feminism

A session that was supposed to be about experiences of hate crimes, and remembering people we have lost due to homophobia, ended up into an emotional session. The session started well with presentations from the panels. Chan from Zambia, who identifies as a transgendered man said, he feels and has seen that there is no unity within the feminist movement. When issues affecting women are addressed, it is not very often you hear transpeople mentioned.

Feminist Tech Exchange (FTX), 10th to 13th Nov 2008, Monkey Valley

AWID Forum, 14th to 17th Nov 2008, Cape Town – Forgotten Voices: Women with Disabilities and the AIDS Pandemic – Sex Workers Meet Feminism

Srilatha shared during the FTX that as a movement we must have a common agenda. But what is our common agenda as the women’s rights movement? Are we still working on rights but constrained by our understanding of the change that we want to effect within thematic areas and issues? Or are we as the women’s rights movement working on ensuring women’s autonomy, self-determination and her right to choose? What does it mean if we disapprove of a woman’s choice when it doesn’t agree with our values, our beliefs and what we conveniently assume would be our choice if we were in the exact same context but pretend to know that it “should” be her choice?

Saying helloFriday 14th November 2008 CAPETOWN: From the south of Auckland to the southern Highlands of PNG, women of the Pacific will claim a historic moment at this morning’s opening of the 11th AWID International Forum at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa.