23/03/2014
March 28-29 2014 in Paris
Friday March 28th
La Ligue de l'enseignement,
3/5 rue
Poincaré 75020 paris Métro Saint-Fargeau
(Ligne 3)
9.00 - 9.30 Welcome
Coffee
9.30 - 10.15 Presentation of the partners and the
program
10.15 -11.15 20
years Barakat Campaign.
11.15 -11.30 Coffee
Break
11.30 -12.30 Getting the world out introduction to Mailshrimp,
12.30 -14.00 Lunch
14:00
-18:00 Workshop:
Forum theatre as a tool to deconstruct the stereotypes
19:30 Diner
Saturday March 29th
MWF in partnership with G.A.R.Ç.E.S.
Sciences
Po University Albert Sorel Room 27 Rue Saint-Guillaume, 75007 Paris
Métro : Rue du Bac (ligne 12) or Saint
Germain des Près (Ligne 4)
|
9.30 - 10:00 Introduction
from the Mediterranean Women’s
fun and G.A.R.Ç.E.S.
10.00-11:00 SMS against harassment in the street in Cairo
11.00
-11.15 Coffee breaks
11.15 -11.45 The Uprising of women in the Arab world campaign
11.45 -12.30 Using animation to combat domestic violence
13:00 -14.00 Lunch
14:00 -16:00 Evaluation
and conclusion
|
Eba’a
El-Tamami is the HarassMap Marketing and Communications Unit Head.
They are Egyptian, very young (about
twenty) and fed up with – “at best” - the constant groping to which they are
subjected on buses, and – “at worst”- the physical violence, ranging up to
rape, in the street and other public places. In Egypt, sexual harassment in the
street affects 80% of women.
To put an end to this “tradition”
that does not bothers anyone except women,
four young Cairo women from the “geek” generation (new technology addicts) came
up with a simple but very effective idea in December 2010: a mobile phone
application that allows victims to alert authorities by SMS and to instantly
receive support and advice. An interactive map was established which identifies
the locations where sexual harassment cases take place. Their policy: “We are in the streets, the streets belong to
us, and we will do everything we must to make them safe”. If you are on
a bus and someone starts to grope you but you do not dare react in front of
your aggressor, you send an SMS to the HarassMap number. Immediately, the
information (location, bus number...) is identified on the interactive map,
which indicates the locations in town where sexual harassment takes place most
often. Since the number was set up, messages have arrived in waves. One reason
for such high numbers is that, in contrast with complaints filed with the
police, the victim's identity remains anonymous if she so wishes. The
association also can direct the victim to legal and psychological support that
is provided free of charge.
In addition, Harassmap, made up of
300 volunteers, all young, goes into the neighbourhoods where harassment is
most frequent to speak with the inhabitants. This awareness raising led to the
creation of a touching film clip, made with only male actors. All address the
camera, head on and very determined. They say: “Stop harassment in the street”.
Eba’a el Tamamin, set up the HarassMap
marketing and communications unit, developing and implementing various
integrated online/offline campaigns against sexual harassment and assault.
Video Conference and in duplex (Haidar Diala, Yalda Younes, Farah Barqawi, Sally
Younis Zohney)
This campaign was created in October 2011 by a 4 women activists from
various Arab countries.
It was an urgent reaction to the social and political developments in
the region because they didn’t want the
Arab Spring to be aborted. “From Tunis to
Egypt to Libya to Syria to Yemen to Bahrain…, the Arab revolts are led in the
name of dignity, justice and freedom, but we cannot reach for those values if
women are being ignored or absented from the main scenery”.
United
under the slogan “Together for free, independent and fearless women in the Arab
world!”, the demands of the Uprising of Women in the Arab World are:
- Absolute freedom of thought, of
expression, of belief or disbelief, of movement, of body, of clothing, of
lodging, of decision making, of marriage or non-marriage;
- The right to autonomy, to
education, to work, to divorce, to inheritance, to vote, to eligibility, to
administrate, to ownership and to full citizenship;
- Familial, social, political and economical absolute
equality with men;
- The abolishment of all laws, practices and fatwas violating the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as excision, stoning, lashing, the
laws acquitting rapists or tolerating crimes of “honor”;
- Protection against domestic
violence, sexual harassment and all forms of physical and psychological abuse
and discrimination facing women today in the Arab world and beyond.
The
campaign of the Uprising of Women in the Arab World aims to:
1- Highlight the various kinds of
discrimination against women in the Arab world (social, economical, political,
judiciary…). Being aware of the injustice they are subject to is the first step
to counter it.
