Violence and rape have long been part of everyday life for many women in Sierra Leone. One rural village has begun educating men on the dangers of raping their wives to become better husbands.
Image: ZDF
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About 50 men recently signed up to a program teaching them how to stop abusing their wives — a subject that's taboo in rural parts of Sierra Leone.
Joseph Pidia, who facilitates the voluntary workshop, hopes to change the mindsets of men so they can break the chain of domestic violence and rape that plagues the West African nation.
Pidia has run the workshops for four years. His training on how to become a good husband takes about six months, with three monthly sessions. Wives are not allowed to participate. However, despite the seriousness of the topic, humor is permitted.
In pictures: Demanding an end to violence against women
November 25 marks International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Citizens around the world took to the streets to call on lawmakers to do more to curb all forms of violence targeting women.
Image: Reuters
Human rights violation
"Violence against women and girls is among the most widespread, and devastating human rights violations in the world, but much of it is often unreported due to impunity, shame and gender inequality," said the UN in a statement marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In Guatemala, 571 women have been killed so far in 2019.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/O. Estrada
1 in 3 women experience violence
A third of all women and girls experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime, according to the UN. Half of the women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or members of the family.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Yalcin
Femicide growing in France
Data collected by women's advocacy group "Feminicides par compagnons ou ex"("Femicide by partner or ex") found that 74 women in France were killed by their husband or partner in 2019 so far. The year's final toll is expected to surpass last year's figures.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Yalcin
'France's shame'
The rate of women killed at the hands of their partner in France is among the highest in Europe, which French President Emmanuel Macron has called "France's shame." On November 25, the government unveiled new measures aimed at reducing the number of victims, including a pledge to seize firearms from abusive spouses, the creation of 1,000 new women's shelters and better police training.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/A. Pitton
'Alarming figures'
In Germany, figures showed that at least one woman is physically injured every hour on average at the hands of their partner. German Family Minister Franziska Giffey announced on November 25 that the government will spend €30 million ($33 million) a year over the next four years toward increasing the capacity of women's shelters. As of 2019, there were 350 shelters nationwide.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Footballers don red streaks
Italian footballers in the country's top league, Serie A, took to the pitch with red streaks on their faces as part of a call to end violence against women. UC Sampdoria and Udinese Calcio took part in the campaign in Genoa, which coincided with International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Image: Getty Images/P. Rattini
'Our bones are all the same'
In Italy, 142 women were killed through domestic violence, up 0.7% from the previous year, according to figures released Monday. Trauma surgeon Maria Grazia Vantadori in Milan came up with the idea to show the X-rays of domestic violence abuse victims at the hospital. "Our bones are all the same. So any of these could be any woman," she said
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Bruno
Rape without consent
Only a handful of countries in Europe, including Germany and Belgium, define rape as sex without consent. Other countries often require proof of intimidation or violence. In Brussels, Belgium, red shoes were lined up on the ground to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Image: Reuters/F. Lenoir
Legal loopholes
Spain, Italy, Greece and France — among many other countries — do not legally define rape as sex without consent. Earlier this month, Spaniards took to the streets to protest a Barcelona court decision that sentenced five of six men accused of gang-raping a 14-year-old girl to 10 to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing the minor — but acquitted them of the more serious charge of rape.
Image: Reuters/S. Perez
'Walk of Silence'
In Malaga, Spain, protesters took part in a 'Caminata del Silencio' (Walk of silence) on November 25 to denounce femicide and sexual violence against women. Each placard contains the names of all women who were killed by their partners in Spain so far this year.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/J. Merida
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Husband 'finishing' school
If you want to say something, you must raise your hand. That's rule number one of the husband school. Like in any class, according to Pidia, discipline is vital to achieving the desired goals — and his motivation is very personal.
"In my village, a woman was raped. Instead of people supporting her, they all blamed her that it was her fault," Pidia told DW. "She had to move to another community, which was bad. I felt bad."
During the first session, and to approach this somewhat sensitive topic, Joseph Pidia uses role-playing techniques. The idea: Men put themselves in their wives' shoes for a change of perspective. Some men believe that they don't need to ask their wives for permission to have sex.
A five-year-old Sierra Leonean rape victim has been paralysed from the waist downImage: Reuters/C. Inveen
Perspective shift
The workshop helps them understand the point at which they cross borders in their relationships.
"It will help stop all the mistakes that used to happen in my house," village chief Mohamed Lamin, a program participant, told DW, "This workshop will benefit me to stop all past mistakes and bring development in my family."
