Monrovia — "I am carrying the bag that has Rape written on it because, as a father of four girls, rape is a serious issue. Men that are raping our girls are insane and need to be treated as such. They should not be among good men like us because good men don't rape. Therefore, they need to be treated as common criminals and treated harshly in order to send a message to other men who are raping our girls," says Emmanuel Taplah.
In celebration of International Women's Day, The Gbowee Peace Foundation organized an awareness walk to highlight issues faced by women. The walk captured young, middle-aged, and elderly men who walked from Era Supermarket near Vamoma to Musu Spot in Congo Town, in solidarity with women.
Men like Taplah carried sand weighing six kg in a 25 kg rice bag each, with various inscriptions labeled on the bags such as: Gender equity, rape, lack of education, sex for grades, physical, emotional, and physiological abuse as they walked with sweat dripping down their bodies.
Answering the question of whether rape is an aftermath of the various civil wars in Liberia, Taplah said the issue of rape has nothing to do with the war or trauma. "I just think those men who are raping are not sound enough to be men because good men do not rape," he said.
Nathaniel Yah, who had written "Physical Abuse" on his bag, said the bag was very heavy and had him sweating. "Men stop abusing your women, mothers, sisters, and every other woman because they are human beings like us. Do you want somebody to beat you the same way you beat your woman? No! Therefore, I am in solidarity with women who are being abused and misused and call out to men who are in the habit of beating women to stop because it is not decent. So I stand in solidarity with women because they are human beings like myself," said Mr. Yah.
Madam Leymah Gbowee, Head of the Gbowee Peace Foundation and brain behind the walk, said as part of International Women's Day celebration, they decided to raise awareness among men about issues affecting women. The idea of men carrying bags with sand labeled "Rape," "Physical Abuse," "Sex for Grades," and other issues faced by women is to partner with men in addressing issues affecting them.
"Imagine a single mother going through abuse, pregnant and carrying a baby on her back and load on her head. So this is to create awareness and make the men know that we are partners in the fight for gender equality," said Gbowee.
Serving as a message to other men, Gbowee said having a group of young and elderly men is basically beginning the conversation as a motivation, not just for gender equity but advocacy for women's rights around some of the issues labeled on the bags.
"Senator Wesseh walked with us today with a bag labeled lack of education, and he said to me: 'this bag is heavy,' and I told him to just imagine if his daughter or wife was not educated, how much heavier that burden would be. So this is the message, that in the absence of support and gender equity, the load gets heavier on the society, so it is time we all partner. I would say to men out there that they should close their eyes and imagine having a daughter and not doing anything to empower her. When you are old, she will be a burden. Or just imagine a neighbor having all daughters who are empowered, imagine how that neighbor's life would be in the future. The whole conversation of women's empowerment is not just for the benefit of women but to society. My parents are benefiting from empowering me and many other parents are also benefiting from empowering their daughters, including you. The idea of gender equality is not to take away from men," she said.
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Gbowee explained that the idea for the women's solidarity walk came from her students at Cuttington University during the 16 days of activism. The students decided to replicate the method on a smaller scale in Bong County. Gbowee was amazed to see the students from the university walking from their campus to Gbarnga. She decided to bring the walk to Monrovia, and make it a part of the International Women's Day celebration every year, hoping that it will grow bigger and bigger.
Miama Briggs Mansah, the representative for Bong County District 6, expressed excitement at seeing men participate in the walk, carrying the baggage of lack of education, sexual harassment, emotional trauma, and other issues that women usually face. She thanked Leymah for innovating the walk and hoped for more in the future. She also shared her concern about the recent rape of a pregnant ten-year-old girl, stating that she has seven daughters, and it is crucial for girls to be protected by their fathers, uncles, brothers, and grandfathers.