2- Pin out the fact that women in this region share many struggles. They
could then create a common ground for feminist activism, overcoming the borders
of the states and building on from each other’s experiences.
3- Re-open the debate in the social
media on women’s conditions, especially that women have suffered lots of
attacks after the success of the revolts of the Arab Spring countries:
Natacha Henry for the association Libre Terre de Femmes FRANCE
“Libres Terres de Femmes” (Women’s Free Lands) is a feminist organization and part of the
existing “violence against women” network. She fights to
end male domination vector of
violence for millions of women worldwide. They ensure a permanent contact with
other associations on this topic
in France and worldwide.
Natacha Henry’s books
include Frapper n’est pas aimer, an
investigation into the help provided to victims of inter-partner violence in
France; Les « mecs
lourds » ou le paternalisme lubrique, about inappropriate sexual
behaviour in the workplace; and Exciseuse,
about the fight against FSM in France. A postgraduate in Modern History from
the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne, she started out at the Beijing
Conference and has taken part in numerous international projects (International
Women in Media Foundation, Daphné…). Her speech against impunity at the 57th
Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March 2013, brought her
international recognition. She is also a Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of
the United States.
She is the founder
of Gender Company: gendercompany.com
Films
Natacha Henry is the codirector and executive
producer of a series of 6 short animation films on Inter Partner Violence: How to file a complaint; Protection Orders; How to get back your Self
Confidence; Marital Rape; Psychological Violence; Domestic Violence, Pregnancy
and Children.
They are available in 9
languages: Arabic, Bambara, English, French, Lingala, Mandarin, Portuguese,
Soninke, Wolof.
20 Years Barakat campaign: Women
Musicians Unite to Overturn Algeria’s Family Code
The
collective 20 ans, Barakat campaign, aimed to launch a very flexible campaign
and to use new tools to ensure the participation a wide range of groups,
personalities, young, old, man, women, illiterate or intellectuals. Therefore they decided to create a CD song
and a video clip telling the story of the family code that even an old woman
can listen in their kitchen via the radio. They wanted her to understand that
the song and message is also intended for her.
Finally during a
magic moment in the summer of 2003 a number of female artists gathered in a
recording studio to unite their voices in harmony. Their mission: to overturn
Algeria's Family Code -- a set of laws that, for over 20 years, has relegated
women to second-class citizenship. Their instrument: a song. “Ouech dek Yal
Qadi” (What came over you, judge?).
They amplified
the voices of millions of women who have always said no to injustice and who
have opposed the infamous Algerian Family Law for the past 20 years. These voices
from various regions of Algeria were
laden with intense emotion: 20 ans,
Barakat! (meaning 20 years is enough)!
After a one year great campaign in
both France and Algeria, involving media, women’s movement and several other
organizations, revisions were made to the Family Code, in 2005.
The duty of a wife to obey her
husband has been removed, and this is very big. Divorced women now have
guardianship rights and the right to custody of their children. For a widow,
these things will change her life. They will change the life of women and, men.
Their work aims to encourage and
accompany the physical and emotional development of groups and individuals.
Each person has a view of the world and their own belief systems some of which
they may be only partly aware of. In order to develop, these beliefs and
attitudes need to be made clear.
The tool of forum
theatre is one of the « theatre of the oppressed » techniques created by during
the 1960’s to support communities wishing to change social injustice. We
continue to use it today to challenge unfair laws, abuses of power and
oppressive systems.
About the organizers of the meeting
The Mediterranean Women’s Fund was created in January 2008 through the initiative of women who have
been involved for many years in promoting women’s rights in the Mediterranean
region.
Starting
from their experiences of trying to finance their projects or those of other
associations in Algeria, France, Turkey, Morocco and in Palestine, they have
found that it is necessary to create a structure in order to provide financial
support for the women’s rights movement in the region.
The Fund's strategies are defined in close
collaboration with both associations and networks created by women throughout
the Mediterranean region. This link enables the Fund to adapt to the region's
many different political and social contexts and to keep pace with changes.
G.A.R.Ç.E.S is a feminist collective which was created at
Sciences Po Paris following the mobilization against the pension reform at the
end of 2010 and, more specifically, the observation that male students
dominated the meetings. GARCES object to the conventional wisdom
that feminism is obsolete and seek to bring together all persons adhering
to a feminist project of social transformation. At Sciences Po, they act by:
- Informing and educating the community
through campaigns and regular publications
- Organizing public seminars and conferences
- Denouncing all sexist abuse
- Mobilizing the users of the institution
through concrete actions.
