Soukeyna Pitroipa, Grade 11
UWC Costa Rica
Despite many feminist movements in early 2020, domestic violence cases are rising rapidly during the quarantine. According to UN Women, in Argentina alone, the number of cases has increased by 25%.
Femicide is "a crime primarily perpetrated by men, it is motivated by misogynistic ideas, and is the result of systematic abuse" (104 El Universal). It is still a trending topic, and even more during this confinement period. This situation has made me think back to the discussions that we had at my UWC school during my Theory Of Knowledge (TOK) classes.
Even though femicide is a global issue, it was meaningless to me before coming to UWC Costa Rica. It is not that I didn't care, but I was not aware of the situation. In Burkina Faso, where I am from, violence against women has been normalized, and sometimes women don't have the opportunity to tell their stories. But, in Costa Rica, particularly at UWCCR, I discovered that each woman has a voice to tell her stories, and even when women have been silenced, there are still other women ready to speak up.
On November 1st, 2019, the whole UWCCR school was affected by an unfortunate event. A young woman by the name of Eva Morera was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. This woman was a relative of one of our teachers. Obviously, this incident impacted us deeply. As students coming from different parts of the world, we have likely experienced or heard of something similar to this occurrence, and often our voices or reactions are limited by our cultures. But here we were able to show our solidarity to our teacher and Eva's father and open up a discussion on femicide.
However, one thing kept my attention the most: the discussions that we had during the TOK lessons. As IB students, we all know what TOK is about: ways of knowing, and how knowledge shapes the world. Following Eva's case, the format of the lessons changed a bit as the teacher took three sessions to talk about femicide. These sessions were full of interesting discussions and helped me understand deeper the issue of femicide, its history, and the reasons why it happens.
The first session of this TOK discussion was tense because we read stories of women who were killed by their partners. The silence was heavy after hearing these tragic stories. It was a shock for me, and it was as if I discovered a different face of the world. A world less beautiful, full of blood, tears, and violence; my level of empathy had significantly increased. I started to think about the condition of women in my country. The number of times I had heard the phrase "she deserved it", which means that a wife deserves to be beaten because she had been 'disrespectful'. Even the families of these women approve of this dreadful act. I recall those sexist jokes about how a woman should cook for her husband or how she should behave in front of her male family members was, and past experiences where I stayed silent because I did not want to be in trouble. I felt my heart sink as I endured the guilt of my ignorance. This feeling of guilt has opened my heart to empathy, my eyes to realizing oppressions in my country, and my ears to listen more about social gender roles and expectations.
Since my senses were eager to learn, I got to understand more about the implications of toxic masculinity. I learned that society is oppressing men with the expectation that they act manly to prove their masculinity. This social expectation has intoxicated male/female relationships which have led to toxic relationships. It has turned into a cycle that has poisoned women's interaction with society.
It is this toxic cycle that students tried to present through their artwork during the second class on femicide. It can seem strange to make artwork or poetry in a TOK class, but the teacher felt that it was the best way to express our past experience with this social toxicity. However, the artistic talent and creativity of each student was not the point of this exercise. The art was made for protesting and sharing emotions toward gender inequalities. As a result, we learned from different experiences and perspectives. The class became a melting pot of emotions: sadness, trauma, rage and blood, but expressed creatively, so the class' heavy silence transformed into an appreciation and acceptance. We appreciated our raw emotions and accepted the need to denounce these dreadful issues.
In the third class session, discussions and reflection were filled in an environment less silent and with more voices, ready to engage in enlightening others about femicide and domestic violence. It seemed that I healed from my guilt, and I felt more aware of what was going on around me. The conversation was going more smoothly; we learned how to address uncomfortable topics by being open-minded. We healed from our awkwardness of the beginning and launched deeper into this dark topic.
Through this experience about femicide, I discovered that it is the normalization of oppression that is killing women all around the world. Now, I feel the need to be engaged for the cause of women in my country, and also, I would like to go back to Burkina Faso and share my knowledge with others to stop this normalization of violence. Moreover, I realize that it is actions, even small ones that can make an impact in life, and this has been my case. I am grateful to my teacher for immersing us in such a relevant conversation which has helped me realize more about my surroundings. In each education, we should do the same, raise awareness, educate about social injustices, and take the lead for a cause.
Everyone can be a feminist and should fight for the rights of each human being on this planet. Despite our gender or whatever culture we belong to, we should be standing up for each other as humans with empathy and determination.
