Global Roundup: Safe Birth in Palestine Project, Anti-FGM Africa Caravan, Free Bus Travel for Delhi Trans Community, Bath Bakeshop Queer Community, Kyrgyzstan's Center for Women and Girls
Global Roundup: Safe Birth in Palestine Project, Anti-FGM Africa Caravan, Free Bus Travel for Delhi Trans Community, Bath Bakeshop Queer Community, Kyrgyzstan's Center for Women and Girls
Curated by FG Contributor Inaara Merani
A Palestinian woman holds her newborn daughter in Rafah, Gaza, on 23 December 2023. Photograph: Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Images. (The Guardian)
Safe Birth in Palestine Project is a US-based organization which launched shortly after the Israel-Gaza war began, aiming to provide to provide long-distance medical care and advice to pregnant and postpartum women in Gaza.
Since October, Safe Birth in Palestine Project has created videos in Arabic that give emergency unassisted birth instructions, and the organization is also collaborating with local midwives to develop an antenatal clinic. Online consultations between the organization’s doctors and Gaza women have also been facilitated through WhatsApp, and medical supplies such as necessary prenatal vitamins have been shepherded into Gaza through Rafah.
The group’s co-founders, who have medical training and experience working in disaster areas, have been shocked by the conditions in Gaza. And, though Safe Birth in Palestine has managed to provide desperately needed counsel, providing effective medical care for pregnant and birthing women is impossible to deliver virtually.
Many Palestinians are dying not just from bombardment, but also from starvation. Women who are breastfeeding, which is the main way to feed babies without access to formula, are advised to drink 16 cups of water a day, but finding clean water in Gaza is a major problem. For Safe Birth in Palestine, providing medical care to women who simply need sustenance has been one of its largest hurdles.
We were naive… were honestly hoping that there would be a safe corridor, safe zone for medical facilities … It’s one of the worst crises, if not the worst, on women and children. In Afghanistan, hospitals were a safe space, but here it’s not. -Ferhan Güloğlu, co-founder of Safe Birth in Palestine Project
The group was founded by Sare Davutoğlu, an Istanbul-based gynecologist who has worked with birthing women in disaster areas, and Ferhan Güloğlu, a DC-based medical anthropologist specializing in reproductive politics and childbirth in the Middle East. The founders connected with around 20 NGOs across the world that pledged to contribute aid and to work in solidarity. Then, after hearing about their efforts, individuals from Spain, Portugal, France, Turkey, and the US reached out to ask how they could help.
Given the dire conditions in Gaza, including a complete collapse of its healthcare system and a refusal to allow a safe corridor for medical emergencies or safe zones for medical facilities, Safe Birth in Palestine is unable to deliver the type of care it planned to contribute at the start of the war. Initially, the organization planned to send midwifery kits, including mobile ultrasound devices, however the Israeli government said the metals in the devices could be used as weapons. They also attempted to send medical kits, which were blocked at the border. Contacts on the ground said it might be more than a year before they are able to get these items into Gaza.
Still, Safe Birth in Palestine Project remains hopeful and open-minded to any possibilities. In late December and January, some British and US doctors were permitted into the strip with prenatal vitamins and other supplies. In addition to their ongoing support to the pregnant and birthing women in Gaza right now, the group also hosts weekly Zoom calls with doctors across the world to discuss the situation and prepare help on the ground when more doctors are allowed to enter the region.
What amazes me the most about birth and about Palestinian resistance is the unyielding joy of it. Having a baby becomes a hopeful event, even in Gaza right now. – Ferhan Güloğlu
Women protest in Madrid to mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on 6 February. Photograph: Richard Zubelzu/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock. (The Guardian)
A group of grassroots activists and organizations in Africa, known as #FrontlineEndingFGM, have organized a two-year cross-continental caravan to advocate for an end to female genital mutilation (FGM) practices. Survivors of FGM practices will lead thousands of campaigners on a journey of over 12,000 km. The caravan will begin in Mauritania in June and will run until mid-2026, ending in Djibouti. This campaign was inspired by the “pink bus” anti-FGM movements which began almost 10 years ago in the Gambia.
In the over 20 countries that this caravan will pass through, activists, medical professionals and religious leaders from high prevalence areas in each country will hold a number of events and radio broadcasts which will be catered to local challenges in ending FGM. At the border of each country, convoys will hand over an anti-FGM banner, as well as the “Dear Daughter” pledge book, in which families can pledge to protect their daughters from the cut.
