HREA Electronic Resource Centre for Human Rights Education:
The Bells of Freedom

 

STEP TWO

Links between Human Rights and Responsibilities

MORAL VALUE 4: SOCIAL SENSITIVITY

EXERCISE 7, "THE SENSITIVITY GAME"

Overview: Everyone is burdened with one kind of disadvantage or another, compared to other people. An important step in the consciousness-raising of rights-sensitive people is developing their ability to reflect on their own position in life and empathize with others who have less advantages or who are faced with different challenges.

Objectives: Participants are
- sensitized to real-life situations where there is an encroachment on their dignity and that of others around them.
- expected to develop an affective as well as cognitive understanding of dignity, defined as having their human rights protected and respected.
- enabled to appreciate the relative position of others in society in relation to their dignity. This is what the UDHR (Article 1) means in calling all persons to act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Procedures: Ask the participants to line up at a starting area for "the sensitivity game."
Explain that the goal of the game is to find out who among them will reach the finish line first.
Identify the finish line 10 steps forward. The goal is to promote critical understanding of the diverse circumstances of people in society by identifying factors as to why some do and others do not reach the goal. The facilitator should make adjustments to suit the target group, for example changing the number of participants, the number of steps taken, the questions asked and space used.

Materials: The UDHR, Articles 1, 2 and 25. An open space is needed sufficient for participants to stand in the center and move back 12 steps or forward 12 steps.

Sequence: Step 1. After everyone is in a center starting area, ask a series of questions, connected with required moves --so many steps forward or backward.

- Did any among you have parents at your birth who had money enough to support you as a child? Take 2 steps forward
- Who among you was born with or has acquired a physical disability? Take 1 step back.
- Who among you have a house and lot? Step 2 times forward.
- Whom among you have a monthly income that you think is adequate for your family needs? Step 3 times forward.
- Who among you belong to a community group that you feel suffers from discrimination? Step back 3 times.
- Who among you have adequate health care and clean water for your family? Step 3 times forward.
- Who among you are women? Step back 3 times.
- Who among you have parents who are unemployed or underpaid? Step 2 times backward.
- Who among is unemployed? Step back 3 times.
- Does anyone here have a pension scheme? Take 2 steps forward.

Step 2. Ask the participants. (1) What do the starting and the finish lines represent? (2)Now that you know where you stand, how do you feel? Why do you feel good? bad? What do you feel about the others? Is it okay to be at the back? (3) Why do you think some are in front of the line and some are lagging behind? How do you account for this? (4) Do you think it is just and humane that some are in front and some are at the back? (5) Why do you think some situations ask you to step forward not backward and others backward and not forward? (6) What do you think are the needs of those who have not reached the finish line?

Step 3. Facilitator: Synthesize the answers of the participants by noting that the starting line represents human dignity that people inherently possess. We have to protect our dignity. At the starting line, we are all born equal because we possess human potentialities that we have to develop to the fullest. But from birth and as we go through life, there are factors which hinder us from attaining our full potential. That is why we occupy different distances. Ask for comments and discussion about the fact that some enjoy full human rights and others do not. Draw attention to Articles 1 and 2 of the UDHR

Step 4. Explain that the finish line represents fullness of being human. Our human dignity protected and respected. It is what we all aspire for. The distance between the starting and the finish lines tells us that we need a certain standard of living to enable us to protect our dignity. What constitutes such living standards is what we call human rights. Draw attention to Article 25 of the UDHR.

Step 5. Ask those who found themselves furthest behind what they could do to move forward?
Ask those over the finish line what they could do to help some of those behind.?

Step 6. Facilitator: Conclude with a discussion about the idea that wherever a participant finds herself/himself standing, their dignity deserves to be equally respected and protected.

Appendix for Exercise 7, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Article 25. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

 

EXERCISE 8, "RURAL WORKING WOMEN"
(Adapted from David Shiman, Teaching Human Rights (Denver, CO: Center for Teaching International Relations, University of Denver, 1995), pp. 75-77.)

Overview: In this activity, students examine the issue of equality as it relates to women and work. It uses an Ethiopian scenario on the division of labour common between women and men in rural areas. Many aspects of the imbalance shown in the example here are rooted in culture, not law. In Ethiopian tradition, families rear their children in such a way that certain tasks are identified as females' and others as mens' work. Household chores are viewed as strictly female responsibilities whereas outside activites and duties are typically male spheres. While there may have been many good reasons for this in the past, a modernizing society needs more flexibility and must be willing to modify customary patterns lest women face unnecessary penalties imposed by social pressures. Participants should broaden their social sensitivity, looking for social and not just legal remedies.

