"There are various forms of harassment but they have all morphed into this one understanding of harassment. And so sexual harassment is kind of normalized because we do not differentiate between all the different types of harassments."
Our guide for today on this journey of communal actualization is Yasmena AlMulla, an NYU trained political scientist and freelance journalist, whose words frequently appear on Gulf news, Politics Today, Kuwait times, Middle East Eye, and Raseef 22.
Yasmena mainly covers political, social, and human rights issues. As of late, she's been providing her readers with on-the-ground coverage of the Kuwaiti women's rights movement. I want to set the stage for this interview by shining the spotlight on three main points of focus for our dialogue:
- About Yasmena and her unique human journey.
- Explore the complex dynamic and at times disturbing world that is women's lives in the middle east.
- Provide you with the best practices for effective communication on matters that may be political or social in nature that frequently stir up reptilian emotions.
References mentioned in this episode:
Humans of New York
Reuters Eyewitness
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Fatma Al Ajmi Murder Case
Farah Akbar's Murder Case
Jeanelyn Villavende's Murder Case
Our Women on The Ground - A Book by Zahra Hankir
Men Explain Things to Me - A Book by Rebecca Solnit
Reach out to Yasmena at:
Instagram @yasmenawrites
Linkedin
Reach out to broadband at:
Instagram @broadband.podcast
Email aziz@seedsmedia.org
Other Links
Reach out to luucid at:
Instagram @luucidkw
Website luucidkw.com
For guest recommendations Email hello@luucid.co
"There are various forms of harassment but they have all morphed into this one understanding of harassment. And so sexual harassment is kind of normalized because we do not differentiate between all the different types of harassments."
Our guide for today on this journey of communal actualization is Yasmena AlMulla, an NYU trained political scientist and freelance journalist, whose words frequently appear on Gulf news, Politics Today, Kuwait times, Middle East Eye, and Raseef 22.
Yasmena mainly covers political, social, and human rights issues. As of late, she's been providing her readers with on-the-ground coverage of the Kuwaiti women's rights movement. I want to set the stage for this interview by shining the spotlight on three main points of focus for our dialogue:
- About Yasmena and her unique human journey.
- Explore the complex dynamic and at times disturbing world that is women's lives in the middle east.
- Provide you with the best practices for effective communication on matters that may be political or social in nature that frequently stir up reptilian emotions.
References mentioned in this episode:
Humans of New York
Reuters Eyewitness
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Fatma Al Ajmi Murder Case
Farah Akbar's Murder Case
Jeanelyn Villavende's Murder Case
Our Women on The Ground - A Book by Zahra Hankir
Men Explain Things to Me - A Book by Rebecca Solnit
Reach out to Yasmena at:
Instagram @yasmenawrites
Linkedin
Reach out to broadband at:
Instagram @broadband.podcast
Email aziz@seedsmedia.org
Other Links
Reach out to luucid at:
Instagram @luucidkw
Website luucidkw.com
For guest recommendations Email hello@luucid.co
broadband Podcast
Feminism: The Jounalist
with Yasmena Almulla
Aziz:
[00:00:03] Women with yasmena
Aziz: Hello, and welcome to broadband here at broadband, we live by the philosophy that one needs other human beings to teach them how to be human. Our guide for today on this journey of communal actualization is Yasmena AlMulla an NYU trained political scientist and freelance journalist, whose words frequently appear on Gulf news politics today. Kuwait times middle east eye and received 22.
Yasmena mainly coverage, political, social, and human rights issues. As of late, she's been providing her readers with on the ground coverage of the Kuwaiti women's rights movement. I want to set the stage for this interview by shining the spotlight on three main points of focus for our dialogue, the first being Yasmena and her unique human journey.
Next, I want to explore the complex dynamic. And at times disturbing world that is women's lives in the middle east and their movement, which is drawing attention on a global scale. And finally, with the Yasmena's insights want to provide you the listener with the best practices for effective communication on matters that may be political or social in nature that frequently stir up reptilian emotions without further ado.
