Tuesday November 04, 2008

The cause and affect of a project do not always meet in the middle. Today, that was the case as we visited the gender equality programme of CONAFED.
The dream was there. The plan was golden. Co-ordinator Roger Mukmba promised more action in the transformation of his people: "We are working towards more female leadership and less women used as inferior tools in the workplace." He stated how far the country has come, claiming Parliament decided after the war that a minimum of 30% of people in each workplace would be female, and that a type of P.S.H.E would be integrated into schools to raise awareness of gender power and equality - Roger called it a "noble wave of studies" spanning from nurseries, to universities to the workplace. He even addressed the "not so uncommon" issue of girls in school being marked down for denying sex with their professors, and how CONAFED was offering counselling and ways of campaigning against this disgraceful form of discrimination - such as having the victims wear T-shirts stating "I cannot move up to the next level of education because a professor is exploiting my rights..." (How you fit that on a T-shirt?  Beats me). I was immediately cynical of how effective and slow this technique could be, but I thought I'd let Roger prove to me what leaps and bounds CONAFED were making.

Despairingly, the dream fell on its fat and naïve face as we met Congolese students at the University of IFACIC (so-called examples of CONAFED's progress). Even though we were told at the beginning that there are now 75% female students at the institution, and that CONAFED and IFACIC were encouraging women to learn and take active responsibility in society - the room wreaked of male bravado and female disempowerment. The girls seemed to huddle together, having their answers stamped on or just shushed away by the authority of their fellow male colleagues. My question of "How do women get out of a 'sex for grades' situation?" was never directly answered - tangent after tangent got me heated and impatient. My own female colleagues were stunned to an uncomfortable silence as the Congolese men regurgitated: "Women are like grass to the sheep here" and "If a woman gets raped for wearing a mini-skirt that is her own fault for wearing such clothes" - both in ignorant tones that implied 'That's just the way it is.' At the back, our Congolese translator Chris walked out, he himself appalled by the words of his countrymen.

I pressed further, desperate for a silver lining. I almost had to force one of their female students to tell me (without interruptions from the men) what the deal with sexual harassment in IFACIC was. 25 year old Santa Tembo's answer was astonishing: "six out of 10 girls are harassed here, but they cannot speak out as it will bring shame on the girl and cause her grief in society." 

Confused and almost angered by the comment, I ushered Santa away for a more private interview, away from the shushing, away from the ridiculous unfair-trade Nescafe poster that had been staring at me from across the conference room. Pity for the girl, her answers only fuelled my raging confusion as she gave me four dead-end solutions to the frequent predicament of sexual discrimination:

1. "Leave the university and achieve your studies somewhere else - if it happens again, move again."
2. "Seek comfort from family and friends. But they cannot change the situation."
3. "Like my friend, if your father is a General in the army, get him to come in and threaten the harassing professor. But of course not everybody has a General for a father."
4. "Complain to another, trusted member of staff to take the case to the head of the school. They will have to make a choice between the student and the professor. But the head-teacher always favours the professor. After that, move school."

So what's the point. 75% female students + six out of 10 females harassed = ample cattle to the predators.  Santa even said women do not win in court in Congo, and that she couldn't turn to a member of staff as there was only one female professor in IFACIC. Her words sunk deep and painful, as she finished: "If it happened to me, I wouldn't know what to do." There was no mention of T-shirt campaigns.

Back at the CONAFED office, I felt like ripping the tainted UNIFEM (United Nations Fund for Development of Women) poster off the wall - it read in French "The progress for women is progress for all." In Africa women are victims of war, and today I saw that while the war had digressed, women had progressed into victims of society. Don't get me wrong, I give CONAFED credit for even trying, for to change an entire nation's mentality is an inconceivable uphill struggle. Unfortunately, it was all one step forward, three steps back today.

Positive note?  Santa inquired: "But surely, you must have girls in the UK being sexually harassed?" I thought, of course there are - and I am no escape-artist to suggest the golden solution. However, at the very least I told her that I feel respect and appreciation of women has become not so much praised but a normality back home, that my colleagues and I would return on equal levels just as it was when we arrived, and that we congregate void of the blaze notion that girls should worship the ground that men walk on.

My sincere regards go to Santa, CONAFED and the Congolese women in their quest for social cohesion.

Words: Dwain Lucktung. Assistant Editor, Ctrl.Alt.Shift website.