ODOS 2016: Towards a Gender Equality Act in Malaysia – Women’s Aid Organisation

For One Day One Struggle 2016, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) is raising awareness to end discrimination against women in the work force, with a particular focus on ‘pregnancy discrimination’. The mobilization is part of a larger push to see the domestication of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Malaysia, through the passing of a Gender Equality Act.

WAO_CSBRODOS2016_1ODOS2016_WAO3-fin

WAO_CSBRODOS2016_2

 

WAO_CSBRODOS2016_4

 

Malaysia ratified the CEDAW Convention in 1995, and submitted its 1st and 2nd periodic reports at the 35th Session of the CEDAW Committee in 2006. Based on the submissions and discussion, the CEDAW Committee recommended “the creation of a State-wide legal mechanism to ensure harmony in the country’s laws, policies and programmes, and to guarantee fully that the rights of Malaysian women were upheld“. Advocates on the ground say the first step to achieving this is a Gender Equality Act.

After the 2006 CEDAW review process, advocates engaged with policy makers about drafting a Gender Equality Bill, as per the CEDAW Committee’s recommendations. However, as shared by WAO Communications Officer Tan Heang-Lee, “In Malaysia the process of passing a Bill into law requires that the Bill first be drafted and presented by Cabinet Ministers, then it is debated in Parliament, then discussed in the Senate, and final endorsement resides with the King. Unfortunately, no Bill was ever drafted by the Cabinet“.

Given that Malaysia is due for review by the CEDAW committee in January 2018, advocates have increased mobilization over the last year to revive the conversation and build support for domestication of CEDAW through a Gender Equality Act.

Focusing on Article 11 of CEDAW, WAO launched a survey to document women’s experiences with discrimination in the workplace. Their research showed that over 40% of women in the workforce have experienced job discrimination due to pregnancy.

When Malaysia was reviewed in 2006, it was the case of Beatrice Fernandez v Sistem Penerbangan Malaysia, in which Beatrice Fernandez was forced to resign from her job with Malaysia Airlines in 1991 when she became pregnant, that was cited by the Committee as a clear shortcoming that needed to be redressed through domestication of the CEDAW Convention. 15 years on, WAO’s survey results are a timely and important reminder that a Gender Equality Act in Malaysia is urgent and long overdue.

Tan Heang-Lee shared, “This survey is one part of a larger process. With the research, we wanted to document women’s experiences, to identify the gaps in practice and policies, and to help women understand as a first step what recourse options they have if they experience such discrimination. For example, if you face discrimination right now, how can you best document your experience, build up evidence, and who can you turn to. Ensuring women’s greater access to what recourse is available is a first step, while we work towards building greater public understanding and support to end discrimination through legislative and policy reform.”

For ODOS 2016, WAO will be sharing infographics from their survey and building momentum towards the next phase of their campaign, which will explore and identify best policies and practices from employers in ensuring non-discrimination.

“Malaysia has one of the lowest levels of women’s participation in the workforce in the region, hovering at about 53%. That’s an unnecessary toll on our economy, and something we need to address. With this research, down the line we also want to  engage employers, to identify best practices, and to see how women’s leadership in the workplace ultimately benefits them.

Want to get involved? Join the campaign by sharing the infographics, and keep up with Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) on Facebook @womens.aid.org, Twitter @womensaidorg and Instagram @womensaidorg.

*   *   *   *   *

 

ODOS 2016: Towards Ending Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Discrimination in the Philippines

For One Day One Struggle 2016, PILIPINA Legal Resources Centre (PLRC) is taking forward advocacy for policy reform that ensures non-discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the Philippines. This marks the 3rd year that PLRC has taken up the issue through the ODOS campaign.

PLRC_CSBR_ODOS2016

Through One Day One Struggle in 2011, PLRC began advocating for the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the Davao City Anti-Discrimination Ordinance–a success that was realized in 2012. The Ordinance was the first of its’ kind in the Philippines, and provides protection from discrimination against women, ethnic minorities and people living with disabilities as well.

Recognizing that the passage of the law is the first step, in 2015, PLRC advocated for strengthening the Implementation Rules & Regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance within Davao City. For ODOS 2015, PLRC organized an expert consultation with LGBT community members, lawyers, and municipal government officials to develop the framework for the IRR. The success of the workshop lead PLRC to be invited to lead a series of trainings for municipal government and public institutions on the agreed recommendations for the IRR.

PLRC’s advocacy at the national level has also translated to the international sphere, where along with many groups worldwide, PLRC advocated for the adoption of the UN Resolution for an Independent Expert on SOGI during the 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council in June 2016.

For ODOS this year, in collaboration with CSBR and the Davao City Integrated Gender & Development Division, PLRC is hosting two dialogues with local legislators and policy makers, with the goal of developing the final text for the Implementaiton Rules & Regulations of the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance as well as developing a city-wide action plan for more outreach activities for LGBT rights.

The first discussion takes place 9 November 2016, from 10am-12pm, at University Engagement & Advocacy, Ateneo de Davao University, Jacinto Campus, Davao City.

The second discussion takes place 10 November 2016, from 10am-11pm at Sangguniang Panglungsod ng Dabaw, San Pedro Street, Davao City

Panelists: Lorna Mandin (for updates), Dr EJ Sabado, Jhoanna Cruz, Atty. Romeo T. Caberde, Jr. (to be confirmed)

Legislators: Hon. Pilar Caneda Braga, Hon. Myrna Dalodo Ortiz, Hon. Avegayle Dalodo-Ortiz Omalza, a representative of Hon. Halila Sudagar

Facilitator: Kaye Solamo Antonio/PILIPINA Legal Resources Center

Check back for updates and results on PLRC’s ODOD 2016 action soon.

ODOS 2016 – Muntada’s Photovoice Portraits: Strength, Multiplicity and Resilience

As part of One Day One Struggle 2016, MUNTADA is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with an evening of discussions and photography exhibits from their pioneering work using the participatory action research method of photovoice to engage the public in conversation on women’s strength, dynamism, and resilience. See details on the proejct and the photo exhibit below.

About the Exhibit

قد تكونُ هذه الصور عبارة عن رحلةٍ للبحثِ عن الوجهِ الإنسانيّ كنافذة إلى جوهر الإنسان. رحلةٌ تستخدم أزياءً مختلفة، ووضعيّات مختلفة، وخلفيّات وأغراض، لتعرضَ ذات الوجه في مظاهر وأشكال مختلفة. بهذا، تختلط في الوجهِ الواحد هويّات اجتماعيّة متباينة، مما يُعرقل أفكارَنا المسبقة التي تتمسّك بالمظهر لتقييم الجوهر، أي تقييم الدور والموقف الاجتماعيّين.

من هنا، فإن عرض الوجه بأشكال متعددة هو خطوة تستعيد مركزيّة هذا الوجه الإنسانيّ؛ يتعطّل الدور الذي تشغله السيجارة، والطنجرة، والحجاب، والكدمات في تكوين أفكارِنا المسبقة عن الشخوص، ويبقى وجه الإنسان ذو الجمال والقوّة.

بكلمات أخرى، فإن كثافة وتطرّف هذه الاختلافات يكشفان وجوهَنا، يُظهرانها، فتتحوّل التعدّديّة إلى نوع من التعرّي – التعدّدية التي لا يُمكن للمجتمع أن يُظهر إنسانيّتَه من دونِها.

في هذه الصور، يتجوّل الوجهُ الواحد بين أدوارٍ اجتماعيّة كثيرة، بإيحاءات، وهويّات وتوجّهات مختلفة. وهي لا تُعبّر بالضرورة عن ظروفٍ اختارتها النساء، كما لا تُعبّر بالضرورة عن إكراهٍ وإخضاع. لكنّها تدعو إلى التحديق في العينين والتعرّف على القابليّة المذهلة للتعدّد والاختلاف، والانطلاق من المتساوي، والندّ، والإنسانيّ المشترك في مواجهة القمع الاجتماعيّ – لا بإلغاء اختلافات المظهر، إنما بالاحتفال بهذه الاختلافات وتقديرها.

تسعى هذه السلسلة الفوتوغرافيّة إلى رفض صورة نمطيّة واستعلائيّة عن شكل الإنسان “الحُر” ومحاولة التشبّه به، واستبدالها بفكرة التحرّر انطلاقًا من الظرف الذاتيّ للإنسان، التحرّر الذي ينطلق من حاجات وهموم الذات، وليس من “شكل” الآخر كما يهيّمن على مخيّلتنا من خلال السلطة الطبقيّة والجندريّة.

لا نطالب هنا بمجرّد السماح بالتعدّدية، إنما نسعى إلى التحرّر الاجتماعيّ من خلال تذويت التعدّدية كقيمة جوهريّة.

About the Team

عن مجموعة العمل:
كان علينا أن نختار ما نقول من خلال هذه الورشة التي أخذتنا بعيداً في عالم الفوتوغرافيا والضوء. لم تقتصر رحلتنا على الجوانب التقنية في تفعيل الكاميرا بأجزائها، وإنما امتدت بنا إلى اكتشافنا للذات وما نَعبُرُه نحن كميسرات ومرشدات ومؤسِّسات لهذا المنتدى، سواء كان ذلك مع حكايانا أو حكايا من نلتقيهن من فتيات ونساء في ورشاتنا.
إن ما نختار أن نعرضه اليوم هو بداية لمشروع جماعي مستمر، ينقل ما نعيشه ونلتقيه من حكايا نسائية من خلال عملنا وتفاعلاتنا وتجاربنا. تكمن قوة هذه الصور التي نعرضها في سيرورة ولادتها بين الصور العشوائية التي التقطتها نساء لم يحملن كاميرا من قبل. وفي خضم تعدد هوياتنا ووجهات نظرنا، أنتجنا صوراً تحمل لغة واحدة مبنية على مسار من الحوارات والتفكير في بناء المشاهد التي نصورها لتشكل في نهاية المسار مشروعاً له مقولته ورسالته متخذاً الكاميرا عنصراً مساعداً في التعبير وإثارة الأسئلة والحوار ورفع الوعي للتغيير.
المشاركات في هذا العمل:
فاديه خوري، نهال كيال، أمل حداد، ميادة أبو جبل، ديزيريه لطيف، رباب قربي، سمر قرمان، فيروز ابو شيخه، أنيسة عانق وحنان شحادة
أشرف على الورشة:
المصور محمد بدارنه
محمّد بدارنة مصوّر ومدرّب فوتوغرافيّ، وناشط اجتماعيّ وُلد في قرية عرّابة البطّوف. انخرط بدارنة في النشاط الاجتماعي منذ شبابه وشارك في تأسيس حركة “حقّ” الشبابيّة لحقوق الإنسان. بعد تخرّجه من دراسة التصوير الفوتوغرافيّ، كرّس بدارنة وقته للتصوير الفنّي والاجتماعيّ، إلى جانب تدريب المصوّرين وتعليمهم ضمن المؤسسات الأهليّة. تلقّى بدارنة عدّة منح فنيّة، وعُرضت أعماله في صالات عرضٍ هامّة، منها “دارة الفنون” في عمّان، منظمة العفو الدوليّ في جينيف ومقر الأمم المتحدة في نيويورك.


Photovoice Exhibit

400a0469

400a0471-2

400a0482

400a9280-2

400a9336-2-copy

400a9388

400a9411

400a9477

400a9509-2

400a9532-2

400a9568-2-copy

400a9977

*     *     *     *     *

For more information and details, email Leila at pr@jensaneya.org.

ODOS 2016: EIPR submits open letter to WHO urging change of the Arabic definition of female circumcision/FGC/ FGM on its website to correspond with English and French definitions

To mark the One Day, One Struggle campaign, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights submitted an open letter to the World Health Organization’s high-level Working Group for the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents, calling on it to amend the definition of female circumcision/female genital mutilation on the organization’s Arabic website to correspond with the definition in English and French. The EIPR found substantial discrepancies between the Arabic definition of female circumcision and the definition in all other languages on the WHO website.

1200-03

1200-02

1200-01

The Arabic definition lacks an important sentence affirming that there is no medical basis for the practice. The second paragraph of the Arabic definition also diverges completely from the definition in other languages. The problem is that this incomplete definition is the same one adopted by the Egyptian legislator in recent amendments to the Penal Code article criminalizing female circumcision. The EIPR therefore calls on the WHO to change the Arabic definition on its website and to urge the Egyptian government to alter the definition of the practice in the Penal Code to reaffirm that there is no medical basis for female circumcision.

Read the PDF full letter in Arabic here and PDF full letter in English here.

ODOS 2016: Holding State Actors to Account in Indonesia – GAYa NUSANTARA screens CALALAI: In-Betweenness

For One Day One Struggle 2016, GAYa NUSANTARA is hosting a film screening and discussion on the documentary CALALAI: In-Betweenness. The documentary was produced by the Ardhanary Institute in 2015, and explores historical and contemporary experiences of gender amongst the Bugis in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The screening and discussion are a much needed intervention into the highly politicized and charged current conversation about diversity in sexual orientations and gender identities in Indonesia.

In January 2016, there began an unprecedented spate of hateful and ignorant comments and actions from diverse members of the Indonesian government, claiming LGBTIQ people are a threat to Indonesian society. Despite national and international civil society’s calls for President Joko Widodo to denounce the discrimination, violence and irresponsible actions of members of his cabinet, it took over 9 months before he finally responded and called for adherence to rule of law and Indonesia’s own constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination. While his comments were long overdue and welcomed, as a Coalition we remain deeply concerned that President Joko Widodo’s call for the rule of law was qualified by the statement that “in Indonesia, beliefs [generally] do not allow [LGBT], Islam does not allow it.

As religious scholars around the world have repeatedly demonstrated, ‘Islam’ is not a monolithic entity, nor does ‘Islam’ have a position on ‘LGBT’. Such inflammatory and baseless rhetoric continues to stigmatize LGBTIQ Muslims not only in Indonesia but around the world. It further erases the rich diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities that have existed across the Indonesian archipelago, and the world, throughout history.

The ODOS screening of CALALAI: In-Betweenness aims to raise awareness, visibility and critical understanding on these issues and open discussion on ways to continue holding President Joko Widodo and state actors to account and stop the backlash against LGBT people in Indonesia.

 

Un Jour Un Combat, Contre Le harcèlement sexuel en Tunisie!

For One Day One Struggle 2016, l’Association Tunisienne des Femmes Democrates (ATFD), Chouf, Mawjoudin, Waafi, and Shams, are continuing the campaign  to raise visibility and awareness on street sexual harassment.

via GIPHY

This year the campaign expanded to take place over 10 days, with organizers working the streets and public transportation since November 1st. ATFD-StreetHarassment2016By creating resources and sharing information with people in public spaces, the actions are intended to raise visibility on the issue of street sexual harassment and encourage people to break the silence, speak out and take action when they witness sexual harassment on the streets. The collaboration has already gained attention in the media as a much needed intervention, especially in a socio-legal context where sexual harassment is only recognized in the workplace. Sexual harassment in the streets and in public spaces continues with little option for recourse, but by disrupting the normalization of street harassment through such actions and conversations, l’ATFD and co. are creating room for change.

On 9th November, the 2016 campaign concludes with a rendez-vous at the Golden Tulip Hotel at 18h to reflect on the actions taken, lessons learnt, and experiences shared. Don’t miss it!

Check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Un-Jour-Un-Combat-996099703765811/?fref=ts for more details.

ODOS 2016: VISION holds Street Theatre Performances on Sexual and Bodily Rights of Hijras in Pakistan

For One Day One Struggle 2016, VISION will be hosting a street theatre performance on the sexual and bodily rights of hijras in Pakistan.

Previously held in 5 different areas, these performances were the culmination of a fiveVISION-StreetTheatreWorkshop1 day participatory street theatre workshop VISION conducted with trans women from 18-22 October 2016. Throughout the five day workshop, participants discussed personal lived experiences, shared insights and analysis on how to challenge narratives and experiences of discrimination to realize sexual and bodily rights. Amidst these sessions, participants also learned the basics of street theatre, including voice projection, scripting, location, basic props, and then collectively developed and shaped the storyline and direction for the performance.

 

VISION_StreetTheatreWorkshop_2Street theatre is an especially useful tool for engaging people in a public space who might not otherwise seek out or access awareness raising events. For the first two performances, VISION chose locations with high foot-traffic, including the public Murree Bus Terminal where there was a higher likelihood of attracting passers by.

Over the course of the 20 minute performance, the crowds continued to grow, and at the end of the show the response was very positive, with audience celebrating the play’s key message of bodily autonomy and integrity.

