I am Generation Equality: Fatou Warkha Sambe, video-journalist combating gender-based violence
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.Date:
Three things you can do to end gender based violence:
- Raise awareness by going door to door in your neighborhood
- Share useful information on your social media to reach a bigger audience.
- Make videos to give the floor to relevant people who are knowledgeable about gender-based violence issues
I am Generation Equality because…
I have always been a women’s rights advocate. I created various associations in my neighborhood where I gathered the girls to raise awareness and discuss issues of concern to them. In Senegal, when we talk about the suburbs, we think of vulnerability because young people do not always have the opportunity to finish their studies. Since I had the chance to pursue higher education, I never miss an occasion to talk about violence and other gender issues that are relevant to our realities as youth.
Leveraging the power of videos and social media
At one point, I realized that my videos had a great impact so I told myself “it is good to solve issues at the community level, but if I use videos and social media, it can have a greater impact.” That is when I decided to combine my video-making career with my activism for women’s rights. I receive messages every day from people telling me about cases of violence against children and women. Through our videos on Warkha TV, we have the power to show what is happening in order to reach those who can find solutions.
When the President of the Republic announced the promulgation of the law criminalizing rape and pedophilia on 10 January 2020, we warmly welcomed that decision. However, there is still a long way to go because people do not seem to understand what the law is about. We are in a country where most people are uneducated. One of our upcoming projects at Warkha TV is to make videos to explain the content of the law to the populations.
“We are all exposed so we need to make it a personal battle.Take initiative.”
Take action now
Do not wait to have millions before acting. With your phone, you can make videos to report facts. If you are not interested in making videos, you can still raise awareness by sharing information on the best behaviors to adopt to end gender-based violence. We are all exposed so we need to make it a personal battle. Take initiative. When you wake up and you have the possibility to share something useful on your Facebook page, to raise awareness in you school, to ask parents to listen more to their children, do it. It does not cost anything!
Fatou Warkha Sambe is a 30-year old video-journalist who founded Warkha TV, a web TV amplifying the voices of vulnerable women and combating gender-based violence. She is also the vice-coordinator of Dafa Doy (Enough), a collective working to end violence against women and children.