Very recently while I was scrolling through my Facebook page I came across a very interesting feminist campaign hash -tag Pagume Activism Setawi Pagume Pagume movement Everyday sexism Le- kefan and many related hash-tag march against gender bias, calling out all issues of everyday sexism in Ethiopia into mainstream social attention using the five days of Pagume.
The Setawi Pagume campaign was launched by the yellow movement, the pioneer feminist movement formed by Addis Ababa University Female students, who are proud to call themselves feminist where the idea of feminism and gender equality have very small credence and the idea feminism haven’t yet found its context here in Ethiopia.
Using the boundless freedom to campaign on anything that has Facebook granted, the campaigners have provoked some interesting stories of sexism faced on a daily basis by ordinary women in ordinary places.
They have manged to take it all out on Facebook and let all the buried emotions and experiences of girls on facing different kinds of harassment. They have revealed how sexism has been deeply internalized in social interaction in Ethiopian society where feminists have a very simple discourse on gender, to identify social construction and how it disadvantages one gender.
As one of the campaigners post under Pagume Activism on breaking the silence in sexual assault and harassment “Silence, keeping quiet I have a long story with it, like most girls, who kept quiet when they experienced sexist remarks or sexual assaults. Yes, I have kept quiet for most of my life.
When I was 12 or 13 and a man told me that I should wear a bra, I kept quiet. Anytime men went beyond catcalls since I was a little girl, I kept quiet. When men in taxi brushed their hands against my breasts or pinch me while I’m trying to get in the taxi, I kept quiet. When a group of boys popped out of the dark and scared the hell out of me, while I was going home because they just felt like it, I kept quiet. When my teacher on campus asked me to kiss him so that I can take a test I missed because I was sick, I kept quiet. When a guy pushed me to oncoming cars while I was crossing the street because he thought it was funny, I kept quiet.
There is no “typical” response when these things happen. I felt a number of different emotions after every experience. A period of numbness, disbelief, shaking and just feeling completely overwhelmed. I was also angry. At first, I was angry at myself for my “bad” choices. Why didn’t I go home before it got dark? Why was I alone? Why did I wear a short dress? Why didn’t I choose another safe route? I blamed myself and the situations when the only one to blame was the perpetrator.
Embarrassment, fear, shame these are only a few of the upsetting emotions people may feel after they have been sexually harassed. Harassment can be hard to talk about. In fact, that is why many victims do not get it off their chest. They remain quiet, expecting that the situation will blow over. The problem is, harassers who get away with inappropriate behavior are likely to press ahead with their evil deeds–harassing again. “If the perpetrator doesn’t come after you, he might target some member of the fair sex. But remember: everyone deserves to feel safe. Speaking the truth takes incredible courage and strength. My story can be your story. If you have been abused, assaulted, or stalked or is currently a victim of all these and have not yet spoken out, I urge you to reach toward a safe person and speak your truth.”
“These issues were comments and responses under the post discussed how many of women don’t report the gender-based violence they come across or go through. The silence is forced upon them. Shame and frustrating thoughts of ill- judgment or thinking Why bother coming forward if I would be ignored or treated with contempt ? beset victims. That is how silence smothers suffering which encourages to start speaking and fighting back.”
Another campaigner under her post has also tried to brief what is feminism all about and why it is needed.
“Do you know why we need Feminism?”
“What is Feminism?” People ask me. I reply “Feminism is about equality of the sexes.” “So why not another term like “equalism” or “humanism” they ask again.
“I have found people making this argument generally come from believing that work needs to be done for women’s equality. But they see it as part of a broader movement and might have a reluctance to call themselves feminists due to negative stigma (aka the “I’m not a feminist… but” crowd).
“All humans, male and female, should have equal political, economic, and social rights. Without naming the issue of women’s inequality, without analysis of and action on the systemic power structures that generally privilege men over women in our society, there is the possibility that it might get less prioritized. You know why I call it feminism instead of equality? Because it is the feminine traits that men and women are ashamed of. It is the feminine traits that society needs to accept.”
