Thanks Ms Bojang-Sissoho,

You raised interesting questions concerning gender relations in our country.
  One think is very clear, Gambian society is a patriarchal one.  This
should be confronted head-on.  There are no short cuts to your rights.  Our
present regime epitomizes such a phenomenon. Tombong and others  are known
to have abused their wives hence the formers refusal of diplomatic status in
the United Kingdom.  As a media practitioner and an employee of GRTS, maybe
you can push your boss to take gender issues more seriously.  I know i am
asking too much because these morons will never let you do the right thing.
A good example is when the biggest moron with his fake "Imam" Fatty tried to
gag you on FGM debate few years ago.

The APRC are male chauvinist.  MANY of them abuse their wives.  Domestic
Violence is common in our society and very few are ready to admit it does
exist.  Domestic Violence comes in many different forms. Both physical and
psychological.

I think women like yourself, and Ndey Jobarteh and many others have already
and are still challenging these arcane perceptions that pervades our
society.  Traditions and cultural norms are very difficult to change but
change will certainly come for society has never been stagnant.

As you rightly mentioned too, it is high time female participation in our
body politics go beyond "Yaye Compine".  Women should take control of their
destinies and stand up against all form of repression.  I do not think the
liberation of our women should be left to male folk. Who feels it knows it.
I urge all our sisters to take the lead in the fight for the liberation of
our country from the APRC thugs.


Mboge


>From: AMIE BOJANG-SISSOHO <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Part of the whole for social Justice
>Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 14:41:27 -0000
>
>While individuals and opposition parties struggle for change in upcoming
>elections, I would like to bring to the attention of the masses the
>concerns
>I have as a media practitioner and a woman.
>
>What guarantee do we have that the mass media, Gambia Radio and Television
>Services - GRTS in this case will practice according to constitutional
>requirements for freedom of expressions, that is without discrimination
>based on gender, political affiliation, ethnicity or religion?
>
>That editors and producers have their professional say in what is broadcast
>and are not going to repeat the negatives points of censorship and fear of
>dismissal.
>
>According to IEC figures, most voters are women, about 75% of whom are
>illiterate, and the majority of these  are women;  will GRTS be used as a
>tool for enlightenment for the masses and not only a mouthpiece for those
>in
>power?
>
>The present situation may seem as tokenism, but it has brought to the
>attention of the masses that it is possible to have women as leaders in
>national affairs.  Where will women stand when there is change?  Are they
>going to be chosen as leaders with power, window dressing to mask gender
>politics or just as yai compines to be used as and when it suits the
>politicians?
>
>
>How will the selection processes of political parties ensure fair and
>sincere selection of eligible women to stand for municipal, chieftaincy and
>parliamentary or presidential elections?  I do not think it is fair to have
>the example of Minatta Njie in the last parliamentary election.  She had
>just finished school, young and inexperienced to stand for election, even
>though I admired her courage to take to the challenge.
>
>Are women’s concerns to their right to take informed decisions on family
>planning contraceptive use, to understand why they should not condone
>traditional practices such as early marriage, female genital mutilation,
>nutritional taboos for pregnant women, forced menopause, rape, and more
>recent phenomena such as HIV/AIDS, baby dumping, back-street abortion and a
>host of other concerns that affect them be left to the mercy of some men
>who
>are after their selfish interest no matter what women go through?
>
>Remember that at present, most oppositional views including so called
>sensitive issues are suppressed in GRTS programmes and are they going to do
>the same when the opposition are in power?  Or we don’t want to risk our
>votes attitude is going to play?
>
>Is there going to be so much emphasis on revenge that priorities for the
>masses will be marginalized?
>
>And finally are commitment to policies and conventions be just a collection
>from conferences, workshops at long hours of meetings for academic
>exercises
>or implementation for the people on whose behalf they have been put
>together.
>
>As some of us recover from the Tabaski feast, these are issues to give
>consideration.
>
>With great concern,
>Amie Bojang-Sissoho.
>
>_________________________________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------