Demand Dignity

Amnesty International volunteers in Kristiansand organized an awareness day recently, the theme being maternal death and human rights abuse. They held their protest in UiA’s main hall from early morning until all the students had finished classes.

But this was no ordinary protest. In addition to the well known leaflets and signing of petitions, they also had something very visual and touching. Girls who had volunteered were lying on the floor, wearing Amnesty t-shirts, a white mask and a big pillow under their shirt to draw attention to the problem they were fighting against: abortion being unavailable in Nicaragua, even for victims of rape or women whose pregnancy could end up killing them.

It is an admirable action, because the problem is real, and the numbers are frightening. Maternal death rates are as high as one mother lost every 90 seconds, which adds up to 358,000 women every year. It is a frightening number that could be drastically reduced with a simple medical procedure that is being done worldwide.

The campaign attracted many students, with everyone who asked for details understanding the problems and signing the petition, and a few of them aldo signed up to become Amnesty volunteers .

Published by Ruxandra Birle <ruxanb10SPAMFILTER@student.uia.no> 29/11/2010