feminism

To commemorate International Working Women's Day for today 8th March 2015, Edinburgh Solidarity Federation members supported the event of local feminist group These Hysterical Women [1] which was a public gathering and exhibition held at Bristo Square to remind everyone that gender equality has not been reached.

The exhibition of "why I am a feminist..." comments were written by those attended and hosting the event. Following the exhibit was a performance by Rhythms of Resistance Samba band and then a brief speech (extract):

South London Solidarity Federation have agreed to support AFEM2014, an anarcha-feminist conference that is being planned for London on 19th October 2014, the day after the London Anarchist Bookfair
AFem2014 is intended to be the first in a series of international anarcha-feminist conferences.

The conference was first proposed by the Anarchist Federation, the organising group now includes representatives of the International of Anarchist Federations (IFA-IAF) and its member federations, several members of Solidarity Federation and many other anarcha-feminists.

We want to support this conference as it is in keeping with our ongoing efforts to address the gender imbalance in the Solidarity Federation and make sure people who have been marginalised within the anarchist movement can fully participate.

Recently, we called on people to complain to Channel 4 about the inclusion of an attack on a female Communist MP by a Greek neo-Nazi politician in a 'comedic' review of 2012. The channel's reponse is published below. Grace Dawson of Channel 4's viewer enquiries department says that the programme's "ridicule was directed at Ilias Kasidiaris rather than the recipient". In the eyes of Channel 4, therefore, it is OK to use violent attacks on women and left-wingers as a pretext for comedy, as long as the attacker is also ridiculed. This must be of great comfort to those who have been the victims of fascist violence.

Last night (December 28th), Channel 4 broadcast a programme called The 50 Funniest Moments of 2012 which, bizarrely, included TV footage of Ilias Kasidiaris, a Greek Member of Parliament and spokesperson for the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, physically assaulting Communist politician Liana Kanelli.

There is clearly nothing funny about a woman being violently attacked by a man, let alone a man who is a fascist politician. Such incidents must be condemned and organised against. They should not be used as a pretext for comedy.

Early morning, 29th December, a 23 year old woman died in a hospital in Singapore surrounded by her family. 13 days earlier she had been brutally gang raped by six men whilst travelling on a bus in Delhi with a male friend. The attack caused irreparable damage to her vital organs and has triggered outrage across the world.

This statement comes from recent discussions within South London and North London Solidarity Federation locals, and in response to a recent case of sexual assault which took place in the wider activist community. Following the actions taken by North London, South London and Brighton Solidarity Federation locals, this statement was written by the South London Gender Working Group.

We want to state clearly a number of things.

We believe that in the event of sexual assault it is necessary to take action, and that it is appropriate to look towards processes of community accountability. In exploring how to deal with such situations, we have looked at the experiences of other activist and political communities, and the literature that has stemmed from these. We strongly support other groups who have initiated these processes; these enact a sense of responsibility and care we should have for and with each other.

Yesterday, anti-choice campaign group Society for the Protection of Unborn Children held “kerbside vigils” across the UK, to commemorate the 44th anniversary of the Abortion Act 1967. Liverpool was, unfortunately, one of the cities to be blessed with a vigil and so Liverpool feminist group Angry Women of Liverpool (AWOL) organised a counter-protest just a week in advance.