Harnessing the Power of Media Advocacy – A Conversation with Asmaa James

Asmaa James is a renowned journalist, activist, and philanthropist from Sierra Leone with over 20 years of experience in broadcast journalism, management and advocacy for women’s rights.

In episode 28 of Her Media Diary with Dr Yemisi Akinbobola, Asmaa shares her journey from being a volunteer in a local radio station to rising through the ranks to become a ​presenter, ​producer, ​and editor. She also rose to the rank of a station ​manager and ultimately established her own ​media enterprise, ​dedicated mostly to covering issues affecting women and girls.

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Asmaa, it is such a pleasure to have you here, I always like to start from way back, from your childhood, so tell us what growing up in Sierra Leone was like.

It was very interesting growing up because I am from a fanatic Muslim background. When my mom died, my auntie took me and brought me to Freetown, and I was with her until I started secondary school. Immediately after school, I went into journalism as a volunteer. And I have been there until now, growing myself and trying to put myself together professionally. So, I must say it was a bittersweet experience growing up. I did not actually enjoy growing up because you know what it means when you are in a foster home without your biological parents. But it is all the same, I grew up and they tried to give me the best. And here I am today, I own a whole media house.

You mentioned that your mom died when you were quite young. Tell us more about that and how that shaped you.

I cannot quite remember because I was six when my mom died. I knew I was with my sisters, my mom, my dad. And then she died in a road accident. But in the few moments I had with her, I knew she was from Egypt, and she was very keen on speaking Arabic, so that is all I could remember. And then the Egyptian food she used to cook. My daddy wanted us to speak his mother tongue, but my mother had wanted us to have that opportunity. She made sure she gave us the best of Egyptian food. There is a particular food that they wrap the rice into something like cabbage and lots of garlic. So that is the only thing I can remember about her because that is what she always prepared for us. And when you speak bad Arabic, she will always correct you.

And your mother was Egyptian, and your dad is from Sierra Leone. Has that shaped your identity in any way?

Not really. My name is Asmaa, you cannot find lots of people with that name in Sierra Leone, it is an Arabic name. And then James is my husband’s name.  When I call my name, it is very difficult to identify me. You know, here in Sierra Leone, it is very easy to identify people by their names, by the way they look. So, they have identified me with different tribes. I am just mixed; you cannot really identify where I am from. We are more on our father’s side. Until about four years ago, when I first visited Egypt. And then I have been there quite a few times to meet my mother’s sisters and brothers who are still alive in Egypt.

It is interesting what you say there about kind of name and identity. So, you said you would then move with your auntie.

Yes. When my mother died, my mother’s friend took me and brought me to Freetown, and I have been here ever since. I go to the village. I am traditional. I believe in all the rights of being a traditional woman. So yes, I grew up in Freetown.

Tell me more about that. You said you are traditional and believe in the traditional rights of being a woman. What does that mean?

I hold certain traditions very sacred, but I do not put them in people’s faces. I just believe in what my instinct tells me. That is why I said I am very traditional. I go to my people a lot, I visit them, and whatever is in the village or in anything to do, if I’m there, I participate. So that’s why I said I’m very traditional.

Yeah, and I fully appreciate that, because I think we often assume that if we are gender advocates, that means we do not value tradition or we do not value certain aspects of our culture. And they can coexist, right?

Yes.

How do you navigate trying to maintain certain traditions that in one respect, some people could take a more detailed eye on and see some inequalities in, but in another respect, it is something that you really value. So how do you, as a gender advocate, navigate that personally? And there is no wrong or right answer here, because like you said, it’s all about individual choice.

Female genital Mutilation (FGM) for instance, I have never made my position clear on FGM. I have had organizations that support whatever I do but think FGM should be banned. And I always say I have my own beliefs. I believe that whatever you want to do, you can do. I believe in the tradition of FGM, and I believe the advocates, or the messengers are too harsh in advocating in something that I believe we should have negotiation on. And so, because the campaigners are non-compromising, I try to keep myself away from the whole issue of whether to ban or eliminate.

