FEATURE ARTICLES – This Week @ MIIS

Women Communicating for Social Change is Way of Life

Brittany Lane FEATURE ARTICLES, MIIS Update, The World May 8, 2015

by Brittany Lane and Nükhet Kardam
– USA –

Entrepreneurship, or the process of starting a business or organization, has long been essential for healthy and growing economies. For the past several years, however, the burgeoning field of social entrepreneurship is generating an undeniable buzz. Social entrepreneurs seek solutions specifically for social and environmental problems using market-based approaches.

Maame Afon devotes her time and expertise to the development of women’s leadership; champions transformative mentorship for women and girls in Africa; and fosters social change philanthropy. Maame uses her music and speaking engagements to promote social justice and philanthropy.

Increasingly, women are plugging into mission-driven business activities as leaders and innovators. This is not surprising, as plenty of research shows that women care about community and typically focus on family, women, and youth-related issues. In fact, women generally are motivated to act by “pull factors, including their family experiences and injustices they have witnessed.”

While the research gives us a better understanding women’s motivations for social entrepreneurship, the question remains: How do successful women social entrepreneurs communicate? Do their particular approaches to communication contribute to effective social change, to achieving greater justice and equity in society?

To explore this idea, we conducted in depth interviews with four successful women social entrepreneurs with strong connections to the Center for Social Impact Learning (CSIL) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). Sabiha Malik, Keely Stevenson, and Sakena Yacoobi are on the Advisory Council for the center, and Maame Afon is a former MIIS student who presented and performed at the recent CSIL Launch. While by no means a representative sample, the interviews reveal some interesting patterns and common themes.

Sabiha Malik is the founder of the World Bee Project, a social enterprise that aims to conserve biodiversity, increase food security, and reduce poverty by establishing beekeeping projects worldwide in partnership with local communities and enterprises.

All four women feel strongly connected to others. Communicating for social change is a way of life. It is a simultaneous expression of the fulfillment of a calling to serve that comes from within, and its external manifestation.

The interviewees all point to their parents as role models who demonstrated how to communicate and interact with others by treating their children with love and respect. From the beginning, a supportive family that values education plays an important part in their childhoods. At an early age they all experienced an environment encouraging creativity and entrepreneurship. They tell stories about organizing community parades during holidays and rallying other children around a particular cause.

While many young people today feel the necessity to pursue higher education, pick a path, and work toward a specialization, these women arrived at their passions indirectly by dabbling in a range of professions. Stevenson worked as an optical technician in a department store, as a birthday host for children at Discovery Zone, and in hospice care before getting into campaign politics, which later led her to impact investing. Malik worked as an architect and a jewelry designer before stumbling upon the illegal diamond trade, which launched her into a series of mission-driven work. The two other women worked a variety of work-study jobs at their respective universities, from cleaning the cafeteria to managing the library. Yacoobi was a public health consultant in the United States before founding the renowned Afghan Institute of Learning. Afon worked in the shoe department at Ross, pursued a variety of jobs at NGOs working on gender and development in Africa, before switching gears to advocate for women’s rights through her music. The women engaged with people from all walks of life and feel comfortable with diversity. They learned how to listen and see different viewpoints, developing empathy through immersion.

Keely Stevenson is CEO and Co-founder of Weal Life, a digital health company focused on leveraging mobile technology to make it easier for people to care for each other during times of health crisis, aging or chronic illness. She was awarded as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.

Their windy paths became sources of inspiration and exposed them to different areas of work. For example, Stevenson engaged in hospice care years ago and is now devoted to developing a mobile technology that makes it easier for people to care for each other in times of crisis, chronic illness, or aging. She says that she “saw such beauty and life in these individuals” and had to “capture some of that and bring it along with [her] in all [she does] every day.” Growing up in Ghana, Afon constantly faced household responsibilities while her boy cousins played freely. She says that while she learned many valuable lessons, it was “a space to start triggering [her] consciousness about social justice, gender roles [and] stereotypes.” This experience led her to advocacy work for gender equality as well as mentorship for other young African women hoping to achieve their visions.

