Walking the Feminist Talk: Contributing to the Domestication of the
Maputo Protocol In Sierra Leone
Today we share with you an inspirational leadership experience of Ms.Valerie Tucker, an African Feminist, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Activist, former Country Director Ipas, Sierra Leone and alumni of the African Women leadership Institute (AWLI). In her story Valerie narrates how she together with other women got the government of Sierra Leone to pass the Safe Abortion Bill through parliament aimed at decriminalizing abortion following the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), challenges encountered, the AWLI influence on her work and best practices that we trust you too can borrow a leaf from.
It is difficult to speak about my contribution
to influence and get the Safe Abortion Bill through the parliament of Sierra
Leone without reminiscing my AWLI experience. Joining the AWLI in 1999 held
under the theme Reproductive Health in
Post Conflict Countries, was the best decision I have ever taken through my
career path. Until l got involved in the
AWLI I did not know how limited we were and because we do not know any better
we have accepted the status quo of African Women and have not questioned in as
much as we could. I evidently recall a session facilitated by Ms. Zeedah
Meierhofer-Mangela on our reproductive health, the session pushed us to call things
by their names and appreciate that women are not merely sexual objects for men's
pleasure. While I had always taken it for granted that I was comfortable
talking about my sexuality given my background in health, there were many
women in the room who were apprehensive to even utter a word about their sexual
life. This demonstrated how women do not have a stake even in their own bodies.
I have always believed in women's empowerment
and women taking health matters into their own hands; getting the bill through was
one step to domesticating the Maputo Protocol and realization of women’s
reproductive health and rights in Sierra Leone. So while working as the Country
Representative for Ipas
in Sierra Leone I got deeply involved in advocating for women’s Sexual and
Reproductive Health and Rights; We could
not sit and wait for the script to be read to us; together with other women's organizations
and a few sisters we took it upon ourselves to lobby and push our Parliament to
ratify the Maputo Protocol. It was not
an easy task as several women leaders had tried unsuccessfully in the past but
the pass. The Protocol had specific
areas they were not comfortable with; especially the ones on abortion and
female genital mutilation so we had to reach some sort of compromise in order
to get it to the stage where it could be voted upon in Parliament.
Domesticating the Maputo Protocol with the
Safe Abortion Bill was no piece of cake; we had to mobilize ourselves to lobby
the government, this involved various strategies such as hosting retreats for
parliamentarians to really appreciate the content of the bill and its
aspirations, arranged for formal and informal meetings to lobby policy makers, within
and out of the country whenever an opportunity prevailed. Wrote shadow reports
and made presentations at the Pan African Parliament on reproductive health
even though others thought that this was not important. At some point, we were
even summoned to a pre-legislative session in parliament where I had to
enlighten members on the bill. It was difficult particularly to get
government to agree to some of articles in the bill especially as several parliamentarians
insisted on the rights of husbands. It
was an historical moment. A real push
towards women’s reproductive rights liberation.
It was largely the young women who were
pushing government to ratify the bill compared to the older women; however we
had to get their buy in by ensuing that even as we were questioning we were
bringing them along and not pushing them away. We had to work together to front
our agenda and as such the power of sisterhood through this journey cannot be
underestimated. During the AWLI we were taught about sisterhood & leading
together, it gave me a deeper understanding of how sisterhood makes this
happen, that we needed sisters who truly believe in the cause and want to see
things happen, it's not just about attending meetings and showing face but
sisters who are ready to stand up and challenge the status quo even when things
get tough. I recall my Sister Hawa who was by me the whole time during the
ratification of the Maputo Protocol, we became couriers at some point
delivering letters and thank you notes to Ministries, Leaders of Parliament and
the Office of the First Lady for their unwavering support. Sister Hawa and I had to support each other!
Engaging in the advocacy for the domestication
of the Maputo Protocol was like practicing what I had been taught, at the AWLI.
As we interacted with different
government leaders and policy makers I evidently saw the power dynamics and how
they continuously played out particularly the hidden power which was quite
difficult to deal with, that at some point I had to go back to my notes from
the AWLI to really comprehend and confront it.
Reflecting on some of the lessons I realize
that we have to establish networks and connect with the Movers and Shakers when
it comes to policy influence, you are likely not to even meet them in your home
country but abroad and this is good time to create that rapport and front your
issues, be sure to connect. You have to
connect with everyone including the cleaners and secretaries they are key
informers with whom we must build networks with when engaged in policy
advocacy. The media can make or break your case when leading an advocacy effort. You have to build a firm relationship with
the media. They have to understand it and believe in it to champion it.
Remember to be courteous even the least expected things like a special greeting
or thank you card is very powerful in terms of influencing our leaders to
support your cause as you conduct your advocacy.
We have to be strategic, when you invite leading
officials to a meeting, find a fancy term for the meeting so it's not ordinary,
you may even consider taking the meeting out of the country if resources allow
to create another environment for them rethink a given position. Engage the
leadership of the community “Mummy Queens” they are the real influencers and
remember parliamentarians are always concerned about numbers if you are able to
influence the Mummy Queens then this will have a trickle-down effect and the
leaders will have no option but to support your cause. You also have to carefully
craft your agenda to fit into the government's priorities in order to interest
them and make it work for you. For instance if it's an agenda for change or
prosperity you have to push government to think of those issues that are
critical to you and closely linked to their agenda.
The journey of advocating for women’s sexual
and reproductive health has not been all rosy, my sisters; majority staunch Christians
did not understand what it is I was doing however my husband and children were
very supportive and appreciated the need
for securing women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. This coupled with
my passion for women’s sexuality and reproductive health rights have remained
the driving force in my work. Even if it means saving one Sierra Leonean
woman’s life I will not give up on the struggle for women’s sexual and
reproductive health rights. When I look back at the campaign, what we managed
to achieve, and my personality, I can only relate myself to a scorpion, given
that I had to constantly adapt and spring quickly at any given opportunity till
the day the bill was passed. For me this was just another milestone as we work
to secure women’s sexual and
reproductive health rights; the struggle continues!
Ms.
Valerie remains a motivational power house and African feminists found her true
life’s path and has chosen to trek it with LOVE!
Compiled by Ms. Irene Kagoya & Mercy
Asianut
AKina
Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is one of the four partner institutes of the
African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run
by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Sub Saharan Africa-
Ethiopia Office.
For more on IIE , ACE or AMwA please follow the links below.
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