by Maxine Tuwila Lesivou
Women in Rakiraki are urging their inclusion and representation in leadership roles at the local-level such as the advisory councils, outlining that already they are at the forefront with health as ‘village nurses’ but lack the recognition in decision-making spaces.
Women leaders from various organizations, clubs, groups and networks presented their views on ways in which women leaders need to engage and be recognized for their contribution to our communities.
“We need more women in leadership roles. For example, in Rakiraki, we only have three women out of twenty-five advisory councillors. We have a lot of women village nurses and we are still not recognized – a lot needs to be done so we can achieve equality in leadership roles,” said Sereima Meli.
Meli the representative from the Naboutolu Women’s group added that women are ready to take up leadership positions however, they are still not given the opportunity, because of patriarchy in communities, where men hold the primary power and women are largely excluded from spaces such as political leadership, decision-making etc. She said that this has been a cause too of intimate partner violence and where it continues to be difficult to difficult to resolve.
femLINKpacific had just concluded its district convening for the month of October in Rakiraki yesterday. The convening was attended by 10 Rural Women Leaders from our Rakiraki Rural Women Leaders Community Media Network (RWLCMN)
“Rural women Shaping Peace and Recovery better – Women’s deliberation through perseverance, leadership and hope during COVID19” is the theme for this month’s convening.
Azakia Kalougata the representative from Rainbow Pride Foundation Rakiraki hub echoed the statement saying that mostly women are stigmatized when they seek help when they’ve been violated in their homes and communities.
“When violence occurs, the intervention in our villages mostly don’t work because most women that have been violated are stigmatized when they go to someone they trust, such as the Fiji Women’s Crisis Center (FWCC) or the police”.
Kalougata adds that the effectiveness of women’s leadership is sometimes effective to some extent however, it depends on your setting (Community/environment). He shares that women in villages are mostly not recognized for the commitment and the resilience they have especially in times of a crisis such as the current pandemic.
“In a traditional I-Taukei village, I would say that women’s voices are difficult to be heard because male priority is important but these women in rural communities are the ones that are leading responders in a crisis especially now with this pandemic – the village health nurses are looking after the entire village and community”.
Ana Naivou from the Rakiraki Market Vendors Association says that women are not accessing services because of the lack of trust within the community.
“We women are finding it hard to trust others especially when we are going through violence. We have to be careful in who to trust and who we share our issues with because we might be sharing with someone in authority and then he/she goes back to tell your families about what you’ve shared. That’s why we don’t want to access the services that are provided in the village”.
Women leaders from femLINKpacific’s Rakiraki Network recommended that women need to push for spaces that is theirs and there’s a greater need in achieving equality in leadership roles especially in this unequal society that we live in. They concluded that women can persevere through any hardships and we need to acknowledge these achievements.
The convening was attended by members of the Rakiraki Market Vendors Association, Rainbow Pride Foundation Rakiraki Hub, Soqosoqo Vaka-Marama, former members of Ra Naari Shaba and Young Women leaders from across Rakiraki.
