In Senegal, especially in the most isolated regions, women are generally not very emancipated and they often are mistreated by their husband, generation after generation. In order to improve this situation, the non governmental organization Jeunesse du monde, with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), gives a hand to the Association for the promotion of Senegalese women (APROFES) in order to fight violence against women.

Most of the Senegalese are Muslim. “Since religion gives a lot of power to men, we cannot automatically talk about conjugal violence. Young women have often seen their mother being mistreated by their father, so it seems to be totally normal to them”, explains Sonia Muhimpundu, a Jeunesse du monde trainee, during her stay at the APROFES, in Kaolack.

Hence, the awareness done by the APROFES, an organization which was founded in 1987 and which gains in popularity in the region, is very important. The organization does not only fight violence against women, but it also intervenes in the cases of forced weddings. “There are laws that prohibit these weddings, but they are not always applied in the villages”, reports Mrs Muhimpundu.

A group of children who came to the Association for the promotion of Senegalese women. Photo:Sonia Muhimpundu

Listening point
Another powerful tool is the APROFES listening point, where Mrs Muhimpundu did most of her training. Women who have been mistreated by their husband come to the listening point and confide themselves to the social worker of the organization.

“Since awareness has been done, the women of Kaolack know the APROFES and come to talk about what they live. On the other hand, women do not talk about psychological violence since they cannot prove that they are victims of this kind of violence”, says Mrs Muhimpundu.

The interveners listen to the women and give them concrete advice. Generally, the members of the APROFES suggest meditation.

Meditation
In Quebec, it is almost impossible to imagine an organization, which helps mistreated women, ask a violent husband to meditate. On the other hand, in Senegal, it seems to be an effective strategy.

“In many situations, women approve this solution since they want to stay with their husband. They want to make everything right”, explains Mrs Muhimpundu.

The husbands cooperate most of the time, since they know that the APROFES protects women’s rights. “We have made a lot of awareness and they know that if they still mistreat their wife, they may go to jail. They do think about it. We, at the APROFES, want to change their habits, we want them to understand that they do not have the right to mistreat their wives, event if religion gives them power”, adds the trainee.

When meditation is not effective, we do not leave the woman alone. “The APROFES accompanies the woman to the doctor and pay for the medical certificate, which proves that a woman has been mistreated by her husband. Once this is done, the organization helps the woman in a legal process”, explains Mrs Mme Muhimpundu.

Most of the persons who come to confide themselves to the interveners of the APROFES are women, but it sometimes happen that men come too. Sonia Muhimpundu met a man who came for help because he had just learned that his ex-wife was about to have their younger daughter excised. The APROFES has then confronted the woman to remember her that excision is prohibited in Senegal.

Delicate situations
The APROFES has been in this region for 20 years now. All the men and women know how the organization works, and they generally do not hesitate when comes the time to ask for help. But one taboo still remains…

“The situation becomes more complicated when it concerns imams (persons in charge of prayer), since these men are highly respected in the community. It is very difficult for a citizen to denounce them. Nobody wants to do that”, explains Mrs Muhimpundu.

Similar situations occur often. We can mention examples such as a couple of talibes (kids who study the Coran) who have been beaten by imams, or young girls who are promised to imams. Mrs Muhimpundu indicates that “there is still a lot of awareness to do in order to denounce such situations.”

Other initiatives
While supporting the victims of violence, the APROFES is elaborating other projects in order to improve these women’s conditions. The organization has already created a mutual savings bank (10 years ago) and a health mutual (five years ago).