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Today In History |
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On September 8, 1966
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The Severn Road Bridge was officially opened
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SUDAN: Dealing with gender violence through music |
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 NYALA, 19 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Well-known Sudanese singers and actors have
an important role to play in teaching internally displaced persons
(IDPs) in the western Sudanese region of Darfur about the harmful
consequences of gender-based violence (GBV), aid workers say.
"As
a poet, music composer and singer, I profoundly know influence of arts
upon human beings and that human life is not sustained by bread alone,"
said Abdel Karim el Kabli, an internationally renowned Sudanese singer,
after a recent concert in Otash IDP camp near Nyala, the capital of
South Darfur.
Kabli, along with singers Samira Dunia and Abdel Gadir Salim,
entertained thousands of IDPs as part of the 16 Days of Activism for
Violence Against Women campaign, which linked 25 November, the
International Day Against Violence Against Women and 10 December,
International Human Rights Day.
Thousands of IDPs living in
Otash and surrounding areas gathered to listen to Kabli as he sang,
"Please do not cry but tell all mothers in the neighbourhood that my
passing away was due to the ugly, primitive and dangerous circumcision.
Tell all the women the real causes of fistula; also that my death was
due to my early marriage and child pregnancy and I could not tolerate
the pains of delivery."
Kabli’s lyrics speak for thousands of
women and girls in Sudan who are victims of gender-based violence,
which is often perpetrated in the name of custom or tradition.
Between
each song, members of the Tarab comedy group, which frequently appears
on Sudanese television, took to the stage and performed comedic skits
about GBV.
"These issues are very difficult to discuss in
Sudan, so we thought it best to address them in a way that would make
the people laugh but also make them think," explained Izeldin Ahmed
Omda, an actor from Tarab.
In one of the skits, a man sat at
home all day while his wife worked long hours selling tea to pay the
bills. When she was late returning home from work one night, her
husband beat her for her tardiness.
"We made the man appear
silly for treating the woman this way and then asked, Why are you
beating this woman when you will not get up and work yourself? The
woman does this work for you," Omda said.
The performances,
which were supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), are part of a
GBV prevention and treatment initiative in Darfur. They were organised
not only to educate Sudanese about these issues, but also to give the
IDPs a chance to enjoy themselves.
"[A] distinctive aspect of
life of refugees and displaced persons is [the] lack of access to
cultural activities such as music, dance, poetry and drama. That
contributes to their sense of isolation from the rest of society," said
Pamela Delargy, chief of humanitarian response for UNFPA in Sudan.
"Bringing
some of Sudan's most renowned artists and musicians to the camp itself
is a message that the displaced in Darfur are not forgotten in their
own society and the recognition that music and art is a very important
part of life," she said.
Delargy added that greater effort needed to be made to protect women and girls living in IDP camps.
"Women
and girls in conflict situations all over the world face problems of
GBV. It comes as a direct result of war but also because during
displacement ... support systems of community and protection are lost,"
she said.
During group discussions organised by the UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in May, women and girls said that sexual
violence and abuse is a serious concern in Darfur. Most sexual assaults
occurred outside the camps, usually while the women and girls were
collecting grass or firewood.
These disclosures followed a
report in March by the international NGO Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF), which has provided emergency aid and healthcare in Sudan for
more than 20 years. The organisation reported that between October 2004
and mid-February 2005, MSF doctors in numerous locations in South and
West Darfur treated almost 500 women and girls who had been raped.
Almost
one-third of the victims had been raped more than once by a single or
multiple perpetrators, and 81 percent reported being attacked by armed
militia. MSF believed that these statistics reflected only a fraction
of the total number of victims because many women and girls were
reluctant to report the crime or seek treatment.
The Sudanese government refuted the findings.
UNFPA
is currently helping authorities establish procedures that will ensure
protection and confidentiality for victims of GBV. It is also working
with the UN mission in Sudan and the Sudanese government to provide
timely treatment for rape victims.
Future projects include
training security, police and peacekeeping troops on GBV issues so that
they can adequately protect women and girls; informing medical
personnel on how to deal appropriately with victims of physical and
sexual violence; and providing victims with psychological support.
According
to Delargy, it is important that communities work together to promote
the message that this kind of violence is no longer acceptable in
Sudanese culture. All members of communities - most importantly the
perpetrators - must be educated about the harmful consequences of GBV.
"Some
of the skits and songs [in the concert in Otash camp] discussed GBV,
and at first it appeared to be a surprise to some of the people to have
a concert in the middle of this camp based on GBV. But in the end the
women listened carefully, and even more importantly the men listened
carefully," Delargy said.
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