Wednesday, January 12th
Thanks for all who came out to meeting- we had a great discussion and have some exciting upcoming events!
The first item on our agenda was the upcoming International Women’s Day celebration on March 8th. Right now, we are in the planning stages with the Mid-Atlantic Regional office but the layout has been put together, thanks to much hard work by Anne Ellsworth.
The Action Team will be pairing up with the DC Independent Film Festival to premier one short and one feature length film at the City Museum on March 8th from 7-9 pm. A reception, with speaker, will follow. We have decided to show Battered, Bruised and Broken as the short film (12 minute) and are still deciding on the feature length. A movie night will be held soon to preview film options; please watch the listserv for details or email Erica Morgan at ericachandra@hotmail.com. For more information on getting involved with the planning please email either Jennie Simpson at giasupertar@yahoo.com or Erica Morgan.
Our Sudan panel is moving right along! It will be held on Wednesday, February 23rd, from 7-9 pm at the George Washington University. We are in the process of finding speakers and Janel Kasper-Wolfe has put together a great summary and background piece to send out to potential speakers. Here it is:
In 2004 Amnesty International launched their ground breaking Stop Violence Against Women Campaign (SVAW Campaign). The campaign has made the link between violence against women and human rights by focusing on a range of issues, including violence against women in conflict. In support of the SVAW Campaign the DC-Women's Human Rights Action Team, George Washington University chapter of Amnesty International and the Women's Information
Network is sponsoring a panel discussing Violence Against Women in Armed Conflict: Darfur, Sudan.
According to Amnesty International USA, over 70,000 people are believed to have lost their lives since the conflict in Darfur, Sudan erupted in February 2003. Systematic human rights abuses have occurred by all parties involved in the conflict, but primarily by the Sudanese government and government-backed Janjawid militia. Over 1.5 million civilians have been
internally displaced by the conflict and 200,000 have sought refuge in neighboring Chad. Amnesty International USA has also reported that many of the human rights violations in Darfur have been gendered, specifically targeting women and girls for abductions, sexual slavery, rape, torture and forced displacement.
We are presenting a panel discussion that can address the general situation in Darfur, Sudan and address some of these specific questions:
* What is the background of the armed conflict in Darfur?
* How is the armed conflict gendered? How are women and girls
specifically targeted?
* Over 1.5 million people have been internally displaced and 200,00
are refugees in Chad, are the situations different for women than for
men?
* Are children in general specifically at risk, is there a difference
between
girl and boy children?
* What are international and local NGOs doing to address the gendered
aspects of this conflict? In particular to address violence against
women?
* Are women involved in the peace process?
* What can we do?
We are hoping to not only educate the audience about the links between armed conflict, human rights abuses, and violence against women but to motivate them to act by giving them specific ideas for action.
If you would like more information or to get involved, email Janel Kasper-Wolfe at Janel.kasper@verizon.net.
And finally, we discussed the possibility of holding a “feminist convergence” this fall. An organizing group has already been formed to take on the task of imagining and planning this event. Some of the questions to think about:
* With a focus on grassroots feminist activism, what do we imagine this to include?
* The format for the convergence- all day workshops, panels, etc…?
* If it is based on a call for proposals framework, how do we envision doing this? Where will we distribute to?
* Comments, suggestions, ideas??
If you would like to get involved, email Jennie Simpson at giasuperstar@yahoo.com.
