Studying local cultures in a globalized world!!!

Studying local cultures in a globalized world!!!

Dear all,

I have just arrived from Bo, the second largest town of Sierra Leone! It took us almost a whole day to get there. I organized a women’s workshop for 30 women participants from Bo town in the South, and Kenema town in the East on Wednesday. The visit to Bo was not on my agenda. But its necessity was signaled because of the need for comparative data that is representative of the voices of SL women regarding how and why culture is related to violence (as experienced by women) as well what these cultural practices were and how they geographically differed from each other. In addition to that it is ONLY in the South and in the East that women in SL are actually allowed to become respected Paramount Chiefs. Why is that so? I was curious to know!

So far we have had 3 workshops (One women’s workshop and another for men in Freetown and a third workshop for and by women in Bo). Definitions of “ Culture” and “Violence” as well as the (inter) relationship between the two were the main topics of discussion. I have also been able to meet with some relevant key informants, conducted interviews, I have visited the Family Support Unit (FSU) of the Police Headquarters in BO and have collected data from the FSU in Freetown.

I hope to also visit Makeni in order to explore the situation of women in the North.

I am forever grateful to all those who contributed to the success of these achievements.

The opinions of SL women very much differ from each other; some women are fighting to have all cultural practices completely abolished whilst others would like to have them “modernized”. “Has becoming a woman now become a violent act”, asked a woman in one of the discussion groups. Even more divergent are the opinions of SL women from those of SL men. Studying men and women’s experiences and expressions of culture & violence/if and how the two are correlated, not only also enormously differed from each other but men are of opinion that ‘changes are happening too fast’, that power sharing in the domestic domain is not negotiable, and that this sense of difference is not fully incorporated into the nature of SL social activism.

Awareness of a culture occurs when we are brought up against its boundaries, or faced with behavior that deviates from the norms of our own. SL Women’s rights have become a global matter. Just before my arrival 3 important women’s bills (on early marriages, property inheritance and wife beating) have been passed and they are soon to become laws. The growth, spread and global discussion of women’s Human Rights have been instrumental in driving the engines of women’s global power, flexibility, mobility and advocacy.

But how will these “quick” achievements affect family life in SL? One man in the men’s workshop said “I predict many divorces” referring to the 3 bills which gives women more legal rights or rather power. Has this achievement empowered or disempowered SL women? It seems this progress has shaken men awake; how can we talk of women’s issues without involving men? There were many questions and few answers. There is a fear among men that globalization has (over) “exposed” SL women and that SL cultural identities and practices are now being labeled criminal and consequently are rapidly being destroyed. Are we moving towards a more uniform homogenous world culture? Can one fight the effects of globalization? I think that globalization represents a force that quickens the processes of integration and interaction that link different cultures and communities from around the world. The spread of ideas and information have benefited SL women’s movements and helped spread news of democracy and humanitarian movements as well as the mass distribution and availability of the fruits of women’s global progresses.

But what about the fractures globalization creates as it connects cultures and communities? What about the threats to local cultures-not to mention the sexual exploitation of women- as it envelops us in its wings of massive homogenization? Does globalization-as locally experienced-create more disparities or equality among men and women? Who benefits from it the most: rural or urban women? What other alternatives would deem fit?

Obviously there is more than enough to both applaud and lament about.


Ps: I found my luggage!! Alhamdulilah!!!
Yariba Yariba!

More next time! Now let me go bite something!

We go si back oo!

Sahro