In my own little way, I tell people that I go with what the government says which is that FGM done under 18 is a crime. But if I am old enough to do what I want to do with myself, just the way people say, if it is my equality, it is my right to be what I want to be. So how do I balance it? I have tried to keep away from the whole discussion because of the fierceness of the campaigns. And now my position on it is that I believe in FGM, but in a very respectful way. So, because I campaign for the rights of women and girls or I want the girls to get the best does not mean that I don’t have certain cultural values that I hold very dear or sacred to my heart, and FGM is one. The conversation must be respectful. I do not care what they say on the international scene. I do not care what they say or who says it. But this is what I believe,

I mean, the reason why campaigners speak against FGM is that it is seen as a form of unnecessary violence on the bodies of women and girls. But your argument is that at a certain age, it can be considered a crime, but once you are an adult and you choose to do it, you should be allowed to choose to do it. So let me challenge you a little bit. Part of our choice-making is our choice in terms of what we want, but then also, it is also about things we have been brought up to believe are true and appropriate. There is an element in which choice is choice, and there is an element in which choice is a kind of conditioned choice. In your line of argument of respectful conversations and all that, how would you respond to campaigners that draw out that argument?

You must look at different aspects of the whole campaign. We have traditions and we have people who believe in those traditions. Before now, you cannot even mention the word FGM in our society, because it was seen to be very sacred. But now you go on the internet, you see everything is on the Internet. People talk about what they believe or what they think they know and what they think they do not know. For me, the conversation should start after 18. I mean, it is something that will eventually die down with time. If 10 to 15 years ago, we could not even say the word, but now we say it, it means in the next 10 to 15 years is something that would change with time. But for now, we start the conversation with, below 18 or whatever age you consider adulthood. So as old as I am now, I want to say I don’t like my nose. I want to make my nose the way I want to make it. No one can tell me no. Say at 40, I want to do the same thing, to say I do not need my clits, I want to remove it, no one can tell me no. Even during childbirth, there are instances where the doctors lose both mother and child.  This theory about FGM, all these stories about what people believe in, is just completely different from my point of view. As for me, the negotiations should start with: “Do not dare do anything to someone under 18 years old”. I have not started the campaign.  I have not commented on that publicly yet. But, for the sake of this conversation, this is what I believe in, and I believe the campaigners are too aggressive.

Based on your experiences and challenges, how do you balance your own opinions with a global narrative and a collective perspective on any issue, whether it is FGM or whatever, especially as somebody in this space yourself, advocating for women’s rights?

That is why I never made my voice or position public, because the things I advocate about more are rape, and giving girls access to go to school even if they are pregnant. I did a campaign on black Tuesday which was very successful. And it led to policy changes in Sierra Leone. I do campaigns that I believe in, like, sexual penetration of young girls is what I hold very dear and that I campaign strongly against. And I make sure I give it my all. So yes, it has never conflicted in any way. I will do my campaigns and leave those issues aside for now.

Beyond advocacy and women’s rights, you were a station manager. Are you still a search manager at radio democracy?

No, I am not. I started at Radio Democracy as a volunteer. I had just finished secondary school and was waiting for my results when I heard the announcements for volunteers at a radio station owned by the visually impaired. And then the opportunity came for Radio Democracy and that was where I went through the ranks from volunteer to reporter, to presenter, to producer, to editor of the day and later station manager. I was there for over two decades and I was station manager for 12 to 15 years. Two years ago, I left and established my news network known as Asmaa James Network. It has three components. The Asmaa James Foundation, which mentors girls, and Girls Plus which advocates for the sexual reproductive rights of women and girls. And then the radio, which is called Rise Radio. We dedicate 60% of the airtime to women and girls’ issues, young people, and innovation.

Finding yourself in the media was almost accidental. What was your journey like 20 years later? Reflect on those early years and the experience.

