Equal Opportunities Committee

My involvement at the Equal Opportunities Committee roots in my interest in Gender related topic for a very long time.

As a continuity in the Gendre approach, since October 2018, as part of the Equal Opportunities Committee, I have been appointed Women's Representative Equal Opportunity Deputy Officer in a team of six members composed equally by two professors, two postdocs and two doctoral candidates. In the DFG funded project CRC1342. This role represents a great challenge since I strongly believe it is important for women in academia to gain more visibility and recognition. Not only for women but as well for people with care responsibilities. Moreover, with family structures changing, we are there to help anyone needing support and advice, including raising awareness about creating a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community within academia. I participated at the “I Scientist” Conference in September 2019 in Berlin to learn about how to address LGBTQ+ struggles within academia. As Deputy Equal Opportunity Officer within the CRC 1342 project, we are dedicating voluntarily time to achieve equal opportunity at work. This, in order, quoting DFG, "to achieve a gender balance in the research system and to make a scientific career compatible with family commitments – promote equal opportunity and excellence in the research system".

As for consequence Master thesis titled reflected on that interest: "L’institutionnalisation du genre, le rôle de la femme dans l'économie locale: cas d'étude Bourzanga, Burkina Faso/ Gendre Institutionalisation women’s role in the local economy: study case Bourzanga, Burkina Faso" looking at the specific context of food production and ending up analyzing data via the role of religious influence, migration issues and land ownership matters. I studied at Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium and my master focused on International Relations through humanitarian aid. Which allowed me to familiarize with political contexts of humanitarian action, post-conflict rehabilitation, basics of public health, international law along with other issues in the field of humanitarian aid.
Another Gendre topic that is important to me is about ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), my biggest wish is for FGM to end. Coming from Burkina Faso a country where those practices remain high and knowing so many girls and woman being victims of those atrocities. I have to fight to end these harmful practices.

There are four types of mutilations* as explained by the World Health Organization (WHO):

Type 1: this is the partial or total removal of the clitoral glans (the external and visible part of the clitoris, which is a sensitive part of the female genitals), and/or the prepuce/ clitoral hood (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoral glans).
Type 2: this is the partial or total removal of the clitoral glans and the labia minora (the inner folds of the vulva), with or without removal of the labia majora (the outer folds of skin of the vulva).
Type 3: Also known as infibulation, this is the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the labia minora, or labia majora, sometimes through stitching, with or without removal of the clitoral prepuce/clitoral hood and glans (Type I FGM).
Type 4: This includes all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

I have been involved with Integrate UK a Bristol, UK based Charity that fights against FGM and so many other important topics. I am in perpetual contact with the Secrétariat Permanent du Conseil National de Lutte contre la Pratique de l’Excision (SP-CNLPE) in Burkina Faso and support their work and objectives.

* Four types copied from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation.