Women Fleeing Burkina Faso Violence Face Sexual Assault
14
February 2021
• Qiyadat Global-Georgetown Program ‘Empowers Women To Lead Around The World’
•
Women's Rights Activists In Nepal Demand To Scrap A Law Limiting Their Travel
•
Six Women, Two Girls Rescued From Being Trafficked In Jharkhand
•
African Women Embrace Contraceptives As Populations Grow
Compiled By New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/women-fleeing-burkina-faso-violence/d/124301
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Women Fleeing Burkina Faso Violence Face Sexual Assault
Sam Mednick
Feb. 14, 2021
KAYA, Burkina Faso (AP) — A 20-year-old woman could no longer live in her village amid the rising violence caused by Islamic extremists. But she needed to return and retrieve the family's cows in hopes of selling them.
If her husband went, jihadists would almost certainly kill him. She went instead, and was dragged into the bush, beaten and raped at knifepoint.
“I screamed, but I couldn’t overtake him, so I cried,” she recalled in a phone interview from Barsalogho town in the Center North region where she now lives. The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual violence.
The extremist violence in Burkina Faso linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group is fueling an increase in sexual assaults against women, especially those displaced by attacks. Many are preyed upon as they attempt to collect belongings they left behind.
The violence killed more than 2,000 people last year, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. It also displaced more than 1 million people.
In Burkina Faso's Center North region, sexual assault cases increased from two to 10 during a three-month period last year, according to a report by humanitarian groups including the United Nations. Some 85% of survivors were internally displaced people mainly living in makeshift camps in Barsalogho and Kaya towns, it said.
“I won’t go more than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) outside of Kaya to farm because I’m afraid for my safety,” said Kotim Sawadogo. The 37-year-old fled Dablo in August and struggles to afford food for her four children. In September 2019, her niece was raped by jihadists while farming outside the village, she said.
"They won’t be killed but they’ll be raped, which is like being killed inside anyway,” said Fatimata Sawadogo, who was displaced last year from Dablo to Kaya and knows women who have been raped by jihadists while farming. Women often assume the rapists are jihadists because they carry guns and wear masks.
Sometimes after assaulting the women, the jihadists burn their food, and yet some women are so desperate that they return the next day to salvage it, she said.
Aid groups say jihadists are not the only perpetrators and that there has been an increase in domestic violence and exploitation of displaced women by host communities.
“This reality is made worse by the lack of economic opportunities for women, the shortage of food and shelter for women and the lack of access to quality health care,” said Jennifer Overton, West Africa regional director for Catholic Relief Services.
Earlier this month, a woman in Kaya said she had sex with a community leader twice, in June and November, because he promised he could add her name to a list to receive food. “I regret it, but I thought I’d get food and I never did,” she said, who spoke on condition of anonymity for her safety.
Before the violence, Burkina Faso didn’t have specialized services focused on sexual assault. Now humanitarians are struggling to cope, said Awa Nebie, a gender-based violence specialist with the United Nations Population Fund.
This year the humanitarian response plan for Burkina Faso estimates that more than 660,000 people will need protection against gender-based violence, Nebie said.
Since August, the organization has created six safe spaces in the Center North to help women and girls speak freely about their experiences, but it’s inadequate, she said. And some areas of the country like the Sahel and East regions are hard to access due to insecurity.
Local government officials say the daily influx of displaced people is straining resources and putting women at risk by forcing them to venture farther into the bush to collect wood for cooking.
“In the past, women could find resources two or three kilometers (one to two miles) away, but with the increasing number, they go farther and farther and it is very worrying,” said Saidou Wily, head of social welfare services in Barsalogho.
Last year, a 40-year-old mother of seven was gang-raped at gunpoint by two masked men who dragged her into an abandoned farmhouse while she was trying to return to her town in the Sahel region to get food, she said.
Now living in Kaya, she’s too afraid to leave again, but she has no money to support her family.
“I think about it a lot and I don’t even know what I’m thinking about, I just cry,” she said. “It’s misery.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Women-fleeing-Burkina-Faso-violence-face-sexual-15950022.php
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Qiyadat Global-Georgetown Program ‘Empowers Women To Lead Around The World’
Lida
Preyma, second cohort participant from Toronto, Canada Director of global AML
risk management & AMLRO. (Supplied)
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Lama
Alhamawi
February
13, 2021
RIYADH:
A US-Saudi program at one of America’s top universities has been helping women
leaders around the world, the co-founder told Arab News.
Qiyadat
Global-Georgetown was launched in November to teach women in the Middle East,
North Africa and G20 countries the fundamentals of strategic leadership.
The
program is taught remotely by the Georgetown University McDonough School of
Business and is a collaboration with the Qiyadat Global program in Saudi
Arabia.
“We
are bringing women together and letting them think together regardless of their
color, race, language or geographical location. We are happy that we’re able to
deliver this virtually, but it is amazing to see women literally from every
continent,” Nouf Abdullah Al-Rakan, founder and executive director of Qiyadat
Global-Georgetown told Arab News.
The
program teaches women the fundamentals of strategic leadership and how to lead
a team in different sectors, whether government, private or non-profit.
The
30-hour program intends to strengthen the knowledge of female leaders in the
workplace, and guide them through practical and strategic obstacles.
The
program aims to improve the leadership skills of women not only in Saudi Arabia
but also across the Middle East and G20 countries.
“We
are creating that global initiative. Mixing these minds and backgrounds from
all over the world is really enriching,” Al-Rakan said.
Lida
Preyma, a 48-year-old director of global anti-money laundering risk management
for BMO Capital Markets in Canada, recently took the program.
“While
there were some women from my industry, it was fascinating to hear about the
similar challenges faced by women in other industries and countries. It shows
the universality of what we all face, no matter where we live or the path we
have chosen.”
Asked
what sets the Qiyadat Global Georgetown apart from other leadership training,
Al-Rakan said: “Diversity and inclusion — with this program it’s so diverse and
so inclusive. We went out of our way to include women from different parts of
the world.”
The
program has enrolled students from more than 20 countries, including Mexico,
the US, France, Spain and Japan, as well as the Middle East.
The
program consists of five-days of six-hour intensive sessions. It reviews four
main leadership principles that focus on enhancing personal leadership skills,
leading organizational change, improving decision making and leading for
performance.
There
is an interactive learning style where students are able to engage with their
teachers through team-building exercises and role playing.
A
simulated learning technique called “Gamification” allows enrolled students to
experience real-life scenarios they may face in different work environments.
“I
learned how to improve my decision making and to lead more effectively by
creating a shared vision,” she said. “I likewise learned how to implement a
successful transformation which, as we have seen through this pandemic, is
essential for addressing changing circumstances.
“The
idea was to do a leadership program but at the same time offer opportunities
for women from all over the world to share with us this celebration with what
Saudi Arabia is actually doing, so this is a Saudi-led initiative. It is 100
percent supported by Saudi Arabia and fully financed by the Saudi private
sector,” Al-Rakan said.
Training
sessions begin at midday in Saudi Arabia, when it is 6 a.m. in the US and
almost midnight in Japan. Al-Rakan’s team runs a day-and-night service, working
endless hours to ensure equal opportunity and access to the training regardless
of time zones. To ensure the highest levels of inclusivity her team created a
“fully Arabized cohort,” with the entire curriculum fully translated in Arabic
and English.
“We
wanted to make sure it’s not just for women with advanced English but that we
are actually catering for those who have little or no English,” Al-Rakan said.
The team works around the clock to ensure the program “fits everybody.”
Al-Rakan
hopes they will be able to launch the next stages of the program by the end of
2021, combining virtual and in-person sessions as well as hosting a graduation
in April in the Kingdom.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1808621/saudi-arabia
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Women's
Rights Activists In Nepal Demand To Scrap A Law Limiting Their Travel
Feb
13, 2021
Hundreds
of women's rights activists took to the streets of Nepal, to protest against
the sharp rise in crime against women in recent years. Inequality and
discrimination women face. Protesters chanted and raise slogans for the
scrapping of a proposed law that would restrict travel for many women.
https://www.wionews.com/videos/women-in-nepal-demand-to-scrap-a-law-limiting-their-travel-363442
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Six
Women, Two Girls Rescued From Being Trafficked In Jharkhand
By
Press Trust Of India
14th
February, 2021
Six
women and two girls were rescued on Saturday from Jharkhand's Medininagar while
being allegedly trafficked to Tamil Nadu, police said. A woman was arrested in
this connection, they said. Acting on a tip-off, a team of police personnel
rescued the women and girls from the Daltonganj railway station before being
trafficked to the southern state, a senior officer said.
They
are from Haidarnagar, Ganj and Sowa Baraiva areas and the police handed them
over to the labour department, he said. "The rescued women and girls are
from poor families and were lured with the promise of jobs. The arrested woman
is being interrogated," the officer added.
https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/city-news/six-women-two-girls-rescued-from-being-trafficked-in-jharkhand.html
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African
women embrace contraceptives as populations grow
13.02.2021
Martina
Schwikowski
Africa's
population is growing rapidly. According to UN estimates, the number of people
in the continent is expected to double by 2050 — making it increasingly
difficult to provide jobs for future generations.
But
there are also positive trends. More and more women are using modern
contraceptives. According to the latest Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) report,
the number has increased by 66% since 2012 — from 40 million to more than 66
million women and girls.
When
governments, UN agencies and private foundations launched the initiative eight
years ago, they set an ambitious goal: to get 120 million more people in the
world's 69 lowest-income countries to use modern contraceptives by 2020.
The
number stands at about 60 million more. In Central and West Africa, the number
of female users has doubled, according to FP2020. In eastern and southern
Africa, it has increased by as much as 70%.
The
services have improved, Schlachter said: "Health advisers in the
communities help women make appropriate choices for their health care."
But, she added, it will be crucial to change cultural and religious beliefs to
allow women to make decisions about their bodies.
In
this respect, Malawi has done an excellent job. "The country has focused
on young girls and women and their needs," Schlachter said.
A
few years ago, the southern African country had one of the highest rates of
child marriages globally. In 2018, the government put an end to this by raising
the minimum age of marriage to 18.
Together
with specific governments, FP2020 has developed several other measures. The
issue of contraception plays an important role. In particular, young people
have become more aware by talking about social norms, distribution of
contraceptives in schools, and counseling in villages and communities.
"Health care is more in the hands of women, so they don't always have to
return to clinics," Schlachter said.
"The
desire to have children is changing in most countries with good access to
family planning," Catherina Hinz, executive director of the Berlin
Institute for Population and Development, told DW. Her Africa's Demographic
Leaders study confirmed this trend, Hinz said. "The more educated the
girls are," she added, "the smaller the families."
Hinz
said strategies must always run in parallel. More income is vital so that
people no longer have to rely on children to provide for them in old age.
Political will is also essential to usher in the necessary change in values.
"In the cities of many countries, this change has already begun." In
rural areas, however, the issue is even more critical.
Rwanda
boasts an innovative idea where the young startup Kasha delivers condoms and
contraceptives to villages by moped. The condoms can be ordered by text message
— just as in Kenya. 20,000 people are already using the service.
The
government has trained 40,000 female health workers to work in health clinics
in rural areas. "Family planning is not only aimed at married people; the
female helpers are also approachable by young people in the health
centers," Hinz added.
In
the West African country of Niger, wrestlers are using radio commercials to draw
attention to the importance of contraception.
"Prominent
athletes there are promoting condoms. The president has recognized the issue of
population development and is supporting contraception campaigns. Money is also
flowing in from the German Development Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau
(KfW)," Hinz said.
Schlachter,
from FP2020, pointed to successes in Burkina Faso. She said the government had
increased spending by 30% and attracted more donations to reduce pregnancies.
Young people are to be integrated into family planning counseling sessions
early, and contraceptives are to be distributed freely.
The
coronavirus pandemic has again made access to contraception more difficult.
"We still found that increases in contraceptive use are higher in Africa than
in Asian countries," Schlachter said. But there's a simple reason for
that: Africa was further behind with its programs.
https://www.dw.com/en/african-women-embrace-contraceptives-as-populations-grow/a-56552312
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