Report On the FAAB Focus Group in Collaboration with SAMV

SAMV stands for Steunpunt Allochtone Meisjes and Vrouwen which translates as, The support group for Migrant Girls and Women.  SAMV serves as a support centre not only for girls and women as the name implies but serves the interests of men and the youth as well. In short, the SAMV platform in general deals with gender themes, youth and ethnicity. Most of their themes are centered on empowerment, emancipation and participation of the diverse immigrant groups comprising men, women and the youth (boys and girls) found here in Belgium.

Among other things, SAMV offers help to the youth by guiding or advising them to make informed decisions and the right choices in their studies and other lifelong initiatives, including understanding their sexuality, relationships and the roles they are expected to play in society in order to enhance a harmonious co-existence.  SAMV also designs educational materials that can be used in schools and by the various organizations for the purpose of interculturising them.

SAMV is currently engaged in organizing campaigns that focus on themes based on gender consciousness. They conduct workshops and hold discussions with focus groups in collaboration with the different ethnic minorities through their socio-cultural organizations. This is why on November 8; FAAB organized a group of vibrant African men and women to participate in a discussion about the roles of men and women within their relationships. The aim of these discussions is not to judge people on how they conduct themselves in their private lives but to help in achieving a more gender balanced society.

Before the commencement of the discussions, the spokesperson and moderator from SAMV, Ms Fatma Arikoglu enlightened the group about the purpose of the discussions and workshops. She first gave brief background information about the role- based gender consciousness campaign. She mentioned that, it started in 2007. The target groups at that time were the Moroccans and Turkish ethnic minorities. The purpose was to sensitize men and women about the division of labor or tasks within relationships. Also to improve communication between men and women. Materials depicting the reversal of traditional roles for men and women in the form of cartoons known as “Leila and Ali” were used to highlight the theme.

This gender based campaign has since been extended to the African minority groups. The intention is to further extend it in the near future to other ethnic minorities such as the Russians, South Americans etc. This will be done as means of making the project more intercultural. This rotating exercise will also help in identifying common and uncommon patterns related to gender issues that exist among the different ethnic groups.

During the discussion with the African focus group from FAAB, it emerged that culture as an external factor and the socialization process as an internal  factor , play a very important role in influencing the way men and women interact in relationships. Other factors that were seen as influential  in the shift  in roles within relationships were work/employment and financial issues. For instance ,if there is only one bread winner in the household, he or she will be out of the house  for the whole day and the “stay home” partner may find herself or himself doing the lion’s share of the tasks in the house, which include cleaning, shopping  cooking and taking care of the children. This is considered normal but does not necessarily exempt the working partner from pitching in from time to time in one way or the other . A helping hand is always appreciated from one’s  partner. But if both partners work outside the home , the tasks must be equally shared.

A general observation was also made by the group, that is, the African men in Diaspora have a different attitude towards the stereotype men-women roles, in that they tend to embrace the reversal of roles more readily than they would back in Africa. For instance there are certain home tasks that they can perform willingly while in Europe like, just to make a simple example, washing the baby and changing diapers  but would not dare perform back in Africa, for fear of being ridiculed and losing face among their macho friends with big egos and relatives. It would just not be in keeping with the African image of a real man. The interference from members of the extended family circle can also prevent a man from diverting from the traditional roles  dictated by  that particular society.

In conclusion , I must point out that  during the course of the discussion the members of the focus group  were very forth coming and inspired as they were able to freely share their ideas ,opinions and expectations within their personal relationships .What made the discussion more interesting ,enjoyable and realistic was that, most of the participants based most of their opinions and ideas on their personal real-life experiences and those of their friends and acquaintances, not on theoretical vague models from textbooks.  They could also identify themselves within the context of the roles depicted in the materials used of the “Leila and Ali” campaign. There were of course,general observations based on their interactions with the locals as well as other minority groups.

As a final note , the president of FAAB, staff members and the member associations would like to congratulate SAMV as she celebrates 10 years of existence on the 10th of December 2010 at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels!

Check our photo gallery for more  photos

Happy 10^th anniversary SAMV!!!

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