WUNRN
ARTICLE INCLUDES EXTENSIVE PHOTO
GALLERY OF MALI WOMEN.
Mali - Women
Beyond the Veil
By WHITNEY RICHARDSON -
August 18, 2014
Women sat outside the bride's family home during a rare
moment of calm at a wedding celebration in Bamako.Credit Katie Orlinsky
Katie Orlinsky, a New York-based
photographer, had always been interested in Mali’s vibrant culture and wanted
to understand how women were affected by the new laws. In the fall of 2013, she
obtained a grant from the International
Reporting Project that allowed her to travel throughout northern Mali for
almost a month, speaking with women who had experienced the Islamic rule and
were willing to share their stories of survival with her.
There are no beds in the small
concrete home Madame Gassamba shares with her four teenage daughters. When
night falls, cushions pushed against the spotted walls serve as makeshift beds.
Everyday items are strategically stored away for additional space in the
one-room home.
This has been the family’s daily
routine since 2012, when Islamic
radicals forcefully occupied northern Mali, forcing thousands — including
Ms. Gassamba’s family — to flee to the capital, Bamako, and seek temporary
housing.
But for Ms. Gassamba, a women’s
rights activist who abandoned her home in Timbuktu, getting her daughters out
of the area was her primary concern.
Before France sent troops in
early 2013, Islamist and Tuareg rebel forces imposed strict Shariah law across
northern Mali for nine months.
Along with looting government
offices in Timbuktu, destroying
century-old manuscripts and defacing most billboards, women were forced to
remain indoors and wear full body and face-covering veils. Infractions of the
law often meant severe punishment, ranging from being jailed in cramped holding
cells and being whipped. According to Human Rights Watch, reports of forced
marriage and rape also rose.
“The Jihadists inflicted so much
on the women in the north of the country,” said Ms. Orlinsky, who has also
documented the lives of women in conflict situations in Mexico
and Nepal.
“It made just living almost
illegal for women,” she said.
Ms. Orlinsky mostly traveled
around Timbuktu and on the outskirts of Bamako, spending time with women at
home, mosques, clubs and family events. She said she was looking for women who
wanted to share their stories and didn’t want to pressure those who preferred
to remain silent.
“Some had spent years in hiding,
or silenced, and it was cathartic and meaningful for them to talk about what
had happened,” she said in an email. “For other women, the trauma was too
fresh, and they didn’t want to relive it by talking about it with me.”
Those who did speak with her
expressed relief that they no longer had to live in fear. Northern Mali had
always been a religious place, but their distinct practices had been known to
blend traditional Islamic beliefs with indigenous ones.
In Timbuktu, Ms. Orlinsky spoke
to a group of girls playing basketball who recalled several incidents when
Islamists forced them to wear full burqas, even when playing in intense heat.
The girls decided to wear the garment while walking to the courts, but stripped
down to their athletic clothes while playing and then immediately put their
burqas back on before returning home.
Another woman she spoke to had
been jailed for several days for hitting a militant after he had slapped her
for not covering her hair — while in her own home.
“There were all of these small
acts of rebellion,” Ms. Orlinsky said. “They just didn’t want to stop doing
what they had to do.”
In her photographs, she
concentrated her images on finding semblances of this strength and resilience,
including the photo of Ms. Gassamba (slide 6) standing tall in her
temporary one-room home. Women are seen dancing in the streets adorned in
bright, colorful garbs. Others are shown studying in school and attending food
markets without any men around. Though seemingly mundane, just a few months
before, these activities were completely banned in the northern Mali.
Although hopeful, Malians know
there is a long road of recovery for their country’s future. For the women, Ms.
Orlinsky said, the first step of their progress is to rediscover who they are
again.
“It was a tough time for them,” she said. “It really wasn’t easy.”