Jill Sudhoff-Guerin
2 August 2004
interview
Washington, DC — Mary Silavwe Mulenga is taking part in the International Visitor Regional Project for Africa through the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Program. She is traveling with the eight other African women leaders in economics and politics.
Mulenga is the former Executive Director of the YWCA in Zambia, and her work is focused on creating awareness around gender-based violence, providing for women and children who are victims of violence, and promoting women's rights in Zambia. She spoke with All Africa's Jill Sudhoff-Guerin about the International Visitor's Program and the challenges of her work.
Can you explain what has brought you here today, what you are hoping to achieve, and what you hope to get out of this experience?
I was nominated for the International Visitor's Program from the American Embassy back home in Zambia. At first, I wasn't quite sure why I was nominated, but I thought it was quite a privilege because the program is very enriching.
The theme for the International Visitor's Program is `Women as Political and Economic Leaders.' For me, it is a learning experience. I'm not a politician. I'm not even a businesswoman, but part of the program is also looking at civil society organizations and what contribution they are making in the political and economic fields. From that point of view, I feel I have something to offer, having been the Executive Director of the YWCA for 3.5 years.
Can you talk about the advocacy and empowerment work you do with the YWCA?
The YWCA in Zambia is one of the oldest organizations, having been around for the last 47 years and we're working in about 40-45 percent of the districts in Zambia. The main focus of the work of the YWCA is championing issues of human rights, focusing very much on women and children's rights, most specifically issues of gender-based violence, especially violence against women and children.
We have a number of programs. We run drop-in centers, and we are offering counseling to women and children. We have the only shelter for women who are battered. We have the only shelter in Zambia.
We also have centers for children. We've separated counseling centers for women and children because we realize the problems of children, or the abuses experienced by children, are quite different from the violence and abuses experienced by women.
We also have an advocacy and outreach program, which reaches out to the community, to traditional leaders, [and] to public figures, in order to sensitize and create awareness around issues of gender-based violence.
We are a patriarchal society. We are still trying to struggle with this myth that violence in the homes should only be confined to the four walls, but you will find that a lot of women are still not reporting. Our sensitization program is not just the YWCA, because we network a lot with our NGOs like the Women in Law in Southern Africa, which is legal-based. The Police Victim Support Unit has also been supportive in the work of the YWCA.
We are constantly trying to create awareness about issues that women should not be suffering in silence. They need to report cases of violence and cases of abuse. We know it is difficult because we are socialized to keep quiet and not talk about these things, but we realized that this is a health issue. Women have died at the hands of men on very, very trivial issues. Someone hasn't cooked the man's supper or cooked their supper on time, and the woman is battered.
It is an uphill battle, because you find that some women challenge the work of the YWCA, and they say, 'it's none of your business; this is between me and my husband.' We are saying no to that.
Although, we still do not have a law against violence against women, it is something we are trying to address as a women's movement. Especially at this point in time, where we are reviewing our constitution. We strongly feel that this should be enshrined in the constitution, because then abusers can be held accountable. We feel our issues should be addressed in the Bill of Rights, but we are yet to get to that.
The Times of Zambia stated that 51 percent of married Zambian women feel it is acceptable to be beaten by their husbands. How do you deal with this attitude?
I know [the statistic of 51 percent] is from the Demographic Health Survey that was carried out recently. I remember when it was publicized in the press about four months ago. It was around the same time we were celebrating International Women's Day and we were shocked. We talk about the media and how they sometimes promote stereotypical ideas about such issues. We were quite upset as a women's movement because we were wondering who they interviewed. Who did these people talk to, and who are the respondents?
I think we need to see it in a broader context. I don't think any woman in her right mind would want to be battered and would say that it is all right. There may be a few cases, where we are socialized to keep quiet about these issues. Where one says, `these are family issues. We need to discuss them as a family, and we don't need to tell the whole world.' But, women have died at the hands of men. If you talked to any ordinary woman on the street I don't think that any sane woman would accept that it's okay to be battered, it doesn't matter what the issue is.
When you talk to the custodians of culture, the traditional initiators, they will tell you that any respectable man in a village respected the woman. Because his wife made a lot of important decisions and sometimes the decisions that the men had to make were made after seeking the women's opinions. Just because the woman didn't voice the opinion did not mean they did not have any status in society.
If we are talking about traditional practices, you will be told that actually women had a lot of respect and still continue to have a lot of respect in the village. I think it is a mix of western culture, tradition and all sorts of things. I think that some of these things are used to justify violence. I don't think it's something that is acceptable culturally.
I reiterate the fact that I don't think that the group that was interviewed and said it was okay for women to be battered is representative.
How do you feel Zambia's current economic environment impacts women in society and their vulnerability to HIV/Aids, human rights abuses and so on?
That's a very good question. The economic situation of Zambia right now, like a lot of African countries, is one of struggle. Statistics tell us that 80 percent of the population is poor and the majority of those people are women. So women find themselves in a very vulnerable situation as a result of not having the means to look after themselves.
If I can give some examples of the cases that we've dealt with at the YWCA, where a woman has been exposed to a lot of violence, and runs away from her home. Two days later the woman says, 'what am I going to do? I don't have a job. I've got children who need to go to school. I suppose I'm better off going back to that violent situation, at least I'll be assured three meals a day.'
You find that really these women don't have any choices. Some people have gone back to their violent homes and that has posed a challenge as an organization. Because even though we have a shelter and a safe home for women, it really is just a temporal refuge. This refuge is for three weeks, but we are flexible. Some women have stayed with us for three months, and others have stayed less than that.
I've always said, 'Life after the shelter, what next?' We don't have these answers yet, because we do not have any programs or support mechanisms for the women who have left home, who now need to start life on their own. In fact, we were discussing that with some of the people we have met here in the United States. I personally asked them what sort of support mechanisms do they have for women who have left the shelter?
It's a different situation here in the U.S. because you've got income support. Whereas in Zambia you don't have that, so you find that it's a vicious circle. Usually, the woman doesn't have a job. Most of the women at the shelter are from the lowest income. We do have a few women from the higher income group, but most of the time it's not so much the impact of the economic situation, but it's also this idea that you have some status as a married woman. Women put themselves at risk just for the sake of being called a 'Mrs. Somebody.'
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