Mia, International Development and Globalization,
Center d'étude de coopération internationale,
Burkina Faso CECI
Coalition Burkinabé pour les Droits de la Femme (CBDF)
I realized early on that the universal pie of good fortune could never be divided equally among all. Some of us are just too greedy. So when we talk about equality, development aid, human rights, when we say “all equal”, what does that really mean? I believe that the best learning comes from experience.
Having grown up in an environment where I never really lacked for pie, where even little girls had the right to speak up and the chance to have plenty of ambition, I was dismayed to realize that this wasn't the reality for everyone, everywhere.
As I got older, I realized that despite how lucky I was, I wasn't completely immune to gender-based injustices. Sometimes it's as subtle as the phrase: “Behind every great man lies a woman”...
But why is the woman hidden? And why isn't she described as being great too?
At least I'm lucky enough to be able to talk about it, to be able to ask questions, to be able to say “if you stand on the other side, it's not the woman who's hidden behind the man: it's the man who's behind the woman”. It's indeed a chance to change perspective, to visualize a world where gender-based injustices don't exist, to be able to speak your mind without fearing for your safety.
For me, it was these questions and concerns that motivated my desire to study international development. I wanted to be confronted with realities different from my own. To understand the fire that lives within feminists here, but also elsewhere. To ask myself questions about the struggle for women's rights. I grew up in an environment where my luck allowed me to be naive and believe that this struggle had been waged a long time ago and that today we could all coexist as equals. I am eternally grateful to those who have made my life easy, but I also recognize that there is still so much to do.
During my studies, I was introduced to the concept of empowerment. This notion, aimed at “promoting the collective emancipation of marginalized populations” (Sondarjee, 2018, p. 503), has motivated much of my research into gender dynamics on the other side of the globe, in those countries that are labeled as “developing”. What I was lucky enough to witness during my long-distance international volunteering experience was the unifying force this concept possesses, especially when attributed to women. Working with the Coalition Burkinabé pour les Droits de la Femme (CBDF), with some fifteen active members, I noticed that the community's commitment to the issue of women's rights is very much alive.
Feminists are strong when they're not competing with each other. For me, this was a concern: not having my place within the CBDF ecosystem. I hoped I could make small contributions to the vitality of a women's rights organization even though our realities were completely different, even though my individual struggle was different from theirs. It's important to remember that despite the differences in our struggles, we draw our motivation and strength from a common will for the recognition of the rights of Women and the more marginalized.
“Male supremacist values are also reflected in the distrust, fear and competition that pit women against each other” (Bell Hooks, 1986).
The text Sorority: political solidarity between women by feminist Bell hooks touched me deeply, and many of its statements are engraved in my memory. This text, first published in 1986, denounces the misunderstandings of the feminist struggle, but also explains that the pitfalls encountered by the feminist struggle are the result of patriarchal society. According to the author, for sorority to exist, feminists must “accept responsibility for fighting oppressions that are not directly directed against them” (p. 21). This idea is a fundamental principle explaining the importance of development aid specifically geared to the issue of female empowerment.
Even if I'm not short of pie, I recognize the injustice and want to use my voice to demand pie for those who have less.
I'd like to thank the women of the CBDF who warmly welcomed my ideas and me to help them for a short period of time as part of a long-distance volunteering mandate.
It's by uniting that we become stronger and go further. One for all, and all for... female empowerment.