Speak Up!

What is Speak Up! ?

Speak Up!...
... is a European wide project of Community Radio Stations.
... is a campaign to highlight the issue of violence against migrant, refugee and ethnic minority women in the media.
... is an attempt to sensitise and NOT sensationalise the manner in which violence is portrayed in the media.
... intends to provide Community Radio Stations and programme producers with the tools and guidelines they require in dealing with this sensitive issue.
... is a project which aims to encourage minority women to Speak Up! and voice their opinions and views through the medium of Community Radio.
... encourages you to Speak Up! and make your voice be heard. Get involved by contacting!

What is Violence?

• Violence against women is a violation of women’s human rights and occurs across all political, economic, cultural and social divides.
• It causes physical and psychological damage to women and children.
• It is a grave social problem that threatens the safety, equality and bodily integrity of every woman.

Special Aspects of Domestic Violence Against Migrant Women:

Different factors make migrant women more exposed to danger than female nationals of the country in which they are living:

• linguistic and cultural barriers can contibute to the isolation of the family and also make it more difficult for women to seek the help of the police.
• in cases where the legal residence status of the migrant woman derives from her husband, this increases her dependance on him, thus making it more difficult for her to achieve independence.
• Some cultures emphasise the partriarchal structure of the family more strongly than is the case in the Member States of the European Union so that this, too, makes it more difficult for the affected woman to defend herself against a violent member of the family.
• Women from Muslim states, in particular, have no possibility of returning to their home countries because, as women who have left their husbands, they cannot count on any understanding; rather, they will be rejected by their family as having disgraced them.

Violence against women is universal but what makes it more difficult for migrant women?

• Migrant Women are not only suffering with domestic Violence, they also have to cope with structural, institutional, social and verbal violence.
• It is often the case that the legislators act as acomplice to the abusers crime.
• The helplessness, dispair and fear for survival of these women is oftened viewed and treated with little compansion and in a clincial manner, from a male point of view.

Conditions which lead to the isolation and dispair of migrant women:

• The social and economic dependancy of these women is inforced by legislation.
• Lack of understanding and translation of legislation.
• Inadequate living and working conditions.
• Lack of acceptance, with little opportunity to integrate into society at large.
• Women are dutybound as chief child carers.

The women's lack of protection strengthens the power of her abuser!

Examples of structural and social violence in european countries:

• Their Lives are controled by opposing power structures e.g North/South, Black/White, Rich/Poor, Men/Women.......
• In Austria migrant women can in the majority of cases enter the country alone if they in tend to become students, prostitutes or marry an EU citizen.
• The issue of divorce: In the Rep of Ireland migrant women do not have access to the legal process in order to attain such a right.
• In Germany and other european countries mutilation of migrant women is still widely practised.
• Many migrant women are economically dependant and morally committed to their husbands and families, which makes it difficult for them and makes them reluctant to leave a violent situation.
• We all take part in verbal violence through our ignorance, prejudice, generalisations and overall lack of information and awareness of the problems that are rife in our society.

Globalisation inforces a patriarchal and capitalist society where migrant women are seen as a low budget, cheap labour force and hence are resigned to low status, low paid and demeaning jobs, e.g. cleaning, prostitution, factory workers etc...

Finally violence can be very silent, and is not only evident from trademark bruises!

As a result of these denials of migrant women's Human Rights several proposals were put forward at The Beijing Conference (1995) Below are a number of there key demands which are of key concern to migrant women:

Be not longer still, Speak Up!

How can I participate in Speak Up!?

• Speak Up! and Community Radios stations all over Europe invite you to Speak Up! and get involved in our radio campaign from November 4th - 10th 2002.
• You can get involved in making radio programmes surrounding the issue of violence against minority women, by doing interviews, features, production work or any other way you can think of getting migrant women involved in Community radio and help them express their views in any way.
• Making contacts with various migrant women, support organisations, Community radios and other local media.
• Musicians, artists, journalists, people of all professions and interests we invite you to SPEAK UP! and get involved in what ever way you can.
• There is an opportunity for all your efforts be broadcasted not only locally but on a European level in Community radio stations all over Europe.
• All support in what ever form will be gratefully received!
• All submissions should be made by October 20th.
• So contact one of the Community Radio Stations listed below NOW!

Guidelines, how to deal with violence against women in the media:

• no sensational, but sensitive way of reporting
• silent violence - silent help
• biographical style of feature
• mediator (person of trust) at the interview with migrant women
• no emotionalising texts or music, women shall bring their own music
• don't push the interview
• leave your problems at home (beware projection!)
• stay neutral: feel with them, don't suffer with them (who knows, what's good or bad?)
• let the women talk, don't interrupt them, allow pauses
• don't generalise ("all migrant women are poor women")
• work with positive examples

Our main aim is to inform and encourage migrant women to stand up for their rights and to watch out for every kind of help, they can get.

Benefits of Community Radio

• Non Govermental Organisations.
• Public access (available for all to express their views).
• Serve the needs of minority groups in the community.
• Important alternative to Mass Media (general concensus, political influences, free of capitalist ideology).
• Form of empowerment for minority groups.
• Medium for integration of minority groups.
• Freedom of expresion (not bound by strong censorship laws).
• Free from Commericalisation(no advertising), no given agenda.
• Authentic realistic reporting, which is true to its subject (not sensation or entertainment based).
• A medium to influence society and inforce real change.
• Highlights awareness of and respect for all members of society.
• Operates in the sphere of realism and true nature of human beings and not in the accepted perceptions of society.

How can I contact Speak Up! ?

Any ideas or suggestions or any other contact can be made through the following addresses;

Radio Robin Hood
Itäinen Rantakatu 64
20810 TURKU
Tel: +358 2 2773 666
Fax: + 358 2 2500 905
info@radiorobinhood.fi
www.radiorobinhood.fi

Wired Fm,
Mary Immaculate Collage,
South Circular Road,
Limerick, Rep of Ireland.
Tel: +353 61 315773
Fax: +353 61 325776
wiredfm@mic.ul.ie
listen.to/wiredFM

Radio Orange 94.0
Schubertgasse 10
1090 Wien, Austria
Tel: +43 1 309 09 99-7
office@orange.or.at
www.orange.or.at

Radio Helsinki
Schörgelgasse 27
8010 Graz, Austria
Tel.: +43 316 830880-85
Fax: +43 316 830880-84
helsinki@helsinki.mur.at
www.helsinki.at

Freies Radio Wueste Welle
Hechinger Strasse 203
D-72072 Tuebingen
Tel.: +49(0)7071-760337
frauenfunken@wueste-welle.de
www.wueste-welle.de

amarc europe
www.amarc.org/europe