Conference Review - Terre des Femmes

Conference 29th October 2011
A Review
For several months Kerstin Horak, the TERRE DES FEMMES conference and her assistant
Friederike Schwebler prepared for this day. On Saturday 29.10.2011 the preparations and wait
was finally over: more than 400 women’s rights activists, experts and guests from all over the
world came together in Berlin to discuss the progressive topic of girls’ rights at the international
conference “Strengthening Girls’ Rights Worldwide” - and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of
TERRE DES FEMMES - Human Rights for Women.
When asked whether she was proud of what has become of TERRE DES FEMMES since it had
been founded in her private apartment in October 1981, Ingrid Staehle one of the founders
answered: „Es ist mehr als Stolz, es ist Überwältigung.“ (eng.: It is more than pride, it is
overwhelming.) TERRE DES FEMMES originated from a deep feeling: The shock of what happen
to women in this world had to be addressed somehow.
This deep conviction, that girls and women's rights need their own platform and lobby so they
can live independently and free, was present in all the speeches and discussions at the
conference.
Germany’s Federal President acknowledges work of TERRE DES FEMMES
Federal
President
Christian
Wulff
stressed the importance of the tireless
efforts of TERRE DES FEMMES for
women's rights in his speech. „Unsere
Demokratie lebt von Menschen wie
Ihnen.“ (eng.: Our democracy thrives on
people like you) He also emphasized
that human rights violations against
women in Germany is not a thing of the
© Silke Helmerdig
past. „Wir diskutieren über die Quotenregelung für Führungspositionen
und zugleich werden Frauen - mitten in unserem Land - Opfer von häuslicher Gewalt, von
Zwangsheirat oder von Racheakten im Namen der sogenannten Ehre." (eng.: We discuss a quota
system for management positions and at the same time, women - in the middle of our country are victims of domestic violence, forced marriage, or of acts of revenge on behalf of so-called
honour). The Federal President earned broad support from the audience, as he invited the
chairwoman of TERRE DES FEMMES, Irmingard Schewe-Gerigk to his foreign trip to Scandinavia
in 2012. The exemplary manner in which Scandinavian countries implement women's rights will
be part of the trip’s agenda.
Continuing violence against girls and women
Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special
Rapporteur
on
violence
against
women gave a dedicated keynote
speech, which included a global
overview on human rights abuses
against
girls
and
women.
For
Manjoo improving the availability
and quality of education for girls is
the main approach to improve the
overall situation for girls.
© Silke Helmerdig
According to Manjoo, girls face a double disadvantage when it comes to education: on the one
hand, girls tend to leave school without a degree, on the other hand, they are exposed to a
heightened risk of sexual abuse, both on the way to and at school.
Afternoon Panel Discussions
After lunch the four parrallel panel disussions, which dealt with important aspects concerning the
rights of girls, started.
With more than 100 participants, the panel on Education was the best attended. The extreme
differences between countries became particularly obvious during this panel: while Rekha
Panigrahi from the Indian Orissa Research Centre stressed that families are still firstly concerned
about their sons’ school education and only then about their daughters’, it was agreed that girls
in Germany are more privileged. Wenka Wentzel, the scientific companion of the Girls' Days
Initiative indentifies clearly: „Bildung soll Lebenschancen ermöglichen“ (eng.: education should
enable life-long opportunities). In comparison to other OECD countries women and girls in
Germany remain severely disadvantaged with significantly lower salaries,.
In the next room the dicussion about Virginity was equally dedicated: The evocative
documentary "The Burden of Virginity" by the Uzbek filmmaker Umida Akhmedova has been
banned in her home country. But even in Germany, female sexuality is a taboo subject. Dr.
Christine Klapp from the Ärztlichen Gesellschaft zur Gesundheitsförderung der Frau (ÄGGF, eng.:
Medical Society for the Advancement of Women’s Health) reports that among the 14,000
students, which they reach as part of gynecological prevention projects each year, virginity is the
central topic. The Department Head of TERRE DES FEMMES, Sibylle Schreiber also emphasized:
„Als Frauenrechtsorganisation muss man sich mit Jungfräulichkeit beschäftigen, damit Mädchen
selbstbestimmt leben können“ (eng.: As women's rights organization one has to take on the topic
of virginity, so that girls can live independently).
During the panel on Honour Crimes / Forced Marriage different definitions of "honour" were
debated: Yilmaz Atmaca can easily question "honour" in his work with boys for the project
Heroes. Here discussions on sexual self-determination lead to controversy. Meanwhile women's
rights activist, Fauzia Viqar reports that patriarchy is so deeply rooted in Pakistani society that
even more fundamental rights are withheld from girls and women, which are reasoned through
"honour", such as leaving the house alone.
The panel on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) included a controversial discussion on the role
of men. Rugiatu Turay, founder of the women's rights organization Amazonian Initiative
Movement (AIM) in Sierra Leone, said that because sexuality is a taboo subject, there is no
discussion about the impact of FGM: "In our traditional setting, we do not talk about sex." Men
only know women who underwent FGM and only awareness training shows people the extent of
the suffering experienced by girls and women who endured the mutilation of their genitals.
In the concluding panel "Quo vadis? Girls' and women's rights" the current global women’s
political events were debated: The Tunisian developmental psychologist Souad Rejeb reported on
the impact of the Arab Spring on women's rights and expressed concern about developments in
the wake of the Tunisian elections, which were won by the islamist Ehnahda party. Dr. Sima
Johanna Nelles, Souad Rejeb, Dr. Sima Samar, Ines Pohl, Ingrid Staehle, Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa (v.l.n.r.)
© Silke Helmerdig
Samar, chairwoman of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, noted that in the
past ten years since the last TERRE DES FEMMES Conference in which she also participated,
many things have improved. However girls and women are still treated like "second class
citizens”. Johanna Nelles emphasized the important task of the Council of Europe to bring the
actors together and that the Convention Against Violence Against Women is currently in the
process of being signed by member states. Eva-Welskop Deffaa , head of the Equality Unit of the
Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, underlined the importance of women's rights work in and for
Germany - even if her department with seven people does not have sufficient resources. This
shows that committed women's rights activists are still needed and continue to be needed.
After the day's program offered much food for thought, an evening of celebration followed: The
women's rights successes of the last three decades and the untiring efforts for girls and women
by TERRE DES FEMMES in the past 30 years were celebrated.
© Silke Helmerdig