV through:
-
Dialogues at village, ward and district level.
-
Training of young women as Youth Accountability Boards (YABs)
-
Evidence based programming (through social accountability
tools
such as community score cards)
WHERE-
Mangwe district’s 5 wards and Plumtree town.
Edutainment:
Mainstreaming of edutainment in all
activities.
This
is strong methodology for stimulating dialogue and invoking past
GBV
experiences among those that could have suffered GBV thus they
can
be able to take a stand and make a report.
Experiences:
Ø As a result of mass
awareness, it has been revealed by GBV service providers and community leaders
that reporting of cases has increased esp. from these remote wards.
Ø Men are taking a stand in
support of Gender equality through the HeforShe campaign.
Ø Increased collaboration
and team work among stakeholders (village, ward and district levels) that was
not there before.
Ø Being strategic as an organization
i.e participation in most of advocacy platforms at district, provincial,
national and international level through physical and virtual presence.
Experiences in GBV programming:
Ø Implementing a GBV program
in the most remote areas of the districts.
Ø Maximum and buy in from
community leadership.
Ø Knowledge levels were low
at the beginning of the program-(people could not differentiate a GBV case from
other cases).
Ø Cases were concealed.
Ø Teenage pregnancy was used
as a justification for child marriage.
Ø Increases in teenage
pregnancy due to the 7 month period out of school and reluctance among other
children to go back to school
What is the future like?
Ø Intensify the HeforShe
campaign and utilization of indigenous/ context specific strategies
(traditional leaders, faith leaders, traditional healers etc.).
Ø Establishment of men
forums by men champions.
Ø Changes in the harmful
norms and practices.
Ø Communities with a strong
voice to advocate for change.
Ø Clear path on achievement
of a GBV free generation.
Ø
Assertive and empowered young women who know their SRHR.
Panelist:
Sophia Shima
Rape as a Weapon of War In the Case of Burundi since 2015:
Ø 1993 ethnic massacres
between hutsi and tusti ,over 3000 people died.
Ø Arusha agreement was
enacted and one President came in, but after few years president of that year
decided to run for the third time and there were diverse people against the
third rulership. Disappearances and mass graves were found during this time.
Ø December 11&12 rebel
attacks against women were In full effect. Many men ,boys, women and
girls were raped and sodomised by members of police.
Ø An injection was injected
in the blood of victims and they loose consciousness and rape took place .
Ø 2018 many women started
opening up and safe places were put in place for victims of rape during the
political arena.
Ø Access to medical care is
still a challenge and mental health services are still far off due to stigma
faced in society.
Ø It is important to have a
vast network of support groups for survivors of politically motivated violence
(rape).
Ø Some women did not open up
of their abuse and instead come indirectly, therefore the effective impact of
help is limited.
Ø Culture is a limitation
for many to open up.
Ø There are no set
statistics of number of victims affected by politically motivated violence
(rape) in Burundi.
Ø 48% of women have been
exposed to violence in Belgium
Recommendations:
Ø There is need for
psychological support across the cultures.
Ø Support the survivors use culture
as a catalyst for positive change
Ø Medical support for the
survivors of rape.
Ø Diaspora encouraged to
support those back home in peace and security processes and financial support.
Ø Capacitation of diaspora
Burundian community about GBV and how they can further support those back home.
Panelist:
Mr. Azubuike Michael Nwachukwu
Issues:
Ø GBV can affect anyone.
Ø Focus on Sdg5 Gender
Equality.
Ø The pandemic increases
Intimate Partner Violence.
Ø Increased economic
hardships that has seen an increase in early child marriages.
Ø Many men do not share
their abuse due to stigma in society.
Ø 30% of girls and women
have experienced sexual abuse especially in Africa.
Ø Efforts to eliminate GBV have
been limited ,due to the pandemic Covid 19.
Ø Language barrier at law
enforcement places.
Ø Law enforcers are also
perpetrators of GBV.
Ø Immigration barriers in
GBV, policies that do not protect immigrants.
How to End GBV:
Ø Comfort the victim and
earn trust and ensure them that God loves her or him and it is not their fault
what happened to them.
Ø Diversity is encouraged
amongst communities and families, leave no one behind, engage communities to
bring awareness, reduce stigma , demystify social and gender norms caused by
patriarchal systems. Encourage sdg 5
Ø Capacitate organizations to
learn local dialects as they move into the communities to bring awareness of
GBV.
Ø Transparency and Fairness
in policies
Ø The call for elimination
of Gender Based Violence amongst all spheres is strongly encouraged.
Ø Access to all health
facilities and employment for immigrants and cutting of tax for immigrants.
Ø Capacity building for all.
Ø Emergency safe houses made
available for victims.
Collective Way Forward/ Resolutions Reached:
Ø There is need for increase
in media support to ensure constant visibility of elimination of GBV
Ø Civil Society strongly encouraged
to work with their respective Governments to support the negotiations to draft
the African Union Convention on Ending Violence against Women and Girls at The
African Union Summit in February 2021.
Ø Advocate for a global treaty
against all forms of Gender Based Violence Against women and girls.
Ø There is need for
dedicated funding from the Government to assist in the elimination of Gender
Based Violence
Ø Sensitize communities,
integrate them and bring awareness of laws in place available to victims.
Ø Incorporate technology as
a tool to bring awareness of laws protecting victims of GBV.
Ø Work with the youths and
youth led organizations to further the elimination of Gender Based Violence.
Ø Make the fight of GBV
inclusive, leaving no one behind.
Ø The need to address the
role of parents in GBV,as charity begins at home.
