Committee for Conflict Transformation Support |
CCTS
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Imagining a post-Solution Cyprus: the Gender Dimension |
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| by ‘Hands Across the Divide’, Women’s NGO This statement was made by the women’s NGO 'Hands Across the Divide’ while the future of Cyprus was subject to tense negotiations, as leaders attempted a last-minute peace deal ahead of the Republic’s accession to the European Union on May 1. In the words of the introduction to this statement: 'Women, who for thirty years were absent from political negotiations to reconnect Turkish Cyprus and Greek Cyprus, have their own ideas about why a 'solution to the Cyprus problem’ is urgently needed, and the benefits peace might bring to everyday life on the island.’ The Statement was delivered to all parties to the negotiations, including the United Nations. The Annan Plan for Cyprus uses the words ‘a new state of affairs’. What is intended is clearly a transformed relationship between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, one which, after many years of conflict, becomes: equal, respectful, communicative and non-violent. In this paper we put forward a thought never expressed by the entirely male teams of politicians negotiating peace: may we not at this self-same moment, when change is in the air for ethnic relations, call for ‘a new state of affairs’ in gender relations too? Could we not expect that relations between women and men in the future might also differ from the past, using these very same terms? Have we not a right to expect that our relations as women and men are every bit as equal, respectful, communicative and non-violent as relations between Turkish and Greek Cypriots (hopefully) will be? Would that not, of itself, help to bring about lasting peace? Hands Across the Divide is a group of women, living north and south of the Green Line and abroad, calling for a permanent peace, working for gender equality, and sharing the values of democracy, inclusion and non-violence. We are a women’s organization by choice, because we share a perspective generally lacking in Cyprus: a ‘gender perspective’ that takes account of the realities both of women and men, the feminine and the masculine, and the relations between them. We feel such a viewpoint has something fresh to show us about the conflict, about Cypriot societies today, about the long-drawn-out peace process, and about the Cyprus that might follow from the signing of an agreement. In all our Cypriot cultures a sharp dividing line has been drawn between the sexes, with contrasted roles and expectations for each. This has narrowed the scope for both women and men, brought about characteristic strengths and failings in femininity and masculinity, hindering communication between us. On gender differences, which we see as social rather than natural, have been built many inequalities and disadvantages for women. But we feel that men could also gain from gender change, for there are burdens as well as privileges in being the more powerful sex. Our wish is that the damaging differences and divisions of gender diminish, and that genuine partnership be enabled to grow. The following are some of the changes in gender relations we would like to see accompany an end to ‘enemy’ relations between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. |
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Constitution and law, policy and politics |
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| A peace agreement for Cyprus will involve changes to the constitution and related structures, in the interests of co-operation between its peoples. That innovatory moment could be an opportunity for creative changes, also, on the gender dimension. The Constitution should explicitly identify women and men, and stress equality between them. Laws and policies should be evaluated for their gender implications before they are introduced. Those who draft them should receive training in gender issues in their field, and be supported by gender-sensitive data and statistics. We propose the establishment in our parliaments of a standing committee on gender equality, and likewise an administrative unit for gender issues in every ministry. In addition to these permanent bodies to assure long term change in gender relations, there should be immediate positive action measures to speedily overcome women’s historic disadvantage and achieve parity of numbers and effective equality on decision-making bodies and in senior executive posts. Government funding to political parties should include incentives to nominate more women parliamentary candidates. Women suffering discrimination on grounds of gender should have recourse to an equality ombudsperson and equality commission, with executive power to redress discrimination on grounds not only of gender but also of marital status, sexual orientation, age and disability, racial or ethnic origin, and religion or belief. We affirm the value of an umbrella organization for women’s rights within the framework of which women’s non-governmental organizations would be enabled to promote, monitor and implement programmes in the economy and other sectors. |
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Economy, employment and training |