Hello? Yes, Mina. How are ya?
Yasmena: hi, Aziz. Hello? I'm good. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Aziz: Well, thanks for coming on the show. We really appreciate having you on
[00:01:18] Pursuing Journalism
Aziz: So let's start this dialogue by taking a trip down memory lane. Do you remember the moment where as a teenager getting ready for college, you decided to pursue journalism.
Yasmena: So I actually did not decide to pursue journalism right out of high school. I was actually gonna study under a major NYU called media. Media culture and communication. And that didn't work out.
So I was told, okay, try to join the journalism program and then, you know, you can get into it from there.
And then I took one political science class and I was like, oh, this is super interesting. And then I realized that they compliment each other. So. Yeah. I ended up sticking with genderism and adding political science into the mix.
Aziz: which is perfect for what you do here in the middle east, because you mainly cover the politics and human rights and social issues. And so you've really married the two best majors.
Uh, And And you did it in NYU, which is a prestigious university and in one of the best, and this, I think this is highly contested, but it's one of the best cities in the entire world, New York, new York,
uh, in New York, right? There is very popular Instagram account called humans of New York. And it's one of the in my opinion, one of the best journalistic pieces that we have online. Right. And it's something that you know, a normal citizen just. Started on a whim and just kind of became a huge and conduct cement the lives of new Yorkers at a very deep level.
[00:02:52] role of journaists in age of social media
Aziz: So what is the role of journalists today in the age of social media and technology, where bystanders can document and broadcast historic events with a click of a button sometimes better than the traditional journalists.
Yasmena: No for sure. You said that perfectly, and there's actually a term for that and it's called citizen journalism and it's like anyone that has a cell phone, a tablet, a laptop, whatever some form of device can pull out and capture. Any moment in front of them. And publish it on social media and so forth, and definitely serve as a worthy testimony of what's happening on the ground.
And you'll see, for example, that big publication like Reuters, for example has a special Twitter account called Reuters. I witnessed or witness watch. That basically just goes through social media and looks for videos or photos that they can use then to incorporate in their either video productions or print pieces that are taken by, you know, the average citizen.
And so to answer your question, anyone can, you know be a reporter today.
And so I would definitely say I'm a huge advocate of social media, but at the same time, I'm also a skeptic because there is a lot on social media and there's a lot that you have to filter through to get to the actual hard fact truths. And there is, you know, I hate using this word, but a lot of fake news out there that, you know Not everyone would necessarily see it as fake news because we started taking news on social media, as you know, this is it. This the accurate thing.
[00:04:27] Provocative for creating chaos
Aziz: Okay, well, the more eyes on an article, right? The more successful the journalists. And I've noticed a great deal of provocative titles in articles as a method of remaining relevant. So. How fine is the line between being provocative to invite an audience and start a discourse and being provocative to create chaos. And so discord
Yasmena: So that's a really, thin line and it's very difficult. And, you know because the word provocative is very. Subjective. It's something that is provocative can be different. To me and can be different to your disease.
And so I am just a firm believer that you can't capture something you want to see in 10 to 15 words, and that's why they always say headlines are misleading. And I agreed because there's only so much you can say. And
There this term that used in the news world and it's called S E O and it's search engine optimization.
And so that's what, you know, you try to do is you try to insert as many search optimized words in your headline so that your article can appear first. So for example since where, you know, and. The COVID times having words like COVID vaccine travel I don't know. uh, Those words are currently as he owes. And so having those in your headline will likely bump up the chances of people that read your article.
And so it's a thin line and, you just have to decide by yourself, are you ready to go down the check of, playing it safe and I'm not. Gaining as many views as possible or taking their out and maybe being a bit more provocative and stirring up some controversy.
Aziz: And how would you interact with a journalistic or a pseudo journalistic environment that craves clickbait and ask vocative questions to muddy the message with emotion.
Yasmena: There's this ongoing conversation about with journalists you know, across the world.
