Is the coronavirus pandemic a driver of sexual violence against girls and women in South Africa? How is terre des hommes schweiz implementing the cross-cutting issue of gender in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development? Why is our solidarity with young people in the Global South particularly important right now? The big personal interview on International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021 with Gabriela Wichser, Head of Programs and Member of the Executive Board of terre des hommes schweiz.
“As a teenager, I learned that it’s ‘mega fun’ to develop and create something together.”
“Gender must not be an isolated single issue, but a cross-cutting issue that brings about change in society as a whole.”
“The test of strength is still the be-all and end-all of South African masculinity.”
“We won’t get this virus under control if we don’t give everyone access to a vaccination.”
Gender equality, which terre des hommes schweiz campaigns for worldwide, is not a matter of course in Switzerland either. Women in Switzerland, for example, have only been allowed to vote at national level since 1971. What do you think about this?
Gabriela Wichser: I was born in 1980 and grew up at a time when opportunities were largely open to young women in Switzerland. I am very grateful for that. At the same time, I realize that there is still a long way to go before there is actual gender equality. That’s why I fight for my children and their friends, but also for all other children and young people in the world, so that they can all realize their potential with the same rights and opportunities.
As a teenager, I was not aware of what women had achieved before me in terms of equal rights. Since my political socialization during my ethnology studies, I recognize some elements in my biography that I share with many women of my generation. I grew up in the countryside and I went to grammar school, although my father said I should do something solid, like an apprenticeship, instead of studying. But my mother supported my plans. I had a lot of energy as a teenager and thought I should do what I thought was important.
How did you show your power as a teenager?
(Smiles) I was quite active in many different ways. I helped set up a youth center and was elected to the board. I ran Pro Juventute children’s camps and was also on the board there. I wrote a monthly youth page in the local newspaper and I played volleyball in the top league and coached the junior girls.
Were you also interested in politics as a teenager?
Yes, I took part in the youth session in Bern. Even back then, I learned that it was “mega fun” to work together to develop and shape something that was important to me and close to my heart. I was very lucky to grow up in an environment where I was able to develop my potential and always received positive feedback for my socio-political commitment. That was motivating and extremely important for my future career.
Countless girls and women are denied this happiness. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, over a third of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of their partner or other men. How does the 2030 Agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals intend to tackle this complex and huge problem at its root and solve it in the long term?
Gender is a cross-cutting issue in all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The systematic inclusion of the gender perspective is also, but not only, about supporting and promoting women. The aim is for everyone, women and men, to have equal access in all areas of life, regardless of their gender and other factors such as origin or social status. This is the holistic view of so-called gender mainstreaming and this is also what we consistently apply in our program work from terre des hommes schweiz. Equal rights and opportunities for women and men is relevant in all of our work.
And how does this approach manifest itself in concrete terms?
First of all, the fact that we are committed to equal rights for women and men does not mean that girls have to become like boys. Rather, gender equality means that the rights, duties and opportunities of women and men apply regardless of their gender. In other words, equality means the fair treatment of all people with their respective needs. This can mean equal treatment or additional support for disadvantaged groups.
In terms of our project work with young people in southern Africa and Latin America, this means that whether girls and young women in South Africa who are survivors of sexual violence or young women and men in Brazil who see no prospects for a small-scale farming existence – disadvantaged and vulnerable young people need our support and guidance.
At the same time, it is important that we sensitize all other members and actors in society to the unequal power relations. Equality and gender justice also means critically questioning existing gender roles and actively promoting equal relationships in our own environment – in the family and at school, at work or in the community.
We therefore work with both male and female young people in our development projects. It is often crucial that we address the different needs of girls and boys in separate groups. In separate groups, we encourage them to think about their own behavior, which they have adopted from their parents and society. In this way, they learn about the benefits of gender equality, which they can later live and exemplify themselves.
Gender must not be an isolated single issue, but a cross-cutting issue that brings about change in society as a whole.
terre des hommes schweiz supports and empowers young people using the psycho-social method so that they can help drive change in society. But young people cannot do this alone.
Of course not, this requires a variety of efforts and combined forces. As mentioned, we therefore not only work with young people, but also involve their entire social environment. Only with a holistic approach can change towards a fairer and more equal society be achieved in the long term.
The centers of power in a society are usually located outside the communities.
Of course, we also need a functioning, democratic justice system so that laws are actually enforced. For example, when a girl is raped at home – if we find out about it at all. In Latin America, for example, we support young women who are campaigning for the right to abortion. There are still many countries in which abortion is punishable by law. In the Las Mélidas project in El Salvador, we support young women who use public, often artistic and creative campaigns to draw attention to this abuse and to the right of women to make decisions about their own bodies.
In our sustainble livelihoods projects, we not only support young men who want to set up their own business. Young women should also be able to benefit from our training programmes, which are offered by our partner organizations Centro Sabiá in Brazil and Centro Aberto de Jesus in Mozambique, for example.
How does terre des hommes schweiz take into account the specific needs of girls and young women in its development cooperation?