Mohamed Josiah, another workshop attendee, said the workshop helps change their perspectives on how to better live with their wives.
All violations towards our wives need to be fewer now, and we need to live in peace with them, he told DW.
A UNICEF rape-prevention poster in Sierra Leone from 2002, the same year the civil war endedImage: picture-alliance/dpaW. Langenstrassen
Dark history
Around 200,000 women were victims of gender-based violence during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war. But the problem persists, and many of the assaults are committed by relatives.
In 2019, President Mada Bio declared rape a national emergency, after a young girl was raped and became paralyzed.
Joseph Pidia believes that men's behavior is a direct consequence of his country's dark past.
"Most of it [violence against women] started during the civil war. So, the goal is to change their mindset. When the mind is okay, everything will be okay.
Joseph Pidia regularly visits communities where former beneficiaries live to evaluate whether there's been a significant change.
Karimu Lahai, a graduate of the husband school, said that life has changed and is living happily with his wife.
"I always quarreled with my wife, beat her, and sent her back to her parents. I also deprived my children of food, and it hurt them at the time," Lahai told DW.
"But ever since I joined the husband school training, we are living peacefully, and there is nothing I will do to make her unhappy again. We are a happy family."
Lahai's wife, Amie Karimu, was full of praise for the husbands school.
"The school has made a lot of changes in our lives. If the husband school hadn't come here, my husband would have remained violent against our children and me,” Karimu said.
Sallay Kanneh, another wife whose husband attended the school, said he is more cooperative now than ever before.
"When I entered into a relationship with my husband, it was very challenging for me because we fought day and night," she said.
"He neglected all his responsibilities as a man and, most of the time, failed to provide for us. My husband has been very cooperative since the introduction of the husband school."
Joseph Pidia especially chooses hard-to-reach locations in Sierra Leone. He says what people living in the rural locations need most is access to information. Unlike cities, there are no radio stations, newspapers, or access to television.
Information finds its way through word of mouth in the community. Pidia hopes that through the workshops, he can get his message gets across:
Currently, there are more than 40 husband schools in Sierra Leone. Pidia's school survives on donations, but he is convinced that, if one workshop can change the mindset of one single man, it might be able to change the future of an entire generation.
The biggest mosque in West Africa will be inaugurated on Friday in Dakar, Senegal. The continent boasts many religious edifices. From 670 AD to 2019, these mosques capture almost every architectural epoch.
Image: Getty Images/R. Kramdi
Massalikul Jinaan mosque, Senegal
At over $33 million (€30 million), the new Massalikul Jinaan mosque was completed in September 2019 by the Mouride Brotherhood. It is the largest in West Africa capable of holding 15,000 worshippers inside, and another 15,000 on an outside esplanade. The name is derived from the title of a poem by Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba Mbacke, the 19th-century founder of the Brotherhood and revered as a saint.
Image: AFP/SEYLLOU
The Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia
This magnificent mosque is one of the oldest places of worship in the Islamic world, and possibly the oldest in Africa. Founded in the year 670 by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi, the building shows the mixed influence of pre-Islamic, Roman and Byzantine architecture. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Kairouan, in northern Tunisia's inland desert.
Image: Imago/Panthermedia
Larabanga Mosque, Ghana
Nicknamed the Mecca of West Africa, the Larabanga Mosque is built in Sudanese architectural style in Larabanga, Ghana. Founded in 1421– it is the oldest mosque in the country and one of the oldest in West Africa. Listed as one of the 100 most endangered sites, it has undergone restoration several times. The restoration works have revived the knowledge of mud-plaster maintenance.
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Mosque of Touba, Senegal
The Great Mosque of Touba was consecrated in 1887 by Sufi saint and founder of the Mouride Brotherhood, Amadou Bamba — though it wasn't officially completed until 1963. Bamba died in 1927 and is interred inside the mosque which is now run by his descendants. It is considered one of the most beautiful mosques in the world.
Image: Imago Images
The Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali
The Great Mosque of Djenne is the world's largest mudbrick structure. It was built in 1907 using a unique architectural style developed in West Africa's Sahelian grassland in the 14th century. Every year, the entire community of Djenne takes part in a festival to repair damages caused by the natural effects of erosion — complete with music and food, of course.
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Abuja National Mosque, Nigeria
This striking mosque was built in 1984 and is the national mosque of Nigeria. Though it was built to cater to Nigeria's substantial Muslim population, it is also open to the non-Muslim public, except during congregational prayers. It is also symbolically located opposite the National Christian Center.
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Uganda National Mosque
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Hassan II Mosque, Morocco
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Djamaa el Djazair, Algiers
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