And it's like, you know, when, you draw the line, when do you, You know, say, okay, this is where I am going to stop because now I am infringing on someone's, you know, maybe, privacy or, you know, taking it a bit too far.
And I actually remember this a huge conversation was sparked. I don't know if you or your listeners remember the little Syrian boy that was washed off the shores of the water and the photo was taken of him face down, you know let how my dead by the shores, as he was trying to escape war, torn Syria and make it to Europe.
And I remember that photo Was seen by people, you know, all over the world, if not almost everyone, that has access to some form of social media sparked conversation and said while yes, this definitely shed light on the suffrage of Syrian refugees. Was it worth taking that photo?
Aziz: That's a very good point. That's a very good point because my knee jerk reaction would be like, we should have, I mean, the age of information, we should have access to as much information as possible. But what that does is you could be receiving that information At the cost of some, some other person's life and emotions and, suffering. Right? So it's a big paradigm shifted there for me. So thank you for, bringing that up.
[00:07:36] Why sexulize the female body
Aziz: And speaking of provocative journalism falls under that. The umbrella of the mass media machine. So I want to get your opinion on something. So we've all heard of and repeated the adage. Sex sells and studies show that not only does sex not sell, but it can also turn consumers off of products.
A study published in the journal of research, sex roles found that women showed lower product attractiveness in purchase intentions. Toward products presented with sexualized female models. Men's purchase intentions were unaffected by those ads. So why, in your opinion, does the big media machine constantly sexualized and objectified the female body?
Yasmena: Okay. So for starters I would say that the immediate sexualizes, you know, in the female body, because it comes. With a long and deep rooted system of misogyny. So if you look at who owns the biggest and most powerful news corporations in the world, all top 15 companies are run by men. So, what does that say?
You know, it says that the CEO is running. These big conglomerates are looking at it from a male lens and therefore there is no enough female representation. And therefore there isn't space for a woman to be like, wait, maybe this is problematic and you know, not only puts women off, but does not you know, bring in more men, readers, viewers, whatever, you know, your content may be.
So I think it's because like many industries throughout the world are run by men and the lack of diversity has allowed for this phenomenon to continue.
Aziz: Right. it's I think the discussions that you're having aren't as important as the discussions that you're not having and not having women representation in those boardrooms means that there are a lot of discussions not being had a lot of important ones. So. Uh,
[00:09:28] Media sexualizes women and its negative effects
Aziz: Nonetheless women are still being sexualized. The Gina Davis Institute on gender in media, at least 10 years worth of data showing that women are sexualized six times more than men. So what are some of the negative effects that this representation have on girls and women's psychological and physical? Well-being.
Yasmena: So it definitely does have a negative impact because, we consume media more than ever, whether it's be a social media, whether it's be movies YouTube, TV shows these are all falling under the umbrella of media.
And when you see Basically like sexualized versions of women, you will start believing that this is the norm and you will start thinking like, okay I guess this is how women should look like when an actual fact it's not.
And, for example, when you look at women on TV you know, female correspondents on air, you will see the, oftentimes they're wearing, you know, tight dresses or like, skirts or, tighter pants and so forth. And, the question is why is that?
[00:10:29] Intermission
Aziz: Hey guys, this is the part of the podcast where people usually tell you to buy this product or subscribed to this service, but we don't have any sponsors yet. So we'll sell ourselves. Instead. We have four simple asks one, please subscribe. If you haven't already. To share the podcast, share it with your friends, share with your family and share it with a stranger.
Start a conversation, three, check out the show notes. You can find all the references that we've already made and are about to make on there. And for engage with us on Instagram and email, enjoy the rest of the show.
[00:11:00] Kuwait and Sexual Harrassment
Aziz: So well, it's been empirically proven that frequent exposure to this kind of content is directly associated with a range of consequences. A couple of those consequences is a higher tolerance towards sexual harassment and the rape myth acceptance. So what's cool weights, general attitude. Toward the sexual harassment of women.