I must say I had the best time in broadcasting and that is why I stayed for so long. Radio Democracy remains the station that you go to when you want to talk about democracy, good governance and human rights.  I maintained that mantra of the station. Everyone had to listen to Radio Democracy and then the station manager was a woman, so she gave us all the support, all the opportunities. Many women were working there and so we maintained what the station was established for. In Sierra Leone, the media space is male-dominated and most of the media houses are privately owned by men. So, Radio Democracy is unique because it is owned by civil society.

I enjoyed every bit of it until I retired two years ago because I felt like I wanted to do mine. You cannot be in one space for over 20 years, and you are still there, still doing the same thing. But it’s been a wonderful journey.

You left to set up your own media organization, what has been the journey in trying to establish it?

It has not been very easy. People call me Christiana Amanpour because I was fearless, I used to do very strong, controversial programs, challenge politicians, challenge people. So, because they’ve known me for that since I established mine, I have been struggling to let people understand the model of my station. In the morning here when you tune into all the stations, it is very tough, very hard questions, politicians fighting here and there.  We are trying to change the way people listen to the radio in the morning. It has been challenged because Sierra Leone is not used to those kinds of programs in the morning. And when I attempted to do a lighthearted program, people did say, no, this is not for you. But it was wonderful because the set of people I established on the radio really enjoyed listening to it. We are trying to let people understand that you do not need to listen to politicians arguing. Listen to us in the morning as you go along with your day.

You talked about your accidental discovery into radio, your foundation and your work, how did you get to the point of this advocacy for women and girls?

I had a trusted voice and so I took advantage of that. Lots of young people look up to me, I got lots of messages requesting mentorship. That was how I started the foundation. I meet with them once a week to mentor them. And then the full advocacy was about five years ago when a young girl was brutally raped, and her spinal cord got broken. A friend of mine who was the president of female lawyers in Sierra Leone called me to say I needed to see the girl and that she must get justice. We needed people to understand that sexual penetration of a minor is a crime. And then I said, no, someone needs to hear, and something needs to be done. That was how I came into advocacy. We did a black Tuesday on that fateful Tuesday, both locally and internationally, and it was recognized. I then realized that advocacy for women especially girls touched my heart. I have been doing that ever since.

Tell me more about the black Tuesday movement.

There was a little girl of four or five years who was raped by her uncle. She was in the hospital receiving treatment because her spinal cord was broken.  I had to visit this young girl at the hospital. She could not talk. I wrote about it on Facebook to let people know that sexual penetration is unacceptable in society. I asked people to wear black on that Tuesday. It was huge back here in Sierra Leone, the first lady came with the full force of her own campaign, and we raised awareness on rape and sexual penetration and the campaigns led to policy change. The black Tuesday movement was a day campaign, but because it got the full support of some other organisations, it turned out to be a movement where we raised funds. It was a campaign that changed the narrative of rape and sexual penetration.

You have been globally recognized. The BBC recognized you as one of the hundred most inspiring and influential women in the world, and even the president awarded you the prestigious title of officer of the order. Tell me about that. And receiving such accolades, what has that meant for you?

For me, when you do something, you are passionate about, you do not do it for recognition. I am passionate about things I do to the best of my ability. And sexual penetration is one of them. In November 2016,  I got an email from the BBC asking me to talk about myself and the black Tuesday movement. And I did. In the end, I got an email from them saying I had been selected to be one of the most influential women by the BBC. It has been wonderful to receive all these accolades. It is also a burden because you must do more. But it is something that I hold sacred.

Thank you so much, Asmaa, for spending the last 45 minutes or so with me. What is next for you?

I do not know what God has in store for me, but I just established a radio station, and our broadcast is different. People are not used to it. I want to groom the radio station to my satisfaction. I would then try to now move into whatever God wants me to do. But I am still in the media space.

Brilliant. Thank you very much, Asmaa, for sharing your story with me. It has been a pleasure listening to you.

Thank you so much, too.