sally_jean.shackleton's blog

Polygamy that exists in a context of inequality is not an expression of 'choice'. Where women are poorer, subject to violence and harassment daily, are 60% of HIV positive people, and are killed by their intimate partners at a rate that is unmatched in the world - choice is a relative term.

Touch wood, but I have never been hi-jacked or had a gun held against my head though I am a born and bred Sandtonian. However, last night and into the early hours of this morning all that changed.

Sadly, the guns pointed at me were not from hardened criminals or rebel forces, these were the guns from the very people that my government tells me will keep me safe when I sleep at night.

On this day, 13 years ago, Susan Hamilton Sithole was stabbed to death by her husband. She was packing her bags at her flat, and had taken 2 friends and the police with her as a precaution. Her husband had been violent for some time, and she always thought she was strong enough to stop the violence - to make him see that his violence was destrong them both.When her friends went downstairs, he took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her over and over again.He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the murder.

I attended the Seminar, organised by the Gender Advocacy Programme, on the 8^th of September 2008 to discuss representation of women in government in South Africa.

I attended the health System's Trust (HST) 60Percent Listserv Reference group meeting in Cape Town on the 6th of October.

This is officially the end of our Digital Story workshop in Sarajevo. We are tired, but I hope, satisfied with what we have achieved. Thanks to the Association for Progressive Communication's Membership Exchange Fund, Cooperacion Italiana, One World Platform forSouth East Asia - and Women'sNet for releasing me for 2 weeks!

We have worked hard, given a lot, invested in the process: Alice, Bojana, Ivo, Irena, Elena, Alisa, Marina, Martina, Taida, Ivana, Sanjin and Vale - what magic we wove!

 thank you for adding your stones to the pile!

It's my first full day in Sarajevo, and today is the preparation day for the Digital Stories Training that starts tomorrow. I arrived yesterday at midday, to be met by Valintina and Sanjin from One World Platform for South East Europe (OWPSEE). It was great to see Valentina again - we have spent some time at Association for Progressive Communications (APC) meetings and events before.

On the 15th and 16th of May i attended the Stakeholders meeting of the "Community-based Learning, ICTs and Quality-of-life (CLIQ): A participatory approach to assessing the impact of ICT access on quality-of-life in KwaZulu-Natal".

The research project is very relevant and timely - we know ICT's make an impact on peoples lives, but we have no research to demonstrate how much and under what circumstances ICTs impact on the quality of people's lives as they define it.