In March of 2011 at Havana's Casa del Alba, officially presented was a project directed toward ending violence against women and girls, Todas Contracorriente, [All women against the stream] - an initiative meant to address the portrayal of females, particularly in the media. Ban Ki- moon, United Nations general secretary, praised work being done by the project during a meeting at the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) in Havana. Over its three years of existence, the project has garnered support from national institutions and organizations. Cuban singer Rochy Ameneiro recently visited Granma International to discuss the effort. How did Todas Contracorriente emerge? This project emerged thanks to my relationship with Dr. Julio César González Pagés. We were discussing the tendency in film and video to present women as sexual objects. He proposed doing something about this via music, and I liked the idea. I had been singing a song called "Contracorriente" [Against the stream] by singer-songwriter Yamira Díaz, and I said: This is a song that can be re-contextualized and used for this issue. And that's how the project took off. We recorded it and I asked our great Omara Portuondo if she would like to participate with me. She accepted right away. Her participation legitimized the importance of this work, because she is a very well respected figure and has defended Cuban culture in all its aspects. Her presence was a way to start out on the right foot. Who has joined the initiative? We have always thought of it as a project open to anyone who wanted to be involved, everyone who wanted to present a comprehensive, integral vision of women, to struggle for an end to violence against women and girls. We accept everyone: women, men, young or not, so they make this idea their own, and participate in the work. Rochy Ameneiro believes artist must participate in academic discussion of gender issues. Foto: Ismael Batista From the moment you collaborate in any way, you are part of the project. That's the idea. Much less is it something of mine. Although I might be the principal face, it is open to everyone who would like to be a person who is 'against the stream.' What activities have been undertaken? We opened a space in the Casa del Alba, called Women of Alba and invited female musicians, scientists, writers and poets to interact with the public. Thanks to support from the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM), the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), and other organizations such as those connected to the United Nations system and UNICEF, we decided to make the project mobile and take it to the provinces. We proposed a national tour to the ICM and it was approved right away. With the support of the FMC, all the national logistics were organized, including workshops to promote sensitivity to these issues, and concerts with which we intended to show that one can listen to songs, have a good time, dance to songs that do not reflect reasons to hurt a woman, or show violence in any way. The first tour included more than 14 cities across the country. Workshops were held in schools for art instructors. We did concerts in provincial capital cities and visited monuments to women who are important historically, since making women in history more visible is also a way to struggle for non-violence. We even made a proposal to the Ministry of Tourism to design a route including all the monuments to women throughout the country. The idea was to let it be known that there is a woman to honor in every province. The second tour had as its objective the training of public opinion leaders and the presentation of the campaign directed toward men entitled El valiente no es violento. [A brave man is not violent] How is work with youth conducted? Our work on the tours is fundamentally directed toward young audiences, since they are the ones being most bombarded with violent audiovisuals, with machismo, and they are the ones who hold in their hands the transformation of society. I think our task is to educate them. That is why we chose the art schools, since art instructors are located where cultural policies are being decided on the community level. We consider important involving youth who are being trained as educators. What are you planning for November 25? The first workshop to develop sensitivity to the issue, for artists, was presented in 2011. There will be another one shortly linked to international activities focused on non-violence, scheduled November 25 through December 10. These are the 10 days of global activism focused on ending violence against women and girls. There is a program organized by a network of artists called Únete [Join up] about all that can be done in the country to give the campaign more visibility. This includes workshops directed toward artists in all art forms: audiovisual, visual arts, theater, dance... How must the image of women offered today in audiovisuals change? The task of the mass communications media is very important. I believe cultural policy decision makers at a national level need to take these courses with gender experts. There is a willingness on the national level that this happen, but it [the content] must be assimilated, above all in television. There are many products which transmit violent values, and I am sure that this is because of the lack of awareness among producers and artists. This is not a war against men, but rather the defense of the right to equality between men and women, of respect toward others, that all men and women advocate for a culture of peace. Work to change consciousness is long term. Are you prepared to continue the project regardless of the time required? Todas Contracorriente is here to stay. Since I became involved in this project, I consider it one of my reasons for living, and I won't get tired. The road is long. Perhaps we will not see the results, but what is important is to sow the seeds of non-violence.
