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During lunch I had a good chat with one of our supervisors: Janett Wilson. She has worked with the WFP for quite a long time so she has a lot of experience with the ins and outs of the NGO. Furthermore, she is also a born and bred Panamanian so she knows the ins and outs of the nation in which we are living in! Our conversation was quite elaborate, and it was definitely a good chance to get to know a bit more about her and her life.
At some point the subject of 'WOMEN' came up just casually, as I told her the seemingly extreme differences of things that I'd experienced when I first arrived in Panama. To be specific I meant the cat-calling and the NOISE when men would call out to women as the pass by on the street or walk along the road.
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HOWEVER
IN PANAMA: there is a stark contrast when it comes to how women are treated just on the streets. Yes it is definitely a Latin American cultural thing that I have noticed BUT it is also a women's rights issue as a foreigner it did make me (still makes me) uncomfortable to hear and endure. For Panamanian women, on the other hand, cat-calls and comments on the street are entirely common and have become something that women get used to.
The reasoning behind this whole situation of cat-calling is rooted in the idea that women are and can be admired by men, and that all women are beautiful and should be acknowledged as such in a 'complimenting' way. In a sense I do get where these men come from, if I think you are beautiful I want to tell you. But at the same time I wonder if girls in Panama would continue to endure the cat-calls if they had a choice on the subject?