Objectives: To analyze gender division of labor in Ethiopian rural areas and to consider participants' values regarding male and female roles in light of the fact that international law, traditionally understood, does not reach all problems of private discrimination. Because cultural views control these circumstances, the need is for the development of greater social sensitivity. Discussion should be set up in such a way as to facilitate people's clarifying their values and changing their minds.

Procedures: Present participants with information about international norms on labour, identifying provisions and issues relevant to Ethiopia. Present the case study, followed by discussion. To maximize the objective of raising sensitivity, use the "Discussion Method" described in the "How To" section of this book. The facilitator should acknowledge that there is no such thing as a typical family in any society. But the example describes the division of work responsibilities and income between a husband and wife in a familiar rural Ethopian setting. Moreover the patterns described are similar to those found in many African and Asian countries.

Materials: Relevant provisions of UDHR and CEDAW and the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Constitution (EFDR) (see Appendix)

Sequence: Step 1. Tell participants about the provisions of UDHR and CEDAW that relate to work and conditions of labor. Explain that these provisions place obligations on governments, but do not directly obligate people in their daily private lives unless we pass laws on such private matters. Thus we must look at issues of women in rural work in terms of our culture as well as in terms of our laws.

Step 2. Read or recite this scenerio called "A Week of Work."
This rural Ethiopian family lives on a farm on the outskirts of a village without electricity, telephone, or pipe-borne water. The village has an Orthodox church, bar, mudwalled teahouse, medical dispensary, and three small shops. It is located on a dirt road which connects to a major highway leading to the capitol city of Addis Ababa, ninty kilometers away. Farming has become a barely adequate source of income; the soil has deteriorated due to erosion and their plot of land was too small to earn enough money to pay for the children's school costs, local taxes, clothing, and assorted household expenses. The husband occasionally goes to the city in search of wagepaying employment in a factory, but he has not found any but occasional odd jobs. When he makes these trips, he devotes much less time to the cash crop production that is his source of farm income. The wife maintains and works the land. She has assumed many farming and marketing responsibilities. As he is gone for short periods each month, she spends more time than her husband growing vegetables to sell in the local market to generate some household income. Her family and household maintenance responsibilities have substantially increased because of the husband's occasional trips to the city. The job of raising eight children and providing for their daily needs falls almost exclusively on her.

WIFE'S WORK

Farm-related Responsibilities (throughout the week)

Ploughs and prepares soil with hoe and other small implements
Plants, weeds, and harvests small cash crop, e.g., beans, maize, and food crops for family
Pounds, grinds, sieves, or sorts crops for family use and sale
Carries cash crop and food not needed for family consumption to local market. Sells at market (perhaps one day a week) Oversees children who herd the few goats/cattle

Household/Family Responsibilities (throughout the week)

Gives birth to children (average of 8 per family)
Prepares meals for family and food for husband to take to city
Washes and clothes young children
Assists older children to prepare for school
Cares for youngest children during day (carrying baby on back), with assistance of older daughter
Keeps house and family compound clean Oversees and disciplines children
Washes and mends clothes for family Deals with emergencies, e.g., illness, accidents
Collects firewood (1-2 mile walk every other day)
Fetches water (1 -2 mile walk every other day)

Community Responsibilities (throughout the week)

Socializes with women while selling in the market and gathering wood
Volunteers labor to self-help project (112 day Income per week), e.g., collecting stones, making bricks for primary school or health clinic construction goat or cattle in market
Assists other women with chores at times of illness, accident
Meets with local women to plan formation of women's cooperative to obtain own income
Attends church with family

Average Working Day 15-16 hours

Income

Wages - none
Sales - "excess' family food sold in market

 HUSBAND'S WORK

Farm-related Responsibilities (when not travelling)

Fells trees, clears bush, and prepares soil on new plots of land (with use of rented tractor)
Harvests and makes decisions on use of farm land, i.e., cash crops to be grown
Establishes priorities and guidelines for farming activities
Arranges for sale of cash crop, if beyond village

Household/Family Responsibilities (when not travelling)

