"For development to occur it is necessary that there be a movement of search and creativity having its  seat of decision in the searcher, that this movement occur not only in space, but in the existential time of the conscious searcher.”

-Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed


These young women in Buchanan City, Liberia are workshopping their own conscious search for a better life. Despite the increasing deterioration of society everywhere, much of the world is also rethinking,  rebuilding, and reuniting. As more and more civil society, grassroots organizations, interfaith groups, and many community-based organizations come together to demand social justice and equal rights, we can see the tiny glimmerings of peace. But la lucha continua-the struggle continues. Share projects underway in your neck of the woods.

Getting Men to the Gender Equality Table

Once again, a recent study on yet another form of GBV(gender-based violence) is garnering media attention. Breast-ironing, a cultural practice that inhibits the growth of breast tissue in young girls, is highlighted in a report by the Feinstein international Center (May 2012). Kudos to this study (and blog) which adds to the existing research /media exposure on gender-based violence and the evidence base being created about GBV as the world's most serious public health crisis. Also, RENATA-the Aunties Assoc.-is a good start. The practice of BI also exists in parts of Guinea Bissau, Benin, Guinea, Togo, and Chad. The surgical mutilation of the body has existed since ancient times and,unfortunately, also remains a central component of sexuality, self-image, and identity in upper-income ("developed") nations. Social pressures and cultural practices that harm or violate the rights of children need to be abolished, no question, and in whatever country. However, re-educating girls and boys (group education) on their nascent equality is the best grass-roots approach since the demands/entitlements of male sexuality and authority are at the heart of this, and other forms of,  violence against girls. Men and fathers are being drawn into activism at the local level as they have been on other related family issues in many parts of the world. Policy and institutional change are also occurring slowly. See 'What Men Have to Do With it" (Instituto Promundo/ICRW)