Tag Archives violence against women

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2023, here’s a list of articles we’ve published on women’s struggles for gender equality

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Today, International Women’s Day is celebrated globally. To mark the occasion, we’re showcasing the blog articles on women’s struggles for gender equality that we’ve published on Bliss over the past five years. We hope that the articles inspire further action and discussion. Happy International Women’s Day!

Seed keepers, memory keepers: native women and food sovereignty | Leila Rezvani | March 8, 2019

When North America was colonised, the relationship of indigenous people with food was also colonised. But a group of women acting as seed keepers for their communities are fighting back, practicing decolonisation in their daily work and addressing the legacy of food colonisation through the reclamation of seeds and the traditions, practices, and affective relations that nurture human-plant-environment relationships and keep Native communities thriving, healthy, and connected.

 

Dilemmas for aid agencies working in Afghanistan under Taliban’s gender apartheid rule | Dorothea Hilhorst  | January 12, 2023

In late December 2022, the Taliban announced that aid organizations would no longer be allowed to employ women. It was the next step in a series of measures that make it increasingly impossible for Afghan women to study, live or think independently. In response, many aid organizations have stopped their work, others are continuing. What will be the effect of all this and where are the boundaries for continuing assistance?

 

Why gender matters to social movements | Stacey Scriver and G. Honor Fagan | January 20, 2020

There are right and left, radical and conservative social movements at work in today’s volatile and unequal world. Whether directed towards a transformative social justice agenda or not, social movements themselves do not exist outside of the structures of power. Even among social movements directed towards deep social justice, gender inequality remains a key concern, since gender-related inequalities persist, both within the movements themselves, as well as in their recognition, support and the response to them.

 

Morocco’s ‘ninjas’: The hidden figures of agricultural growth | Lisa Bossenbroek and Margreet Zwarteveen | December 6, 2018

In Morocco’s Saïss region an agricultural boom is unfolding, premised on a process of labour hierarchisation shaped along gender lines. Female wageworkers find themselves at the lowest strata and take little pride in their work and are stigmatised. In such a context, how are rural women able to engage in agricultural wage work without losing their dignity and without being stigmatised? What can we learn from their daily working experiences?

 

Professional indigenous women acting to transform urban spaces in Mexico: methodological reflections | Azucena Gollaz and Marina Cadaval | March 7, 2023

Research practices often still do not adequately recognize the multiple points of views, experiences, and knowledges of those we work with. In the process, the meanings that people give to their own lives and to reality are often overlooked, which silences subjective interpretations. In this blog, we share some reflections on the methodological process developed while carrying out a project about the right to the city with indigenous women in Guadalajara, Mexico. Thinking of research as a living system comprising numerous collaborative gears turned and interlocked by different types of support can help us do research more mindfully and responsibly.

 

‘Empty’ laws and Peruvian women’s ongoing struggle for therapeutic abortion | Zoya Waheed and Romina Manga Cambria | March 15, 2019

Laws and regulations are policy tools that are seen as strong and effective in securing rights, but should we assume that this is always the case? Looking at therapeutic abortion, evidence from Peru leads us to believe otherwise. Legislation of protection laws often fails to be translated into practice.

 

Moving beyond women as victims in post-conflict peacebuilding efforts in Liberia | Christo Gorpudolo | January 27, 2020

Liberia, a war-torn country for much of the 1990s, initiated several post-conflict peacebuilding programmes with the hope of building sustainable peace. But a study of the Palava Hut Program as a transitional justice mechanism showed that such efforts can be thwarted by the reduction of women to victims of war. The opportunity to rebuild gender relations damaged during wars can be missed in the process. Besides rethinking the link between women and victimhood, women’s inclusion in peacebuilding programmes based on lived experiences can help to equalize men and women in the peacebuilding process, argues Christo Gorpudolo.

 

Reclaiming the space for feminism in development practice: the role of ‘femocrats’ | Clara Mi Young Park | July 1, 2019

In spite of international pledges to gender equality and development that leaves no one behind, the current wave of populism and autarchy is materializing in the form of resurging patriarchy, oppression and exclusion. This has spurred a counter movement of feminist activism across the globe. At this juncture, this article discusses the role of feminists in development organizations that can and must also do their part to promote change that is premised on gender and social justice.