Watch a video of one of the street performances here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ajq4-MflHoZxlVQacvNEJ5I3QTjU

VISION_StreetTheatre_3

Brief synopsis:

The birth of a child is celebrated in the traditional way, and the celebration is manifold because it is a boy child.  This child grows up to be different from others of his age, and manifests this difference through his activities. When the child reaches adolescence, the father and the older brother throw the child out of the house. The boy joins the transgender community. Police accesses are reflected in one Act and then in the final Act the boy, who has now been able to embrace his identity as female transgender, is hassled at a public park by some goons. At that moment, she tells the entire world that her body belongs to her,  and that she will determine what she does with her body, and who she chooses as friends/companions/family. 

 

On 9th November VISION will be performing on the streets of Islamabad. Stay tuned for more details and updates.

* All photos and videos shared by VISION with CSBR, please do not reproduce or share without acknowledgment.

Turkey – Stop Sexual Violence! Infographic on the Istanbul Convention

Blast from the Past: For the 2014 One Day One Struggle campaign, our members in Turkey–Lambda Istanbul, KAOS-GL and Women for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways—organized around Turkey’s responsibilities to implement the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence  (Istanbul Convention).

Check out their Infographic below, and download a copy here: http://www.csbronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ODOS2014-Turkey-IstanbulConvention-Info.pdf

View the online campaign on Twitter with the hashtags: #istanbulsozlesmesi and #ortakmucadelehepbirlikte

Turkey Implement the Istanbul

Bishkek Feminist Initiative Kyrgyzstan joins CSBR!

We are excited to welcome Bishkek Feminist Initiative – Kyrgyzstan, as a new member of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR)!

Read more about BFI’s work below, and check out their terrific One Day One Struggle 2015 video, “Bishkek Girls Unite for their Sexual and Bodily Rights!”, challenging gender stereotypes in Kyrgyzstan:

 

 

From BFI’s Website:

Bishkek Feminist Initiatives (BFI) is a feminist group of activists in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, based onBishkekFeminists-Logo the principles of collective emancipation, solidarity, mutual support and equal decision-making, and non-violence.

BFI’s mission is to promote feminist values of ending all forms of oppression (sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism, nationalism, xenophobia, islamophobia, class and socio-economic oppression, etc.) in Bishkek. Some of our goals are: to create a feminist network of residents, communities, organizations and initiatives in Bishkek for a meaningful engagement; to contribute to building solidarity with existing civil society movements, which share our values of justice and human rights; to provide feminist space and practices, especially educational resources and activities on resisting oppression and violence, and building informed alliances and partnerships.

BFI recognizes the complexities and intersectionality of oppression, and are therefore committed to prioritizing activism needs, voices and issues of the most underrepresented communities in our city of Bishkek. We promote a culture of peaceful civil disobedience, alternative activism, feminist philanthropy and issued-based solidarity activism. Our priorities are (1) feminist movement-building in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, including security and wellbeing of activists; (2) feminist multi/media/arts and writing; (3) sexual and bodily rights, integrity and autonomy education and mobilization.

For more information, see: https://bishkekfeminists.org/ and @bishkekfeminists 

 

 

En vidéo : Le harcèlement sexuel dans la rue, parlons-en!

Qu’est ce le harcèlement sexuel ? C’est la question qui a été posée par des activistes de la société civile dans la rue aux passants et plusieurs d’entre eux n’ont pas su répondre…

Bien que le harcèlement soit un phénomène courant, toutes les personnes interrogées n’ont pas su répondre clairement à la question. Agressivité, embarras, hésitation… telles étaient les émotions recueillies dans la rue et diffusées lors de la rencontre ‘Un jour, un combat’, el 9 novembre au café théâtre Le Mondial.

Cette rencontre a été organisée par plusieurs composantes de la société civile dont l’ATFD, Chouf, Without Restrictions, Mawjoudin, le groupe Tawhida ben Cheikh, etc. Des composantes qui font partie de la coalition pour les droits sexuels et corporels dans les sociétés à majorité musulmane.

Tabou, le harcèlement sexuel est rarement abordé et quand on en parle, ce sont les femmes qui sont pointées du doigt dans nos sociétés. Elles sont culpabilisées parce que, pour une majorité de personnes, elles ont attiré le regard et la convoitise du harceleur. Le corps des femmes est chosifié et leur style vestimentaire ou leur comportement dans l’espace public est remis en question et jugé coupable quand elles subissent des violences.

Plusieurs interventions, des présents à l’événement ‘un jour, un combat’ ont tenu à rappeler que le harcèlement est une forme de violence sexuelle qui porte une atteinte morale à la victime et qu’il faut la différencier du viol et des autres formes de violences faites aux femmes et aux personnes LGBT.
TunisScope-StopStreetHarassment

« On doit d’abord clarifier ce que veut dire ‘harcèlement sexuel’ et ne pas le confondre avec la tentative de viol. Le harcèlement sexuel comme toutes les violences faites aux femmes est un acte par lequel l’auteur exerce une domination sur une femme ou une personne LGBT. L’auteur dit : je peux disposer de ton corps comme je veux et où je veux. Le harcèlement de rue aussi est une notion qui n’est pas claire : c’est un harcèlement sexuel qui s’exerce dans la rue. Il est important que nous utilisions des notions claires » a affirmé, Azza Ghanmi, militante féministe qui était présente à l’événement.

Dans le code pénal tunisien, le harcèlement sexuel est défini comme « gestes et paroles obscènes qui gênent l’autre »
Art-226 ter : Est considéré comme harcèlement sexuel toute persistance dans la gêne d’autrui par la répétition d’actes ou de paroles ou de gestes susceptibles de porter atteinte à sa dignité ou d’affecter sa pudeur, et ce, dans le but de l’amener à se soumettre à ses propres désirs sexuels ou aux désirs sexuels d’autrui, ou en exerçant sur lui des pressions de nature à affaiblir sa volonté de résister à ses désirs.

« C’est une définition vague qui pose un problème au juge lors de l’application de l’article» déclarait Hayet Jazzar, avocate et militante féministe.

Mais même si l’on s’accorde à dire que nous vivons aujourd’hui dans des sociétés arabes, masculines et patriarcales où le harcèlement sexuel dans la rue et l’espace public est une forme de domination et de discrimination envers les femmes, les sociétés occidentales ne sont pas en marge de ce phénomène. Un reportage diffusé montrait que 100% des femmes françaises qui prennent le métro ont été, harcelées au moins une fois.

Les acteurs du harcèlement dans tous les cas de figure sont des hommes et la victime ose rarement porter plainte.

Pour les militants des droits LGBT, se diriger vers un poste de police pour porter plainte est l’occasion de se faire humilier et de subir, probablement, d’autres formes de violences.

Aucun chiffre n’a été avancé lors de cette rencontre mais une esquisse de l’état des lieux du harcèlement de rue a été certainement ébauchée, car, aujourd’hui, l’on ose parler ouvertement des violences sexuelles à l’égard des femmes et des personnes LGBT.

Les solutions pour lutter contre ce phénomène ne sont peut-être pas évidentes pour le moment mais si on commençait par en parler ? Par identifier, définir et distinguer le phénomène mais surtout, par sensibiliser avec des spots et des campagnes ciblées qui représentent le harcèlement sexuel tel que vécu dans nos espaces publics et faire connaitre leurs droits aux victimes.

Il va sans dire qu’appliquer les lois et notamment la constitution tunisienne, comme l’a bien fait remarquer Hafidha Chekir est inévitable, car l’Etat est garant des droits (art-21) et s’engage à préserver les femmes contre les violences (art-46).

Voici plus de détails en vidéo:

 

Reposted from: TunisScope

Indigenous Responses to Homonationalism, from Pakistan and Sweden

As part of the One Day, One Struggle, a global campaign by members of the Coalition of Sexual & Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR), Drag It to the Top in Pakistan, organized a focused group discussion on indigenous responses to homonationalism in Pakistan and Sweden and exploring the importance of politics of feminist transnational solidarity in the wake of cultural wars on human rights by terrorist groups ISIL and Al-Qaeda and the resulting threat of Islamophobia against queer Muslims living in war-torn areas and the explosion in refugee populations migrating to the West for asylum.

The discussion was held at Lahore’s Books n Beans café, a highly popular and cordial environment for activists and intellectuals to get together and share issues of common interest over coffee and a diverse range of affordably priced books.Effects of Homonationalism in South Asia web

There were 15 people in attendance including Pakistani representatives of esteemed academic institutions, multinational
corporations, art and history collectives and not-for-profit organizations in Lahore that were joined by academic researchers from Sweden. The format of the discussion involved sensitization on local and standardized terms on queer sexuality which was then extended to understand the implications of homonationalism in the Indo-Pak Sub-Continent as well as internationally.

