Say NO- UNiTE

The judges and my collegue : )

Judges and Magistrates

Committing to UNIFEM's and the Secretary General's Say NO- UNiTE to End Violence Against Women Campaign

I don't think one can ever find their papers once they get filed in this mess.

A room where cases are heard.

The start of the 16 days of activism against violence against women is coming upon us from Novemeber 25 to December 10th. Since I arrived in Dar all my work has been towards planning these 16 days. We are supporting 8 organizations and the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, and Children. Two events have happened outside of the 16 days time frame, but are still contributing to the international days of activism. The first I posted about here and the second was this past week in Kigoma, a small city on the shores of Lake Tangayika. In the distance I could see the hills of the Congo or was it Burundi. : ) After travling with high court judges and getting VIP treatment at the airports, we arrived on Monday to a nice hotel right on the shores of the lake.

The view from my room.

Judges and magistrates from Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, Tabora, and Mwanza arrived to participate in a training on the international and regional laws that Tanzania is a party to. Focus was on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). There are so many treaties and laws that Tanzania has signed on to, but very few are actually upheld in the courts. So the training was specifically on violence against women and inheritance laws and how to look at cases from a gender lens. It was an interesting experience to see how judges operate. Every minute was accounted for and the only color in the room came from myself and my collegue, everyone else was wearing grey and black suits. House rules were set before anything else and all decisions were made based on consensus. Though there were some light moments here and there about desperately wanting to go to Gombe National Park. I mean there isn't much to say about the week. Everyday from 8 to 5 the judges went through case studies and did role plays, at times I felt like I was in a real court room. There was a lot of talk and committments made, but let us see what actions actually result. Oh but there is a case that one of the magistrates is trying. She told me that she's working on a case of an 11 year old girl who was forced to have sex with a dog and the perpetrator is a Dutch man who was making a porno. Sick!

Despite hearing horrendous stories like that, all and all it was a great week and I feel rejuventated. A trip out of Dar was exactly what I needed. Can't wait for the next one.

A typical house

Kids outside the David Livingstone museum.

Every morning snails were everywhere!

AND BATS!