"Women's War"

Yesterday I attended a screening of “Women’s War”, a documentary by Marika Griehsel produced by Giant Film Production on assignment for the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation. It was organised by two interns from YUVA Humanitar Merkezi in order to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This short documentary tells the story about the encounter between two women who are fighting for women’s rights and help victims of rape rebuild their lives. One of them is Esther from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other is Mira from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The documentary states that 500 000 women are estimated to have been raped since the war in Congo broke out in 1996. Wartime rape is one of the worst types of torture and it is used to frighten and humiliate people. The victims are often gang-raped with the use of guns and knives. They might be as young as 3 and as old as 73. Very little seems to be done to help the victims. That is why Mira tries to share the Bosnian women experience form the 1990s Balkans war to show the Congolese women they are not on their own with this problem. She encourages them to stand up for their rights. For example, for a simple right to abortion when impregnated by rape.

If you want to find out about this documentary go to: http://www.kvinnatillkvinna.se/en/womens-war-a-documentary-about-sexual-violence-in-conflicts.

Here is a trailer to an even more powerful documentary: “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo” by Lisa F. Jackson:

And here are some comments from Congolese women on the documentary itself, explaining what they have learned from their shared experience and how it has helped them to better understand their situation:

This is why it is so important to speak about such issues, to share experiences, to learn why such things take place.

The “Women’s war” screening was followed by a discussion on why sexualised violence against women continues, and how we can contribute to its elimination. This topic was meant to provoke young Azerbaijani people to reflect on the role of women in their country. There were only 6 young women and 2 men in the room, but the discussion was very spirited. They talked about the situation of young women in the villages in other regions of Azerbaijan, who have very little opportunities to continue their education beyond primary schooling. Some communities see educated girls as a burden and parents often terminate their daughters’ education in order to force them into marriage with an appropriate, in their view, candidate. This happened to Mary. Today she works for an organisation helping women to understand their right to education and to lead happy and fulfilling lives, lives without domestic violence. She told us of a young girl she met not long ago. The girl was only 13 years old when her parents arranged her marriage. Shortly after the wedding, she was expecting her first child. I did not think that such issues existed in Azerbaijan.

Women in the room blame the position of women on the families, communities and traditions. They explain that even though Baku is completely different, there are still some obvious signs of the division of roles and positions. Women in Baku are privileged, because they can wear make-up, fancy, shiny dresses and high heels. They can also get a degree.  But even a university degree is often treated as just another element of a dowry, goods that a women brings to her husband in marriage. So essentially, the role of women in Baku is to look nice and to find a husband. The girls in the room feel as there is a need for Azerbaijani people to change the way they think about men-women relationships. But they disagree on the way it should be done. Some of them want to scream for their rights, others think that the only way to achieve change is to trick men into thinking that nothing is being changed. I am surprised by their openness in sharing their views and their open-mindedness. Soon it comes out, that each of them have either studied or lived abroad and had a chance to see a different way of life. The majority of their friends do not understand their attitudes. This is why it so important to speak about women.