 

‘EleNão!’ ‘NotHim!’ Women’s resistance to ‘the Brazilian Donald Trump’ |  Marina Graciolli de Paiva | October 2, 2018

The run-up to the Brazilian presidential election to be held on 7 October reminds spectators of the coming to power of Donald Trump two years ago. Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing politician, is running for the election, and while many are cheering him on, others are watching aghast as he heads the polls. In this article, Marina Graciolli de Paiva looks at the implications of the election of Bolsonaro and shows how the Brazilian women’s resistance movement is countering the rise of a fascist government.

 

Why should there be spaces for queer women, led by queer women? | Heather Tucker | November 17, 2017

NGO’s which receive funding from HIV interventions as well as international LGBT donors are interested in expanding their diversity efforts, for instance by including queer women in their training on human rights.  However, NGOs underestimate the working of intersectionality and fail to grasp why it is important for queer women to be understood on their own terms, recognizing their specific problems and enabling their separate organizations.

 

#MeToo and the need for safe spaces in academia | Brenda Rodríguez, Bruna Martinez and Vira Mistry | June 2, 2020

Initiated back in 2006 by African-American civil rights activist Tarana Burke, the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017 during the sexual misconduct scandal of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein when actress Alyssa Milano asked her Twitter followers from across the world to share their experiences of sexual harassment. As the hashtag went viral, a number of others also emerged, shedding light on sexual harassment in specific sectors. This included the #MeTooAcademia and #ScienceToo hashtags that highlighted the prevalence of sexual harassment in academic spaces and the need for change.

 

The power and limits of women’s collective agency in fragile contexts: from pastoralist communities to refugee environments | Holly A Ritchie |March 6, 2018

Women’s groups and networks have been cited as key instruments for fostering women’s pathways of social and economic empowerment. Yet, with limits to collective agency, Holly Ritchie argues that the emergence of broader women’s movements and struggles remains cautious and constrained in a context of fragility.

 

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered: a study of witchcraft accusation in Northern Ghana | Issah Wumbla | January 14, 2019

Witchcraft accusation and consequent banishment that still persists globally can be viewed as a form of violence against women and children. While it is believed that women are accused of witchcraft mainly due to their socio-economic status, an intersectional analysis of witchcraft accusation in Northern Ghana shows that other factors also contribute.

 

Revolution and music: women singing out in Sudan | Katarzyna Grabska and Azza Ahmed A. Aziz | August 12, 2019

With the attention to Sudanese women musicians actively participating in the current uprising in Sudan, this article reflects on the history of women’s involvement in music and how their performances have acquired political claims over time.

 

When children have children: Can postponing early motherhood help children survive longer? | Sofia K. Trommlerová  | September 21, 2020

In 2010, approximately 34% of young women in developing countries – some 67 million – married before reaching 18 years of age. An additional 14-15 million women will marry as children or adolescents every year in the coming decades. Child marriages lead to pregnancies and childbirths at an early age, which can have negative consequences for the health of both mother and child. Does the age at which motherhood takes place matter, and can postponing motherhood into adulthood help increase the chances of children surviving beyond five years of age? My study of teen pregnancies amongst Bangladeshi girls shows that age does matter, and it matters quite a lot.

 

There’s no stopping feminist struggles in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic | Agustina Solera and Brenda Rodríguez Cortés | December 10, 2020

As the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign draws to a close today, Agustina Solera and Brenda Rodríguez Cortés reflect on the challenges women in Latin America have faced over the past year and how, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they have stood strong as ever, braving the particularly difficult conditions that they have had to face this year.

 

Challenging humanitarianism beyond gender as women and women as victims | Dorothea Hilhorst, Holly Porter and Rachel Gordon | March 7, 2018

Problematic assumptions related to women’s position and role in humanitarian crises are unpacked in a special issue of the journal Disasters on gender, sexuality and violence. The main lesson drawn from the special issue is that aid actors should tread carefully and seriously invest in their capacity to carefully monitor the intended and unintended effects of programming on gender relations.

