{"id":68459,"date":"2024-03-07T19:49:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T19:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearglobal.org\/?p=68459"},"modified":"2024-03-07T19:56:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T19:56:16","slug":"listen-inspire-include-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearglobal.org\/listen-inspire-include-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen, inspire, include women\u2019s rights \u200b"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Listen, inspire, include women\u2019s rights <\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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How language inclusion helps promote women\u2019s rights<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Language inclusion is key to helping women and girls shape a better future for themselves. <\/b>This International Women\u2019s Day, CLEAR Global looks at how we can listen, inspire opportunities, and promote women\u2019s rights with inclusion. It all starts with language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Investing in women is a human rights issue. Exclusion from vital information and services is detrimental to women\u2019s health, well-being, and opportunities. Time and again, women, children, older people, minorities, and people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by vulnerability and language exclusion. Read on to see how the evidence stacks up. Learn how language awareness can support everyone\u2019s right to health, promote gender equality, and help reach those most in need around the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Kanyaruchinya camp, DRC, photo by Victoire Rwicha, CLEAR Global<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Ensure women are not left behind<\/h3>

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When we talk about real-life examples of language exclusion, the inequality is stark. This week, our colleague Victoire shared insights into some of the struggles he\u2019s witnessed women around him face in DRC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Beyond bullets – dangerous language barriers in DRC\u00a0<\/h4>

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People have been displaced in their thousands by violence in eastern DRC. The situation is particularly dangerous for women and girls, who face a <\/span>protection crisis<\/span><\/a>. Thousands of displaced people are struggling to access basic needs like safety, shelter, food, and health care. While humanitarian organizations are working to address challenges, language barriers can create obstacles to effective assistance. Language-based exclusion can hinder the humanitarian response and prevent displaced people from accessing vital information. We\u2019ve changed the name in the story below to protect the person\u2019s identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Francine, a 24-year-old mother displaced from Rutshuru with her two children, tells of her struggle for survival. We\u2019ve changed her name in this story to protect her identity. When fighting broke out, her husband disappeared. She fled with her children, walking 60 kilometers on foot from Rutshuru to the Kanyaruchinya camps in the suburbs of Goma.<\/span><\/p>

Unable to read and unfamiliar with phones, Francine speaks only Kinyarwanda and limited Swahili. She struggles to access information about food distribution and relies heavily on rumors. She recounted how community aid distributors approached her with documents to sign, withholding their content. Fearful but desperate for help, she signed them – but received no assistance. Her limited language skills make her hesitate to speak up or ask questions, further isolating her.<\/span><\/p>

After enduring two days without food, Francine approached a humanitarian worker, hoping to register as a displaced person and access aid. The worker, seemingly unable to understand her, simply gestured for her to wait.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

“I think if my husband was here, or if I knew French or Swahili, I could be treated differently and report the abuse we face in this camp,” Francine concludes.<\/span><\/p>

The situation is dire. Displaced individuals like Francine say they receive inconsistent aid, sometimes nothing at all, and are forced to sign documents they do not understand. Feeling powerless due to language barriers, they are left vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>

Francine, like many others, fled the fighting to seek safety within the camps. Yet, she\u2019s found language barriers create new obstacles. Ensuring humanitarian communication happens in the languages of displaced people can contribute to more equitable and effective aid distribution. Solutions must listen to displaced people to ensure their needs are met.<\/span><\/p>

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\n\t\t\t\t\"Here, I feel like a stranger, unheard and misunderstood. My only dream is to return home, where I can speak my Kinyarwanda and a little Swahili freely, without shame. That's all I pray for.\"\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u2013 Francine<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u2013 Interview by Victoire Rwicha, CLEAR Global in Kanyaruchinya camps, North-Kivu, Goma, DRC.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Kanyaruchinya camp, DRC, photo by Victoire Rwicha, CLEAR Global<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Every day, we see how language can make the difference between being heard or not. To take one critical example, good communication can mean women get the health care they need; while language gaps can mean they go without.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

At CLEAR Global, we partner with women\u2019s rights and health organizations to make sexual and reproductive health information accessible in the languages and formats women in each context understand. With innovative communication solutions, women can access resources, healthcare services and support, share their concerns and get reliable answers, whatever language they speak.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why language inclusion matters for women\u2019s sexual and reproductive health and rights<\/span><\/h3>
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Everyone deserves to know their rights and be free from the threat of sexual violence. But in crisis settings, survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarians rarely have access to reporting channels in their language. Effective action on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) can support the right to health, promote gender equality, and reduce vulnerability that disproportionately affects women and children. Yet without language awareness, these services never reach some of those most in need.<\/span><\/p>

In highly diverse language communities, we see too many women become vulnerable to exclusion because of language barriers. Lack of accessible, actionable information worsens health outcomes, spreads distrust and disinformation, and increases the burden on health systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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If we don\u2019t understand language needs, women and girls risk being unable to access critical information and healthcare in the languages they speak: <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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