It was no surprise to see the debate kicking off with the question “how is homonationalism relevant to Pakistan? You have to have a state-sanctioned movement for LGBT rights and it doesn’t apply to our context so far,” says Hadi Hussain, a lecturer of psychology at the Department of Gender Studies at Punjab University, Lahore. Hadi was one of the first Pakistani academic to write a retaliatory feature in the media condemning the US embassy Pride celebrations held in Islamabad in 2010.

Sharing his initial responses to homonationalism, Abdullah Qureshi, arts consultant for the British Council in Lahore said, “I provide therapy in solidarity meetings for homosexual men from different backgrounds. For someone, who was born privileged and exposed to Western education and went to the West to study, I’ve never questioned my identity. In fact I’ve always felt comfortable with it. At the same time, I cannot accept any critiques or labels on my identity or someone telling me that I need a boyfriend because I’m gay. I’ve never identified with my sexual orientation due to a long history of abuse. The point is that it is very interesting that we have these indigenous queer identities where there is actually no such categorization. We just exist and there are pluralistic definitions to identity itself and the question is do we fit those definitions or ought to go beyond them in identifying with who we are?” he asks.

“Homonationalism is the perfect starting point for a reconciliatory conversation on the ‘us versus them’ narrative,” says Fakhra Hassan, story scholar recording witness accounts of Partition survivors and refugees in Pakistan on behalf of the California-based collective, The 1947 Partition Archive. “Pakistan and India continue to function under colonial laws and exercise persecution of minorities, especially in Pakistan. We profess to be a secular state but Islam is stuck in our constitution which has resulted in xenophobic and misogynistic laws [Blasphemy law and Hudood laws] that promote the culture of intolerance and hate towards women and religious minorities. The 1973 amendments to the constitution to this day makes allowances for persecution of the Ahmadiyya community that are considered non-Muslims. Not to mention, army dictatorships and military atrocities against minorities in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are also absent from the mainstream national narrative,” she says.

Commenting on gay activity and visibility in Pakistan, Hassaan Khan, a student of digital arts at the Beaconhouse National University in Lahore, pointed out there was a surge in the number of gay parties being held in the cities during the last military regime in the country that was imposed in 2001. In Pakistan, the military is the biggest beneficiary of US foreign policies.

WP_20151109_004
In 2009, the Pakistan government in a dramatic move gave formal recognition to the transgender community. Sharing her experiences of recording witness accounts of refugees from Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Fakhra adds: “There is a very large community of Bengali refugees living in Karachi and Afghan refugees living in Islamabad. They have not been issued national identity cards since 1972 let alone other basic privileges like housing, education and jobs. Both the refugees and the trans-community are not exempt from state-sponsored hate crimes and forced evictions. So, the question is why issue ID cards to the Pakistani transgender community only and why now?” she asks.

Fatima Anwar, a law student from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) sharing her thoughts on the English term ‘transgender’ says: “The image that comes to mind when we use the term transgender is very different from the image associated with the term khwaja sira. The way gender and sexual identities are constructed in the US are based on cultural identities that are very different from what we have in Pakistan. We are essentially talking about two very distinct forms of cultural representation and the term transgender just doesn’t fit here. Similarly terms like gay, lesbian and bisexual do not apply to the South Asian context because they’re not formed that way,” She says.

While comparing domestic laws with European and American laws, the participants explored the appeal of homonationalism for Pakistanis. Hadi said, “There are certain organizations grabbing opportunities of pre-planned Western funding and manipulating us into believing they are doing amazing work for the emancipation of homosexuals of the third-world countries without checking the ground realities. It is related more to the white neo-liberal politics in our context which also does not take into account transgender identities in solidarity circles. Moreover, we do not have any national narrative on queer rights at the moment,” Hadi says.

Participants were in agreement with the seduction of homonationalism when one looks at the privileges it promises to queer as well as religious minorities [living in war fronts] like gender-less pedagogy and secular education in Scandinavian schooling systems and legalized status of same-sex marriages in the US and parts of Europe where there are also instances of interfaith same-sex marriages. “I can never conceive marrying a woman from another religion in South Asia that is still rife with Partition-related communal tensions and Islamophobia. In that sense, yes, I am drawn to homonationalism. It is rare to even conceive of interfaith heterosexual marriages in South Asia. There is no discourse that exists on the more complicated issues of faith and sexuality due to the sheer absence of spaces on interfaith dialogue,” Fakhra says. “Homonationalism is quite seductive as it promises state recognition but it is a kind of recognition that could rip apart communities and the possibilities to build communities,” Dr Erika Alm, Swedish researcher from the Department of History of Science & Ideas at Gothenburg University adds. “Nowadays being LGBT in Pakistan is considered sexy in international narratives of media outlets like the BBC and New York Times because everyone is interested in investing to get to know what they look like,” Hadi adds.

Sharing his experiences of being gay and Muslim, Abdullah says: “For a long time I rejected my religious beliefs because I felt the two [being gay and Muslim] cannot co-exist. I was recently at a Jewish-Muslim conference in London focused on discussing the Israel and Palestine issue where I came across a large community of gay and lesbians who identified as either Jew or Muslim or neither. That is where it felt good being a Muslim on a personal level because the definition of Muslim was broadened. Being Muslim is not just linked with theology only but to culture, to community and to faith itself and when those aspects are added to your religion, suddenly you are liberated. I was brought up culturally as a Muslim and that allows me ownership of that past. Interestingly, it was the same for most Jewish people and that allowed me to see myself as Muslim without being ashamed of myself,”

On the other hand, in spite of legalization of same-sex marriage in the West, Fatima says that there are several painful stories from gay Muslims in America who don’t want to come out to their parents in fears of losing their cultural roots and they prefer to keep their sexuality private. “They are not able to participate in Pride parades or publicly proclaim their sexuality which also widens the ‘us versus’ them dichotomy. So we need to think whether there is any space for those gay Muslims who also want to maintain family ties? If there is such a space how do you translate those spaces into the Pakistani context?” she asks.

Atiqa Shahid, a student of gender studies, shared her experiences of working with indigenous women in the remote areas of Pakistan as representative for the Bonded Labor Liberation Front. She says “I feel that people living in the remote areas have more tolerance towards queer sexualities than people like us living in the cities. I observed this in their reactions to a Pakistani talk show aired on television recently where the host Nadia Khan was condemning homosexuality and same-sex marriages. The women from these remote areas, who are home-schooled, were in fact quite accepting of homosexuality and voiced their radical views for the LGBT minorities without having to learn the terms used to define them,” Atiqa adds: “Though there was a lot of negative sentiment on homosexuality in the Pakistani media, the indigenous people felt nothing negative about it. In fact, they carried and waved pictures of the rainbow flag in their hands.”

WP_20151109_001

It was interesting to note that in the US, there are privileged lesbian American talk show hosts like Ellen DeGeneres who thrive on heterosexist modes of behaviour in the media despite their significant contributions to the queer movement. “Again, it’s a question of power and privilege. To me personally, her replication of the male in a heterosexual couple is an act of defiance in itself, it is her way of showing that she has power in society against the backdrop of a long history of violence towards the lesbian and gay communities, and towards people of colour and the natives, from European colonizers in America. In Pakistan, Begum Nawazish Ali enjoys popularity as a radical feminist woman on television because of male privilege. I’ve yet to see an Ellen on Pakistani television,” Fakhra adds.

Sharing their observations and experiences, Swedish national Dr Lena Martinsson, Head of the History of Science and Ideas Department at Gothenburg University, she says that being a socialist welfare state in Scandinavian Europe homonationalism is very much linked with Sweden and creating problems for them. “There is a lot of racism and xenophobia in Europe. We are now living in a neo-liberal society and trying to reconstruct the welfare state around it. It is quite problematic for us to see how it is reconstructed in many different ways,” she adds. Commenting on the migrant population explosion in Europe, Dr Erica says, “We are now in a brown mess not in the fascist sense but politically and we are frankly quite scared of it. What we are facing today is something similar to what was happening during the Second World War. Only now it’s the Muslims who are being targeted. It’s therefore very important for us to find all kinds of transnational ways to address the biases in the left-wing and right-wing approaches to homonationalism,” she says.