 

Feminist political ecology in research and action | Wendy Harcourt | March 8, 2018

On 8 March 2018, Professor Wendy Harcourt will be inaugurated at the International Institute of Social Studies, becoming one of the few female professors at the Erasmus University. This blog is a reflection of her personal journey to professorship and on the ‘Well-being, Ecology, Gender and Community’ (WEGO-ITN) project that she heads, which will be launched on the same day at the ISS.

 

Menstruation: from concealed topic to part of the public agenda | Jacqueline Gaybor | March 5, 2018

Menstruation and its multiple social, economic, environmental, health and technological dimensions surprisingly is starting to be discussed globally, in multiple arenas and under very different and sometimes opposing frameworks. But how is this issue positioned at this early stage of an emerging research agenda? Which actions have been implemented? This blog is a reflection on the importance of thinking outside the box.

 

There’s so much we still have to do to address gender injustices once and for all | Lize Swartz  | March 8, 2021

Today we celebrate International Women’s Day, but as always, there are some positive developments we can commend and others that we should be horrified about. The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly exacerbated gender injustices and created new gender inequalities. At the same time we can fortunately witness the strengthening of discussions on gender relations and things we’re still doing wrong (and those things we’re setting right). We’ve reached the tip of the iceberg and the rest – the assumptions and silences that perpetuate gender injustices – lurk beneath the surface, a silent colossus standing between us and real progress. In this post, we celebrate attempts to chip away at those parts of gender relations that are less visible, but just as crucial to address.

Opinions expressed in Bliss posts reflect solely the views of the author of the post in question.

About the author:

Bliss, the blog of ISS on global development and social justice, aims to provide a space where research ideas and findings are brought to the development community in a timely way. With the blog, ISS will address different audiences in policy, practice and the public at large. The blogs are grounded in ongoing research and speak to broader implications for current development trends and issues. Most importantly, the blogs will continue to uphold the best of ISS traditions: to (re)present the voices of people and communities that are marginalized in development.

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Dilemmas for aid agencies working in Afghanistan under Taliban’s gender apartheid rule.

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In late December 2022, the Taliban announced that aid organizations would no longer be allowed to employ women. It was the next step in a series of measures that make it increasingly impossible for Afghan women to study, live or think independently. In response, many aid organizations have stopped their work, others are continuing. What will be the effect of all this and where are the boundaries for continuing assistance?

The consequences of the ban are disastrous. After the takeover of power by the Taliban in 2021, the economy of Afghanistan collapsed, the government currently hardly functions and health services have disappeared except for aid-managed programmes. Drought, floods and last summer’s big earthquake all made matters worse. Current estimates are that 20 million people depend on humanitarian assistance and the ban on women’s employment will certainly cost lives. In addition, jobs are very rare in today’s Afghanistan. Many women who work for aid organizations are the sole breadwinner in their family. These families will face poverty if these women resign from their jobs.

UN diplomats and aid organizations are on high alert and they are feverishly meeting to seek strategies that enable them to stand up for human rights and yet maintain aid  as much as possible. The UN Security Council, as well as many countries, has also condemned the ban. Global humanitarian aid coordinator, Martin Griffiths, will be travelling to Afghanistan in the coming weeks in an attempt to persuade the government to change its mind. For the time being, however, the Taliban do not seem sensitive to outside pressure.

There are currently about a hundred aid organizations that have stopped their work. Some agencies take a principled approach: they condemn excluding female employees as a gross violation of human rights and are reluctant to strike deals with the Taliban about the provision of aid. Other organizations emphasize the logistical implications of the ban: aid is not possible in Afghanistan without women, because only women can reach the vulnerable women and children who need it most.

There are some organizations that can continue their work without disruption, including Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). Their employees are not yet affected by the new measure. The Taliban appear to be divided over the matter. The ban was issued by the Afghan Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is under the influence of the hardliner Taliban. Most national aid organizations are registered under this ministry. This implies that the ban also affects the programmes of foreign aid organizations that work through local partners. On the other hand, foreign organizations that implement their own programmes, such as MSF, fall under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has not adopted the measure. The Ministry of Health is also holding off the ban for the time being.