Yasmena: Okay. So I, before we start, I definitely want to point out that Y your question states sexual health. I want to go take a step back and address that there are different forms of harassment. And so there's obviously sexual harassment, there's verbal harassment, you know, catcalling falls under that. There is financial harassment, so withholding funds and other form of goods uh, there is a psychological harassment.
There are various forms of harassment to name a few and. Because they have all, kind of morphed into this one, understanding of harassment goes back to your question of, you know, Kuwait's general attitude towards sexual harassment. Kind of normalized it because we do not differentiate these different kinds of harassment.
So if you were to go into the, on the streets and conduct a poll and say like, have you ever, you know, physically assaulted a woman? The percentage will probably be much less than if you asked men, have you ever cat called a woman? because in their eyes, right. Harassment is physical. Harassment is assault. It's not you know, pulling down rolling down the windows and, you know, like saying something like Hey, you look good today. Or, I don't know, take my number or whatever. and other form of it being like a manipulation. Those are not viewed as harassment.
So I to basically summarize What you were asking was that general attitude towards harassment in Kuwait is I want to say not widely accepted, but rather misunderstood. therefore is normalized.
Aziz: Okay. Yeah. I mean, I'm not fully convinced that the boys will be boys. Attitude is at all acceptable because I mean, the harassment of women is unaccepted, but it's normalized and boys will be boys.
Right. And, and I think that is as toxic as, as fully. Being on board with, with sexual or financial or verbal harassment. Right. So,
[00:13:21] Legislation Required
Aziz: Right. So Maslow's hierarchy of needs, states that for an individual to be able to self-actualize one needs necessities, like food. Water and shelter. And if I were to compare the women's rights protest in the Eastern versus the Western hemisphere, the woman in the east seemed to still be fighting for basic rights, like safety and freedom of mobility and freedom of self expression.
So what legislations are necessary for our Eastern movement evolve to the next level?
Yasmena: Okay.
So again, this has two folds. So first is before we go into actually enacting new legislation, we need to get rid of old legislation.
So for example, you have article one, five, three, which is discussing honor killings and basically treated as a misdemeanor. Again, you almost never see any. Case be filed under article one, five, three, but having such law um, normalizes this violence because it values the woman's life less. By making the punishment misdemeanor,
then again, you have article one, five, two, which allows an abductor to escape punishment. If he married the person he abducted or raped with permission of her guardian.
Again, I go back to how many cases have we heard about the abductor, you know marrying his rapist to escape punishment very little, but going back to it, normalizes violence against women.
Under article 29 disciplinary beatings are also sanctioned by law according to the penal code. And so I can go on and on.
You also have legislation that states that women can't pass on citizenship to her children. That's a form of psychological violence.
You know, and so having these forms of legislation it enables men. To believe that they have the upper hand when it comes to the law over women.
That's the first fold, the second fold when you asked what legislation should be put in place, to be honest the Kuwaiti constitution is one of the most fair constitutions in the world. It has deemed that men are, women are equal in the eyes of the law and has, you know given various freedoms. That are very hard to take away.
And so I think that the problem is not with the law, its self, but it's the application of the law.
And so one of the laws I want to point to was back in August 20, 20. The parliament passed the family protection law, and basically it protects victims of domestic violence. But the problem is it's not active.
Another article states that. The state is required to protect victims of abuse. So if someone were to go into a police station and complain the state or this respective authority is responsible of protecting said, victim that unfortunately. Is not the case. And we've seen it multiple times, unfortunately, a lot of times leading to death.
[00:16:15] Fatema's Story
Aziz: right. Okay. So uh, but Fatma anatomy's case was one of the most shocking things that I've ever read in my entire life. and I read your article about it actually, initially. And so. Can you share her story with our listeners who may not be familiar with
Yasmena: Sure. So was a 35 year old pregnant mother. she was married to her husband for two years. Although her father and her brother were okay with the marriage, one of her brothers wasn't. And so over the past two years, he threatened her several times and so forth until one day he went into your house.
fire the gunshots. And her house where her child, where her one year old child was her husband then rushed her to the hospital. You know, so she can seek treatment
Although there was security forces at the hospital itself, he sneaked in from the back door, made his way to the ICU where she was being treated, shot her four times.