One of the struggles associated with homonationalism is the obligation to stick to English terms on gender and sexuality all the time, the researchers shared. “In Sweden, we are raised to speak in Swedish only at home or in public places. Pakistanis are more close to the English language than we are. We don’t grow up with the English language. Then we have indigenous terms in Sweden associated with gender and sexuality that are slurs and they are being re-appropriated to fit English definitions. Unfortunately, Sweden is focused on the US queer politics and the US ways of articulating terms on sexuality. However, we are not in the strictest sense under-developed or homophobic as compared to Pakistan. Nevertheless, the queer community that has grown in Sweden over the decades is now being obliterated because of very specific ways of describing non-conformist behaviours and identities. It is impossible to challenge these ways that are not Swedish without a transnational platform because queer activists in Sweden are always talking in relation to the US political context. The discrimination in Pakistan looks very different from the discrimination we see in Sweden and that’s where our discussion on transnational solidarity becomes very important. Without the transnational framework, we will continue to be restricted to imperialist definitions and repeat normative behaviours again and again unless we build transnational solidarity around indigenous queer identities,” they reiterated.

Drag It to the Top dedicates this FGD in loving memory of late Sabeen Mahmud – a fearless warrior-lover-activist-technologist-woman from Pakistan who was killed in the line of duty in April 2015 for giving space to families of missing persons in Balochistan to voice their concerns to the public. May she rest in power wherever she is.

 

*Definitions and Origin

The term “homonationalism” was coined by American-Indian academic Jasbir Puar which is defined below in summary:

“[Within queer communities], homonationalism is fundamentally a deep critique of ethnic and minority liberal rights discourses and how those rights discourses produce narratives of progress and modernity that continue to accord some populations access to cultural and legal citizenship at the expense of delimitation and expulsion of other populations. The narrative of progress for ethnic and minority rights is thus built on the back of racialized others.”

The term came into use after the initiation of Israel’s Pinkwashing campaign aimed at Palestinian queers living in the Occupied Territories with a promise of a queer-friendly nation at the cost of giving up the Palestinian struggle for freedom. The Palestinian refugee lobbies around the world have responded aggressively a powerful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) counter-campaign initiated by both queer and non-queer groups against Israeli products and propagandas which has been endorsed by numerous individuals and organizations around the world.

Panel On the Sexual & Bodily Rights Of Refugee Women and LGBTI people in Turkey

The international campaign for sexual and bodily rights titled “One Day, One Struggle” organized simultaneously by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR) member organizations every year on November 9 was realized in 8 countries this year with various events held by 20 organizations.

Two separate events were organized in Turkey as part of the international campaign. CSBR member Kaos GL Association supported by the Foundation for Society and Legal Studies (TOHAV) organized a “Workshop on Psycho-Social Support” for LGBTI activists in Ankara, while CSBR members Women for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways (WWHR) and Lambda
İstanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association partook in the campaign with a “Panel on the Sexual and Bodily Rights of Refugee Women and LGBTI” held in İstanbul Bilgi University Social Incubation Center in İstanbul.

Convening at the “Workshop on Psycho-Social Support” co-organized by Kaos GL Association and TOHAV, LGBTI activists discussed ways of “healing” together in the aftermath of the Ankara massacre, easing the pains through solidarity, and continuing the struggle by preserving the hope amidst our current environment of war and violence. The most important outcome of the workshop that lasted two and a half hours was the emphasis on standing together as a powerful impetus in resisting for peace.

ODOS 2015 - Ortak Mücadele1Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci of WWHR-New Ways delivered the opening speech of the “Panel on the Sexual and Bodily Rights of Refugee Women and LGBTI” which was heavily attended by individual participants as well as representatives of numerous non-governmental organizations working in fields of women, LGBTI and human rights. Information on CSBR and the “One Day, One Struggle” campaign was relayed in the opening speech conveying that the coalition was established in 2001 as an international entity with the aim of creating a common line of struggle for sexual and bodily rights advocates and expanding the fields of struggle for feminists, activists and rights advocates in face of increasing pressure created by religion and traditional norms and rising conservative policies in the political arena. Bahçeci explained that since 2009 CSBR has been organizing the “One Day, One Struggle” campaign every year on November 9 in order to draw attention to sexual, bodily and reproductive rights and the struggle carried out for these rights. She emphasized our ever growing need to come together against the problems of refugees, which we witness everyday especially in big cities, escalated by the ongoing war in Syria. She underlined the importance of the women’s movement acting in solidarity with refugee women and LGBTI.

The panel was moderated by İstanbul University Faculty of Political Sciences lecturer Associate Professor Zeynep Kıvılcım who conducts field research on Syrian refugee women and LGBTI. Proffering examples from the dialogues that take place during her research, Kıvılcım said, “We are in the fourth year of the war that erupted in Syria and we are responsible for our reticence. We must take action on this issue all together. This ongoing state of the Syrians’ lack of status must be ended immediately.”

In her speech titled “The Gender of Immigration” Özgül Kaptan, who has been working in the field with refugee women for almost two years on behalf of Women’s Solidarity Foundation (KADAV) and Women Without Borders, explained the terms that define emigrants such as immigrant, asylum-seeker, refugee, guest, illegal alien, undocumented, etc. Noting that the term “illegal alien” used for paperless immigrants who have not been registered has an escalating effect on hate speeches against immigrants, Kaptan emphasized the importance of dialogue and solidarity for the solution of these problems.

ODOS2015-AnkaraWorkshopNilgün Yıldırım Şener of the Human Resource Development Foundation (İKGV) stated that sexual violence is used as a method of war between the fighting parties in Syria. Giving examples from the cases they encounter in the counseling center for Syrian asylum-seekers set up in Esenler, İstanbul, Şener stressed that 10 out of every 100 asylum-seekers applying to the center have been subjected to sexual violence. She said that among the case files opened at the center during the January-July 2015 period, 89 of the sexual violence victims were women, 37 men, and 9 were LGBTI individuals. Delivering a summary of the sexual and bodily rights violations of women and LGBTI, Şener underlined that housing is the gravest problem along with the very widespread fear of harassment and rape. She also talked about the prevalence of major problems such as the constantly changing practices regarding access to health care services, and the impossibility of access to services such as birth control and abortion.

Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Fidanlık Yezidi Camp director Müzeyyen Anık Aydın expounded the conditions and difficulties in the Yezidi camps maintained with the efforts of municipalities in the region without any financial or infrastructural support from the state. She said that presently in the camps there are around 4,000 Yezidis among whom there is a prevalent practice resembling the caste system, and that all decisions concerning women are taken by men. Aydın underlined that immigrant Yezidi women cannot practice their sexual and bodily rights and that there are severe rights violations. Further explaining that municipalities try to provide all services including shelter, health and education for the Yezidis who do not receive any form of state support, Aydın stated there are major shortages primarily in terms of human resources.

Lawyer Fırat Söyle of Lambdaİstanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association stated that as Lambdaİstanbul they have established a commission for refugees and are providing legal support for LGBTI refugees who apply to them. Noting that the rights violations experienced by LGBTI in Turkey are experienced also by refugees, Söyle observed that despite the immigration administration put in place the system is run by the police, and that the number of LGBTI refugees who have to do sex work in order to meet their needs for shelter and food is increasing by the day. Söyle added that the trans individuals held in camps in satellite towns cannot access the health services and medicine they require for their transition process.

The panel which was concluded with a question-and-answer session emphasized the importance of recognizing the existence of immigrants in Turkey and conducting common works to lead a life together, and made suggestions for creating public opinion towards the adoption and implementation of legal regulations required for the refugees/immigrants/asylum-seekers to lead humane lives; supporting refugee women and LGBTI to create their own initiatives for organizing; opening multilingual and multicultural counseling centers; and developing solutions through solidarity networks. All these discussions were also shared live in social media through @kadinih and @lambda_istanbul twitter accounts.

12.11.2015

Kadının İnsan Hakları – Yeni Çözümler Derneği / Women for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways (WWHR) www.kadinininsanhaklari.org, Tel : (+90) 212 251 00 29
Lambdaİstanbul LGBTİ Dayanışma Derneği / LambdaIstanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association
http://www.lambdaistanbul.org, Tel: 0549 490 90 71

Kaos GL Derneği / Kaos GL Association www.kaosgl.org Tel : +90-312-2300358 Faks : +90-312-2306277

ATFD & Partners host Actions on Sexual Harassment in the Streets


ATDF-ODOS-2015-2

For One Day One Struggle 2015, l’Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates (ATFD), in collaboration with ATL, Chouf, Groupe tawhida bechikh, Mawjoudin, Rojainu, Waii and Withour Restrictions are hosting two events looking at sexual harassment in public spaces.

