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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE November 1, 2005
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| October 18, 2005 |
Gender Project in Greece, Italy and Morocco |
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| Cruise Director Hiromi Endo speaks at the press conference in Morocco. |
Peace Boat’s Gender Project: Women on Waves to End Violence
Peace Boat’s onboard Gender Project was carried out through activities in ports of call as well as onboard the Peace Boat. Gender Project guests Loice Achieng, Mina Watanabe and Saida Drissi Amrani, together with Peace Boat staff attended meetings in Athens and Rome, where they met with local women’s organizations to exchange experiences and information about violence against women and gender inequality. To culminate the project onboard and in port, a two-day gender workshop and a press conference was held in Casablanca, Morocco. Gender Project onboard report >>read more |
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| Japanese activist Mina Watanabe speaking at Enoxh Epohi festival in Athens. |
Greece
In Athens, the group attended an alternative festival called Enoxh Epohi, which means ‘Another Season Is Possible’. Organized by an independent weekly newspaper, Enoxh, the festival has been running for ten years and is well supported by a variety of NGO and community associations including, for example, the Athens’ branch of Stop the Wall Palestine; World March of Women; and lesbian and gay rights groups.
At the festival, each of Peace Boat’s Gender Project guests spoke to the local audience about some of the key social issues relating to gender in their home countries. Activist Mina Watanabe explained the situation for former so-called “comfort women” in the Asia Pacific (victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese government during wartime), and the unrelenting fight to gain official recognition for the crimes they have endured in Japanese courts. Medical doctor Loice Achieng explained the problem of crimes of sexual violence in Kenya, which are often go unreported to police due to shame and stigma, while Saida Drissi Amrani highlighted recent changes in Morocco’s family law code that have brought about progressive reform for many women.
Member of the Greek sector of the World March of Women, Maria Pendaraki, said the issue of violence against women cut across national lines. “It’s important to hear our common stories around the world of violence against women. We need to keep exchanging information and ways of eliminating violence against women, and all forms of violence and oppression. We are all part of the same struggle on the issue of women.” |
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| Peace Boat participants and guests tour the research space of Rome’s International Women’s House |
Italy
In Italy, the group attended a conference at the International Women’s House in Rome. They took a tour of the seventeenth century building, which was once a Catholic convent and has a long history with the women’s movement. It is now seen as a symbol of Rome’s feminist movement, providing a space for over 45 different NGOs to plan and carry out political, cultural and recreational events. The space is dedicated to research and political initiatives, and includes an extensive library, conference center, and access to guidance counseling and migrant support. |
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| Saida speaks about the situation for women in Morocco |
In an evening conference, Peace Boat’s three guest activists talked about the situation for women in their respective countries. An exchange session with local activists provided an opportunity to hear about inequality issues for women in Italy. Irene Agnello, from the women’s group Differenza Donna, said the chance to meet and talk to people from different countries about the issue of women’s rights was important for all the groups involved. “Opportunities to meet women from different groups and different nationalities are so good for working together in the future.”
With their new friends, Peace Boat staff and guests then enjoyed an Italian feast together, where discussions and networking continued. |
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| Peace Boat International Director Johanna Stratton addresses the audience at a press conference in Casablanca, Morocco |
Morocco
On arrival in Casablanca, Morocco on October 15, Peace Boat staff and guest speakers participated in a press conference in Casablanca, organized by the Moroccan Organization of Human Rights and the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women. Peace Boat joined NGOs involved with women’s rights and equality issues to highlight their initiatives, as well as the arrival of Peace Boat to Morocco.
Representatives from Morocco also included those from the Moroccan Association for the Promotion of Women’s Enterprises. Moroccan counterparts discussed improvements for women’s rights in Morocco since the amendments to the Moudawana – the law on the personal status of women within the Moroccan Family Code.
Peace Boat international director Johanna Stratton then briefly introduced Peace Boat’s Gender Project. She said that one of the reasons it had been initiated was to develop greater awareness, particularly amongst the largely Japanese community onboard, of the universality of violence against women, and the corresponding need for greater gender awareness in order to help prevent it. |
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| A Gender Project participant in Morocco shops for argan oil products at the market. Argan is a tree unique to Morocco with properties that soothe a range of illnesses. |
Around 30 Peace Boat participants took part in a two day cultural interaction and educational programme in Morocco. They visited a women’s handicraft solidarity market organized by ESPOD – Espace Point de Depart (Moroccan Association for the Promotion of Women’s Enterprises). ESPOD is an association which helps women to become financially independent through the creation of small enterprises, which in turn assists their participation in public life.
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| A group discussion about gender issues in Morocco. |
The Peace Boat group then headed to Mohammedia, a small town near Casablanca, where they met local people working for at the grassroots level in association with the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women. While making a guided walking tour around the old town and visiting the home of one of the members, participants learnt about initiatives to promote education and training for women.
Japanese participants explained to the Moroccan guests the Gender Project onboard Peace Boat, and gender issues in Japan, such as trafficking of women into the sex and entertainment industry; domestic violence; sexual harassment; and the low representation of women in politics and management to name a few. They then fielded questions from their hosts, which led to discussion regarding many issues, ranging from the stigma of divorce, violent abuse and law and legislation that places restrictions on women. |
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| Aicha Ech Channa, founder of NGO Feminine Solidarity, talks about the hardships for single mothers in Morocco. |
After a few hours of discussion, participants enjoyed a meal of Moroccan dishes, before dancing the night away with new friends to an energetic Moroccan band that played a combination of Gnawa music and jazz.
On the final day of the programme, participants heard from Hayat Zirari, from the Association Marocaine de lutte contre la violence c l’egard des femmes (Moroccan Association for fighting violence against women), and Aicha Ech Channa, the President of the Moroccan Association Feminine Solidarity. Feminine Solidarity assists single mothers by helping provide legal documents to recognize the child’s father, as well as providing educational facilities and skills training to reintegrate women back into society, (re)gain economic independence and become more literate. She explained to Peace Boat participants the difficulties for Moroccan single mothers, who are often marginalized from society and even their own families. “It’s important not just to give a donation, we want to empower women to reintegrate themselves into society,” she said.
After the discussion, Peace Boat participants finished off their Moroccan cultural exchange by relaxing in a traditional Moroccan bath house, called a hamman. Run by Feminine Solidarity, it provides jobs at the bathhouse for the single mothers whom the organization supports.
Tanya Anderson, a volunteer GET teacher onboard Peace Boat who joined the tour, said she was moved to hear about the stigma of single mothers in Morocco. “It was great to experience the hamman, and to see how Feminine Solidarity has helped these women to find socially acceptable jobs that empower them, and also allow them to bring their children to work.”
After two days of intercultural exchange and discussion of gender issues, participants and their hosts said their farewells with a new knowledge of the issues of violence and gender related problems in one another’s countries.
Peace Boat volunteer interpreter Meredith Joyce said it was interesting to learn directly about the issues facing women in Morocco, Japan, and other countries. “It really reinforced for us that while the situation in different countries varies, women’s rights really is an issue that needs to be looked at on both a local and a global level.” |
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