There are voices advocating that the aid organizations should draw a line and stop talking to the Taliban. However, many organizations will continue to look for a humanitarian space to uphold assistance in order not to let the population down. They are prepared to negotiate at a local level, where it is expected that some rulers may apply the ban more leniently. This is a common humanitarian strategy: negotiate where necessary and continue to look for ways to continue to provide aid. A disadvantage of this strategy may be that the Taliban can play off aid organizations against each other.

The ban is still fresh and evolving – new announcements are  expected soon. As far as I am concerned, there is one red line: organizations cannot agree to provide assistance when women are excluded from their services. Aid agencies, the UN and international governments should convey a common message: Aid that is reserved for men only is a no-go as this would contribute to the system of gender apartheid that prevails under the Taliban.

This blog is based on research that was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) Horizon 2020 programme [Advance grant number 884139].

Opinions expressed in Bliss posts reflect solely the views of the author of the post in question.

About the author:

Dorothea Hilhorst is professor of Humanitarian Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University.

 

 

 

Are you looking for more content about Global Development and Social Justice? Subscribe to Bliss, the official blog of the International Institute of Social Studies, and stay updated about interesting topics our researchers are working on.

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered: a study of witchcraft accusation in Northern Ghana by Issah Wumbla

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Witchcraft accusation and consequent banishment that still persists globally can be viewed as a form of violence against women and children. While it is believed that women are accused of witchcraft mainly due to their socio-economic status, an intersectional analysis of witchcraft accusation in Northern Ghana shows that other factors also contribute.

Could you imagine justice depending on the posture of a dying chicken? Such is the case of determining who is a witch in the witch-finding shrine at Gambaga. In the court of the god (judge), both the accused and the accuser present a live chicken to be used for the ritualistic trial process by the priest. If the slaughtered chicken lies on its breast as it dies, then the accused is guilty. If the chicken lies on its back with wings spread upwards, then the accusation is false.  This is what a partial observer of the of the witch trial process at the Gambaga witch-trying shrine might think. Believe it or not, witchcraft accusation and consequent banishment persists globally and can be viewed as a form of violence against women and children. However, the means of identifying a witch can be ridiculous as the one explained above.

While it is believed that women are accused of witchcraft mainly because of their gender, an intersectional analysis of witchcraft accusation in Northern Ghana shows that other factors also contribute. Ongoing research on the phenomenon of witchcraft accusation and banishment of women suspected to be witches indicates that the interaction of multiple identity categories such as gender, socio-economic conditions, age, or institutional practices influences the process of witchcraft accusation and subsequent banishment.

The call for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and the elimination of all forms of violence and harmful practices against women as stipulated by the Sustainable Development Goal 5 could not have come at a better time. At present, violence against women has assumed rather subtle forms, sometimes passing by unnoticed. Witchcraft branding and the banishment of alleged witches from their communities to seek refuge in witches’ camps, as is still practiced in Northern Ghana, is one such a subtle form of violence against women that requires the attention of scholars and policy-makers alike.

Understanding the phenomenon however, requires investigating it in a more nuanced and pragmatic manner than just considering it as old women’s issue that demands legal and or policy attention. An analysis of the way in which gender intersects with other statuses of power and how the daily struggles for dominion and control over socially valued resources between women and between women and men is vital. My resent research paper titled “Condemned without hearing”[1] provides an intersectional analysis of how gender interacts with age, and socio-economic conditions to contribute to the branding of some women as witches and the practice of banishment.

The research was conducted in the at the Gambaga Witches’ camp[2] and Gbangu in the East Mamprusi District of the Northern Region of Ghana. The study sought to find out how the social positioning of women contribute to discrimination against them in context of witchcraft accusation and exiling of suspected witches. Based on the objective, I did a mini survey on the socio-demographic characteristics of the inmates of the Gambaga witches’ camp and interviewed fifteen of them. The manager of the Presbyterian Go Home Project was a key informant. The interview questions were centered on their experience of accusation and the accusation process. The interviewees provided insights into the social values and structures that influence beliefs and practices in communities, as well as women’s own life experiences and strategies in coping with their situation. Fifteen people from the Gbangu community were also interviewed. Gbangu is a nearby community to Gambaga where the belief in witchcraft was common. These interviews and survey were conducted within a two month’s (mid-July to Mid-September 2017) field work.

