The African Network against Violence and discrimination against women

“Injustice against women concerns everyone – men too, including you who are listening to us”. With these words begins the live broadcast at Vatican Radio with Patricio Caruso of the World Women’s Observatory (WWO) of WUCWO. An appointment that will be repeated every third Thursday of the month. Why? To share the “Voices of women who, without your organization, would be invisible,” the journalist announces.

“In 2021, we created the Observatory to listen to women. We said to ourselves that if the women of all WUCWO member organisations began to unite their voices on key issues for women, the Observatory could be a valuable platform to inform, even the Vatican Dicasteries, about women’s positions, their feelings, and their situations. That is why we began by listening to the stories of African women: it became clear that the main issue was violence and discrimination. This is why we are presenting the third project to the Hilton Foundation for the next three years: to eradicate violence requires a journey, and that journey is slow. Next year, we will carry out a project on violence against women in Asia,” Caruso explains.

In September, a training workshop will be held in Nairobi (Kenya): for the first time, we have also invited men – priests, husbands, and bishops. There will be 60 participants, 8 of whom will be men.

“Who commits violence against women? Men. If we do not involve them in these processes, nothing will change,” Patricio states in the interview.

Forms of violence against women are multiple, and at the next workshop in Africa the Observatory will focus on domestic violence, economic violence, and women’s access to formal education.

“Regarding economic violence: a woman told me that upon returning from work, she had to hand her salary over to her husband. That testimony has never left me. Our work focuses on raising awareness among all people, not just women”, Patricio shares.

You can listen to the full interview here [ITALIAN]: