Being in the Department of Gynecology, I could not help but contemplate even more about the status of Cape Verdean women. There, I had the opportunity to shadow and work with team of strong women doctors. The only male doctor in the department was on-leave for the moment. In S. Vicente, the number of female specialists seems to be close to that of men, but the newly graduated physicians are mostly female. Thus, I should not have been surprised when an all-female team of doctors and nurses performed the first surgery I assisted in this hospital. These professional women are quite different from most of the moms-to-be patients. Most of the women giving birth were around the age of 18 to 22. Most of them do not have a dependable job or any job at all and most are single. I have met many women my age with 3 or 4 kids that have gotten sterilized or are being asked to consider sterilization. I asked the chief gynecologist why their patients' partners don’t do a vasectomy since it is an easier procedure (and in my opinion a better form of birth control than sterilization). She laughed at said, “We are talking about Capeverdean men my dear.” She thought there was no need to explain any further.
On March 27, we celebrated the Capeverdean women’s day. The focused issue was violence against women, which continues to be a major problem ingrained in the culture. I saw a very moving TV program on the Cape Verdean Television exposing the situation and giving some very courageous ladies the opportunity to tell their stories of suffering and abuse. I have conversed with many about this topic and I have found many not-so-empathetic ears. (The women seem to be a little more concerned than the men.) A few have told me that some women like being abused.
Not long ago, a woman in her twenties came to the emergency room with a bruised face. This was one of the many times she had been beaten by the father of her child. This time, she had the courage to contact the police. Without going into disturbing details, I will write that she received no sympathy from the two attending physicians, who happen to be males. They advised her to “try to make it work with your men.” I was unable to say much to her not only because my role was that of a student, but also because I was shocked. Somehow I manage to tell her, “It takes a lot of courage to do what you have done today. No one has the right to hurt you.” I later found out that there is a serious and somewhat detailed protocol in support of the victim that is supposed to be followed by physicians in cases of domestic abuse.
Ironically, that same weekend I attended a mass celebrating Fathers’ Day. On that day, the country is supposed to celebrate the value of fathers and use St. Joseph (the adoptive father of Jesus) as an inspiration and model of the ideal father. The Catholic festivities included a peregrination by hundreds of people to a town 30 minutes away from the city of Mindelo followed by a mass presided by a bishop. To my surprise, not even 25% of those attending the festivities were men. I asked a group of older ladies what happened to the men and one of them answered, “We women have always outdone them when it comes to these things.”
The bishop spoke about how a father is God’s representative inside a family and thus should set the example for the family and the family should follow his guidance. Was he seeing what I was seeing or were his lenses distorting the picture around him? He was surrounded by many women who were the head of their household and who had always worked very hard to care and protect their families without much help from a male partner. Cape Verdean women have always worked hard and continue to carry more than their share of life’s burden. They are still the main caregivers and many times the only providers of the family. Despite their strong participation in all social, economic and political levels, the road to equality is still long and bumpy. However, talking to ladies like the ones with whom I have had the privilege of working these past two weeks, inspires hope and belief that change in on the way. I wonder how many more women will get hurt by those who are supposed to love them before they become truly equal partners in the development of Cape Verde.
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