We are shifting the power. Grassroots activists who have been doing the work but have not really had the backing to do it at this level, will now have the opportunity to come out en masse across different countries and lead these efforts. – Aya Bello-Awodoyin, lead for Global Media Campaign to end FGM in Nigeria
While FGM practices have rapidly decreased in countries such as Kenya, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Liberia, high levels of support for FGM still exist in the Gambia, Somalia, Mali, and Guinea. Many African nations have anti-FGM laws in place, however activists say that poor law enforcement allows this practice to persist and that advocacy must be customized to each region where there are high rates of FGM. The caravan will be used to mobilize communities in remote or hard-to-reach areas, including camps for internally displaced people, where documentaries on the health impacts of FGM will be shown. These can include childbirth complications, as well as menstrual, sexual, and psychological issues.
The hope of this organization is that the caravan will re-energize anti-FGM advocacy across the continent as threats, such as a shift towards medicalized FGM and underground practices, persist.
Getty Images
Earlier this week in Delhi, India, the government announced that public transportation for the trans community will now be free. Currently, state-run bus travel is free for cisgender women and senior citizens in the city.
Although the proposal still must be presented to cabinet before it can be rolled out, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is hopeful that the scheme will be launched in the coming weeks. Prior to the project’s implementation, some details must be sorted first. For example, the guidelines on who will be eligible for this service is not clearly defined. All women in Delhi are eligible for free public transportation, meaning that trans women are eligible, however there has been no clear indication on how trans men will be included in this decision, as they are frequently excluded from most facilities in Delhi currently.
Want to give some good news. In the last 75 years, no government in the country has done any good work for the kinnar (transgender) community. Delhi govt is taking a big step and making it free for members of the community to travel on public buses. Like women, members of the kinnar community will get free safar (travel) in Delhi govt-run buses. – Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
In addition to the need for this scheme to be implemented immediately, director of NGO SPACE Rupika Dhillon believes that more support must be offered as well. The LGBTQ+ community in India is currently fighting to legalize same-sex marriage, and thousands of trans people in the country are reportedly waiting for their new IDs or are waiting to begin the process to change their IDs. There are also high rates of unemployment in the Indian queer and trans communities, leading many individuals to engage in sex work.
Recognizing the struggles the queer community in India has faced, as well as the progress that the community has made in accessing their rights, earlier this week, Mumbai celebrated its first Pride March in four years. Thousands of individuals marched through the streets of South Mumbai to raise awareness about queer rights in India.
(GAY TIMES)
Felix Pilgrim, a photographer selected by GAY TIMES, traveled to Bath, UK, to capture the essence of the local queer scene that can be found in Daisy and Bean’s Bakeshop. With its warm and welcoming nature, this coffee shop serves as an important queer space in the South West for LGBTQIA+ people.
Currently, Girls Who Grind coffee is served, which is a Somerset-based roastery that sources their coffee from women cooperatives and coffee farmers. Inside the cafe, a beautiful mural painted by a team member has multicolored waves and twisted lines which snake around the shop. Near the till, a tip jar to fund gender-affirming care for chosen trans charities can also be seen clearly.
The bakeshop is located on Gay Street so it felt more than appropriate to take a snap of the team underneath the street sign. When I was at school ‘gay’ was always used as an insult, so it was nice to draw attention to the street sign and to basically have a gay old time underneath it! – Felix Pilgrim
Molly and Em, the co-owners of Daisy and Bean, are also heavily involved in community efforts to support the queer and trans communities in Bath. The duo is currently in the midst of planning their next book club meeting, which will focus on asexuality.
I hope the group portrait acts as a memento and as a celebration of the amazing work Daisy and Bean (and their team) are doing for the queer community in Bath and beyond. – Felix Pilgrim
The first-ever centre to support women and girls who have experienced violence in Kyrgyzstan is now in the process of opening. This one-stop centre to provide comprehensive support and services to survivors of domestic violence will not only be the first of its kind in Kyrgyzstan, but in all of Central Asia.
At this facility, attendees will receive all necessary services at once, such as investigative and forensic medical examinations and legal and psychological assistance. There will also be a community built on trust and understanding, comprised of other women and girls in similar predicaments.
The choice to include multiple services in one centre represents a paradigm shift; Kyrgyzstan’s new centre for survivors of violence will undertake a holistic approach. Survivors of violence around the world typically have to navigate a complex web of institutions in order to access the support they need, and are legally entitled to.
Inaara Merani (she/her) recently completed her Masters degree at the University of Western Ontario, studying Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies with a specialization in Transitional Justice. In the upcoming years, she hopes to attend law school, focusing her career in human rights law.
Inaara is deeply passionate about dismantling patriarchal institutions to ensure women and other marginalized populations have safe and equal access to their rights. She believes in the power of knowledge and learning from others, and hopes to continue to learn from others throughout her career.