It was salty and bitter. The kidnappers threw the girl out of the cart.
But for Aberash it was a hollow victory. Of course, any change that helps end violence towards girls is welcome. n=n.substring(0,n.lastIndexOf("&")+1)+"ns_cut="+n.substring(n.lastIndexOf("&")+1,n.lastIndexOf("=")).substring(0,40)}(j.images)? } I despair of people's greed and ego that they can say it's not her story. For EWLA, the verdict was a triumph. I was accused of murder and after 2 years in the courts, the judge ruled that it was, in fact, self-defense. Aberash Bekele is on Facebook. While her friends screamed helplessly, the horsemen raced off across the great plain with their prize.
Aberash was thrown inside.
Her abductor approached. Then he left. We’re just now seeing abduction come back again. So they make a deal with some man to give their daughters to him or his son. Your case was in the news, but then you went silent about your travails. function sitestat(n){var j=document,f=j.location,b="";if(j.cookie.indexOf("st_ux=")!=-1){var k=j.cookie.split(";");var e="st_ux",h=document.domain,a="/"; Our efforts to uncover this missing dialogue led us to create new strategies to teach about health and well being. u = u.replace(/[\?][^\? Metcalf managed to get into the courtroom to film[citation needed], and Aberash was eventually acquitted. While anyone to whom the cause of Ethiopa's young women is important applauds the makers of the film for their good work, Bekele remains without a credit on the film. u = u.replace(/\/(hi|mobile)\//, '/'); The sound of pen on paper is clearly audible. Her film about William Hague, Just William...and Ffion, was said to break the mould of political documentary.
Learn how and when to remove this template message, San Francisco International Film Festival, "Ffion Hague profile: The likely one | Politics", "Dispatches - Articles - Award-Winning Films", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlotte_Metcalf&oldid=968289421, BLP articles lacking sources from November 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2014, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "From Awareness To Action" 1997, United Nations (UNHCR), "Chinatown" 2005, (films of Record/BBC) three part series, "Unreported Britain" (2-parts, Channel 4), This page was last edited on 18 July 2020, at 12:55. Join Facebook to connect with Aberash Bekele and others you may know. My trial led to a re-examination of this tradition and the Ethiopian government is now working to end child marriage and female genital cutting by 2025. My older sister was abducted at 16 and married. Then she lowered the gun and fired. u = u.replace(/\/bbc_sport\//, '/sport/'); Her life goals were interrupted. . Afterwards the other men entered the hut. One day, she had been walking home from school with friends when they were surrounded by a group of horsemen with whips and lassoos. The film's producers did not respond to a request for comment nor did Jolie's personal assistant acknowledge receipt of emails. They look like solemn crows in their rusty black gowns. Bekele is one of 11 children (now aged between 52 and 19) by the same mother and grew up outside Kersa, a small remote town in Arsii, southern Ethiopia, where her parents are subsistence farmers. Those were his last words. "I was married against my will so I will never be satisfied or happy but things are much better," she said. You can help. He fell and died. "She's hit me," he cried. BBC audiences were deeply affected by the film and sent in ample funds to give Aberash a safe, boarding-school education.
We have to help them understand that abduction is not O.K. Bekele looked happy as she sat in her father's embrace, a small nephew on her knee.
The law requires the State Department to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to end child marriage and to direct U.S. foreign assistance to programs in countries where child marriage is prevalent. Executive produced by Angelina Jolie, Difret has already won awards at the Sundance, Berlin, Montreal and Amsterdam film festivals and Bekele is once again the talk of the nation.
He ignored her. function prod_name(c) {return c.replace(/^(.+?)\.. The one who went through all the pain and all the trauma. + A draft Strategy is sitting at the Department of State. Why do parents in Ethiopia allow their daughters to be married off so young? if (!tsi.match(/\d\d\d\d\d\d/)) {tsi = 0;} On the day I was abducted, I was raped by my would be "husband." Abduction is one of the accepted methods of marriage in Ethiopia. She became the first cause célèbre for the Ethiopian Women Lawyers' Association and was finally released on the grounds of her youth and acting in self-defence. Aberash escaped and shot her abductor when he gave chase. This appears in the September 28, 2015 issue of TIME. "My sister Mulatu wouldn't be stuck at home if I could do anything about it. Soon she was cornered. In addition, the African Union recently launched a campaign to end child marriage across the continent. asset_id = matches[1]; And yet, it still is. Truth Aid was born out of the experience of physicians working to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the South Bronx. prod['sport'] = /sport/; Metcalf filmed Mestawet in her hut, living with three children and her husband, serving home-brewed liquor for a living. All heads in the room are turned towards her. [CDATA[ They beat up her very badly until she gets tired. My dad had given me away to a guy who had agreed that he would wait for me to marry until I finished school. The tragic story of Aberash Bekele, a teenage victim of “marriage by abduction” in Ethiopia, was told to a global audience in a 1999 documentary “Schoolgirl Killer” [click here to see the full 50-minute documentary]).Charlotte Metcalfe, the director of the documentary said the decision to make “Schoolgirl Killer” came about fortuitously. And thus they will not make any real difference in the lives of girls all over the world. She could suffer the same fate as me. Follow. She is 32, raising a son, and working for Harmee, an NGO founded by Dr Daniel Keftassa, which works to eliminate violence against women in Ethiopia. When her abductor and his men gave chase, she threatened to fire but they ignored her. 155,292 supporters.
