The Vanuatu’s Women Centre is basically a domestic abuse shelter. They do great work, with providing legal services and advice, as well as a safe refuge for women and children. (And they deserve their own space! Ahem…) But the controversy yesterday came during the question-and-answer session following their speaker. It was an interesting set-up – in one section of seats, there was a group of men who egged each other on to speak. Scattered throughout the audience in the section facing them were women who I recognised as vocal spokespeople for women’s rights. Is this what it comes down to – that the fight for women’s rights in Vanuatu is in the hands of a few outspoken individuals, while discrimination is entrenched in the society?

Anyway, the first question came from one of the men sitting with the others, who asked where was the equality and why there wasn’t a Vanuatu Men’s Centre or why the VWC couldn’t combine to be a centre for all ni-Vanuatu. Fair enough, if men feel like they are victims of domestic abuse, there should be a place for them to go as well. But their calls of equality were exposed as lies, when a woman responded to the first speaker and said that nowhere in the Bible, did it say that men are the boss of women and the family. One of the men called out “Kiaman!” (liar in Bislama) and another one started reeling off Bible passages which he thought would prove his argument.

The debate seems to rage around the Family Protection Act which has already been enacted so is already in law, as the women activists kept stressing yesterday. And it took a long time to get there… it had been discussed for 10 years, and the President last year even refused to sign it, until the Supreme Court ordered him to do so. It is basically a law against domestic violence… something which seems uncontroversial to me as a “whiteman”. Don’t hit women. Is that so hard? But it seems like it is… some of the accusations flying around yesterday was that women were pushing the bill for financial reasons, because if the husband hits them and is found guilty, the victim will get compensation. Another question that was asked was “What if a man corrects his wife and goes to prison. The children will be without a father. How does this protect the family?”

A good thing about the debate was that it eventually seemed like the men were worn down and had to accept that this law was a reality. However, the women still had to accept concessions. One man said that when a woman wears trousers and her underwear is showing, a man will think that she likes sex and she can’t blame a man for raping her. That is why all women should wear the island dress. Another said that it was the victim’s fault she was raped, as she was walking outside alone at night (the reason for this was the bus couldn’t drive her all the way to her house and dropped her along a “half road”) and therefore, girls should have a curfew. Both times, the female respondent said that yes, we tell the girls not to dress like this, and not to walk alone by themselves at night. But at least, the women I was sitting with, were muttering “it’s about choice” when she said this.

As frustrating as it was to hear all that, it was still fascinating to be part of the dialogue in a country where equal rights is not a foregone conclusions. And it is in situations like this, where I feel that practical action like microfinance and putting money (and eventually power) into the hands of women, is more successful than advocacy.

Sorry, long and rambling yet again. Man, I need an editor.

Anyway, I estimate about 1500 women turned up. Apparently, twice as many women turned up last year, so numbers were down a little for some reason. Some women also apparently camped out overnight at where the parade route was to begin. The parade was definitely the highlight of the day for me, it was early so the energy was really high from everyone.

But we also scored a really important political point during the day. In Vanuatu, every business, regardless of how much they earn, have to pay 5000 vatu for a business license. It’s a real burden for our members when some of them only make a couple of hundred vatu in profit every week. The Ministry of Finance announced during Open Day that VANWODS members don’t have to pay for a licenses. Our Open Day isn’t really a fundraising event – it’s a day for the mamas, which is awesome – when they spend 364 days on their families every year, it’s great that they can have a day for themselves. But it’s also an important political event for us, in that it’s a show of our strength and the support that we receive from the community. In that sense, Open Day 2009 was a big success.

But one of the biggest problems I see in Vanuatu is the lack of innovation and ingenuity. So many microenterprises fail because they say that there are too many copycat businesses. I went to a meeting with the Department of Ni-Vanuatu Business yesterday, and the director suggested that it’s in the Ni-Vanuatu culture to be risk-averse and have a fear of failure. But I’m afraid it could become a problem for us institutionally – we’re lucky that VANWODS has a great managing director at the moment, who is a local ni-Vanuatu but has been educated and employed in the US, Canada and Australia. I think one of the remedies to the lack of creativity is exposure to the outside world and new ideas. The two women VANWODS want to send to Turin have been identified as future leaders of our organisation, and the Boulder Program is reputed to be the best microfinance training program in the world. It’s a coincidence that first prize in the CGAP photo contest is an all-expenses paid trip.

Anyway, this isn’t one of my photos but I found it from last year’s Open Day and I love the colours. Open Day preparations are going well – come along if you’re in Vila on July 17! It kicks off with a parade in the morning, from Moorings to Saralana Stage. The theme for this year’s event is “Ol Mama i Wekap Long Bisnis (Vanuatu Women Waking Up to Business)”.

But pop by if you happen to be in Port Vila – July 17, 2009 at the Saralana Stage, across the road from the Parliament House.

Although I later learnt that it was tabu (so go through the tour instead!)