Socializes with children and wife
Repairs house, other buildings, fences, etc.
Contributes part of income for children's school expenses, house repair, clothes, and perhaps food

Community Responsibilities

Socializes with males at local teahouse or bar
Attends church with family

Income

Wages - urban employment
Day work wages in city
Sales "cash crops" sold by wife in market

Average Working Day 8 hours

 

Step 2. What related issues of controversy do participants see in Ethiopia. Studies show most of the world's population is in Asia and Africa where women, on average, perform 60 to 80 percent of the agricultural work, own 1 percent of the land, property, and resources, and receive 10 percent of the earned agricultural income. Do these figures present a fair profile of rural Ethiopia, in participants' opinion. Ask for one or two volunteers to speak from experience.

Step 3. Set up two equally sized groups for each side of a question, but they do not, at first, have a choice as to which side they will argue. Tell them that the question for each side to discuss is whether the division of labor between men and women in rural areas is fair and whether anything can be done to make changes and redress the balance. Use the "Discussion Exercise" (see "Sample Methods").

Step 4. Using the "Discussion Exercise" ask each group to change sides and argue the opposite view from that they had previously taken.

Step 5. Finally, participants now may cross over to the other side if they want to support that side. Thus they finally go to the side they actually agree with. End up by asking the people who changed sides to say what arguments made them change their position and also say what else they learned from the exercise, and what they might do differently in the future as a result of changing their minds.

Appendix for Exercise 8, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); CEDAW (1981); Ethiopian Federal Democratic Republic Constitution (1994)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23
1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interest.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Article 11. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:
(a) The right to work is an inalienable right of all human beings;
(b) the right to the same employment opportunities, including the application of the same criteria for selection in matters of employment;
(c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to promotion, job security and all benefits and conditions of service and the right to receive vocational training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training;
(d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits and to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work;
(e) The right to social security, particularly in case of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid leave;
(f) protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.

Ethiopian Constitution, Artlcle 25
(1) Women have the right to equality with men in the enjoyment and protection of rights provided for by this Constitution.... (3) In recognition of the history of inequality and discrimination suffered by women in Ethiopia, women are entitled to remedial and affirmative measures. The purpose of such measures shall be to enable women to compete and participate on the basis of equality with men in politics, economic and social life, and to gain access to opportuntities and positions in public and private institutions.

 

MORAL VALUE 5: COMMUNITY

EXERCISE 9, "ARRANGED MARRIAGES"
(Adapted from Julie Mertus, Our Dignity, Our Human Rights, A Manual for 12 Women's Human Rights Education, (New York: The Organizing Committee for the Decade for Human Rights Education, 1995), p.32.)

Overview: Traditional customs, often very ancient and entrenched in people's beliefs, are sometimes at odds with international standards. Among countries on the Horn of Africa, two such examples widely found are arranged marriages and female sexual mutilation. Article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women calls on governments to take measures to modify such customs. But this is least likely to happen unless people are aware of their rights and demand change.

Objectives: Participants should:
- recognize the importance of respecting human rights in decisions about family matters
- confront and discuss inconsistencies between community norms and human rights norms
- strategize about how government, community leaders and the media can help to promote
- change in traditional customs that are hurtful to people
- identify the role that governments, community leaders and the media should play in protecting the human rights of women and children

Procedures: Set up a contrast between the traditional custom of arranged marriages and the provisions of international human rights. Be careful to let people express themselves fully on this sensitive topic which can elicit strong emotions. Make sure everyone understands that Ethiopia has formally ratified (promised to abide by) CEDAW and related international human rights standards on this topic. Moreover, the Ethiopian Constitution promises women protection from harmful customs (Article 35)

Materials: The UDHR, Article 16, and Articles 2 and 5 of CEDAW; EFDR Article 35; Ethiopian Penal Code.

Sequence: Step 1. Ask the participants if they can identify any traditional community customs that they think are inconsistent with human rights. It would help to open up this topic if a volunteer would be willing to speak from experience. If a custom is identified that is harmful to women or children, ask who the participants think benefit and who is hurt by the custom. This should be followed by some brainstorming in answer to the question: why does a hurtful custom like the one described still persist?