On a spiritual level, all four women mention the importance of self-reflection and self-awareness. Two mention religious faith as their main drive. Stevenson tells us: “At the end of the day, it’s about love, about being connected in a really powerful way as human beings and understanding a sense of oneness about each other.” This internal confidence and sense of unity with other human beings led them to leadership centered on service. Afon believes that “the power to lead will only come from the commitment to serve.” This aligns with the notion of servant-leadership, which is the idea that “greatness in leadership should arise out of the desire to serve” by participating “in the system in search of social justice.”

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is the CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), which she founded in 1995 in response to the lack of education and healthcare that the Afghan people were facing after years of war and strife. She is a Skoll Social Entrepreneur, Schwab Social Entrepreneur and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Leadership stems from a place of genuine care instead of dominance, and it constantly grows and adapts with the purpose of helping others. Yacoobi says, “Above all, you must have empathy and love. If you have compassion and love for what you’re doing, then you’re successful. Your heart will speak and your whole soul will speak. People will know that you’re sincere. Show that love and compassion. There is no failing in that.”

The women we interviewed have a flexible understanding of their own identity. All four social entrepreneurs have lived and traveled around the world extensively, and none mention a strong sense of nationality. Malik says, “I think being a human being is the greatest thing that could ever be. I don’t have any concept of nationality. I’ve never had that. I’m taken aback when people say, where were you born? Yes, it’s very interesting, but when I meet people, it’s not the first thing that occurs to me. Once I get to know somebody, then it becomes interesting.”

Our interviewees have cultivated the ability to adapt to different environments and refrain from strong and defensive attachment to their own identities. Referring to her work in international development, Afon says, “When I’m in the boardroom, I’m a board member. When I’m in a village with the people I work with, when I go to these spaces, you would never know it was me. You just have to adjust. If you know their story, their story will allow you to communicate better with them.”

All four social entrepreneurs also mention a strong connection to being a woman. Stevenson says, “I would say being a woman has been a pretty strong part, being a feminist very early on, and understanding what that means. I really value equality and equal access to power and opportunity for everyone. It shaped a lot of my actions and activities and ability to fit in a variety of circles – that sense of justice and connectedness to others.” Similarly, Yacoobi says, “My position in this world is as a woman who seeks justice, equality, and freedom, and [as] a woman who wants to really transform others so they can reach the same level of life. I really believe in it.”

It seems clear that being a woman shapes the decision to engage in this field of work. Self-awareness and self-understanding seems to allow them to listen with greater authenticity and with less preconceived notions. While they are able to detach from their own identities to some degree, they are also able to maintain an internal sense of confidence and trust.

Although only a snapshot, these conversations show women who at a young age exhibited entrepreneurial characteristics and were fortunate to grow up in relatively loving and enabling environments. They learned about flexibility and adaptation. They also learned not to be strongly attached to their own identities. In many ways, this allowed for motivation to come quite naturally. As Malik says, “I’ve always had a tremendous sense of purpose and compelling need to find meaning, find meaning in everything from drinking a cup of tea to boiling an egg. When I become aware of what I’m doing, then anything becomes a delight and a joy.”

Brittany Lane is a graduate with distinction candidate for a M.A. in International Policy and Development at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She earned her B.A. in International Relations and Economics from the College of William and Mary, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She is passionate about women’s rights, social entrepreneurship, gender equity through sport, and youth development. She is a Graduate Assistant for The WIP and the Center for Social Impact Learning.

Nükhet Kardam originally from Turkey, is Professor of Development Practice and Policy at the Mddlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She has two books titled “Turkey’s Engagement with Women’s Human Rights” (Asghate Publishers, 2005), and Bringing Women In: Women’s Issues in International Development Programs (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1993) and has worked on women’s rights and gender and development for several decades both at the global and local levels, as instructor and consultant. Her most recent work in the area of women’s social entrepreneurship is co-authored with Fredric Kropp, titled: “Women as Social Entrepreneurs: A Case Study” in Women in the Global Economy: Leading Social Change edited by Trish Tierney (20IIE Global Education Report, 2013). She is currently working on a digitized scholarship project, tentatively titled: East, West and Beyond: A Personal Exploration into Identities. Please visit her faculty page for further information.

What Makes a Hoosier?

Kelley Calvert FEATURE ARTICLES, MIIS Update, Politics April 3, 2015

by Kelley Calvert
– USA –

Hoosiers are a proud lot even if we cannot always explain where the term came from. Most people lose interest anyway, right after asking, “Where exactly is Indiana again?” They do not know that to be a Hoosier goes beyond geographical lines and penetrates the heart.