In many cultures, it is still taken for granted that young men receive support from their families and the community on their path to independence. To give young women the same opportunities, we work in our projects with role models or role models in peer-to-peer work with their peers. These are young women who, for example, have set up their own restaurant, pizza delivery business or hairdressing salon, or who keep pigs and breed bees. By acting as role models as “strong girls”, they make a contribution to future generations and their friends of the same age think to themselves: “If she can do it, I can do it too!
On March 8, 2021, this year’s International Women’s Day, terre des hommes schweiz is drawing attention to the issue of gender-based violence (GBV). In doing so, we are focusing on the work of our South African partner organization LifeLine. What are the reasons for the rampant sexual violence against girls and women in South Africa and Southern Africa?
This is a question that has been on my mind ever since I worked as a program coordinator for terre des hommes schweiz in southern Africa from 2008 to 2016. I have asked our partner organizations in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique this question time and again. It is not easy to answer and there is no definitive answer. There are many factors that contribute to the high rate of gender-based violence (GBV) in southern Africa, especially in South Africa.
Cultural values and a patriarchal society in which women are worth less than men and in which men define themselves through a macho self-image certainly play a central role – the trial of strength is still the be-all and end-all of South African masculinity.
Other relevant factors are the lack of prospects for many people living in poverty. Men who are unable to provide for their families and who cannot afford to send their children to school are seen as failures – and they feel like failures. They do not live up to the internalized image of the all-powerful head of the family and feel worthless. Their undignified state leads to great frustration and the response is often an outbreak of violence, usually within their own family. GBV is often domestic violence, with the perpetrator being the father, older brother or uncle.
Shortly after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, victim support centers and NGOs warned of an increase in violence against women. Is there a direct link between the health crisis and cases of gender-based violence (GBV)? Is the pandemic driving up gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa?
On the one hand, the pandemic is a unifying factor. Covid-19 does not stop at anyone. Whether rich or poor, well-educated or poorly educated – the virus is spreading around the world and does not stop at anyone. The far-reaching consequences of the pandemic affect us all.
On the other hand, corona is also a dividing factor. More privileged societies and classes can better afford to protect themselves against the virus because they have more financial resources and secure jobs or unemployment insurance. In Switzerland, we can rely on a functioning and high-quality healthcare system. Schooling continues during the lockdown, albeit in homeschooling mode, and we are moving our home office to the vacation chalet without further ado. Of course, this doesn’t apply to everyone in Switzerland, and it’s not as if coronavirus will simply pass us by without a trace.
However, those living in poverty in middle and low-income countries are having a much harder time during the pandemic. If children can no longer go to school due to the lockdown, they miss out on the main meal of the day that they would normally receive there. Girls and women are exposed to violence within the family. The majority of adults who work in the informal sector and live from hand to mouth are no longer able to support their families. And those who fall ill with the virus often do not have the necessary financial means to go to the doctor.
So the virus affects us all equally and yet there is great inequality between the global North and the global South and between those who have it and those who do not.
To summarize: Corona is widening the gap between rich and poor. People living in poverty are more often affected by violence and people who are vulnerable or in a precarious situation are driven even further into poverty during the coronavirus crisis. There is therefore a link between poverty, violence and the health crisis.
Is it true that the pandemic is leading to more cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa?
It is safe to say that there are more cases of GBV in South Africa during the pandemic. We know from our South African partner organization LifeLine that their services and their counselling program for survivors of gender-based violence have been requested much more frequently since the beginning of the pandemic and that they are extremely busy.
It is a time when many people in Switzerland are thrown back on themselves. Why should we now, of all times, open our minds and hearts to the situation of people in other countries and support the work of terre des hommes schweiz for young people in Latin America and southern Africa?
The coronavirus and the current availability of vaccines are perfect examples of what we are talking about: there is only one world and we share it.
Many countries in Europe have already secured vaccine doses at a very early stage. In the meantime, however, we are also experiencing a shortage and in Switzerland we are considering how we can move vaccine back and forth between the cantons. Our view is far too small-scale. We won’t get this virus under control if we don’t give everyone access to a vaccine.
In exactly the same way, we will not live in a safe, peaceful and just world until we distribute the resources available to us fairly and all people have the same rights and access. The world is so interconnected today. We do not live on an island in Switzerland, but are part of an interwoven, large whole. This obliges us to stand up for our fellow human beings.
Globalization also brings with it many positive aspects, for example the exchange among each other. We can learn from each other, benefit from diversity – and sooner or later travel again. But this also brings with it responsibility: we must work together to ensure that everyone can share in this “happiness”, well-being and prosperity.
The same applies to gender equality: we must not only stand up for equal rights for girls and boys in Switzerland, but we must also fight to make gender equality a reality around the world. Because we will benefit enormously from this – from the great potential that girls, young women and also young men have in southern Africa and around the world. However, this potential can only unfold if we are willing to share our prosperity with others.
For me personally, there is only one way to contribute to this world: we support the disadvantaged and the weakest so that they can discover and realize their own potential. This is the only way we can continue to work together to create a good world for today and tomorrow.
Interview: Anna Wegelin
terre des hommes schweiz
Kasernenhof 8
4058 Basel