Carrying The Torch for Young women
By Felister Makandi Gitonga
My name is Felister Makandi Gitonga. I like to define myself
as a Pan- African feminist. I have always been a feminist but I was still in
the closet until when I joined university and I was pushed out of the closet. University
was great. I was passionate about the course I was doing, I liked most of my
lectures, and I was meeting great friends who have continued to be in my life
even after campus. But despite all that I found myself struggling to keep up my
identity as a young woman.
Strong, Intelligent, independent, focused, opinionated are
some of the few words I could use to describe my character but university
wanted strong but not too strong to seek the head of journalism club with the
boys. Intelligent is good as long as you don’t display it in the company of
male peers especially socially. then you
were a know it all. You could be independent but not too independent you will
scare young men who are trying to woe you. Opinions are great too as long as
you don’t take on a toe to toe discussion with a male student. Then you were
stubborn and competing with men. It soon dawned on me that I was shrinking my
true Identity. I was not alone, other young women were going through the same.
Some choose to conform. It made things easier. From an early stage of my adult
life it was clear that there were double standard. And there was a need for
young women to come together and define their identity and tell their narrative
without letting anyone define it for them.
Long story short more
than six years later I joined the Young Women’s Leadership Institute (YWLI) as
a programs officer, a feminist organisation that seeks to empower the young
woman and provide a safe space for young women to share their experiences and
network. The last 10 months at YWLI have validated my passion for working with
young women. Conversations about violence against women brought up emerging
issues like cyber bulling and internet shaming, abuse of young women in public
spaces and date rape. During the 16 days of activism we tackled sexual violence
and role of communities in finding justice for the victims and the intimidation
of young women human rights defenders who are trying to rescue victims. The
adolescent girls were on OUR radar too as YWLI provided a safe space for them through
the adolescent leadership camps where they learnt about their rights and shared
their lived experiences.
All this experiences have informed my conviction that
adolescent girls and young women need spaces to organise and build synergies in
tackling issues that affect them. Young
women in particular need to be interrogated as a stand-alone group that has
special needs as opposed to being clustered with youth or women in all
initiatives that aim to empower youth and women especially with the
domestication of the sustainable development goals launched in 2015. Data revolution is also imperative as it
informs interventions. It is a great initiative to end violence, but what is
more urgent? Cyber violence or intimate partner violence? Who is more affected
by violence in the public spaces? Is it the urban young woman or the one living
in rural area? Data helps answer all this question and interventions are then informed
by true lived experiences of young women and adolescent girls.
I have been privileged to speak on behalf of young women in
many platforms that could change their lives. As the New Year begins I see
another opportunity to continue advocating for young women in spaces that
matter, learn from their shared experiences and providing safe spaces for
dialogues. Young women and adolescent girls are the frontier I report to and
the ground is fertile for engaging with them.
Young
Women's Leadership Institute (YWLI) 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)
, Ethiopia Office.
For more on IIE , ACE or YWLI please follow the links below.
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