By Naana Otoo-Oyortey
As we all mark the 16 Days of Activism, we should all recognize that gender based violence has received all the necessary global attention and recognition as a human rights violation and a form of discrimination. The special needs of minority African women and girls in the UK continue to be an uphill task in bringing our issues onto the mainstream agenda on gender based violence. African women's experiences of gender violence are compounded by the multiple discriminations they face as immigrants with varied ethnicity and cultural practices which do not fit into the definition of domestic violence.
The UK Government defines domestic violence as 'Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.' This includes issues of concern to black and minority ethnic (BME) communities such as so called 'honour based violence', female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage.
What we African women and girls living in the UK want to see happen differently is to ensure that we are accorded our right to our bodily integrity and to be free from all forms of violence be it female genital mutilation, child sexual abuse, trafficking or domestic violence. The continued silence in terms of inadequate evidence to support effective policy and programme interventions will continue to cost governments in provision of services and women the right to live their lives free of violence. What is needed most is for governments to be forced to meet their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of African women and girls residing in the UK to be free from all forms of violence. This will require attention to the following:
- Investing more in understanding cultural underpinnings of GBV.
- Strengthening outreach and community mobilization to provide support and sustain change at the community level so that women have the confidence, ability and autonomy to act in their own interest.
- Increased support to existing African Diaspora-led women's organisations to build capacity, the majority of which continue to work at limited capacity without adequate staff or sustainable funding.
- Working in countries of origin.
- Provision of specialist services.
The Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD) is an African Diaspora-led organisation that works tirelessly to advance and protect the health and rights of African women and girls. We take the opportunity raise the concerns of women and girls affected by female genital mutilation round the world and the need to take a more global approach to tackling gender based violence. We trust that this attention will continue round the year. You can visit our website to see more of what we do.
Photo by vanpelt, shared under a Creative Commons license