A restaurant in Indiana displays an anti-SB101 sign. Photo courtesy of Marynka Wilkerson Burns.

Being from Indiana means remembering when Bobby Knight threw a folding chair across the basketball court. It means knowing the song of crickets on a summer night like an Akashic record playing to the soul. It means refusing to eat corn on the cob anywhere else because of the certain disappointment. It means having a Larry Bird autographed basketball in your bedroom growing up. It means loving Mass Ave and quoting Kurt Vonnegut. It means a marching band of changing seasons swirling with the procession of the equinoxes.

And now it means SB101, Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act or RFRA.

Until last week, I felt no tension between two major aspects of my identity: being from Indiana and being gay. I came out in Indiana and generally enjoyed the support of family and friends. Over the years, I have told friends not in-the-know that Indianapolis is one of the country’s best-kept secrets, an up-and-coming gem. Over the years, I have also grown up, gotten married, and been blessed with the miracle of parenthood. Last year, my wife and I welcomed our daughter into the world after grappling with the many struggles of choosing to bring life into an imperfect, sometimes hostile world. One of my greatest fears is that someone would treat my daughter differently, or less than kindly, because she has two moms.

And last week, Indiana, my home state, legislated this fear into reality.

On March 26, 2015, the Indiana Senate approved SB 101, the “religious freedom” bill by a vote of 40-10. Governor Mike Pence signed the approved bill into law three days later. Supporters of the legislation argue that it will prevent the government from “substantially burdening” business owners’ freedom of religion without a “compelling interest.” Ultimately, however, the goal of the legislation was to allow business owners the right to deny service to the LGBT community. In 2014, Arizona’s Republican governor Jan Brewer vetoed a similar law, SB 1062, saying, “Religious liberty is a core American and Arizona value. So is non-discrimination.”

Indiana governor Mike Pence initially sidestepped the question of whether or not the law discriminates against gays and lesbians. Tellingly, the signing ceremony took placed behind closed doors with several anti-gay activists and lobbyists in attendance: Micah Clark, the head of the American Family Association of Indiana, who once told reporters that it would be better to be drowned than to allow youths to be gay, a “treatable, changeable” sickness; Curt Smith, who has publicly equated being gay to bestiality and adultery and who also helped write the bill; and Eric Miller, who designed a fear campaign to convince the public that pastors could be jailed if they preached against gays. Pence himself has publicly promoted gay conversion therapy and expressed antiquated views; in 2009, he opposed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, falsely claiming that “individual pastors … could be charged or be subject to intimidation for simply expressing a Biblical worldview on the issue of homosexual behavior.”

Deflecting guilt for SB 101, on March 29, Pence told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “The question here is if there is a government action or a law that an individual believes impinges on their religious liberty, they have the opportunity to go to court, just as the Religious Freedom and Reformation Act that Bill Clinton signed allowed them.” Advocates of the bill assert that it mirrors the RFRA introduced by Bill Clinton in 1993, implying that since it was a liberal who put it into place, liberals should accept it. However, the contexts of 1993 and 2015 are radically different. The 1993 bill intended to address relatively uncontroversial concerns like allowing Muslim jail inmates to wear beards or permitting churches to feed homeless people in public parks. Indiana’s 2015 law has an altogether different purpose: combating the rise of LGBT rights.

More than “religious freedom,” this bill is about power. When the state’s same-sex marriage ban was ruled unconstitutional in June 2014, the state’s attorney general issued an emergency stay on same-sex marriages. By refusing to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court effectively upheld the lower court’s decision, legalizing gay marriage in October 2014. In response, Indiana legislators sprang into action to slow the tide of history with a bill intended to rob gays and lesbians of their dignity, of their hard-won civil rights victories in recent years.

Unfortunately, this legislation will harm working class people who hold jobs at places like Angie’s List and Salesforce, both major employers in Indianapolis who last week dismissed plans for future expansion due to SB 101. On March 26 Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff wrote from his Twitter account, “Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination.” Major conventions like Gen Con have also threatened to take their business elsewhere. Meanwhile, athletic organizations like the NCAA, Nascar, and the Indianapolis Colts have voiced their discontent about the passage of this bill. In total, the Center for American Progress estimates that the bill could cost Indiana $256.4 million dollars over the next six years.

Immediately following the Indiana Senate’s approval of RFRA, the executive director of the ACLU of Indiana noted the economic and moral impacts of SB101 with this statement: “We are deeply disappointed that the governor and state lawmakers have been tone-deaf to the cries of legions of Hoosiers – including businesses, convention leaders, faith communities, and more than 10,000 people who signed petitions against the bill – who say they don’t want this harmful legislation to impair the reputation of our state and harm our ability to attract the best and brightest to Indiana.” By Thursday morning, April 2, Indiana’s Republican leaders had announced proposed changes to RFRA that they claim would not discriminate against the LGBTQ community in Indiana and by that evening Governor Pence had signed the revised law stating, “There will be some who think this legislation goes too far and some who think it does not go far enough, but as governor I must always put the interest of our state first and ask myself every day, ‘What is best for Indiana?’ I believe resolving this controversy and making clear that every person feels welcome and respected in our state is best for Indiana.”

Perhaps Governor Pence’s biggest mistake in this mess is his and other Republican lawmakers’ arrogance. The demographics of the Indiana Senate itself—largely white, largely male, largely Baby Boomer—no longer reflect the values of Indiana or the United States of America. Of 50 members, 46 are white and 4 are black; 40 are male and 10 are female; 36 are over the age of fifty and 21 over the age of 60. With 40 Republicans and 10 Democrats, the Senate is emblematic of Indiana’s low voter turnout rather than a representative authority. Indiana had the lowest voter turnout in the country in the 2014 midterm elections.

Surrounded by like minds, Indiana lawmakers and the governor seem to have forgotten what makes a Hoosier, that unaffected small-town kindness, unpretentious common sense, and dedication to honesty and goodness. Maybe it has to do with hanging in the balance of a giant landmass, but there is something in the Hoosier constitution that detests unfairness. That is where this legislation misses its mark. By singling out the easiest target on the playground to bully, the Indiana legislature created an internal rebellion and a national uproar. It is not about the media, and it is not about religion. It is about politics, hurtful politics that have the potential to harm my family and millions of Americans like us. The Hoosier spirit knows intuitively: that is just not right.

About the Author: Kelley Calvert is an Assistant Professor of English for Academic and Professional Purposes and the director of the Graduate Writing Center (GWC) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. She has worked as a professional writing tutor at California State University Monterey Bay, providing workshops for students in English conversation skills, grammar, and composition. She is also a professional freelance editor and writer. Prior to MIIS, she served as a professor of English for Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa, and as an AmeriCorps writing and technology tutor for inner city youths in the Washington, D.C. area. Her teaching experiences include work with undergraduate and graduate students, community college students, and children.

Documenting the Dark Side of Maternal Mental Health

Danielle Johnson FEATURE ARTICLES, MIIS Update, Science January 2, 2015

by Danielle Steer

–USA –

Suicide is a common postpartum complication.

Dark Side of the Full Moon will be available for online screening in January. For more information, visit DarkSideoftheFullMoon.com.

When I first heard that 1 in 7 women suffer from a maternal mental health complication like pregancy depression or postpartum depression and that 1 in 1000 will suffer from postpartum pyschosis, I was shocked. Why are women in my community not talking about this? Why was maternal mental health not included in my high school sex education or health classes? Why, at 28 and on the verge of starting my own family, am I only now learning that women I have watched on TV, like Andrea Yates and Jeannette Hawes, are not simply monsters and murderers but women in need? These women – sensationalized for killing themselves or their children – were suffering from a relatively common condition.

Fortunately, I am not alone in asking these questions.

Writer and Director Maureen Daniels and fellow postpartum depression survivor, Jennifer Silliman, are releasing online their documentary Dark Side of the Full Moon. Dark Side of the Full Moon delves into the unseen world of maternal mental health in the United States giving a face and voice to the countless women who have suffered in silence. It reveals a failure within the medical community to effectively screen, refer, and treat the 1.3 million mothers affected each year.

Maureen and I both studied public administration and social change at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. I have always looked up to her personally and professionally – she is the type of person whose laughter is beyond contagious and can be heard from a block away. Her husband aptly stated once that if you opened her head you would find lollipops and rainbows.