Since 2004, Article 226 of the Tunisian penal code defines sexual harassment as ‘any persistence in the discomfort of others by the repetition of acts, words or gestures with the aim of bringing it to submit to his own sexual desires’, and carries a punishment including a one-year prison term and fine of up to 3000 dinars.

Yet according to civil society groups, the law that exists fails to provide effective and accessible redress and recourse to women bringing charges. Perhaps most problematically, the current law places the burden of proof on the person bringing the charge, and failure to prove that sexual harassment has occurred itself may result in fines or imprisonment for bringing a false accusation. Such a system actively discourages people from lodging a complaint for fear of reprisal, and heightens the disincentive to report for those who already feel stigma and shame from the experiences of being sexually harassed.

Another key challenge is that the law in Tunisia still narrowly focuses on sexual harassment as a phenomena limited to the workplace, completely overlooking the kinds of sexual harassment that are a daily challenge for women across Tunisia.

Sonya Ben Yahmed of ATFD shared with us the need to shift perceptions:

“Sexual harassment in public places, in the streets, is phenomenal in Tunisia. We don’t talk about it, or at least we don’t talk about it enough. It’s a huge problem here, and personally when I talk about it, people always say to me ‘Hey come on, at least we’re not in Egypt’.

Graffiti on Sexual Harassment in the streets of Cairo
Graffiti on Sexual Harassment in the streets of Cairo

Things in Egypt are have become so very challenging, of course, but being harassed in Tunisia is also totally normalized, and seen as completely banal, to the point that so many of us don’t even know how to articulate what it means to be harassed. And I’m talking about those of us who are being harassed, because the harassers know exactly what it is they are doing.

… In 2003, we’ve campaigned on the issue of sexual harassment before. We held seminars, made stickers and pamphlets, and wrote to parlement to denounce sexual harassment. And we did gather the testimonies of women’s experiences of sexual harassment, but usually this was women who have experienced sexual harassment at the workplace, and who have been fired as a result for wanting to talk about it. This was before the law was passed in 2004.

So looking at sexual harassment is not new for civil society groups in Tunisia, but [this focus on the workplace] is also why we don’t have much research or documentation to talk about sexual harassment in public spaces. We don’t have numbers, we don’t have a way to gage the issue with a lot of data, but in the last few years it is clear that it is more and more of a daily problem that women and people of different sexual orientations and gender identities are facing in the streets.

That’s why we decided to talk about this taboo topic. It is still something we cannot talk about openly, the victims still feel ashamed about it. It’s hard enough even to respond to a harasser in public space. So many times we opt to ignore it, or leave the bus or the public space, without being able to take that space to say “Stop!”, or “Hey, you just violated me” and put it in those terms.”

For ATFD, looking at all forms of violence against women, including sexual harassment in public spaces, also requires engaging men in challenging the hegemonic construction of ‘masculinity’ as inherently aggressive. “We need men to be present with us, at our events and engaging in these conversations also. We need them standing up and challenging the idea that masculinity is always aggressive, and working towards the solution. We need everyone to understand that harassment against women is a problem for all of society. And we want to raise the visibility that people of different sexual orientations and gender identities are also particularly targeted with this event.”

While a discussion and debate at a cafe in the city centre is planned for the evening, the day’s action also includes a component of going out into the streets to engage the wider community.

“For us this event is a chance have an action in a public space, either the streets or perhaps public transportation, or both. We’re not only hosting a seminar, or talking between walls, but we’re going outside to talk to people in the places where women and minorities are harassed, to take a public stand against this taboo. The idea is really to talk to people about sexual harassment, provide information on what sexual harassment is, and encourage women especially to talk about their experiences. We need new reactions to sexual harassment and new forms of engagement on the streets, and for us this event is a starting point for that.”

The #OneDayOneStruggle evening event is planned for 18h – 20h, at Cafe Mondial, Tunis. For more information about the event, see: https://www.facebook.com/Un-Jour-Un-Combat-996099703765811/

ATFD-ODOS-2015

VISION hosts Poster Exhibition to Deconstruct Stigma & Marginalization

For One Day One Struggle 2015, VISION is organizing a poster exhibit on sexuality rights in Pakistan,VISION-PK focusing on personal reflection and self-discovery as a starting point to deconstruct stigma and discrimination.

For VISION, this is a continuation of long-standing programming on sexual and gender diversity that began in the late ’90s, with outreach to hijra communities in Pakistan. Today their efforts are focusing on building solidarity and connections with a wider circle of women’s rights and development sector groups in Pakistan to take up the issue of sexuality and gender identity.

Tahir Khilji shared with us thebackground to the event:

“For One Day One Struggle, we are planning is a poster exhibit, and these posters are coming from photographs that we took at a workshop with partner organizations on a larger project on gender and sexual identity. That workshop brought together women’s organizations, development organizations, and more mainstream civil society groups in Pakistan. For many of them, this was the first time they were talking about the diversity that exists within sexuality and the sexual rights framework. It was very interesting to have them there for three days.

odos-csbr-2With everyone’s permission, we documented participants’ expressions as we worked through the activities over the three days. For example, photos from when we talked about labelling, when we talked about stigma and how it impacts people; when we started exploring sexuality and how on the basis of diversity within sexuality people are discriminated against; the feelings of isolation, of rejection that all of us at some point in our lives have felt. You know for one reason or another, we have all been isolated. And it may not because of our sexuality at all, but each person would reflect on those experiences of marginalization, and its those reflective moments that have been captured in these photos.”

For VISION, the journey of self-discovery is a means of self-empowerment and self-actualization. Its a journey critical to breaking down social barriers, especially when it comes to sexual and bodily rights. The method focuses on getting participants to a shared starting point, and from that common ground moving the conversations into exploring and articulating what underlies prejudices and openness.

“When we moved onto the reflective journey and talking about our own experiences and perspectives on sexualities, we began by looking at friendships. You know, exploring what we think of different forms of intimacy, what’s ‘too close’, what is not, and why. And its those questions that form the captions of the posters. … And for some participants they shared with us after the workshop that it was really eye opening. That this was the first time for some women to really unpack what it means to have control over one’s body.

So with this event we want to display the posters as a canvas, and say “Hey, Look at this canvas; what we think it says is that when you discover yourself, then you become very empowered and you discover others also. You begin to understand other people’s perspective as well. So may it be about sexual rights, or other rights, but the goal is that you stop saying ‘This is bad, because this person is of a different orientation, or has made a different choice’. That judgement point comes down. And that’s the goal.”

The #OneDayOneStruggle event will bring together stakeholders from the development sector, rights activists, media and academics to view the poster exhibit, and join a panel and discussion reflecting on the methodology as a tool for sensitisation and advocacy on sexuality and gender identity and expression. For more information about the event, get in touch with us at coordinator@csbronline.org.

GAYa NUSANTARA screening “Stories of Being Me”

StoriesofBeingMe-CSBRPhotoFor the 2015 ‘One Day, One Struggle’ campaign, GAYa NUSANTARA, in collaboration with C2O Library and discussants from Airlangga University, is hosting a film screening of episodes from “Stories of Being Me” and a discussion on the experiences of LGBTI Indonesians.

Stories of Being Me was originally launched in May 2014 as a web-series documenting the lived experiences and personal narratives of LGBTI individuals across cities in Asia. The first series ran for two months, with a new episode premiering each week. In 2015, a second series was launched, and to date 12 episodes have been produced, exploring stories from Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Kathmandu, Singapore, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh and Kendal.

Focusing the conversation locally, GAYa NUSANTARA will be screening three episodes that document stories of Muslim Indonesian queer individuals in Jakarta and Kendal:

  • Shuniyya: In a country where faith and sexuality often clash, Shuniyya Ruhama Habiiballah has been pushing boundaries for the acceptance and inclusion of the Indonesian transgender community. Shunniya is a successful transwoman businesswoman who teaches Quran to children, thus carving a space for her gender identity and her own religiosity.
  • Vilda: Vilda is a bisexual women living with HIV who had a history of using drugs. Overcoming her own biases, she learned to accept herself fully, and she is now helping others in her own community.
  • Imam Wahudiya: A candid autobiographical perspective from Imam Wahyudi who talks about the diversity of life in Jakarta, his views on faith and urges the LGBT people to celebrate what they have in common with the wider community.

