‘Don’t Look Away’: The UNiTE Campaign & AUCA

December 4, 2014

The UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign is a 16-day effort organized by the United Nations from the 25^th of November to the 10^th of December to raise awareness and end abuse against women and girls. “When something happens to a man, it’s a crime. When it happens to a woman, it’s tradition,” said Daniele Rumolo, Human Rights Program Manager of the Tian Shan Policy Center (TSPC) at the American University of Central Asia, capturing succinctly a cornerstone of the issue. Both the TSPC and students of AUCA have and are continuing to mobilize in support of this global issue in conjunction with the local UN Women’s office, which is organizing several events throughout Kyrgyzstan to raise awareness.

The issue itself is one that affects society from the ground up. Aiperi Janyzak, AUCA student and volunteer, told us that as a child she witnessed abuse; “I knew it was wrong even as a child, and as I grew older I thought ‘what can I do’?” The problem becomes cyclical; if a child is witness to abuse then he or she may absorb it as normal and continue the behavior later in life. Malika Umkeeva, another AUCA student and volunteer said about the problem that, “A lot of people in Kyrgyzstan live with the stereotype that the man is the ‘boss’ and woman is his ‘thing’…that is why I think that it’s time to change this foolish stereotype.” And the AUCA community is taking action to combat that ‘foolish stereotype’.

The Unity Fund Club, a youth empowerment and charity group, at AUCA has committed themselves to do just that. They have created a video for local NGO ‘Центр Помощи Женщинам’ (Center for Helping Women), which serves as a crisis center for women. “They asked us to support their initiative…we shot a video, and if it is well received we will ask movie theatres to show it during previews. The video shows the basic life of a Kyrgyz girl, and the idea is that violence can happen anywhere,” said Nadia Pak, member of the Unity Fund and recent AUCA alumna.

Contacted by the UN Women as well to use their video for the campaign, the Unity Fund is a prime example of the power of people working together for a common cause. It is not only groups however; individuals are also working in concert to enact change.

An AUCA alumna and staff member, Gulazor Gulmamadova, is working with the UN Women’s office to organize volunteers to act as journalists in support of the campaign. “I’ve observed the status of women’s rights in Central Asia. They do not feel free in the place they call home and I thought, what can be done to protect their rights?” she said, explaining her motivations for volunteering. After contacting the local UN Women’s director, Dr. Sabine Machl, Gulazor worked on the media strategy for the campaign.

She met with several students including Malika and Aiperi, who wants to both use what she has learned in the Journalism and Mass Communications department and see what tools the U.N. uses, who were interested in promoting the events and lectures that are being held.

One of those lectures was held by the TSPC on the 1^st of December at AUCA. Dr. Machl along with Lillian Langford, a visiting research fellow at TSPC, gave presentations to interested students. Dr. Machl shared her own definition of gender equality, “To accomplish what you love, let your dreams come true, to have that opportunity of choice.” We asked Dr. Machl why her office decided to collaborate with the AUCA community:

The students at AUCA are very enthusiastic and interested in the topic of women's right protection, especially students from the Law department. Many of them are writing their thesis works on the topic of gender-based violence in Kyrgyz Republic. I believe that involving academia into the problem can change many things as well, as the new generation should learn about the problems and try to change their society. Last year I gave lectures for AUCA students as well. It is a great place and this is the only university where you meet students from different countries and regions.

The campaign to end violence against women is a global one, but one that everyone can affect. As Lillian Langford told the students in her presentation, “Don’t look away, pay attention.” AUCA is tremendously proud that it’s students are involving themselves in such a deserving issue, and although the UNiTE campaign ends December 10^th, the issue is one that should always be at the forefront of public discourse and activity.

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