Yet in 2008, Maureen had her first suicidal thought. An hour later she found out she was pregnant. When she told her gynecologist she was sad and felt depressed, her doctor said, “you should be happy, you’re having a baby.” So Maureen started asking for help elsewhere. Over the next few months, as the suicidal thoughts became homicidal, Maureen sought out the help and diagnosis from 28 different health care professionals, none of whom were able to tell her what was wrong. The 29^th professional finally informed her that she was suffering from a severe perinatal mood disorder, a leading complication associated with pregnancy.

Maureen and Jennifer are pissed off and they want you to be too. “Nobody is asking any questions,” Maureen tells me. “Women are dying! Families are suffering! And there still isn’t a comprehensive policy to protect mothers.” Speaking with Maureen and Jennifer, I am struck by their resolve to change the conversation about maternal mental health.

Writer and Director, Maureen Daniels. Photo courtesy of Maureen Daniels.

Writer and Director Maureen Daniels. Photo courtesy of the filmmakers.

Dark Side of the Full Moon portrays Jennifer Silliman’s terrifying story. After six months of intrusive thoughts – mostly visions of knifes, sharp objects, and stabbing – Jennifer finally told her husband she needed help. Even though she has fully recovered, Jennifer is reminded – and is grateful – daily that she is now able to be in the same room as scissors or a steak knife. When I asked Jennifer why she wants to tell her story, it is simple.

“I was sitting in a support group a few years ago … and I talked about my intrusive thoughts, which is not something that people normally talk about. I noticed the woman next to me started crying and she said to me, ‘I have exactly what you have right now, and I didn’t even know that there was a name for it.’ From that moment on I knew that I have a really powerful tool that I can use to help other people.”

When Maureen first talked to Jennifer about the film, they knew there was a huge need to educate, inform, and create change around maternal mental health. Jennifer tells me, “Things like dropping your baby, sharp knives, or drownings are the three most common intrusive thoughts that mothers have and I know there are other moms out there that are having thoughts like that and they don’t understand that they are not psychotic. They are not Andrea Yates. They are not going to kill or harm their baby because they know what they are thinking isn’t right. They understand that part. That is the difference between psychosis and intrusive thoughts.”

She continues, “This is happening so much more than people think and in so many different ways that are devastating to families. Even for me personally, I will never have another baby. When I think about what I went through there is just no way. I still don’t trust that there is enough help out there to take care of me.”

In the film Maureen and Jennifer interview professionals, mothers, and survivors all over the country; and the consensus is the same – we need to do more.

“The vast majority of postpartum women with depression are not identified or treated even though they are at higher risk for psychiatric disorders,” lead author Dr. Katherine Wisner, director of Northwestern University’s Asher Centre for Research and Treatment of Depression in Chicago, told the Telegraph. “A lot of women do not understand what is happening to them. They think they’re just stressed or they believe it is how having a baby is supposed to feel.”

Postpartum depression survivor, Jennifer Silliman, shares her story in Dark Side of the Full Moon. Photo Courtesy of Maureen Daniels.

Postpartum depression survivor, Jennifer Silliman, shares her story in Dark Side of the Full Moon. Photo Courtesy of the filmmakers.

When I asked two pediatrician friends if they screen their patients they both said, “Of course. We ask mom how she is doing every time she brings in her child for their check ups. But I have no idea what to do except call Child Protective Services if she says she’s suicidal or that she needs help.”

Maureen and Jennifer found this trend among the many women they spoke with for the film and even experienced it themselves. Maureen says, “I was so thankful that my doctors caught my gestational diabetes. But 29 doctors to diagnose my mental health complication? The specialist was down the street. Down the street! And the OB didn’t know.”

Luckily, there is one state that some might call a positive deviant. Massachusetts has one of the most comprehensive strategies for addressing maternal mental health complications. They have successfully implemented a statewide screening system as well as a network of healthcare professionals that are trained to address and treat maternal mental health complications at every level of care for mothers. But one state is not enough.

While the film focuses on mothers, Jennifer and Maureen both agree that we are also overlooking the impact on children. When mom is sad and distant – or dead – children suffer. In my most recent Skype chat with Maureen, she is living this reality. “I am sitting in a therapist office on Christmas Eve, my 6-year-old son is in a private session on his birthday because he can’t speak in school and has a rare form of social anxiety called selective mutism. Is my health when he was a baby connected to his current anxiety? I think so.”

