Conference: Rape, Race and Prostitution - Justice in the 21st century
Saturday 10 March, 9.30-5pm
Trinity United Reformed Church, Buck Street, London NW1
Global Women's Strike Tel: 020 7482 2496
womenstrike8m@server101.com www.globalwomenstrike.net
Entrance: funded organisations & professionals £20; waged £10; low waged £5; unwaged £3; asylum seekers free. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Programme
9.30am: Registration, tea and coffee
10-12am: Rape & Domestic Violence –
Justice CAN be won
With Black Women’s Rape Action Project and
Women Against Rape
Much has changed since the modern anti-rape movement began over 30 years ago. Rape in marriage is now recognised as a crime. Fewer people believe women “ask for it”. But violent men are still getting away with it: the conviction rate for reported rape has sunk to 5.3%. More women reporting rape are being jailed, and many women seeking asylum from rape are deported.
Women will speak about: surviving rape and domestic violence, and then surviving the criminal justice system; surviving rape, war and dictatorship, and then surviving the immigration authorities; winning a private prosecution; winning against deportation; a new and revolutionary anti-violence law in Venezuela.
12-1pm: Inexpensive vegetarian food available
1-2.30pm: Race & Racism – Making the State Accountable to Women of Colour
With Women of Colour in the Global Women’s Strike and
Black Women’s Rape Action Project
The Big Brother events show that many more people want to overcome the divisions among us. But the establishment’s attack on “multi-culturalism” reinforces these divisions, and hides theeconomic and social realities of racism. Only 7% of racist attacks result in conviction. The struggle of women asylum seekers who face detention and deportation is part of the anti-racist and anti-sexist movement but this is not recognised. The cost to women of the “war on terror” and of police raids on Muslim communities, has also been hidden.
We’ll hear from: women who do the justice work of caring for and defending families; the hard work it takes to get a conviction for a racist attack against a Muslim woman; women defending men *– Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row.
2.30-3pm: Tea break
3-4.30pm: Prostitution – Safety First
With the English Collective of Prostitutes and
the US PROStitutes Collective
The tragic murders of five young women in Ipswich caused an unprecedented outcry. All kinds of people now understand that the criminalisation of consenting sex, whether it targets sex workers or clients, pushes prostitution underground, and makes women more vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Most attacks are not reported for fear of arrest or when reported are often dismissed by police. When prostitute women are not safe, no woman is safe.
The launch of the Safety First Coalition to decriminalise sex work is based on New Zealand’s successful experience and looks at viable economic alternatives and appropriate health treatment.
4.30-5pm: Acting Together to Win Justice
We are actively working for change and we need to discuss the proposals and suggestions that have arisen during the day.
Since March 2006, the organizations of the Global Women’s Strike & Payday men’s network have l Organized v the war in Iraq & the “war on terror” & for the right to protest in Parliament Sq l Worked with mothers & relatives of US & UK soldiers who refused to go to war l Supported conscripts in Israel & Turkey who refused to join the military l Campaigned against prison for life for UK refusers l Demonstrated to stop US war planes & torture flights refueling at Irish airports l Marched v drought, starvation & military atrocities in northern Uganda l Worked v murderous & racist US-UN occupation in Haiti l Won in India the release of hundreds of bonded labourers, marched v rape by landlords l Won greater recognition for domestic workers’ rights in Peru, Trinidad & Tobago l Gathered support for women in Mexico fighting electoral fraud, rape & other repression l Opposed the building of large dams that would drown Kurdish villages in Turkey l Organized across race v racial & domestic violence in Guyana l Campaigned for US health food co-op to boycott Israeli goods l Fasted in UK v bombing of Lebanon l Worked with survivors of hurricanes Katrina & Rita for money & reconstruction, & to expose theft by aid agencies l Protested distribution of formula milk that undermines breastfeeding in Africa & Iraq, & defended right of breastfeeding mothers who are HIV+ l Helped win housing & money for mothers in Venezuela; launched new book on Women’s Development Bank; made film to publicize the revolution to which women are central l Co-ordinated European tour for grassroots organizers who represent the Strike & Payday in Venezuela l Campaigned for Irish constitution to recognize caring work l Campaigned for sex workers’ safety & protection, single mothers’ income for caring work, a decent income, healthcare, services, transport for people with disabilities & older people l Helped win asylum in the UK for women fleeing homophobia, rape & other torture in dictatorships & proxy wars in Africa & elsewhere l Petitioned in Spain for benefits & wages for mothers & carers l Worked with anti-rape organizations for rapists & racists to be prosecuted, for survivors to be compensated & their anonymity protected l Challenged voluntary sector & those feminists who make careers claiming to speak for us while implementing government policies of privatization, cuts & deportation l Got support from lawyers & journalists for fair trial for death row Black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal l Made visible the justice work of women fighting for loved ones who have been killed, imprisoned or injured l Made holistic health treatment available l Deepened our knowledge of Marx and our understanding of how he can help us to change our world l Worked to strengthen & expand our international network, run our women’s centres, update our technology, learn new skills & languages, translate materials into many languages...Much more work lies ahead, but we have many more friends & a revolution in Venezuela...