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| The importance of a gender perspective in economic policy is insufficiently recognized. Globalization is bringing greater economic disparities, between and within countries. Although recent decades have seen a greatly increased participation of women in the labour market in Cyprus, with a consequent gain in women’s economic autonomy, we are experiencing, as elsewhere in the world, a feminization of poverty, with many women employed in low-paid, part-time and sub-contract jobs, marked by insecurity, with a high incidence of unemployment. In the spirit of ‘gender mainstreaming’ we call for the following measures. Action to increase women’s participation in economic activity and to bring about a balanced representation of women and men in all sectors, levels and occupations of the labour market, with the creation or expansion of institutional networks to support the career development and promotion of women. Implement equal pay with that of men for work of equal value. Programmes and policies to ensure that the role of women in reproduction and childrearing are not used as a basis for discrimination nor to restrict the full participation of women in society. Flexible working practices to promote the reconciliation of work and home life, with incentives to men to make use of parental leave and equalize roles in the home sphere. Women should have equal access to education and training, with particular support for girls in the hitherto male dominated subjects of science, mathematics, new technologies (including information technology), and other technical subjects, especially those promising good careers in growth sectors. Women should have access to life-long learning, especially in rapidly changing information technologies, and in management, business and leadership skills, so as to empower them in the different stages of their lives. Support should be provided for women entrepreneurs, including credit schemes. |
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Security, militarism and violence |
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| Armed conflict is not only a political issue but a women’s issue. The people of Cyprus, and particularly women, have lived with the effects of violence and insecurity for decades. It has taken a heavy toll, not only in public life but also between individuals at a personal level, including in the relations of home and family. In HAD we detect a connection between gender-based violence at the personal level and the violence of armed conflict. There are clear links between the ideologies of militarism, patriarchy, nationalism and capitalism. Nationalist politicians and militaries need men to ‘prove their manhood’ by being willing to kill and die on behalf of the state. They need women to behave in ways required by patriarchal ideals: ready to offer up their sons and husbands in defence of the ‘national interest’. As women, we want an end to these harmful tendencies. We believe one reason peace has been so long in coming to Cyprus is that women and women’s organizations, along with the rest of civil society, have, despite the explicit requirement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, been excluded from peace negotiations. HAD, along with other women, have been deprived of the opportunity to introduce a feminist perception of security – instead of the build-up of armaments for national ‘defence’, true human security, the guarantee of psychological, economic and social well being. Security for women means feeling safe not only from the threat of war, but from risk of harassment or violence, at home, at work and on the streets. We long to see the decades-long militarization of Cyprus replaced by a culture of peace. An end to military conscription would make possible gentler forms of manhood for men and boys. All militaries, including the British bases, should be disbanded, land mines cleared, defence industries converted to civil production and the so-called ‘defence’ budget re-allocated to health, education, services for the elderly and more kindergartens for our children. The police of both parts of the island should be under a civilian, local, authority, with women recruited in equal numbers and with equal status to men. Police officers should have gender training, in particular in sensitive handling of cases of domestic violence, rape and the abuse to which migrant women are vulnerable. Women should always have the right to speak to a woman police officer. Crime, including enforced prostitution and the drugs trade, must be treated as a serious social problem and offenders be brought to justice. The incidence of domestic violence is growing in both north and south Cyprus. We need to empower women to come out openly, talk about their experiences and seek redress. The Reconciliation Commission for which the Annan Plan provides could be a significant mechanism for forgiveness and healing. Women’s groups such as HAD have a responsibility in such processes, as a space in which reconciliation can be fostered, among and between women of all ethnic ‘identities’ in Cyprus. The other side of the coin is that ‘reconciliation’ should and could be interpreted by the whole of Cypriot society as a process of bringing to light, speaking honestly about, and finally putting behind us (along with ethnic conflict) the oppression, inequality and violence that sadly, much too often, cast a shadow on relations between men and women. |
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The family, everyday life and the community |
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| One of the most difficult sites of gender change is the family. The family is the most cherished and valued institution in society, the place where we find love and affection, security and support. Yet, at the same time, it is the place where unfairness, oppression and even in some cases violence, are capable of hurting us most. We believe that while Cypriot society is engaged in the task of renewing democracy at the political level, designing a new system of governmental structures as part of a ‘solution’, we should boldly renew our expectations of ‘deep democracy’, a democracy that penetrates to the grassroots of society and includes democracy in marriage, household and family. For instance, as women we want complete autonomy, free from pressure by religious, political or familial authority, over whether to marry and whom to marry, and over other life choices. A civil marriage ceremony should be available for all who prefer it. There should be no discrimination on grounds of being, or not being, married. Children on maturity should be free to decide for themselves whether to adopt a religion and to choose which it will be. Unpaid domestic work and responsibility should be shared equally between women and men, with both partners having an equal chance to work or study. We call for full legal rights and more support from both state and society for single parents. Fathers must be required to honour their financial obligations towards children. The state should share the burden of care with the family, providing more day nurseries and after-school facilities to enable parents to work, and high-quality low-cost community care and residential homes for the elderly, disabled and ill. The public spaces of our local communities must be cleared of barbed wire, rid of intimidation by military or civilians, and freed of official or police harassment to produce identification. Military land must be converted into spaces for recreation, so that our localities can flower as spaces of holistic education in which sport, culture, street and home life are all sources of mutual learning and development. |