Step 2. Facilitator input: Recount for everyone that some villages in our country still practice arranged marriages as they have for hundreds of years. The actual tradition varies from village to village, but in many the girl is absolutely forbidden to choose her husband. Instead, her father or oldest adult brother or uncle, chooses her husband for her. In some areas, custom requires that the girl marry in another village. Her new family might not formally "buy" her, but they bargain with her male representative over valuables that must accompany her, for example on her wedding night. Does this practice violate the girl's rights? In what ways?

Step 3. Set up a "go around" so everyone can answer whether they think the practice can be justified in the name of tradition. Should such customs be continued? Is the claim of tradition stronger if it is based in religious practice? Does it make a difference if the girls do not marry until they have reached the minimum age for marriage under our Civil Code? What if they ignore this law and marry girls as young as 11?

Step 4. Facilitator input: Explain that Ethiopia's Constitution in Article 35(2) says:
"Women are entitled to equality with men in marriage as prescribed by this Constitution."
This takes on added meaning because Ethiopia has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Women's Convention instructs governments "to take all appropriate measures ... to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women. Article 2(f). Also, point out that Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that "Marriages shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses."
Does this mean that the government should take some steps to modify traditional community customs relating to arranged marriages?

Step 5. What steps could the government take to change the cultural patterns of conduct of men and women with a view to achieving the elimination of customary practices that violate human rights? What steps could religious leaders take to achieve this result? Other community leaders? The schools? The media? What could you do?

Step 6. Form small groups, each to strategize regarding how various groups could take steps to see to it that human rights standards prevail against the force of community customs on the issue of arranged marriages: (1) the Federal Government, (2) the Provincial Government; (3) religious leaders; (4) community leaders; (5) parents; (6) women and children.

Appendix to Exercise 9: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); CEDAW (1981); EFDR Constitution (1994); Ethiopian Penal Code

UDHR, Article 16 1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. 2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

CEDAW, Article 2(f) State Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake ... to take all appropriate measures including legislation to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women....

Article 5 (a) States Parties shall take all appropriate measures: To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women....

EFDR, Article 35, (1) Women have the right to equality with men in the enjoyment and protection of rights provided for by the Constitution. (2) Women are entitled to equality with men in marriage as prescribed by this Constitution.... (4) Women have the right to protection by the state from harmful customs. Law, customs and practicse that oppress women or cause bodily or mental harm to them are prohibited.

Ethiopian Penal Code, Article 607.
Whosoever makes arrangements or provisions of any kind for the traffic in women or infants and young persons, is punishable with simple imprisonment....

 

EXERCISE 10, "BEGGING CHILDREN"

Overview: Children are the most vulnerable classification of human beings and they are in need of protection and care from their families, or failing that from the community, or failing that from the state. According to Rädda Barnen-Ethiopia, street children in Addis Ababa number over 40,000 in 1995 with potential for growth to over 100,000 in the late 1990's. About 4,000 are assisted by various programs including skill training, with nearly an equal number of boys (53%) and girls (47%). Some have homes but are forced into begging by their families; some have no families or shelter and deserve community support. Some are even mutilated by parents in order to enhance their begging appeal.

Objectives: The participants should:
- classify urban street children
- gain an understanding of the scope of the problem of begging children in Addis Ababa
- learn relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
- focus on community and non-governmental responsibilities for begging street children
- devise a community-based approach to better the condition of street children

Procedures: The facilitator should use flexibility in responding to the creativity of participants, allowing sufficient time for discussion in each step of the exercise, but the exercise should be so controlled that the last step on devising a commmunity based plan is not omited.

Materials: Convention on the Rights of the Child: Articles 6, 19, 20, 27, 39; EFDR Constitution, Article 36.

Sequence: Step 1. Ask participants about their experience in Addis Ababa of "street children." Are there more now than 5 or 10 years ago? Why? What are the causes? Do the particpants' answers correspond to those of FORUM on Children which says the causes for children resorting to begging and living on the streets are: (1) poverty, (2) family breakdown, (3) unemployment, (4) parental illness and death, (5) early marriage resulting in irresponsible parenting, and (6) migration as a result of civil war.

Step 2. Is it possible to classify "street children," for example, some with families and shelter but forced to beg; some with shelter and no family; some with no family and no shelter? Girls, boys, the disabled? Let the participants classify them using their experience and work out a classification acceptable to all of them to be used in the next step.

Step 3. Break up into small discussion groups, each one focusing on a different classification of "street children." Try to identify the special needs of the type of kids you are concerned with and report back to the general group on your "needs list"?

Step 4. The facilitator should try to identify those needs which overlap or are common among all of the reporting groups. Note the relation between needs and rights discussed in Exercise 2 and raise the question of whether "street children" have specially identifiable human rights, and if so what are some of them. Make a list of rights drawn from the "needs list" (Step 3).

Step 5. Facilitator input: Explain that the Convention on the Rights of the Child has several provisions that apply to children, including "street children." For example (in simplified language):

Article 1: a child is recognized as a person under 18 unless national law says otherwise
Article 3: whoever is responsible for a child, his/her best interests must be considered by responsible persons when parents, or others charged with that responsibility fail to do so.
Article 9: the child has a right to live with its parents unless this is incompatible with the child's best interests, but should be allowed to maintain contact with both parents if separated
Article 19: the state should protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents and others and set up programs for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims
Article 20: the state should ensure alternative care for children when they are deprived of a family
Article 24: the child has a right to food, health and medical care
Article 39: the state must ensure that child victims of armed conflicts, torture, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation receive appropriate treatment for their recovery and social reintegration.

Ask the participants what they think of this long list of safeguards. Do they cover all the needs of street children, especially those engaged in begging? What is left out?

Step 6. Note the way these provisions say "the state must do this, the state must do that,etc."
But given our level of poverty and the large numbers of children involved, can the state really do all these things? Who else should take responsibility?

Step 7. Facilitator input: Tell participants that a social worker who specializes in working with street children said the problem must be solved at the community level not just with new laws:

The future life of street children is dark. They are forced to be in the street because of circumstance and not by choice. They are mistreated by all sides. They are not accepted by society, they are not properly brought up and the government did not contribute to improve their situation. In the first place society must accept them as human beings. Society must understand why the children are begging in the street and must be ready to change their situation. The begging street children are ready to change themselves.

Step 8. Conduct a "brainstorming" session to focus only on things that individuals, groups, and the community can do without government assistance to respond to the needs of "street children." The facilitator must keep track of the various proposals, asking the group to set priorities.

Step 9. In a go-around session, ask everyone to name one thing that they individually, their family or their community could do to improve the rights of "street children" in Addis Ababa.

Appendix to Exercise 10, EFDR Constitution

Article 36
(1) Every child has the right : (a)to life, (b) to a name and nationality, (c) to know and be cared for by his or her parents or legal guardians; (d) not be be subject to exploitive labor practices, neither to be required nor permited to perform work which is hazardous our harmful to his or her education, health or well-being....
(5) The States shall accord special protection to orphans and shall encourage the establishment of special institutions to promote their adoption. It shall also support institutions that provide for their welfare, upbringing and education.

 

MORAL VALUE 6: LAW

EXERCISE 11, "RIGHTS OF DOMESTIC SERVANTS"

Overview: Domestic servants are often people with little or no education, and consequently they can easily be taken advantage of by irresponsible employers. The law makes protective provision for domestic servants but they seldom know their rights and know little about law. Neverthless detailed provisions for domestic servants are specified in the Ethiopian Civil Code, suggesting the importance of their access to legal assistance.

Objectives: The participants should get a clear understanding that there are many legal safeguards for workers, and regulating labor conditions. Such support is found at many legal levels from international treaty law to the Penal Code. The problems is that these laws are little known and insufficiently used in defense of workers' rights. Participants should come to know how they can access this legal information.

Procedures: The facilitator will present a scenario which can be used for roleplay. This should be followed by full discussion based on Ethiopian legal standards (Civil Code which is consistent with international standards, and Penal Code)

Materials: Ethiopian Civil Code; International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights

Sequence: Step 1. The facilitator presents the following scenario, called "Beletu's Case."

Beletu is an 18 year old beautiful girl from Dessie. She has accepted a position under contract as a domestic servant in the house of W/ro Zerfeshiwal. There is a 17 year old son in the family, named Daniel, a secondary school student. Daniel falls in love with Beletu and persuades her to make love. She complies reluctantly with his request for fear of being dismissed from her job. He knows that he should use a contraceptive device but he does not, and Beletu becomes pregnant.
As soon as she realized that her period did not come at the usual time for the past two months, she let Daniel know of her condition. They were both worried and agreed to keep their secret from W/ro Zerfeshiwal. Daniel promised to help Beletu secure an abortion, but he could not afford the substantial costs involved.

