Over the past week we’ve had discussions about violence against women and a few of the many organizations that work to eradicate VAW by using strategic nonviolent action techniques. The second week of March was a look into what women in different parts of the world are doing to overcome injustice in their own countries. And the first week of March we delved into what women of different races have done and are doing in the US to work towards gender equality.
The rest of the month of March will be a hodgepodge of activism, with no particular theme, other than take action. We will learn about women’s use of SNVA within the disability movement, sexual minority strategic actions, organizations that fight for reproductive justice and much more. Any ideas, suggestions, advice, links, comments or information would be more than welcome.
Today we will focus on the incredible work of Equality Now. Equality Now may be the first encounter I ever had with a women’s rights organization and organized feminism. I was in junior high and someone from EN was featured on Oprah and was talking about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). From then on I was determined that no one should suffer abuse just because she is female.
Equality Now is available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. This organization combats many forms of gender discrimination and gender-based violence, including FGM, human trafficking, rape, domestic violence, political participation and reproductive rights.
Started in 1992, “Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop these human rights abuses.” They have organizations in New York, Nairobi and London. There is an open position at the NY office for a bookkeeper and they also have internships at each of their locations.
The Women’s Action Network of Equality Now is how individuals and international organizations are mobilized in support of or in opposition to a specific issue. Here is a long list of the current actions supported by Equality Now. They include letter-writing campaigns to end FGM in Tanzania, and to end the femicides in Ciudad Juarez, among many other actions.
Equality Now also organizes political campaigns such as a benefit to combat human trafficking and sex tourism, and they publish Awaken which raises awareness and acts as a forum for strategies to combat FGM. They are also active in using UN mechanisms to urge governments to change their policies that are discriminatory towards women, and they support the Lawyer’s Alliance for Women Project which promotes individuals’ use of the law to combat injustice. Here is a list past events Equality Now has held, including a film screening of Fatal Promises and a panel discussion with the authors of Half the Sky. EN is supported by such celebrities as Meryl Streep.
There are many ways to support Equality Now and its work, including joining the WAN, taking actions and making donations. Equality Now also offers a list of creative ideas for ways to fight injustice. EN offers a number of items for sale featuring their super sexy logo and you can spread the word about their work by becoming a Facebook fan.
Related Articles
- Access to Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Nepal report (rosebellkagumire.com)
- Day 21- Violence Against Women in the US (feministactivism.wordpress.com)
Feminist Activism 
April 21st, 2012 at 17:55
To all readers:
Have you heard about the recent cake-cutting event in Sweden? Read more about it here: http://www.friatider.se/shocking-photos-shows-swedish-minister-of-culture-celebrating-with-niger-cake
In light of the recent events at the Swedish Museum of Modern Art, I have written a petition calling for the resignation of Lena Adelsohn Lilejeroth. https://www.change.org/petitions/liljeroth-sweden-s-museum-of-modern-art-liljeroth-should-resign-now
Please sign and share if you are moved to do so.
Here’s why I’m for her resignation:
I believe that the event showed a terribly insensitive response to a complex issue involving many different human beings. Participation in the cake-cutting event was racially insensitive, culturally insensitive, and misguided on an intellectual and artistic level. If you also feel that there are more effective ways to educate the general public about FGM and gain support for the movement, please consider signing and sharing the petition. I wish that artists such as those involved in the End FGM Art for Action Tour had had such a platform as Makode Linde. Yes, he provoked debate and discussion, but he did not offer solutions to the problem of FGM. Perhaps that was not the aim of the artwork, but it is an aim of the movement to end FGM. Solutions require activism, conversation, and art that heals as much as it provokes. With this petition, I hope to expand the current international groundswell into a movement of hope and activism. Liljeroth’s primary responsibility is to serve as a mediator in the act of cultural translation and inter/intracultural relations. She failed to uphold this responsibility and showed a grave error of judgment. Please bring attention to this issue by signing the petition. Lilejeroth and the Moderna Museet need to be held accountable in order for progress to take place in the movement to end FGM.
Sincerely,
Anja