Jennifer tells me, “As a mom, you want to believe that you’re not the reason why your child’s life will be forever changed. But we can’t really say that.” Maureen adds, “many women we spoke to said their kids have some anxiety issues. Mom’s health is huge for kids. If mom isn’t well the family isn’t well.”

Let’s change the conversation. Let’s help our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, and our future generations. Let’s stand with mothers. We have an opportunity to create real social change for our society and that starts by educating the public. Mothers, fathers, doctors, therapists, and legislators need to be informed about the complications associated with pregnancy and how we can best support mothers in need. Dark Side of the Full Moon gives a profound and startling inside look at maternal mental health. I only hope it will be a catalyst for the change mothers everywhere deserve.

Dark Side of the Full Moon filmmakers invite you to watch and join a global campaign to stand with mothers. Find out more by going to the Dark Side of the Full Moon website. -Ed.

About the author: Hailing from Anchorage, Alaska, Danielle Steer graduated from the Monterey Institute of International Studies with a Master of Public Administration. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from MIIS, Danielle worked in Peru developing financial strategies for a group of indigenous women in the Sacred Valley. She now serves as the Enrollment Manager for the International Environmental Policy, International Policy, and Public Administration programs at MIIS.

Mobilizing Religious Leaders to Combat Violence against Women in Turkey

Nükhet Kardam Education, FEATURE ARTICLES, MIIS Update, The World August 14, 2014

by Meltem Ağduk and Nükhet Kardam
– Turkey –

Violence against Women (VAW) is a violation of human rights rooted in inequality between women and men. Resistance to combating VAW in many Muslim majority countries is ingrained in both the dominant patriarchal and the conventional religious norms. For many years Muslim women have remained silent, and nearly all interpretations of gender relations have been formulated by Muslim men and support the dominant norms. Turkey is no exception.

Meltem Ağduk, Gender Programme Coordinator for the UNFPA in Turkey leads workshop for religious leaders.

According to the 2009 results of “National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey,” 2 out of 5 women have been exposed to physical violence by their husbands or partners at least once in their lifetime. Violence against women became part of the public agenda in Turkey in the mid-1980s when women’s NGOs ran campaigns, established shelters, and initiated local training programs. Several interventions took place on VAW to raise the awareness of the general public, the decision makers, journalists, service providers, and community leaders.

After working on promoting gender equality for many years in academia and in international organizations, it has become clear to us that promoting gender equality and combating violence against women needs a multi-sectoral approach. Such changes require time, new allies, and new incentives. Political commitment, policy changes, and legal reforms are essential, but so are attitudinal changes in society, in gender relations, and in one’s own identity. We now understand that Islam must be viewed as an ally to gender equality rather than a threat.

In Turkey, until the beginning of 2000, all sectors related to the issue of VAW – law-enforcement, the judiciary, health care providers, social care providers, NGOs, and opinion leaders – worked alone or did not see the problem as part of their duties. For example, police saw the issue from the public order perspective and health care providers saw the issue as a health problem, but neither saw VAW as a social issue. After 2000, a multi-sectoral approach to combat VAW has become one of the most important interventions.

Raising religious leaders’ awareness of VAW is critical since they have a strong influence in local communities. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has experience working with local leaders around the world on VAW issues. The UNFPA has partnered with the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA) to provide training. The programs present a unique case study of how Islamic norms on women’s human rights may be merged with CEDAW, the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women.

According to Hidayet Tuksal PhD, an advisor of the PRA, “Religious Affairs and other faith-based organizations have great importance on combating VAW because the problem is an issue that is somehow justified by religion … Of course there are difficulties. One of the important difficulties is the existing patriarchal knowledge of our religious leaders. This knowledge is also supported by the patriarchal mentality that has been built in the society … We believe through such training projects we will start to make small changes in the mentality.”

The UNFPA has partnered with the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs to provide training to religious leaders in Turkey. Photograph courtesy of the authors.

Turkey presents a fascinating case where secularism, representing modernity, and Islam have traditionally been seen as opposites. While women’s human rights are still discussed within the context of secularism (Western values versus Islam), the practice on the ground has been quite different and much more complicated. The UNFPA training programs of religious leaders represent a recent practice on the ground that reveals the complications, and helps us move away from a simple dualistic discourse.