Ø Advocate for Elders
abuse/violence prevention to be included in the policies and awareness of it as
well .
Ø Advocate for provision of
free sanitary wear for girls in schools.
Ø Capacity building of
traditional and religious leaders, as well as the diaspora community of GBV.
Ø Financial and technical
support of organizations that have funding to those without funding.
Ø Ensure comprehensive SRHR
information and GBV to adolescent girls and boys.
Ø Legal support needed for
survivors.
Ø Request for CS4EGBV to
serve as a networking center and data bank of GBV activists and organizations
for further actions.
Ø Collaboration of holistic
organizations with community based organizations.
Ø Defining of social and
gender norms.
Ø Assist Youths to be
capacitated on GBV education And incorporate them in all programs.
Ø Engage a meeting for
youths and GBV to anchor them in the fight against GBV, involve youths as
panelists together with other established leaders.
Ø There is need for in depth
collection of data of GBV cases for there to be an efficient report of what is
on the ground globally.
Ø Coordination of
organizations that attended the symposium for the drafting of the communiqué.
Ø Economic empowerment very
crucial and should be a leading force in the elimination of Gender Based
Violence.
Ø Appeal to the court of
laws to provide lie detector test machines to verify reported cases, so as to
avoid punishing an innocent person and letting loose a guilty person. Through
these will cases be judged fairly without favor nor bribery.
Challenges Faced:
Ø Culture, Religion and Law
limitations, tend to make the elimination of Gender Based Violence more
resistant to be implemented.
Ø Pandemic limits the reach
of information and knowledge to marginalized areas that have no access to
technology or electricity.
Ø Laws tend to favor women
and girls, therefore few men and boys report cases of Gender Based Violence,
thus suffering in silence.
Ø Resources unavailable to
some organizations and youth led initiatives to bring awareness on GBV issues.
Ø Lack of economic
empowerment ,makes many GBV cases go unreported due to the need of receiving
basic needs from the perpetrator.
Ø Perpetrators let loose due
to position in society.
Ø Some allegations of
reported GBV cases tend to be false, lack of lie detector test machines, to
verify all stories of perpetrator and victim.
Ø Lack of trust between the
people and governments.
Ø Lack of safe houses for
victims of Gender Based Violence.
Ø Some cases go unreported
due to the perpetrator being the bread winner.
Ø Lack of social support
from community and religious entities for victims.
Ø Lack of affordable or free
mental health programs and counseling for victims ,perpetrators or families.
Ø Limited resources of
information concerning GBV in different languages ,especially Braille and Sign
language.
Ø Lack of respect of rule of
law.
Ø Cases of False accusations
of rape or violence
Recommendations by Reporter/Rapporteur:
There
is a great need for the immense collaboration amongst all sectors for there to
be an effective and sustainable change in the fight of elimination against
Gender Based Violence. Character is learnt in the home, how children watch
their guardians handle conflict and pressure is how they will tend to manage
their own personal conflict in the long run. Children who grow up watching
violence ,end up turning into bullies and as adults end up being perpetrators
of violence. There is also need to shun entertainment that promotes violence as
a way to deal with life, such as shooting video games, violence oriented movies
and films. There is also need for there to be a sensitization of the music that
is allowed to be played at local, national, continental and global levels. The
more a person is surrounded by violence is the more subconsciously it sinks
into their being and therefore creating a cycle of a violent natured being.
Furthermore,
to create a society that is decent and free from any form of Gender Based
Violence, there is need to sensitize the content allowed in cartoons, music,
films, games and so forth , as these create a sexualized society that knows no
boundaries when it comes to ,No means No and through this our societies have
continued to decay morally. To end Gender Based Violence by 2030 ,there is need
for clean entertainment, there is need for anger management activities, there
is need for emotional intelligence sessions, there is need for the media
industry, entertainment industry, to create content that is both inspirational
and character building.
There
is also need for the family sphere to undergo counseling for unresolved issues,
that end up affecting children, there is need for mental health to be
considered a basic need in society. To demystify the stigma surrounding mental
health, because everyone has a level of mental health issue, and unfortunately
some are not able to handle ,therefore end up committing passion crimes and other
atrocities. There is need for the religion sector to instill peace, tolerance,
love and forgiveness as a way of life, this will in turn help eliminate crimes
committed in the name of religion. There is need for the financial sector to
empower as many people as it can, for there to be freedom from poverty ,which
tends to be a number one cause of fighting in the home, sharing of surplus
resources with each other ,will surely go a long way in the elimination of
Gender Based Violence Globally.
In
addition, there is need for the Government to enact laws that protect both
genders from acts of crime. There is need for enacting of lie sector tests that
are affordable, for there to be a fair and free trial in the courts of law. As
to avoid letting innocent people go to prison for crimes they did not commit
and letting loose those who are guilty scot free. As there has been an increase
trend of women who have been reporting false rape allegations and as well as
men who have reported false cases, due to the laws that favor women, the
protection of abused men and boys is almost unnoticed. There is need to be a
balance in society as anyone came be a potential victim and a potential
perpetrator. Therefore the laws need to be inclusive for all.
When
all is said and done ,there is need for the world wide spread of information
that is inclusive, this comes in all languages including braille and sign
language. An informed society is a liberated sphere. Education comes in all
forms and this requires all sectors and spheres to bring about information at
all levels. Elimination of Gender Based Violence is like a wheel, it takes
different parts of a wheel to move forward, therefore it takes all of us and
each of us to play a role in the eradication of this prevailing situation in
our global village. Collective efforts from all spheres that instill good morals,values,beliefs,emotional
health and well being will certainly eradicate Gender Based Violence by 2030.