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Education, media and culture |
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| We live in an island that has symbolized love, a place of many cultures, but also an island of conflicts and wars. So many centuries – and now Cyprus is seeking ways of giving birth to herself with a new identity that will meld together all the people of Cyprus, whatever ethnic ‘name’ they carry, and (we would add) whether they are women or men. We believe the value that should prevail above all others, in a post-peace Cyprus, is that of diversity. Embracing diversity is the key to solving our bitter struggles. However, even though the physical fighting has stopped between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, collective memory continues to play a role in transmitting enemy images from one generation to the next, just as beliefs about contrasted and unequal gender roles are also transmitted to the young by the older generations. Fixed and intractable images of both kinds have become central to a sense of identity in Cyprus, blocking any possibility of a healthy relationship between the two communities or the two sexes. How can reconciliation processes create the dense network of partnerships and alliances for common goals that could transform destructive relationships between Cypriots into co-operative ones, whether on the dimension of ethnicity or of gender? Education for diversity and equality is clearly fundamental to achieving a pluralist, multicultural and democratic society. Government departments and local authorities responsible for education should set up units with the specific responsibility of promoting education for equal and respectful citizenship and co-existence. They should pioneer multicultural, multilingual, non-sexist schools, and overhaul teaching materials to rid them, on the one hand, of racism and negative ethnic stereotyping, on the other hand of sexism and gender stereotyping. The history curriculum, in particular, in both south and north Cyprus, is imbued with nationalist bias. Besides, history is represented as men’s stories told by men in a masculine voice. We wish to see the subject humanized, expressive of diverse viewpoints, and reclaiming women’s hidden history. Teacher training should openly address divisions of gender and sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, religion, colour and class, so that teachers are capable of acknowledging, welcoming and representing multiple and complex Cypriot identities in schools, colleges and universities. There should be a conscious element of conflict resolution in the educational process to address conflict in gender relations, family life, local communities and (at a national level) cultural and religious conflict, as well as tensions concerning the environment. Children and young people should be enabled, by both teachers and parents, to express their viewpoints on conflictual themes in the confidence of being heard respectfully, so as to foster empathy. As a result of their ability to reach and influence large numbers of people, the media carry an immense power, either to deepen division and conflict, or enable a culture of peace. To counter the media’s negative potential for escalating tensions, journalists (and through them their audiences) should be trained and encouraged to be more alert to the realities and sensitivities of ‘the other’ – whether this is means the insufficiently heard voice of the ethnic ‘other’ or of women. Thus, media in all areas of the island should air the political and social realities of the various communities that live in it. They should encourage public discussion about conflictual issues, adopt a responsible in-depth and analytical approach to reporting them, state clearly the underlying and explanatory facts. Too many media representations today purvey gratuitous violence and promote stereotypic roles for men and women, with women often sexualised, portrayed as passive and as victims. We wish to see more women in positions of influence and authority in both press and broadcasting, whether in decision-making, directing, production, news services or entertainment. The media can be influential in changing the use of language to suit new times – less sexist and militaristic for instance. We would like to see a ‘watchdog’ institution to register complaints against the media under anti-discriminatory laws. Intellectuals and artists can play an important role both in building peace and creating a respectful and gender-equal society. It is their strength that through their work they can question and deconstruct those myths and traditions that exclude, marginalize or put down the ethnic or gender ‘other’, while through their imaginations creating more pluralist, inclusive myths and traditions for the generations to come. We would like to see the intellectuals and artists of both ‘sides’, and of both sexes, associating and working co-operatively in such a way as to shift the understanding of the others’ life experiences, in exhibitions, poetry readings, dance, cinema festivals, theatre productions and many other cultural forms. These possibilities should be explored at local level in our communities, at national level in Cyprus, and internationally – where the people of Cyprus can make the island known as a centre of inclusion and of equality – in short, of peace. |
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