PRA is the official institution that provides public service on religious issues. The presidency is responsible for regulating the operation of about 80,000 registered mosques and employing local and provincial imams. Recently PRA has organized activities and made new regulations strengthening the position and role of women in society. This is a pioneering move in the Muslim world. The PRA now appoints women as vice muftis to respond to special issues concerning women. Furthermore, family counseling bureaus have been established all around Turkey, serviced by women vice muftis.

The lack of trained, gender-sensitive staff able to give proper guidance on violence against women is what prompted the PRA to respond and partner with UNFPA and the General Directorate on the Status of Women to develop the training program for religious leaders. This program is meant to promote the capacity of religious leaders’ response to VAW through an improved referral system. The program aims to reach 100,000 religious leaders by the end of 2015.

A typical training program consists of 4 modules: a) How Islam approaches VAW, gender equality, Hadiths (Prophet Muhammad’s sayings) and VAW; b) Gender equality and VAW; c) Legislation on VAW in Turkey; d) Teaching techniques and communication skills, and how to communicate with violence survivors.

One participant, Mustafa Koseoglu, tells us “I’m glad I participated in the training. The experts taught me what to do. The community was frequently asking me: ‘What should we do?’ … By this training we have learned how to guide people.”

Since the beginning of the program, UNFPA has worked with nearly 500 religious leaders like Koseoglu. Trained religious leaders have reached approximately 500,000 field staff who have been working as imams, Qur’an teachers, and preachers. According to the training evaluations, the sessions are very effective. Ninety percent of the participants feel more confident to provide guidance on the issues of gender and VAW after the trainings. “On every occasion,” reports Mustafa Demir, “we express that laying a hand on woman is a sin and Islamic religion prohibits this…”

The process of implementation has led to some difficulties and some surprises. For example, it was difficult to locate national experts on the issue of Islam, gender, and VAW. Bringing experts from other Muslim majority countries was not an option as every Muslim majority country has their own specifications on cultural issues.

During the trainings, we were surprised to meet many Muslim women who identified themselves as feminist. These women are mostly graduates of Theology Departments of the universities, continuing their graduate studies through masters or PhD programs. Both their involvement in the training and their activities outside of the training showed us that Muslim women, with their liberal and progressive perspectives, are the ones who will pave the way to change gendered notions of Islam.

The most important challenge for the project is the increasingly conservative attitude prevalent in the ruling AK party, accompanied by the restructuring of the PRA and changes in its leadership. This puts the achievements of the project at risk. Presently ‘the family and children’ are emphasized rather than gender equality and the protection of women from violence. Gender equality and VAW are still pivotal in the trainings. However, the perspective has shifted from women to ‘family and child’, which is considered to be a ‘safer’ discourse within the context of VAW.

The question becomes ‘where do we go from here?’ We need to continue raising the awareness of religious leaders on gender equality and combating VAW. However, we have to find another way to reach them because with the new more conservative perspective of the government, we cannot continue the same program. We are discussing this issue with the feminist Muslim women of Turkey, the staff of PRA, and the experts from various NGOs, yet we have not found the answer. But we are hopeful, as always.

We believe training programs for religious leaders represents an innovative approach that moves beyond the binaries of Islam versus secularism. These programs create a dialogue between the secular and religious discourses on women’s rights that is cognizant of the complexities and diversity of Islamic interpretations on the ground. It is clear that any transformation in women’s human rights is subject to the political vagaries in Turkey and anyone who is hoping for a moral revolution in women’s human rights has to, by necessity, become a savvy political player.

About the authors:

Nükhet Kardam is Professor of Development Practice and Policy at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is the author of “Turkey’s Engagement with Women’s Human Rights (Asghate Publishers, 2005) and has worked on women’s rights and gender and development for several decades both at the global and local levels. Most recently, Nükhet presented a paper at the International Studies Conference in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2014 titled: Women’s Human Rights in Turkey: Between Secularism and Islam?

Meltem Ağduk is Gender Programme Coordinator for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Turkey. She is a graduate of Journalism and Public Relations. After getting her MSci on Media Studies, she is now preparing her PhD dissertation on “Women Journalists in the Gendered Newsroom in Turkey”.