When W/ro Zerfeshiwal saw Beletu's pregnant condition months later, she became upset. In fact, she suffered a renewal of ulcer pain, and decided that she would have to find a replacement for Beletu. Soon after, Beletu felt sick after a long day of work and was unable to complete her household tasks. This aroused the wrath of W/ro Zerfeshiwal who promptly fired the servant.

Despite Daniel's pleading for his mother's mercy, she was insistent. Beletu, sobbing, asked that she be paid 8 months past wages due. Angered by this, W/ro Zerfeshiwal told her that only 4 months wages were in arrears because the bed-side lamp which Beletu accidently broke while cleaning would cost at least 4 months wages to replace. In a state of anger, W/ro Zerfeshiwal ordered Daniel to drag Beletu out of the house, told her she was fired and would be arrested if she returned.

Step 2. Ask the participants if any three of them would be willing to roleplay the incident involving three roles: (1) Beletu; (2) Daniel, (3) W/ro Zerfeshiwal. (See roleplay exercise in the "How To" section of this book.) After the roleplay, each of the players ask whom they think is to blame, with each roleplayer trying to defend her/his position as correct.

Step 3. Ask the participants if any of them know about any similar incidents they could report.

Step 4. Try a brainstorming session to identify ways to use the law in this case to protect Beletu's human rights. The facilitator will note all the suggestions made and then ask the participants to prioritize their action proposals.

Step 5. Facilitator input: explain the provisions of Ethiopian law that apply to this case, including the "Saving Clauses." Ask the participants to reconsider their views in light of these laws which encompass human rights standards built into Ethiopian law. Ask for an explanation from those who have changed their minds in light of the law.

Step 6. Ask participants how they would get information about Ethiopian law as in this case?
Ask them if they know anyone who can explain the law to them? What is a paralegal? How could you find one? Do you know a lawyer or any group that gives legal aid to the poor?
Will a lawyer, a paralegal or a legal aid professional simply listen to your private problems and then report you to the police? In the case involved here, Beluta really needed help from somewone she could trust. Who can she turn to?

 

Appendix for Exercise 11 Ethiopian Civil Code; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976)

Ethiopian Civil Code, "Contracts of domestic servants living in"

Article 2601. Health and moral well-being of servant. Where the employee lives with the employer's family, the latter shall in regard to living quarters, food, times of work and rest, take all reasonable steps to safeguard the health and moral well-being of the employee.
Article 2602. Obligation to look after the employee. Principle

(1) Where an employee who is living with the family of the employer and being fed by the latter falls sick, the employer shall, during the currency of the contract, provide any care which the illness of the employee requires, either by way of medical attendance at his house or by sending the servant to hospital.

(2) Such obligation shall be limited to one month where the illness occurs after at least one year from the beginning of the contract, and to two weeks where it occurs after at least three months from the beginning of the contract.

(3) The employer may set off any expenses which he thus incurs against the wages that become due during the period of illness.

Article 2603 Saving Clause. (1)The employer shall be relieved of the obligations laid down in
Article 26-2 where the illness has been intentionally contracted by the employee....
(3) The employer may not relieve himself of the obligations laid down (above) by terminating the contract on the ground of the illness of the employee.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Article 7.
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work which ensure, in particular: (a) remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with: (i) fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value.... (b) Safe and healthy working conditions.....

 

EXERCISE 12, CHILD PROSTITUTION

Overview: Girls enter prostitution for many reasons, seldom because of choice. For example, since the income that children make and the support available from their parents is often not enough to cover family needs in Ethiopia, many girls are forced to engage in prostitution while boys may become pick pockets and thieves Poor children are forced out of what remains of the family structure. Girl children may spend most of their time in dangerous circumstances --in bars and on the streets. Boys in large number are engaged in outright begging (See Exercise 10). After interviewing Addis Ababa prostitutes, researchers from Cork University (Ireland)concluded: The child prosititutes claim that their critical need is shelter. They pay for boarding 'medeb' where many girls are put in one room.. The owners of the house give them a hard time. If they do not have money, they sleep on the open street, at bus stops or in front of shops. If they are sick they are out on the street anyhow. It is not only shelter that is needed, jobs must be available and income generating activities must be provided.

