In 1991, civil war devastated my parents’ homeland, Somalia, spawning a vast diaspora of refugees. My seven siblings and I grew up in Katy, Tex. I remember sitting with my parents in the comfort of our living room in America, listening to international journalists and humanitarian workers on CNN. I am still haunted by the weak bodies of Somali children and the panic etched into the faces of their emaciated mothers as their beloved family fell victim to hunger. These images are imprinted in my consciousness and galvanized me to shift from being a spectator to an activist.
Therefore my major and minor, honors thesis, research and academic work have helped me understand the plight of women. History and current events across cultures remind us of the prevailing view of women as objects. Being in college has deepened my understanding of this history. But books and classes don’t compare with learning directly. I want to share one field experience I had when I went to Uganda, Rwanda and Eritrea to blog about women’s lives on behalf of Americans for the United Nations Population Fund.
When you hear the word “survivor,” you usually think of that reality TV show pitting contestants against one another on some remote island. In Rwanda, “survivor†refers to those who survived the genocide. I had the privilege of visiting a survivor’s village an hour outside of Kigali to hear from women who have survived extreme sexual violence.
As I walked into their community center, I noticed a woman standing apart from the crowd of children, wrapped in her white scarf painted with purple and yellow flowers. I recognized her as a fellow Muslim. That afternoon, I listened to the testimony of 10 women like her who, in their own words, were “defiled†and left pregnant by their rapists. I had grappled with the ethics of asking women to share these brutal moments. Then a woman spoke up, saying that she was grateful that my group had come all the way from America to listen to them speak because fellow villagers do not want to hear of their pain. As I left the center, I noticed puddles on the floor. Half of the women developed traumatic fistulas from the assault, causing them to still leak bloody urine 14 years after the genocide.
I rarely look at the pages of notes from that day. I never need to because these women’s struggles are written into my soul, fueling my desire to change world. The power of listening is that it can change you. When you are fully engaged in a moment, you awaken the world to unseen ugly realties.
Violence against women is an inconvenient truth in many societies — one of three women worldwide has experienced rape or sexual assault. I would like to use research, advocacy and public policy to combat gender violence that is systemic in conflict zones. The failure of governments and societies to address crimes against women — including rape, female genital cutting, lack of treatment for obstetric and traumatic fistula, forced and early marriages and the trafficking of women — is alarming.
Nearly two million women today live with obstetric and traumatic fistula, leaking urine and/or feces. As a research assistant with the Stanford Eritrean Maternal Health project, I was able to travel and listen to patients who were ostracized by families and forced off public buses because of the fistulas related to assault and giving birth. In Uganda, I saw sex workers, some as young as 10, willing to sell their bodies for chapatti and mango juice to stave off hunger. I witnessed three women sharing a hospital bed in a maternity clinic, sidestepping blood on the floor of women in labor.
I am honored to be a part of this graduating class, and eager for us to create a better world together. When we truly listen to the communities we wish to serve, we absorb their pain and invigorate our search for justice and solutions. We cannot trick ourselves into thinking “someone else will do it†because we are the ones privileged to have attended college. It is now our responsibility to rethink and implement sustainable change, whether local or global.
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By FATIMA HASSAN
Excellent article. It was helpful and informative. hope to see more greats posts like this.