You might not associate the godfather of shock rock with feminism, but Alice (real name Vincent Furnier) had something profound to say on the subject. When he wrote his 1975 hit ballad “Only Women Bleed” he wasn’t simply making an anatomical observation about gender. Alice was also referring to domestic violence and the psychological pain endured by women, who are overwhelmingly those who care for others without receiving much gratitude.
(For the benefit of Network for Africa’s younger supporters, this sensitivity was not what you might have expected from the leather-clad glam rocker who staged gothic mock executions during his stage show).
The world marks International Women’s Day on March 8th, and your in-box may be filled with optimistic messages about female empowerment. Put bluntly, pictures of beautiful smiling women are more likely to open people’s wallets than an image of an exhausted and overwhelmed single mother rape survivor, trying to care for a child with epilepsy in a remote village without electricity or running water. Yet, we owe that female survivor the dignity of acknowledging that her life cannot be given a quick fix by a well-meaning Western charity.
Supporting Local Partners
At Network for Africa, we respect the local knowledge and experience of our partners in Uganda (BNUU), Rwanda (SURF) and Sierra Leone (Conforti). They know better than we do that to really empower women, giving them choices about how they live, requires more than a few training sessions. Challenging centuries of ingrained harmful traditions and stigma is best understood by local people who have navigated these sensitive cultural barriers. They also make the best messengers or, in the current jargon, the best agents of change.
For this reason, our projects continue for years, supporting survivors of violence and conflict as they move through stages of recovery, from managing their trauma to rebuilding their lives. This involves learning skills that enable them to earn a living, and participating in community self-help groups. Our aim is to break the cycle of poverty that traps so many survivors of conflict. Our supporters appreciate this, and we thank you for understanding how complex it is to truly empower women. Please visit our donation page to help us to continue our work. Thank you.