“We, feminists, believe that our society’s gender inequality requires a specific lens. Because women are generally marginalized compared to men, they need narrative space for themselves and allies to discuss women’s issues and experiences.”
The campaign had also raised a debate among female and male facebookers on a topic Lekefa (catcalling).A short video that shows a girl’s life through out the day, starting from her neighborhood to her work and so on where she got catcalled and harassed all the way just because she wears short dress or wear make up.
Seeing the video some Facebookers specially the male ones claimed that it is the girl’s fault that she appeared recklessly to get catcalled. They disaffirm the act of catcalling as harassment claiming it happens because,sexy, the girls wanted it to happen. They wear this way or that way to be catcalled.
To the response they get from one of the campaigners who strongly argues that there is no excuse for harassing someone. She wrote “If this was really about the clothing then can you please explain to me why girls in the rural area who definitely do no wear ‘short dress’ or wear make up are assaulted, harassed, kidnapped and raped?”
“Blaming a girl for being catcalled sounds like ‘a girl deserves to get raped because she was wearing a short dress, she was asking for it.'”
“What most people need to know is a woman realizes that there is nothing she can do to make this harassment stop whether she changes her appearance or her behavior. Maybe if I stop wearing dresses?Or if I move out of the city? Or maybe if I shave my head, could I evade being catcalled? This is futile, of course, because catcalls happen regardless of the lengths women go in order to avoid them and regardless of circumstantial details. “
The campaign was accompanied by anti feminists on the comment section firing their bullet of traditional ways of thinking that feminist movement is luxurious for Ethiopian women. And women as such should obey and live by the dictates of Ethiopian culture and put on clothes that are not revealing. Had women acted mannerly and attired with cultural dresses,catcalling wouldn’t have happened and what have you?
Another campaigner wrote on her debate “I’ve been catcalled with long hair and short hair, in the city and in the countryside, while wearing dresses and while wearing baggy pants, when I was five kilos heavier and five kilos lighter than I am now, with makeup and without make up, in the presence of friends (both male and female) and by myself, in the daytime and at night. This is no a humble brag; this is an embarrassing and maddening reality for women. None of these variables provides immunity from catcalls, and yet, socially, the solution is for women to do whatever is necessary to avoid being catcalled instead of telling men to stop catcalling.”
“It is my basic human right to wear whatever I want. That right should not be taken as a just cause some men can’t control themselves. Furthermore, it is deeply upsetting that women are made to feel guilty or ungrateful for not accepting catcalls as compliments. I can’t speak for all women everywhere, and I would never condescend to my sex by claiming to know the experiences of women whose reality is foreign to me, but based on my own experience and the experiences of my female friends, family, co-workers, I think I can safely assert that most women don’t feel like they are being complimented when they are being catcalled.”
“I am a citizen and I have as much right as everybody else to walk down a street wearing whatever I want. This is my basic human right, and people need to understand that.”
On the Facebook campaign that was trending for a week,the shared stories and experiences of the feminists have created a chance to some ideas and thoughts, put in the dark before, to openly be discussed.
These kinds of discussions have highlighted contextually specific manifestations of gender inequality that grant women the opportunity to speak up on the matter in detail and have their say and to frame their narratives through interactive social media.
Campaigns like this could create effects on the society and recognize why feminism movement matters and is needed most to address gender bias and gender based stereotypes.
Ending violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious and ongoing challenges for governments and civil society all over the world. The government of Ethiopia’s commitment to gender equality and to combat violence against women is translated in various polices and strategies such as the national policy on women (1993), Ethiopian woman’s development and change package (2006) and the strategic plan for an integrated and mulitisectoral response to violent against women, children and child justice Ethiopia are among the policies
educating women and enhancing their overall participation are part of Ethiopia’s strategic measures taken to protect women from violence has showed encouraging result on rural parts of the country.
The government of ethiopia also should recommit its determination to further strengthen its efforts to make sure that women and girls in the county live a life free of violence.