Curating Change: Hafsat Abiola on Justice

[Editor's Note: The following was written by Hafsat Abiola, a Nigerian activist and the second guest curator for IMOW's Curating Change project. Hafsat has selected a series of stories from IMOW's exhibition archives on Justice. She wrote this blog post for IMOW as part of her curated selections.]

Hafsat Abiola

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The hopeful story in the entries I chose for Curating Change, from all over the world on the theme of Justice, is that women at the grassroots are claiming gender justice and equity for themselves. The surprising story is that the weakest link for women’s equitable representation, for women’s access to justice, are those capable of taking their place at the decision-making table at the global/macro level. Perhaps because these women are shielded from the daily struggle for survival that confronts the majority of people around the world, they are more susceptible to the notion that women can afford to play small. Yet, it takes two hands to have a handshake.

Whereas women at the grassroots reach out their hand to their sisters, so long as women who enter the corridors of power do not reach across, efforts at the grassroots will not be enough to transform the reality of women around the world. It is remarkable that the women who are so well-educated, who can draw from greater reserves of support to address the challenges ahead, have allowed their vision to narrow in on the smallest of things. How ironic that those who could contribute the most are the least inclined to get involved in the struggle for justice.

So, I consider this blog entry and selection for Curating Change to be a holding place for all of us women who can make our way into the global/macro platforms. It’s a call to act with the same audacity, spirit of defiance and commitment to justice our sisters at the communal, grassroots level have done. The idea that we can stand on the sidelines of history and not get involved in the affairs of our time is an illusion from which we should awaken quickly.

On Achieving Social Justice

Head of UN Women Michelle Bachelet discusses social justice.

At the conclusion of a listening exercise that lasted months, the newly created UN Women released their strategic plan in June. Last week came the release of their flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice, which lends even more validity as to why the formation of UN Women is a vital step forward, even if the organization remains underfunded.


Creating Macro Level Change
Months ago, on Columbia University’s campus where, former Chilean President Michele Bachelet was first being introduced to the world as the head of UN Women during the UN’s high plenary sessions, I marveled at how small the audience was compared to an event that previous Sunday where Bachelet spoke at a conference focused on women’s rights at the New School. The students of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) were brimming over with desire to hear Bachelet speak, but they had to prove their credentials before being allowed entry (as if every up-and-coming humanitarian already knew her or his role in women’s rights).

Bachelet’s point that evening was the best way to manage expectation is to share the truth. Recently, the Guardian reported that Bachelet said the UN Women flagship report, “reminds us of the remarkable advances that have been made over the past century in the quest for gender equality and women's empowerment. However it also underscores the fact that despite widespread guarantees of equality, the reality for many millions of women is that justice remains out of reach…. For millions of women in both rich and poor countries, the search for justice is fraught with difficulty and is often expensive; laws and legal systems frequently discriminate against them."

The report confirms the high-level agency is on task and confronting statistics through a worldwide lens on how to forge the most effective legal outcomes and make them inherent for all women. However, Women’s eNews reported when queried how UN Women is pushing for country accountability, Bachelet did not offer any specifics. "It's not only about meeting with countries," she responded. It's about "encouraging decision-making authority for women. . . We have to work with the judicial system."

This does not create a second of rest for any of us, no matter our place in the world. Not only does the report break down the number of poverty stricken, health challenged, or abused female populations by country, it also reminds how important it is to highlight massive achievements within our most prestigious human rights-focused organizations, but also the every day actions that pave the way for women to forge better, more equitable lives.

Pakistani Rape Victim and Women's Rights Leader Mukhtar Mai Denied Justice

Mukhtar Mai

If a decision made last week by the Pakistan Supreme Court is upheld, five men convicted of gang rape in 2002 will be released back to the village where the crime took place, and the life of an international women's rights leader will be in danger.

Nine years ago, Mukhtar Mai was ordered by a tribal council in Pakistan to be gang raped in her home village of Meerwala in retaliation for an adultery accusation. The accusation, made by a rival clan, claimed that Mai's then-12 year-old brother had sex with a woman from the higher-caste Mastoi tribe. Outside investigators would later find that her brother had been molested, and that the Mastoi were trying to cover it up.

Mukhtar Mai's rape case gained international attention when she refused to do what most Pakistani women would do in her position -- commit suicide. Instead, Mai waged a legal battle against the five men who had attacked her. She would then go on to form Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization, to support and educate Pakistani women and girls; and have her story retold in Nicholas Kristof's Half the Sky, as well as in an upcoming feature film.

According to the Aurat Foundation, nearly 1,000 women were raped in Pakistan last year, while 1,500 were murdered and 2,000 were abducted.

Human Rights Watch called on Pakistan's government to petition the full court to review the case and asked authorities to protect Mai, who now fears for her life. Human Rights called the case "one of the most important tests of women's rights in memory."

Mai, now 40, plans to file a petition against the acquittal in a few days.