So much has happened...let's see

I’ve finished simplifying the Domestic Violence Act (2007). According to John, the simplified version created last year is still too complicated for those in the Western Regions. It’s quite interesting work, and makes me feel rather good, as this job in particular is helping to increase access to justice. I’ve sent it to John, Bernice and Pat; however, I haven’t heard anything back as yet. Hopefully it is to their liking.

On Tuesday, I got the chance to see John and Mr. Blay in action at a community outreach event in Takoradi on Tuesday. They were educating the attendees on laws regarding marriage and consensual unions. The event went very well, and there were many questions afterwards. One attendee actually gave John an egg as we were leaving. According to Mr. Blay, this means she wants to give him a baby. I guess that’s proof enough that the event was a success.

On Friday, I went to Family Tribunal. It was very interesting, and done in private, so it is much easier to decipher what is being said in the court (because almost everyone is ordered out of the court, you don’t have the courtroom chatter getting in the way of hearing what is being said). There is still a language barrier; however, I can still get quite a bit of information. I also got to see John in action! He is an amazing human rights lawyer, and unlike some other lawyers I have seen, John is very respectful to his clients and seems quite emotionally involved in their cases. Most of the cases I saw were to do with child maintenance, and I was very happy to see that many of the judgments were in favour of the women. I was definitely very happy to see this. There were a few adjournments however, as some men did not attend. It was also very nice (as a Social Worker myself) to see a Social Welfare Officer as a panel member being able to make judgments on these cases.

In other news, the Takoradi office is planning to have a walk this week in Cape Coast for the 16 Days of Activism. It’ll be a big event, and there will be a brass band alongside us. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

On another note, I thought to talk about something that takes place in Africa, Asia, South America and many other regions of the world – Sex tourism. Recently, my host family and I met a man from Texas. He is in Ghana working in the oil industry. He was perhaps 55 – 60 years old, and told us about his family back in Texas, which includes a wife. He also informed us that he thought it was perfectly fine for him to have girlfriends in Ghana. He said that these girls were not prostitutes (although he pays them for their time), and he loved going to places where “they haven’t seen a white man before”. This entire conversation made me very uncomfortable, angry and disgusted. It angers me so much to think of these white men (most of whom have wives and children) who come to so-called developing nations and actively seek “ethnic” women they can spend the night with. The underlying thing here is that these women are perceived as mere objects for these men to carry out their fantasies. Many women end up submitting to these white men, as there is a perception that these men have money (and I’m sure many of these men exaggerate what their income is). Many of these girls are poor, and this white man is seen as a means to escape poverty. There are racist, classist and sexist elements that underline the entire sex tourism industry. We, as coloured women descending from “Third World” nations, are seen as objects for white men from “First World” nations. This idea takes me back to my visit to Cape Coast castle a few weeks ago. This castle was used by the Dutch and the Portuguese to house Africans before they were forced on ships and sent off into slavery. During these times, the Governor would pick an African woman and she would be bathed, then raped. She was also raped by the soldiers on her way to and from the Governors room. I suppose you can argue that women these days are not necessarily being raped by these white men; however, I wonder: How many women would sleep with these men if they weren’t impoverished?

Reena a.k.a. Mina a.k.a. Renee a.k.a. Mini a.k.a. Weena (Inside joke)