Telling untold stories inspires and instructs in ways that create shared values and build on our common humanity. u = u.replace(/\/[12]\//, '/'); Mettcalf was travel editor of The Spectator between 2008 and 2010. DocsBarcelona The grandchildren began dancing as one of the daughters beat out a rhythm on a plastic jerrycan and the family sung traditional Oromo songs. Meanwhile, far from the celebrations, running around out there seeking justice was Aberash.
+ Our foreign assistance agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development, would be directed to craft evidence-based, stand-alone programs to delay the age of marriage, foster girls’ agency and choice and promote equitable and rights-based societies that give girls the tools they need to thrive, while also leveraging our considerable investments in such areas as health, education and food security to ensure these programs are being fully utilized to address related elements of the practice. Though she later left her husband, the elders persuaded her to return. You get abducted, and then you get raped, because as the father of your potential child, the abductor is in a higher position to negotiate with the family for your hand.
Despite her release, Bekele was exiled by the Kersa elders who didn't recognise the courts. In 1997, when you were 14, you killed a man. var prod = new Array(); In Arsii it was the custom that if you wanted a wife you went out and kidnapped one and it's estimated that, in 1998, 30% of marriages were initiated this way, with varying levels of violence. They did not see her. To end the torture, the girl agreed to marry him. He kept her bound and hidden in the forest for a month, repeatedly raping her. Bekele ultimately signed an agreement, which means she feels unable to complain or take further action. [1], Metcalf's documentary "Schoolgirl Killer",[2] made for BBC Television in 1999, exposed the story of Aberash Bekele, a 14-year-old girl abducted and raped into marriage. When her abductor tried to rape her, the girl fought so hard that he enlisted his friend to help tie her up. This petition is supported by Global Fund for Women, Ms Magazine, Equality Now and Truth Aid. Aberash Bekele with Truth Aid. I was taken to a hut and locked up. And she continued to go to school, finished her education.
When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped for a marriage to a much older man, as depicted in the film Difret. We believe the power of storytelling can change lives and empower communities to take action. Aberash feels helpless. Can you explain why? Aberash was kept hidden in an orphanage in the capital, Addis Ababa, while Meaza and her lawyers prepared her case. Her brother told me about the day she was abducted. I found Bekele and flew to Addis.
Tell President Obama to issue an Executive Order directing the U.S. government to use its full force to protect and empower the world’s girls and end child marriage once and for all. An indefatigable lawyer on the case, Meaza Ashenafi, is one of the characters in a story based on a similar tragic theme, which was made into a drama feature in 2014, called DIFRET and executive produced by Angelina Jolie[3], Metcalf has also made many films for the United Nations and for clients including Tesco, Unilever, the Labour Party, the International Olympic Committee and art galleries such as Robilant + Voena. sitestat("//sa.bbc.co.uk/bbc/bbc/s?name="+countername+"&ml_name=news-legacy-js&ml_version=20110330&app_type=web&app_name="+tld+"&prod_name="+tld); At 14, Bekele was kidnapped by … I could have been killed myself.". I knew I had to fight back and escape the first chance I got. When girls are forced into marriage early, entire communities miss out on their potential as change makers, economic drivers, and leaders. We are in the high court of Asela, the regional capital of Arsi, a remote and rugged region in the south of Ethiopia. ", Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage | © Follow. She had been a contemporary of the athlete Derartu Tulu, the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold at Barcelona in 1992. When I hugged Aberash Bekele goodbye 16 years ago, I had just finished filming a BBC documentary about her called Schoolgirl Killer. Instead, the militia arrested her and took her to the police station. Such a strategy would recognize and institutionalize the fact that child, early and forced marriage impacts the whole life of the girl and that holistic, rights-based approaches are therefore necessary to end it. At 14, Bekele was kidnapped by a gang of horsemen, raped and then put on trial for killing her abductor. When Schoolgirl Killer aired on the BBC in 1999, it struck a chord with the British public, who sent in enough money to send Bekele to a safe boarding school to finish her education.
Aberash was a schoolgirl of just 14 years when a group of horsemen kidnapped her from the way, at that time she was walking from home to school. She made the first party political broadcasts for Tony Blair and New Labour, including Clause Four. var countername = []; She waited until she heard the men laughing, then took the gun and sneaked out. Parents are worried that if they don’t give their daughter away early on, she might be abducted from school. Aberash Bekele is a women and girls’ advocate who works on the issues of violence against women and telefa, the kidnapping of child brides, in Ethiopia. var countername = countername(location.href), tld = prod_name(countername); The documentary also included Aberash's older sister, Mestawet, who was on the point of leaving Ethiopia and taking her place as a runner in the Olympic Games, when she was abducted into marriage.
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