GN Logo

For GAYa NUSANTARA, this event is a continuation of past actions for #OneDayOneStruggle, and reflects GAYa NUSANTARA’s interest engaging younger audiences, the use of film for advocacy, and expanding the ways we record and share personal narratives and lived experiences.

Dede Oetomo shared, “Film making was alive for a while at GAYa NUSANTARA, at an amateur level, but the program ended. So this is part of an effort to revive that. To share how film-making can be used as a vehicle for documentation and advocacy, and also to introduce people to some of the newer programs about being LGBTI in the region.

…It’s also about access. In my experiences film today is often used by younger queer people to tell stories and share experiences. And the film makers in this series are examples of activists who work through non-conventional media; these videos are not shown in theatres, which is why we’re showing them at our community event. We’re lucky to have one of the filmmakers joining us to talk about the film and his work. Hopefully this will inspire some people to make similar films themselves.

…We’ve invited a wide group of stakeholders, and we’ll have discussants guiding the conversation after the film. We hope to get our allies more engaged on LGBTI rights, and as part of One Day One Struggle under the banner of CSBR, to explore experiences of being queer in a Muslim society, of being transgender in a Muslim society. All three of the people in the documentaries are living with Islam in different ways, and the films also touch on how Islam intersects with different aspects of their identities, their livelihoods, their expression, sense of community.”


For more information on the event
, get in touch with us at coordinator@csbronline.org.

For more information about the Stories of Being Me series, see BE, an online peer support platform for young LGBTI persons, which also provides resources, maps of available services in 5 key cities in Asia.

One Day, One Struggle 2015: Over 20 groups across 8 countries collaborate on actions for sexual rights as human rights

odos csbr blue

Each year on November 9th, the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR), its members and allies celebrate sexual rights as human rights with the One Day, One Struggle international campaign.

The historic campaign began in 2009, making 2015 the 7th year running that we are coming together in solidarity with all those struggling for the rights to choose freely on matters of sexuality, fertility, bodily autonomy, gender identity and self expression.

This year the campaign has involved over 20 organizations across 8 countries hosting collaborative events, and the gamut of activities shines a spotlight on the diversity of key and emerging sexual rights issues across our contexts.

From street actions to talk about sexual harassment in public spaces in Tunisia, to film screenings and poster exhibits on LGBTI experiences in Indonesia and Pakistan, to a look at the right to assisted reproductive technology in Egypt, to a drama- and arts-based workshop exploring healing in the face of terror attacks in Turkey, to supporting trans communities’ access to justice in Malaysia, and more, CSBR members and allies continue to push the boundaries and break new ground in promoting a holistic approach to sexual rights as human rights in Muslim societies.

See a brief listing of the planned actions below, and keep up with us on Twitter (@SexBodyRights, #OneDayOneStruggle, #sexualrights) and Facebook (facebook.com/CSBRonline) on November 9th for more details and updates as the actions occur!

  * * * * *

Egypt:

  • Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) is hosting a talk on “Treating male infertility in Egypt: Psychological and Social Consequences for Women”. The issue of infertility in Egypt, particularly male infertility, remains a very sensitive topic. When do couples choose to disclose this diagnosis and when do they hide it? How do laws regulating infertility treatment in Egypt impact couples’ choices, especially given the fact of the illegality of egg and sperm donation? Who bears the greater psychological burden of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)? How do these assisted reproductive technologies shore up a particular conception of women’s reproductive roles? Invited speaker Shams Labib will explore these key questions in relation to her research on the topic.


Indonesia:

  • GAYa NUSANTARA, in collaboration with C2O Library and discussants from Airlangga University are hosting a screening of “Stories of Being Me” and a discussion on experiences of LGBTI Indonesians.


Kyrgyzstan:

  • Bishkek Feminist Collective is producing and launching a video called “Bishkek Girls Unite for their Sexual and Bodily Rights”. For the video, 10 girls gathered together to share their concerns related to their body and sexual rights, and particularly to explore traditions and stereotypes, and the adverse impacts this has on women and girls’ rights to bodily autonomy and integrity. While mapping out challenges, the discussion also provided the space to talk about solutions, particularly from a lens of solidarity as women and girls facing the same challenges across the country.


Malaysia:

  • Women’s Aid Organization (WAO), drawing on resources from Justice for Sisters and the My Trans Ally campaign, is hosting a social media campaign across Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest from 9am – 4pm, which will look at transgender rights, including ways to support and inform local actions especially after the recent Federal Court ruling and subsequent rise in violence against mak nyah across Malaysia. Join the campaign and share your thoughts, comments, and experiences, using the hashtags: #BeFreetoBeYourself #TransAlly #OneDayOneStruggle #ODOS


Pakistan:

  • VISION and allies are organizing a poster exhibit and discussion on sexuality rights, focusing on the power of personal reflection and self-discovery as a starting point to understanding social systems and constructions of stigma, discrimination, and divisions in society.
  • Drag It to the Top and allies are hosting ““Responses to Homonationalism in South Asia: Conversations on strengthening queer feminist solidarity across South Asia and the Middle East”. Key questions in the conversation include: What is homonationalism and what are the responses to homonationalism in Pakistan?, What threats, if any, does it pose to cultural beliefs and indigenous social practices?, What roles can homonationalism play in decolonizing and democratizing feminist practices?, Can it be used as a tool to strengthen cross-cultural transnational solidarity?


Philippines:

  • PILIPINA Legal Resources Centre (PLRC) has organized a workshop with LGBT leaders, academia, media, civil society, and representatives from the local governmet to develop a proposal for the Implementing Rules & Regulations (IRR) on the Davao City Anti-Discrimination law as it pertains to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

 

Tunisia:

  • Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates (ATFD), in collaboration with ATL, Chouf, Groupe Tawhida Ben Cheikh, Mawjoudin, Rojalnu, Waai and Without Restrictions, is organizing a street action and a public discussion to raise awareness on sexual harassment in public spaces.


Turkey:

  • Women for Women’s Human Rights, in collaboration with LAMBDA Istanbul, are organizing a panel on the sexual and bodily rights of women and LGBTI refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants in Turkey. Panelists include experts working in the field, along with members of women’s rights and LGBTI organizaitons. A discussion with the audience will follow.
  • KAOS-GL is organizing a psychodrama workshop for witnesses of the Ankara massacre, which aims to use drama and art therapies to strengthen the participants’ bodily and spiritual rights, resiliency and health.

We also give a big shout out to those who planned activities in other countries and cities for this year’s campaign, but due to security concerns had to postpone their actions.

  * * * * *

Keep up with the actions on November 9th by following us on Twitter (@SexBodyRights, #OneDayOneStruggle, #sexualrights) and Facebook (facebook.com/CSBRonline).

A lesson in body positivity for Pakistan

6 December 2014

302.thumbnail

Luavut Zahid is Pakistan Today’s Special Correspondent. Her work places an emphasis on conflict and disasters, human rights, religious and sexual minorities, climate change, development and governance. She also serves as the Pakistan Correspondent to the Crisis Response Journal.

——-

A much needed conversation just got started. 

To mark the One Day, One Struggle (ODOS) on 9th November, Drag It To The Top began a series of workshops which focused on human rights and bodily rights. The ODOS workshop, which falls under the umbrella of the Coalition of Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR), took place at the Institute of Peace & Secular Studies (IPSS) in Lahore.

The workshops can potentially cause an extremely positive ripple effect because they don’t just aim to drum up dialogues and get people talking, it has the ability to break actual stereotypes. It is the result of collaboration between human rights activists Hadi Hussain, Aisha Haleem, Fakhra Hassan and Fatima A Athar.

In a country like Pakistan, focus on these issues is desperately needed and unfortunately rare. The two-hour multilingual workshop had a focus on Urdu as the main language. Through use of participatory theatre and interactive dialogue it tried to create a safe space where a diverse set of people could come together and discuss body acceptance, body positive and fat-positive attitudes. “Audience members were randomly asked to pick a word (a commonly used label or slur for body type/feature or outward appearance) which they then had to communicate to the audience by enacting it. After the audience guessed it, there would be discussion about the connotations, stereotypes and personal experiences of the audience members as a way to motivate us to think about these things as they manifest in our daily lives,” Fatima informed.

