During a forum at the United Nations in Geneva on women’s rights to which I was invited, I had the chance to talk to two participants of nationality and culture very different from ours and who had the your kindness, a few days later, to grant me each a personalized interview going a little further into the facts mentioned during their presentation at the round table.
The first is Senegalese currently living in California. Her testimony speaks of the first part of her existence in Dakar, where she describes professional relations with men in general, as well as with her husband in particular.
The second is Afghan, a former diplomat with NATO in Kabul. She left the country following the advent of the new Taliban power in August 2021. A committed activist, she tells me regarding the recent history of her country and the condition of her female compatriots in general, the changes that have occurred with this step back from twenty years and the overall impoverishment of society, “the latter no longer being governed by competent people”.
From Senegal to California
Comfortably installed in the living room of a local hotel, to the sound of diffuse and soft music, Françoise* begins her story from the beginning, in her country of origin, Senegal.
She evokes from the outset and without preamble the harassing proposals made very early on by men to young female students who wish to obtain a scholarship, a scholarship obtained not following brilliant academic results but by favors in exchange for a service rendered. “Young women” she continues, “not having an ‘influential uncle’ often find themselves confronted with this situation for all types of promotions, and this on many occasions during their lives”. Françoise adds that many women are precisely excluded from decision-making spheres by simple refusal to “cooperate” with men who are in key positions.
Even if we note during the interview that this type of phenomenon also occurs in Western countries, Françoise specifies that in developed countries, there are structures to which women who are victims of harassment or injustice can turn and benefit from listening and protection, which is not the case in Senegal where the other women are often not in solidarity with the plaintiffs, for various reasons, in particular linked to tradition: accustomed to silence, the fact of breaking it disturbs, “makes unnecessary waves” according to them, in the family and society, to the point that the situation ends up turning once morest the victims.
Françoise also talks regarding the relationship with her husband, described as that of a man with an “object that he controls, like a television”.
Following domestic violence, Françoise will file for divorce. The husband will oppose it.
Confronted over the months and years with a situation that does not evolve in her favor, she decides to leave for California “with 50 Euros in her pocket, her two young children and in a country where she did not know anyone” . The most important thing, she said, was to escape this situation which, she understood, would not change.
On her arrival in Los Angeles, she benefits from a residence permit until the local administration decides on her situation. She finds a first job in a “warehouse” which initially involves moving heavy goods, then later a second job as an assistant to an elderly person. Little by little, his situation improves. she obtained a divorce, then also custody of her children. She created an NGO in Los Angeles to support and help women in similar situations, specifying that access to purchasing power is one of the key elements for the emancipation of women in her country.
From Afghanistan to Sweden
Farima*, meanwhile, is a diplomat of Afghan origin. Comfortably seated on the soft couch of a renowned Geneva pastry chef, she reminds me of the events that have marked the history of her country over the past forty years.
After the war with the USSR, from 1979 to 1989 came the implosion of the Soviet Union. And in 1996, seven years following the withdrawal of Russian troops, the Taliban settled for the first time in command of the Afghan state for five years. In 2001, it was up to NATO troops to occupy the country to liberate it and rid it of this government which protected and hid the number one public enemy of the United States at the time, Osama bin Laden. Back to a more “acceptable” life for the female population under the aegis of the West, for exactly twenty years, where they were able to find their way back to school and work, go out alone and have personal initiatives .
Farima herself had started her posting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2010. She wanted to make a career as an ambassador or perhaps even become a minister. But eleven years following a promising start, his dreams are collapsing. She watches helplessly as the Taliban progressively and inevitably encircles the capital following the announcement of the imminent withdrawal of American troops.
We remember the dread that gripped the Afghan population at the approach of these rebel troops from the north in the summer of 2021 and the departure of the “Western protectors”. We still remember the images of the rush to Kabul airport of these men and women terrified at the idea of their fate under the next government composed of mujahideen.
It was in this widespread panic that Farima managed to leave the country. She was welcomed in Sweden, where she had gone before to represent her government.
And it was from her new homeland that she began her life as a committed activist, describing frankly the return to Afghanistan of a disastrous female condition, a condition that the country had already experienced, let us remember, from 1996 to 2001: “Afghan women no longer have the right to go to school, even less to study. Confined to residence, she can only go out accompanied by a man, her face and body completely covered most of the time. It is also forbidden to look at and talk to a man outside of those in the family sphere. Her only destiny and function from now on is to be married, as first, second or third wife and to provide a good ten children to the family” explains Farima simply.
“Therefore, it is needless to say that the other women who worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs like Farima, and who did not leave the country, were all fired. It is also useless to add that there is no representative of the female gender in the current government of Kabul,” she hastens to add.
Moreover, for more than a year since the Taliban took control of the country, food insecurity has reigned. And for good reason, among the “ministers”, the members of the cabinet in place since August 15, 2021, none have undergone training, a school which allows them to acquire the minimum knowledge necessary to lead a country. The only school stream for young Taliban is the Islamic school of Islamabad in Pakistan, which as one can suspect, only teaches the precepts of the Koran, and therefore no training in administration and economics. And any conventional governmental structure necessary to run a nation at large was trampled upon as soon as these new rulers came to power.
And Farima concludes: “Excluded from international society, the country’s only current income is due to the illicit opium trade. It is a humanitarian crisis, and it is even more difficult to live with for women, given their greatly reduced scope for action and their participation in decision-making reduced to nothing”.
Small positive note to this testimony (editor’s note): a television news announced that recently, the beginning of humanitarian aid has apparently reached Afghanistan for the most deprived, by means of cargo planes from the United Nations.
Brief conclusion
It was a unique chance to be able to benefit from the presence in Geneva of these two women, having given me their personal experience, staying for a short time in Switzerland, the time of a forum. After this Swiss interlude, they both returned to their new life, far from their homeland and their roots, in their adopted country.
The destiny of two courageous women who have chosen to live free, renouncing for Françoise material and financial comfort, her family landmarks as well as the circle of friends, in short, all those elements which structure an existence and consolidate it, for meet a tough stranger, daily strewn with new obstacles that she had to face alone, with 50 Euros for any financial reserve and two young children.
As for Farima, it is not only her homeland, but also a career and twenty years of hope for relative prosperity for her country that she left behind. But in his case, there was no dilemma of choice, given his situation within an administration perceived in the eyes of the new occupants as a betrayal. It was a question of survival as for many of his fellows. The fact remains that the change is also significant, the complete cultural change of scenery and the rehabilitation a process that will take a long time, observing from afar the progressive sinking of his compatriots and practically all the national structures under the yoke of authoritarianism. of a religious dictatorship.
In closing these lines, I have in mind that there are probably many women who have experienced comparable situations, but who may not have had the chance to find a generous host country like Françoise and Farima, allowing them to rebuild gradually, differently, with dignity and within a stable and more serene environment.
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Aliph’s interventions in conflict zones
The Salvation Army: cross-sectional view of an institution more than a century old
The architecture-sculpture of Daniel Grataloup
Photo credit : pidjoe via istockphoto.com ; MesquitaFMS via istockphoto.com ; Marti157900 via istockphoto.com