Objectives: The participants should:
- gain an understanding of why children are forced into prostitution, that it is almost never a practice of choice come to understand the many persons who play a role in procuring young girls and the blame they deserve as well as criminal penalties they deserve
- learn the relevant provisions of the Rights of the Child Convention, The Constitution and Penal Code and feel empowered to insist on their implementation
- come to a clear appreciation of the fact that the girl-child involved is neither to blame nor is criminally liable.

Procedures: The facilitator should use flexibility in responding to the creativity of particpants, allowing sufficient time for discussion in each step of the exercise, but the exercise should be so controlled that the last step (on fixing criminal responsibility) is not omited.

Materials: Convention on the Rights of the Child, EFDR Constitution; Ethiopian Penal Code.

Sequence: Step 1. What are some of the causes of child prostitution? Ask the participants about their knowledge of how children become engaged in prostitution, emphasizing the step-by-step process of abuse, coercion, trickery, and failed attempts to earn a living in other ways. In view of the process that respondents identify, ask if all agree that children seldom seek out prostitution as a preferred survival strategy.

Step 2. Ask participants to speak from experience about this problem and those they might know who are so trapped. Did children they knew try alternatives? Individually? Collectively? Who are the people in this process of the child's downfall who are responsible for the child's resorting to prostitution (parents, abusive spouses, child-abusing adults, procurers, baluka-madams, etc.) and some of the problems faced: sexually transmitted diseases, abuse by clients and police, ostracism in schools, kebeles, villages, etc. Discuss the responsibility of these adults for the child's sad fate.

Step 3. Should there be laws on this subject? Ask if the adults identified in Step 2 should be punished as criminals for their abusive behavior? Should the child be punished for engaging in prostitution? What initiatives could the child take to avoid prostitution? What are the rights of the child in this situation? Do respondents remember any of the rights of the child from Exercise 10 that should apply to child prostitutes?

Step 4. Regarding the adults that are responsible for a child entering prostitution, should the punishment be greater under certain circumstances, such as if a child is tricked? handed over to a professional procurer? If the child is under the age of 15?

Step 5. Review the applicable provisions of the Penal Code to show where and how participants' views on criminal liability and enhanced responsibility under aggrevating circumstances coincide with the Ethiopian Penal Code, Section III, "Exploitation of the immorality of others," (Appendix).

Step 6. Facilitator input: Explain that a "World Conference on Population Policies" took place in Cairo in 1994, where one of the main points of debate concerned adolescents. Some governments simply refused to recognized that adolescents engaged in sexual relationships, and that they have their own reproductive and sexual health care needs. What are the needs of young people in your community? Do you think that girls involved in prostitution have adequate information about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases, some of which can lead to infertility, and the spread of the deadly HIV virus.

Step 7. If the law on child prostitution punishes the adult criminals (who promote it), should the law also take account of the child prostitute and promote programs that will help her escape the trap in which she finds herself? What should some of those programs do?
Facilitator: note whether there is a correspondence between the program proposals and the "causes" for prostitution, identified in Step 1.

Appendix to Exercise 12: Ethiopian Penal Code, Section III.

Article 604. Whosoever, for gain, makes a profession of or lives by procuring or on the prostitution or immorality of another, or maintains, as a landlord or keeper, a disorderly house, is punishable with simple imprisonment and fine.

Article 605. Whosoever, for gain, or to gratify the passion of another: (a) traffics in women or infants and young persons, whether by seducing them, by enticing them or by procuring them or otherwise inducing them to engage in prostitution, even with their consent; or (b) keeps such a person in a disorderly house or lets her out to prostitution, is punishable with rigorous imprisonment not exceeding five years and a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars.....

Article 606. In cases of professional procuring or trafficing in persons, rigorous imprisonment shall be from three to ten years, and the fine shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars:
(a) where the victim is under fifteen years of age; or where the victim ... has been entrused on any grounds ... to his care; or (c) where the offender has taken unfair advantage of the physical or mental distress of his victim, or of his position as protector, employer, teacher, landlord or creditor; or (d) where the offender has made use of trickery, fraud, violence, intimidation or coercion, or where he has misused his authority over the victim....

Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 19

1. States... shall take all appropriate legislataive, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents(s), legal gruadian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.
2. Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necesssary support for the child and for theose who have care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment, and follow-up of child maltreament described heretofore, and as appropriate, for judicial involvement.

 

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