Where she eventually died in the bed of the ICU LA ham hall. So her and the child that was inside of her. So it's a very, very tragic story. And it was a very, , horrific thing to hear, and while there, where our security forces there, it just goes to show that, you know, her brother, wasn't going to stop at anything to. Ensure , that, you know, he can say, unfortunately,
Aziz: does that fall under article one 53? Is that considered a honor killing? I know, I know she was married for two years. She has already a child with her husband. So did it fall under one 53?
Yasmena: So technically the article one 53?
means if a husband, a father or son catches female in the act of sexual activity and kids hurt. Hence the wording kills her by surprise falls under one 53. This was a plant, you know, He had the gun with him. He went to her house and he killed her.
[00:18:14] Farah Akbar case
Aziz: Right. Well, the latest uproar was for a Hamza Akbar's case, right? I'll let Hama, so what happened there and what are the latest details on that case?
Yasmena: Okay. So for hackers, case? was different than Fort because it was not a family member And. that's very important to highlight. And so she was, again, happily married you know, had the child of her own and was. Being stocked by this man. who has previously had two cases filed against him by far a hundred family for one kidnapping and one for attempted murder.
And both times they filed cases at the public prosecutor's office and have gone from one police station to the other, trying to just get the security forces, his attention and, get any form of protection. And, you know, clearly this man was a threat to her life until one day. Unfortunately he really was.
And they were in the car. He, bumped into the car. Grabbed her from her car with her daughters, took him into his car, stabbed her several times in front of her daughter, drove her to the hospital, dropped her dead body at the hospital, left the child and drove off.
Aziz: And. This wasn't something that was at all a surprise. I mean, there were two separate cases and pretty heavy cases. I mean, kidnapping and attempted murder and he was still roaming the streets and he was still stalking her and he ended up in her car and he stabbed her dead.
so there's obviously some kind of holes that need to be you know, Fixed in the system
Yasmena: and like you said, there is a huge glitch in the system. And I think one of the things that came out of the uproar that happened following her death, and unfortunately it took a soul to die for, you know, people to really grasp how. Much danger women's lives are here in Kuwait and they, unfortunately what's worse is they're not taken seriously.
And fi you know, as I was writing about the piece, I've interviewed a bunch of people. And so many women, have also had similar stories to tell where they have went in to file a complaint against a perpetrator. Whether it be someone they know or someone they don't know. And unfortunately their claim was not taken seriously and was dismissed.
And I think that is one of the main demands that are being called on by women here in Kuwait is to actually, take issues take complaints seriously, and to, you know ensure that women's lives are protected.
Aziz: Yeah, I think there needs to be some kind of reformation of the penal code so that there are safeguards for women.
[00:20:46] Bourgouise Feminist Movement
Aziz: uh, So our local listeners may have been familiar with. Jamie and upwards names, but a name that was less uttered was gentlemen, Villa Avandia, Filipina domestic worker that was sexually assaulted and murdered late 2019 in an interview with alphabet.
Dr. says that one of the major flaws of the feminist movement is that it's Highly designated to the bourgeoisie or upper middle-class and she urged true feminists to fight for their marginalized and at times voiceless sisters. So is the bourgeoisie focused movement unique to Kuwait or is it a flaw of the feminist movement?
Yasmena: Um, So I just want to say I, 1000% with words, and I think this is a conversation that needs to be kept, you know, a competition needs to keep happening because I think. And I'll speak to the world and then speak to Kuwait. And I think across the world, oftentimes we hear some voices louder than others and they tend to be the voices that have less to lose if they do speak.
And so I think that is imitated here in Kuwait. And while I don't want to disregard anyone's, work towards creating equal rights and justice. There are definitely voices that are left out of the conversation or are, you know heard less because they have more to lose. So migrant workers, domestic workers, but dune women definitely have more to lose because of the unfair legal stuff.
Because they are, you know living in unfair circumstances here in Kuwait and have much more to lose therefore are afraid to speak out. And so I think, you know, it's very important to be inclusive, as inclusive as possible uh, when talking about women's rights, but also ensuring to give voice to the voiceless.
And not speaking on behalf of them, but giving them the voice to speak, but to, in a way that does not infringe on their safety
Aziz: Phenomenal phenomenal, but that's easier said than done.
Yasmena: 100%.
Aziz: uh, yeah. And I think with people like Dr. who is getting out there and saying, Hey, it's not enough. What we're doing is just the beginning of a, of a very huge movement is honestly giving me a lot of help.
Yasmena: Yeah,
Aziz: So. Being that you're an eloquently spoken communication steward.
[00:23:09] Tips for getting your message accross
Aziz: What tips do you have for people to be more effective at getting their message across.
Yasmena: So I would say try to speak in a manner that reaches as many people as possible. While sometimes, you know when you have, you know, academic journals and so forth, you will try to use a little bit more, fancy vocabulary, if I may say you know keeping it simple and to the point, we'll actually let you reach more people than you think.
Also sometimes we tend to speak in a vacuum. So not only communicating with like-minded people might feel, more comfortable and easy, but having these awkward and harder conversations is what's actually going to, you know, let you get your message across. And also try to talk out of the bubble and talk to people that don't necessarily have the same viewpoint as you.
So that goes back to, you know, trying not to speak into this, you know, vacuum.
Aziz: Uh,
[00:23:59] How to filter out fake news
Aziz: How can we filter? And I know you hate this word, fake news from objective and neutral news.
Yasmena: Okay. So I would say number one gets your information from more than one source. Because all of us, myself included have our own biases and sometimes it's hard, to filter it out.
And so reading or listening or, you know, watching different publications or. Platforms and stuff can, you know, give you insight into a different point of view or perspective. And so definitely getting your information from one source is very important.
I also say always follow on the ground journalists because they do fantastic work and They are very, well-versed in the environment that they're in. and so not only do they have an understanding for the searching topics that they're talking about or writing about, but they also understand the culture and the background and therefore have a more nuanced understanding of what's happening.
And then finally, regardless of where you're getting your news. from always questioned the validity of what you're reading and do your own research.
Aziz: You already mentioned one book to us and I'm getting greedy, but
[00:25:06] Book that inspired you
Aziz: what's another book that inspired your life's journey.
Yasmena: Oh, so there's this book. If you haven't tried this book yet you have to read it. It's called our women on the ground. It's a fantastic, fantastic book. And I, you know, one of my all time favorites and it's basically a book that shares a story of 19 Arab journalists.
Working across the region and they're basically short essays about their lives. And it's just so well put together the stories are so raw. It's very diverse. And it's a great, great book.
[00:25:37] Important Message to audience
Aziz: Okay, beautiful. So what's an important message that you want our audience to take away from our discussion. you've said so many important messages. but what's an important message that you want our audience to take away from our discussions.
Yasmena: So, although there's so much, you know online And you know, so much news to consume, I always say whenever you are reading or listening or watching the news. Be mindful that there's more that isn't being said. So I urge you to go and do your own research and try to look up information on your own because there, is more to than what's being reported.
Aziz: Phenomenal.
You're you're absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for having this conversation with me. I learned so much from this conversation. I look forward to having you back so thank
you.
So Amina.
Yasmena: Honestly, I enjoyed your questions. And so, no, thank you. This was a really, really fun podcast to do.
Aziz: thanks for coming on the show and we'll be talking to you soon.
[00:26:34] Outro
Aziz: This podcast will now be possible without your support. So please subscribe to our podcast, share it with your friends and family. Check out the show notes for any references made and engage with us on Instagram and email. Thank you.