Africa-Press – South-Sudan. As the world celebrated World Radio Day yesterday, Asunta Aluel, a community radio presenter, had one message for media professionals: don’t give up.
Asunta joined the media when she was 26 years old as the only female radio presenter at a community radio station in Turalei, Twic County, Warrap State.
She says her presence in the media has helped her to transform the lives of the local women in the communities in the state.
“When I started this program, I wanted women to talk,” she told The City Review ahead of World Radio Day, slated for February 13 to celebrate radio’s ability to support freedom of expression and gender equality.
Like most women around the world, South Sudanese also face the same challenges. They fail to get justice in courts, especially due to the prevailing patriarchal culture.
Asunta says the community court often debates some of the challenges that women face, such as infidelity and forced marriages in the absence of the women, and she feels that the latter get a raw deal in the quest for justice.
“I believe that [it] is unjust since only males are allowed to talk and if a woman wants to divorce her husband; she will be abused and…may be afraid to speak up,” Asunta says.
Lifting women’s voices on Radio
“After realising the challenges women face, I started a program called ‘Cheing Diar Ku Nyiir’ in Dinka language meaning, “The life of women and girls,” a program that aims for the women to speak for themselves and solve their issues,” she recalls.
“This radio program was designed to help women express themselves and get them to be part of the local justice system,” Asunta says.
She says the program was also meant to amplify the women’s quest for representation in the local courts.
This bore fruits as Twic County now has two women who normally sit on the bench to discuss issues like adultery.
Progress made
“The women in courts can now talk directly to fellow women and find out whether they are being accused rightly or not,’’ she assures.
“It’s very easy for an accused woman to express herself freely while talking to a fellow woman. In our culture, if you committed adultery,” Asunta adds.
Asunta says currently there are two women in each court and whenever there are issues that affect them, they sit along with the judges to address the case.
However, the discussion has received a blow of hesitancy to discuss certain health concerns.
“I invited doctors to speak on my show about diseases that impact women, and the women began to open up on topics such as menstruation period complications.
“These are changes that have encouraged me to continue producing women-focused radio programs,” Asunta says.
World Radio Day: We cannot give up!
She encourages her colleagues not to be faint-hearted in pursuit of their goals, adding that with hard work comes reward of respect.
Guor Atem, news editor of Mayardit FM in Turalei County, describes Asunta as one of the most committed workers since she joined the radio station as an intern up to the time when she was employed.
“Asunta is one of the most committed workers, and she handles girls, children and women’s issues and I believe her program has made an impact in the community,” he says.
He said most women like Asunta in Africa do work hard, but no one has recognised what changes they bring in the communities. He hopes that one-day Asunta’s hard work will be recognised.
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