Sibrat
Sibrat (“Trauma”) was broadcast throughout Ethiopia from September 2007 to February 2010 on the National Service of Radio Ethiopia in the Amharic language. Sibrat addresses the issue of Female Genital Mutilation / Cutting (FGM/C) and other harmful traditional practices by bringing listeners into the lives of two female characters with differing views and life choices. One of the characters, Tihitina, struggles through a prolonged labor, almost resulting in her death, due to genital scarring from being circumcised when she was a young girl. Through these kinds of trials and tribulations, listeners learned about the extreme risk of harmful traditional practices and the importance of coming together to put a stop to these practices and FGM/C in particular. This supports the main goal of Sibrat, which is to convey important messages on the identified issues, thereby enhancing the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of all listeners, as well as improving the status of girls and women.
Radio Ethiopia received numerous letters from listeners expressing their enthusiasm for the drama, their appreciation for the issues addressed, and the close connection they feel with the characters, whose experiences and family relationships remind them of their own.
Feyissa, a listener from Harar, Ethiopia wrote the following letter in response to the program:
Formerly I used to believe that unless a girl is circumcised, she becomes addicted to breaking utensils, tends to be insubordinate defying the authority of her would-be husband, and will prove to be sexually frigid and cheap. Now, I have understood from the drama that all these beliefs are false. I telephoned my mother and told her to listen to the drama. At that time, my mother was preparing herself to witness the circumcision of my sisters. I explained to her how inhumane and repugnant the practice was. Since I was successful in making her follow the drama closely, she completely abandoned the idea and my two sisters were spared from the pain that they were about to undergo.
Click here to read more listener letters.
The primary sources of data to evaluate the serial drama were listeners’ group members, media managers, journalists, representative of women’s affairs offices, and community members of the research areas. The questions posed to all categories of informants revolved around core issues such as their perceptions about the attractiveness/quality of the drama, major lessons drawn and change in behavior/attitude of listeners regarding HTPs/FGM attributable to their exposure to the radio serial drama.
Analysis of the data showed that the drama has attracted and hooked a large number of audience, the audiences have grasped the core issues of the message, and have made them issues of public dialogues. It was possible to observe considerable cases where listeners tried to practically apply the lessons they learned.
One of the core purposes of Sibrat radio serial drama is to motivate community dialogue, which leads to behavior change resulting in action. The following actions were noted in evaluations of the program:
- Informing, advising and urging others (such as parents/family members, neighbors, friends, and school mates) to listen to the drama;
- Taking actions in terms of opposing and stopping the practice of FGM
- Two girls from Hawassa reported that they were able to rescue a girl child who was to be circumcised on her seventh day of birth by telling her mother all the negative consequences they learned from Sibrat radio serial drama;
- Members of FGD in Yirgalem reported that they have made several attempts to raise awareness about the negative consequences of FGM by using all opportunities and forums. Specifically, they mentioned the trips they recently made to five villages in the rural areas for the purpose of awareness creation. In these occasions they presented lessons they learned from the serial drama to the public;
- Discussants from Yirgalem (also members of FGAE Youth Association) reported to have initiated alternative means of income for two women who used to live upon incomes derived from performing FGM with support from their organization;
- In Jijiga two girls reported that they saved a girl who was to be infibulated by telling the harms to her mother and threatening to report to the Police. Still another girl from Jijiga reported that she managed to convince her parents not to perform the practice on her youngest sister, though it was late to do the same to her other younger sister who were circumcised a few years earlier.
Sibrat was funded by Save the Children-Norway and the Oak Foundation.