Factors affecting witchcraft allegation

The findings are fascinating. Firstly, the study showed that gender is a major social category that influences witchcraft accusation. Women’s susceptibility to allegation is not due to their gender per se. However, their vulnerability emanates from the constructed roles and expectations of women and men. Some practices that are imbedded in some institutions locate some women in lower status of power, making them experience witchcraft allegation and its associated violence differently as compared to men and other women.

Secondly, socio-economic conditions of women contribute to witchcraft accusation. Both relative success in economic ventures and poverty make women the target of witchcraft accusation. The differences between the relative well-off women and the poor in relation to accusation is that those economically well off are also located in other social categories of higher status of power that work to their advantage amidst accusation whereas the poor women are usually located in other categories of low status of power making their experience of accusation and oppression different.

Thirdly, old age usually coupled with the status of widowhood and poor family backgrounds has proved crucial for the understanding of women’s vulnerability to witchcraft branding and exiling. Most of the women surveyed were widows and attested to being affiliated to and dependent on poor family members; as a result, they were defenseless when accused.

Fourthly, there are three levels of decision-making in witchcraft accusation within the accused community thus; at the family, the clan, and community chief’s level. Before reaching the witch finding shrine at Gambaga, leaders of at least one of these levels would have decided or been consulted. And at all these levels, the interactions of all the categories mentioned above influence the decision-making process. Having strong connections such as influential children, affiliation to royalty of good standing, being economically self-dependent as well as a lack of them influences the final decision regarding accusation. These apply to the process of accusation since it is related to the decision-making process.

Concluding remarks

Intersectionality and power relations (Foucauldian power/knowledge)[3] help in our understanding of how the locations of some women accused of witchcraft in multiple social categories (gender, socio-economic conditions, and old age) make their experiences of accusation different than others because the interactions of such multiple identities can mutually strengthen or weaken each other. The concepts also help in the making of meaning in the decision-making process and the process of accusation itself in witchcraft allegation.

Overall, gender, socio-economic conditions, and old age are key factors that influence accusation and related treatment. However, one of these categories or statuses of power considered in this research standing alone is inadequate to explain women’s susceptibility to witchcraft allegation and its related violence. Being placed differently in multiple statuses of power makes women´s experience of violence different from one individual to another. Depending on how many of these categories an accused person belongs to, a woman could be less vulnerable, more vulnerable, or not vulnerable at all. The interactions of gender with socio-economic conditions and age, and their embeddedness in institutions and structures in the accused original communities, influence the processes of accusation and decision making regarding suspected witches.

In general terms, I am convinced this can apply to other forms of violence against women. So, policies and programs aimed at curbing violence should consider the differences in women as starting point for analyzing such phenomena and how they should be addressed. Measures aimed at addressing violence against women might fall through the boundaries at the intersections of the various categories of power and gender related to the problem in context.

[1] Wumbla, I. (2018) ‘Condemned without Hearing: An Intersectional Analysis of the Practice of Branding, Banishing, and Camping of Alleged Witches in Northern Ghana’, ISS Working Paper Series/General Series 633(633): 1-51.

[2] Gambaga is the is the capital of the East Mamprusi District. The camp is in the middle of the town and serves as a refuge for accused witches who are banished from their communities.

[3] Sawiwki, J. (1986) ‘Foucault and Feminism: Toward a Politics of Difference’, Hypatia 1(2): 23-36.

Winker, G. and N. Degele (2011) ‘Intersectionality as Multi-Level Analysis: Dealing with Social Inequality’, European Journal of Women’s Studies 18(1): 51-66.

Image Credit: African Gender Institute/Groupuscule

About the author:

Wumbla Issah holds a Master of Arts in Development Studies-Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies: Social Justice Perspectives, a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work with Political Science from the University of Ghana and a Diploma in Basic Education from Gbewaa College of Education. He has has varied research interests in gender issues and development, Child rights, youth and development, educational policies, and social justice. He is a professional teacher and social worker with experience in Teaching, Community Development, and Human Rights Advocacy.