I
am gob-smacked.
Did
I hear that right? Did the patriarch of Georgia just tell the nation that the
priority of Georgians is to re-populate, that abortion should be banned, and
that children who were a financial drain on their parents could be given to the
church?
Did
he just address a nation whose economic prosperity (or lack of) has led people
to protest on the streets because their children are dying of starvation?
(1)
‘Georgia has 19.1 abortions per 1,000 women of
reproductive age. It has one of the highest rates of abortion in Europe. The
average woman in Georgia will have an average of three abortions in her life
time.’(2)
I
was listening to Tripod, (3) a weekly broadcast from Tbilisi that looks at the
big issues and offers opinion and discussion about what is going on. I had to
hit the ‘replay’ button a couple of times to get my head around the implication
of the patriarch’s words. (2)
‘This
(abortion) happens because of the desire and decision of the parents. It is a
horrible murder of an innocent, helpless creature. And the doctor is an
accessory to this murder. When the country is in such a difficult demographic
situation, I think the government must pass a law banning abortions, with just
a small number of exceptions of course’
Exceptions!!!!!
What does he mean by that? Does he mean that if a child is a girl? Or disabled?
Or God forbid… GAY??? Or the result of a rape??? Or what??? Come ON!!
Selective
gender infanticide is reported to be at an all-time high in Georgia. (4) And that phrase the ‘traditional value’
or cultural norm that gets bandied about (most often, it seems, by men)
to legitimise stereotyping of, and discrimination against women or LGBT people
is becoming more and more transparent, and holds less and less substance.
Let’s
repeat what is being said on the streets of Georgia all the time; ‘A boy is OK,
a girl is not’.
And what if a high proportion of these extra
children are girls? Or disabled? Or homosexual or transgender? Will the church
take them then? The situations in Georgia’s orphanages are already, in the
majority of institutions, dire. There are a few exceptions and most of those
are as a result of intervention by UNICEF or other philanthropic organisations.
The social stigma of having a child outside wedlock, or with a 'disability',
creates such shame that families break up, and children are abandoned either to
an orphanage or left to beg in the streets. (5)
Contrary to popular belief, the
majority of children begging on the streets of Tbilisi are, in fact, ethnic
Georgians and not immigrants. Children are hidden away for years in family homes
and orphanages are filled with unwanted children who are often beaten and
abused.
Children with and without physical disability
suffer:
‘Physical violence, including corporal punishment,
incarceration – including being locked in one’s home or not allowed out. Over-or
misuse of medication, medical experimentation or involvement in invasive
research without consent. Sexual abuse and exploitation, including rape, sexual aggression, indecent
assault, indecent exposure, forced involvement in pornography and prostitution.
Psychological threats and harm, usually consisting of verbal abuse, harassment,
humiliation or threats of punishment or abandonment, emotional blackmail,
arbitrariness, denial of adult status and infantilising disabled persons.
Interventions which violate the integrity of the person, including certain
educational, therapeutic and behavioural programmes. Financial abuse, including
fraud and theft of personal belongings, money or property. Neglect, abandonment
and deprivation, neglect of health care needs or other daily necessities’ (6)
Horrific isn’t it?
This report goes on to name the
orphanages that ill-treat their children. If the child is abandoned, God help
them. If they are abandoned and disabled, then I am not sure that being
in a church orphanage will make much of a difference.
I tried really hard to
find Orthodox orphanages on the internet. No luck. There were state run
ones, (7)some of which were improving,
but still in need of an immense amount of work. There were lots of Methodist,
Evangelical, and Salvation Army ones, heaps run by UNICEF, or Amnesty
International, a Waldorf (Steiner) one and an astonishingly amazing one run by
the Catholic church, (8) but nope, not one run by the orthodox church.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I am sure that the majority of Georgian society
who, overall, loves and cherishes its children and are overtly affectionate
towards them, would be equally horrified, especially as part of the Georgian
literary culture that has built an ideology of what children’s lives could,
should, and ought to be like is laid out in the writings of Nodar Dumbadze.
Of COURSE it is not only Georgia where children are abused and neglected (9) and OF COURSE there are cases of neglect here in the UK that are equally horrendous. Whilst it is worth knowing that the UK has one of the highest incidences of child poverty in the developed world it is also worth remembering that we are not encouraging people to have more children. We are also not taking away the right of the woman to have less children, or none at all!
The
idea of a Children’s town as outlined by Nodar Dumbadze, who was
one of Georgia’s most famous writers, encompasses a vision of a society where
all children are included, and play without borders or burdens, and is one
which all citizens of the world might like to aspire to.
It
would seem impossible to create a place in the sun for children living in such
a dark and poverty-stricken reality
however there are some innovative, creative and educational things going on. Things are improving, and some Georgian people
and Georgian business are providing a reminder, a vision of what Dumbadze wanted
and dreamed for every child and whilst some
work is continuing to combat the abuse and neglect in orphanages there
is also a place I think for public celebration of a vision, a dream.
The
Sun Festival takes place each year on June 1st in Mzirui Park in
Tbilisi and is the brainchild of Anna Goguadze, a 26-year-old TV presenter,
photographer, artist, writer and mad fan of The Beatles, Nodar Dumbadze, and
dreamer of dreams. Anna is also disabled
and uses a wheelchair. Anna is unique because she puts herself on TV in front
of a nation of people whose smiles often belie their real thoughts about
orphans, street children and those with disabilities. (10)
Anna’s
vision of a Sun Festival is to create a positive, fun-filled festival
experience for all children in an environment where a wheelchair does not
prevent a connection with another human being, where a disability does not
define, but where a child is celebrated for who they are, for their own light,
for their own sunshine. Anna’s dream is for every child to be integrated into
society, and to know they are loved and accepted no matter what.
Anna
would deny she is a feminist – she defines herself as more of a humanist – and
yet she initiated an interview on her TV show with The Women’s Fund to discuss
the issues faced by Georgian women today. Anna also secured funding from
GEOCELL for the third year in a row for her celebration in the sun. (11)
Anna is certainly breaking boundaries
and celebrating childhood and is inspiring others to do the same. No matter
that Anna is on TV, I am glad she is. She is using it as a platform for reform,
for change, for celebration and for spreading awareness. And she appears to be
succeeding. She is doing practical, inspirational and well-intentioned things,
which remind the Georgian people of that special place in the sun for all their
children. Not just the ones they can afford, or the ones that are not disabled,
or, oh dear, the girls.
I
admire women like Anna. Here is a woman who is slowly swimming against the tide
of the patriarchal nonsense that tries to not only oppress her and others like
her, but also their visions and their dreams. In Georgia right now there are
women who see past disability, poverty, and oppression. When these women come
into a room, they bring the sun with them.
The patriarch ought to be listening
to them.
Are
the orphanages improving? I hope so. God I hope so. From my own research I
believe so, even though there is a hell of a long way to go. If the patriarch has his way, there are going
to be a whole lot more of them so I have to believe so.
We all have our part to
play.
Sarah Cobham 14 May 2013
(2) Ocl.org/Georgians-wrestke-with-abortion-issue-as-gender-imbalance-grows
(3) www.tblpod.com
(6) Info-georgia.ru/index/international standards
on ill/0-75
‘The (2002 UNICEF) reports reveal that
the overriding reason why families surrender their children with disabilities
to institutions is a lack of care-giving capacity. This can be a result of
social values and individual beliefs, knowledge and training or a gap in
material and economic support.’
(9)www.nspcc.org Statistics showing child
neglect in the UK
(10) www.youtube.com/watch?v+vuEMMAEd71I&feature=share Video showing challenges faced by disabled
people in Tbilisi today
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