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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
June 9, 2007
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| May 6, 2007 |
Empowering Women to Fight For Rights in El Salvador – Ana Francis Gongora |
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| Ana Francis gives a talk on gender issues |
Prior to arriving in El Salvador, Ana Francis, a gender specialist, joined Peace Boat to hold workshops on gender issues with a focus on the current situation in El Salvador and whether these same trends exist for women everywhere. “On Peace Boat when you visit all the countries, when you see the illiteracy, the poverty, you have to ask yourself: why are things this way? Once you start asking questions you start to think more critically about what is reported in the media. What expectations are placed on women?” |
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| Ms Francis facilitates a workshop |
More often than not, women experiencing difficulties in the home or society can not openly disclose these problems due to shame or lack of support, and are forced to suffer in silence. “Within the household there are secrets not talked about to the outside world. It happens a lot to women, women get bullied by brothers and fathers because men in the household think they think they are superior. Even if their human rights should be equal they say they support women financially so women have to listen to them. Are you brainwashed into thinking you are hopeless?” Ms Francis facilitated interactive workshops to help assist participants to think about the reality of the situation in their own communities. |
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| A mock court case with participants |
In one workshop participants made skits using different scenarios of domestic violence. For example one group simulated a court case on a battered wife occurrence with two judges, one male and one female and compared the different reactions and rulings in the case. After watching each scene, other observing groups openly talked about domestic violence awareness and prevention. Many participants were really touched by the workshops as it brought to the surface a lot of emotions and memories of their personal experiences of domestic violence. One participant was particularly moved and said “I am a survivor of domestic violence. I always felt it was my fault and felt a lot of guilt, and I still do. I wish I had done some empowering workshops like this earlier.” |
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