One of my biggest realizations through this experience is that UWC is not only about the International Baccalaureate and having the best grades, it is also about getting involved in issues that are meaningful to us, raising awareness, and educating those around us.
I feel ready to speak out.
Femicide is "a crime primarily perpetrated by men, it is motivated by misogynistic ideas, and is the result of systematic abuse" (104 El Universal). It is still a trending topic, and even more during this confinement period. This situation has made me think back to the discussions that we had at my UWC school during my Theory Of Knowledge (TOK) classes.
Even though femicide is a global issue, it was meaningless to me before coming to UWC Costa Rica. It is not that I didn't care, but I was not aware of the situation. In Burkina Faso, where I am from, violence against women has been normalized, and sometimes women don't have the opportunity to tell their stories. But, in Costa Rica, particularly at UWCCR, I discovered that each woman has a voice to tell her stories, and even when women have been silenced, there are still other women ready to speak up.
On November 1st, 2019, the whole UWCCR school was affected by an unfortunate event. A young woman by the name of Eva Morera was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. This woman was a relative of one of our teachers. Obviously, this incident impacted us deeply. As students coming from different parts of the world, we have likely experienced or heard of something similar to this occurrence, and often our voices or reactions are limited by our cultures. But here we were able to show our solidarity to our teacher and Eva's father and open up a discussion on femicide.
However, one thing kept my attention the most: the discussions that we had during the TOK lessons. As IB students, we all know what TOK is about: ways of knowing, and how knowledge shapes the world. Following Eva's case, the format of the lessons changed a bit as the teacher took three sessions to talk about femicide. These sessions were full of interesting discussions and helped me understand deeper the issue of femicide, its history, and the reasons why it happens.
The first session of this TOK discussion was tense because we read stories of women who were killed by their partners. The silence was heavy after hearing these tragic stories. It was a shock for me, and it was as if I discovered a different face of the world. A world less beautiful, full of blood, tears, and violence; my level of empathy had significantly increased. I started to think about the condition of women in my country. The number of times I had heard the phrase "she deserved it", which means that a wife deserves to be beaten because she had been 'disrespectful'. Even the families of these women approve of this dreadful act. I recall those sexist jokes about how a woman should cook for her husband or how she should behave in front of her male family members was, and past experiences where I stayed silent because I did not want to be in trouble. I felt my heart sink as I endured the guilt of my ignorance. This feeling of guilt has opened my heart to empathy, my eyes to realizing oppressions in my country, and my ears to listen more about social gender roles and expectations.
Since my senses were eager to learn, I got to understand more about the implications of toxic masculinity. I learned that society is oppressing men with the expectation that they act manly to prove their masculinity. This social expectation has intoxicated male/female relationships which have led to toxic relationships. It has turned into a cycle that has poisoned women's interaction with society.
It is this toxic cycle that students tried to present through their artwork during the second class on femicide. It can seem strange to make artwork or poetry in a TOK class, but the teacher felt that it was the best way to express our past experience with this social toxicity. However, the artistic talent and creativity of each student was not the point of this exercise. The art was made for protesting and sharing emotions toward gender inequalities. As a result, we learned from different experiences and perspectives. The class became a melting pot of emotions: sadness, trauma, rage and blood, but expressed creatively, so the class' heavy silence transformed into an appreciation and acceptance. We appreciated our raw emotions and accepted the need to denounce these dreadful issues.
In the third class session, discussions and reflection were filled in an environment less silent and with more voices, ready to engage in enlightening others about femicide and domestic violence. It seemed that I healed from my guilt, and I felt more aware of what was going on around me. The conversation was going more smoothly; we learned how to address uncomfortable topics by being open-minded. We healed from our awkwardness of the beginning and launched deeper into this dark topic.
Through this experience about femicide, I discovered that it is the normalization of oppression that is killing women all around the world. Now, I feel the need to be engaged for the cause of women in my country, and also, I would like to go back to Burkina Faso and share my knowledge with others to stop this normalization of violence. Moreover, I realize that it is actions, even small ones that can make an impact in life, and this has been my case. I am grateful to my teacher for immersing us in such a relevant conversation which has helped me realize more about my surroundings. In each education, we should do the same, raise awareness, educate about social injustices, and take the lead for a cause.
Everyone can be a feminist and should fight for the rights of each human being on this planet. Despite our gender or whatever culture we belong to, we should be standing up for each other as humans with empathy and determination.
One of my biggest realizations through this experience is that UWC is not only about the International Baccalaureate and having the best grades, it is also about getting involved in issues that are meaningful to us, raising awareness, and educating those around us.
I feel ready to speak out.
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