JHIH-Workshop-Poster

“Our purpose behind the format was to facilitate the process of rethinking as well as relearning of the participants where they would be able to realise the whats, whys and hows of body politics,” Hadi informed while explaining the format. “Through this indirect learning methodology, we gave them space to be open enough to share their ideas regarding various body types and appearances and see what effects they have on others. It was an attempt to initiate self-actualisation process where one can recognise the social construction of all such labels,” he added.

The size of the workshop was also kept small on purpose; however, it doesn’t seem as though the group believes in strength in numbers. Fatima elaborated: “We knew from the get-go we didn’t want the ‘standard’ workshop model that divides attendees into teacher and taught, actor and spectator. There’s too much of that going on already!

“Our aim was to encourage critical thought, and for that we came up with a somewhat unusual model. So we kept the pilot workshop small, with attendees from all walks of life but not very many in total, and plenty of room for individual feedback. This was a workshop where the audience was also the teacher, and we wanted to make sure everyone received the time, attention, and safe space needed to draw out their thoughts. We’re thrilled by the response.”

Figuring out the best way to put the workshop together was also a journey for the group. “Initially, I was thinking of putting together a theatrical performance focused on the politics of oppression but then realised that this kind of activity was in danger of becoming one-sided and detached from experiences of daily life,” Fakhra said. “Drag It To The Top has a tradition of following a community-based approach to events that we have been organising since 2012. We believe in capitalising on human experiences and human bondage. Before the event, at the event and after the event, there is no hierarchy between an organiser and a participant,” she added.

DSC04129

The manner in which the workshop functions is inspired by a need to change the way people perceive things, the way they consume information and the way they react to it. “One fine evening, we started talking about the “extreme news” in the media on violence, sexual harassment, murders, honour killings, rape, insanity and other horror stories of life we see in the papers and in our own lives occupied with nationalist and world politics. I thought “Oh my God, look at all the violence around us. We are so desensitised. We see violence and take it as a given, like passive recipients.

“This happens because we hardly find time and space to talk about our own selves. Look at our lives. Have we ever thought about how it affects our bodies and our psyche? Have we ever talked about how we really perceive ourselves and the others in light of all this violence and injustice in the world? Have we taken a stand to do something uplifting for those we care about? Are we really being true to ourselves?” questioned Fakhra.

The initiative is extremely important because people from Pakistan, and South Asia in a larger context, tend to undermine how essential it is to actually create a dialogue around their bodies. Fakhra feels that this has to change. “We usually undermine the importance of talking about our bodies, our perceptions and our feelings unless there is some kind of violation happening, which is quite frequent here anyway. Unfortunately most of us forget to acknowledge that our bodies are political, the very fabric of our being is political and therefore needs looking after and cared for. “I feel, therefore I am” is highly underrated,” she asserted.

And that is where the group also found their muse. “There it was. The talk had to be about body acceptance and body positivity and creating safe spaces for talking about these issues with comfort and ease. We later on settled for enacting body labels to begin with and decided to bring up the issues during the discussion. I think that worked out quite well,” Fakhra explained.

What seemed like just a discussion on labels at the start began to look more and more like an exercise in addressing and breaking stereotypes soon. The workshop was a multifaceted affair. “Although the labels we talked about involved body politics but it’s all about breaking stereotypes and that’s why we developed the idea of having this workshop in the first place. We wanted to question the hierarchical social construction of different body labels which gives a privileged status to a few while downplaying others. We wanted to challenge why the idea of beauty is always associated with being fair skinned, tall and having a toned/slim body. Why can’t a dark skinned, short, and fat person be beautiful?” Hadi asked.

DSC04134

Pakistan can only progress with this kind of a conversation. The fact that it’s taking place under something like the CBSR also ensures that it will be done in a way that does not alienate anyone’s sentiments. Hadi feels that these kinds of initiatives serve the Pakistani society on multiple levels. “The idea of talking about bodies isn’t unique, as we are always commenting about how people look and appear, but yes talking about bodies in a non-stereotypical way, detached from normative depiction, is quite radical,” he excitedly explained.

“On one hand it will create a discourse of questioning and challenging the way people view various body labels while developing a non-judgmental approach of addressing such labels and on the other it will enable individuals to rise above the body shaming or body privilege they have been experiencing in their daily life. This will definitely have a positive impact on the physical and psychological well being of the individuals,” Hadi said.

The initiative has a lot of things on its list of things-to-do. This was just a small taste of what’s to come. “The workshop series’ overall aim is to promote body positivity and acceptance by exploring the intersection between racism, ableism (a pressing issue — consider the recent event where police beat up blind people protesting for their rights on World Disability Day), sexism, homophobia and transphobia,” Fatima explained.

“Since the first step to solving a problem is naming it, the pilot workshop focused on encouraging participants to reveal and discuss their own bias (conscious or unconscious) as well as personal experiences, as part of putting together a critical evaluation of the cultural vocabulary we use to describe, depict, and shape the ways we think about non-normative bodies and the labels those human beings are reduced to: the disabled, the unattractive, the unusual, the different,” she added.

The group plans to hold multiple workshops addressing the same issues in the future. Fortunately, this is just the beginning.

————–
Re-posted from: Pakistan Today

6th CSBR “One Day, One Struggle”

November 9 2014 marks the 6th annual celebration of One Day, One Struggle. This time, every year, CSBR member organizations join forces to campaign locally and globally for sexual and bodily rights. Events will be happening around the world over the coming week, here are some:

Tunisia

Association Tunisienne des Femmes Democrates (ATFD) is launching a campaign to repeal article 227 bis of the plenal code and which allows a minor to marry her rapist.

Turkey

Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways, KAOS GL, and LambdaIstanbul are reading the Istanbul Convention through the lens of its emphasis on sexual and bodily rights. A series of informative and inspiring infographics and caps are distributed online and offline to highlight the importance of The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (a.k.a. Istanbul Convention) in the fields of sexual and bodily rights. The information is available in English and Turkish.

Bangladesh

The Centre for Gender, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, housed at the James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University are screening a 20 minute clip from Fauzia Khans film, “Je Golper Shesh Nei” on Sunday, November 9, 2014. The rest of the event will be an open discussion on what sexual bodily rights means in Bangladesh with questions to:

  • Neda Shakiba, Head of Student Affairs, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
  • Joya Sikder, leader of the Sex workers union of Bangladesh
  • Tanvir Alim, Representative, Boys of Bangladesh 
  • Naomi Mirza, Medical consultant, Maya.com.bd
  • Farhin S Kabir, Representative, Shombob (Bangladesh’s first LBT Rights Advocacy Organization)

Indonesia

GAYa NUSANTARA and the C2O Library are screening “Lovely Man.”

Pakistan

Aahung, SPARC & Madadgar  are organizing an awareness raising session for parents and teachers on Child Sexual Abuse in a school for the underprivileged children.

Drag It to the Top is hosting a series of workshops on bodily rights and human rights starting in Lahore in November 2014. The first workshop will be held at the Institute of Peace & Secular Studies (IPSS) in Lahore. The aim of the 2-hour workshop is to create comfortable safe spaces for expression and dialogues leading up to body acceptance, body positive and fat-positive attitudes. The workshop will be moderated by Hadi Hussain and Aisha Haleem. A human rights activist, Hadi is one of the founding members of the Organization for the Protection & Propagation of Rights of Sexual Minorities (OPPRSM) and teaches women and gender studies at a public sector university in Lahore. Aisha, also a human rights activist is another founding member of OPPRSM and a well-known motivational speaker. Aisha manages business processes for US consultancy firm isiFederal. The event is admitting and registering participants by invitation-only. The program entails a mix-and- match of interactive discussions and activities focused on understanding body politics of daily life. Drag It to the Top administrators will also be live tweeting key messages exchanged amongst the moderators and participants of the workshop under the #JHIH hashtag which expands to Jismani Haqooq, Insani Haqooq (Bodily Rights, Human Rights). Anyone on Twitter can join the conversation by including the #JHIH hashtag. A short documentary-film, “That’s What She Said,” will also be screened during the workshop.

Malaysia

Women’s Aid Organization and Sisters in Islam are kicking off the campaign at 10am until 9pm on 9 November 2014. Follow @SistersInIslam and @womensaidorg on Twitter (if you haven’t already), #SBR4ALL, #WhySexEd, #EndChildMarriage, #abortionmyths, and #sexbodyrights. You may also follow Sisters In Islam on Facebook.

Let’s work together and get as many people involved in our fight for Sexual and Bodily Rights for all!

For more information on each event, write to coordinator@csbronline.org and follow @sexbodyrights.

Keep checking in for more announcements!