Saturday 10 March, 9.30-5pm
Trinity United Reformed Church, Buck Street, London NW1
Global Women's Strike Tel: 020 7482 2496
womenstrike8m@server101.com www.globalwomenstrike.net
Entrance: funded organisations & professionals £20; waged £10; low waged £5; unwaged £3; asylum seekers free. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Programme
9.30am: Registration, tea and coffee
10-12am: Rape & Domestic Violence –
Justice CAN be won
With Black Women’s Rape Action Project and
Women Against Rape
Much has changed since the modern anti-rape movement began over 30 years ago. Rape in marriage is now recognised as a crime. Fewer people believe women “ask for it”. But violent men are still getting away with it: the conviction rate for reported rape has sunk to 5.3%. More women reporting rape are being jailed, and many women seeking asylum from rape are deported.
Women will speak about: surviving rape and domestic violence, and then surviving the criminal justice system; surviving rape, war and dictatorship, and then surviving the immigration authorities; winning a private prosecution; winning against deportation; a new and revolutionary anti-violence law in Venezuela.
12-1pm: Inexpensive vegetarian food available
1-2.30pm: Race & Racism – Making the State Accountable to Women of Colour
With Women of Colour in the Global Women’s Strike and
Black Women’s Rape Action Project
The Big Brother events show that many more people want to overcome the divisions among us. But the establishment’s attack on “multi-culturalism” reinforces these divisions, and hides theeconomic and social realities of racism. Only 7% of racist attacks result in conviction. The struggle of women asylum seekers who face detention and deportation is part of the anti-racist and anti-sexist movement but this is not recognised. The cost to women of the “war on terror” and of police raids on Muslim communities, has also been hidden.
We’ll hear from: women who do the justice work of caring for and defending families; the hard work it takes to get a conviction for a racist attack against a Muslim woman; women defending men *– Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row.
2.30-3pm: Tea break
3-4.30pm: Prostitution – Safety First
With the English Collective of Prostitutes and
the US PROStitutes Collective
The tragic murders of five young women in Ipswich caused an unprecedented outcry. All kinds of people now understand that the criminalisation of consenting sex, whether it targets sex workers or clients, pushes prostitution underground, and makes women more vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Most attacks are not reported for fear of arrest or when reported are often dismissed by police. When prostitute women are not safe, no woman is safe.
The launch of the Safety First Coalition to decriminalise sex work is based on New Zealand’s successful experience and looks at viable economic alternatives and appropriate health treatment.
4.30-5pm: Acting Together to Win Justice
We are actively working for change and we need to discuss the proposals and suggestions that have arisen during the day.
Since March 2006, the organizations of the Global Women’s Strike & Payday men’s network have l Organized v the war in Iraq & the “war on terror” & for the right to protest in Parliament Sq l Worked with mothers & relatives of US & UK soldiers who refused to go to war l Supported conscripts in Israel & Turkey who refused to join the military l Campaigned against prison for life for UK refusers l Demonstrated to stop US war planes & torture flights refueling at Irish airports l Marched v drought, starvation & military atrocities in northern Uganda l Worked v murderous & racist US-UN occupation in Haiti l Won in India the release of hundreds of bonded labourers, marched v rape by landlords l Won greater recognition for domestic workers’ rights in Peru, Trinidad & Tobago l Gathered support for women in Mexico fighting electoral fraud, rape & other repression l Opposed the building of large dams that would drown Kurdish villages in Turkey l Organized across race v racial & domestic violence in Guyana l Campaigned for US health food co-op to boycott Israeli goods l Fasted in UK v bombing of Lebanon l Worked with survivors of hurricanes Katrina & Rita for money & reconstruction, & to expose theft by aid agencies l Protested distribution of formula milk that undermines breastfeeding in Africa & Iraq, & defended right of breastfeeding mothers who are HIV+ l Helped win housing & money for mothers in Venezuela; launched new book on Women’s Development Bank; made film to publicize the revolution to which women are central l Co-ordinated European tour for grassroots organizers who represent the Strike & Payday in Venezuela l Campaigned for Irish constitution to recognize caring work l Campaigned for sex workers’ safety & protection, single mothers’ income for caring work, a decent income, healthcare, services, transport for people with disabilities & older people l Helped win asylum in the UK for women fleeing homophobia, rape & other torture in dictatorships & proxy wars in Africa & elsewhere l Petitioned in Spain for benefits & wages for mothers & carers l Worked with anti-rape organizations for rapists & racists to be prosecuted, for survivors to be compensated & their anonymity protected l Challenged voluntary sector & those feminists who make careers claiming to speak for us while implementing government policies of privatization, cuts & deportation l Got support from lawyers & journalists for fair trial for death row Black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal l Made visible the justice work of women fighting for loved ones who have been killed, imprisoned or injured l Made holistic health treatment available l Deepened our knowledge of Marx and our understanding of how he can help us to change our world l Worked to strengthen & expand our international network, run our women’s centres, update our technology, learn new skills & languages, translate materials into many languages...Much more work lies ahead, but we have many more friends & a revolution in Venezuela...
