resume on October 14 for hearing.
Nine hundred women and religious leaders in the Upper River,
Central River and Lower River Regions are targeted to increase awareness on the
lived realities of rural women within the context of QIWAMAH AND
WILAYAH. The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices
Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), funded by The Tides
Foundation, through the New Field Foundation
will build the capacity of a critical mass of male and female religious
leaders, women leaders and women of reproductive age in the rural areas to
foster exchange of experience and mutual support of women’s rights and justice
within their communities. This is within the context of the project entitled "Increasing Awareness and Documentation of Women's
Rights Issues on the Life Stories on Qiwamah and
Wilayah in Three Districts of Rural Gambia." The project is
specifically targeting 450 religious scholars and 450 women.
In 2012, GAMCOTRAP as a member of
MUSAWAH, a global movement to promote Equality and Justice in the Muslim family
undertook a research project on the lived realities of thirteen Gambian women
within the context of QIWAMAH and WILAYAH (QIWI). While QIWAMAH and
WILAYAH are contextualized as legal responsibilities of men providing
protection and upkeep of the family, the data collected from the lived
realities of the women revealed different narratives.
The data collected, revealed how
women struggled in their daily lives to survive and support their families
irrespective of whether the husband is alive or dead, or whether he is around
or travelled or whether divorced or inherited. This is irrespective of
geographical location, educational background, age or status. The high
illiteracy rate among women, the prevalent rate of violence on women, and the
strong adherence of deep-rooted culture and traditional practices exacerbate
the problem. These coupled with women’s limited knowledge about their rights in
their religion all have negative impact on women’s health and livelihood.
This is the main aim of the project
sharing experiences and providing evidences of how QIWI concepts actually acts
out or manifest for Muslim women in the Gambia. The voices of the
thirteen (13) respondents have been developed into a video documentary and a
booklet funded by New Field Foundation. These will be used as resource
materials to raise the awareness of women, religious and Islamic scholars to
effect change. The resource materials will be widely disseminated for
people to appreciate what women experience. It will also serve as resource
material for feminist analysis within the framework of Islam and Human Rights
of women.
Source: GAMCOTRAP
