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Asian Rural Women on Women's
Day 2008:
"Because Women Are Still Not Equal"
PRESS RELEASE - 5 March 2008
Because women are still oppressed and exploited;
Because women are still raped, terrorized, displaced and poisoned;
Because women suffer the most with globalization, militarization and
fundamentalism;
Because women are still invisible;
Because women still do not enjoy their full human rights;
Because women are still not on equal footing in society.
More than a thousand rural women came together in Palavoy,
Arakkonam (District Thiruvellore, Tamil Nadu) on 6-8 March 2007, for
the Asian Rural Women's Conference (ARWC). They gathered to share
and strengthen the rural and indigenous women's movement, and to build
and assert women's leadership and their human rights. This is the first
time ever that rural women specifically collected in such large numbers
in India on the occasion of the International Women's Day.
The historic gathering was hosted by Tamil Nadu Women's Forum
(TNWF), Tamil Nadu Dalit Women's Forum and Society for Rural Education
and Development (SRED). About hosting this unprecedented event, Fatima Burnad,
Coordinator of TNWF, comments, "We were excited to have
rural women from all over Asia come meeting here at Arakkonam.
This conference provided a global perspective to the local issues and
expose both the vulnerabilities as well as strengths of the rural
women, which otherwise gets ignored."
"This is the beginning of uniting the rural women. With
the impact of globalization felt by rural women, the poverty felt by
rural women and the ongoing struggles in their countries, it is
important to not only learn about these different situations and
struggles but also have unity for collective action and
networking." said Emily Cahilog of the women's rights
coalition, GABRIELA, based in the Philippines.
The three-day event featured speak-outs and testimonies from
rural and indigenous women from all over Asia, symposiums and forums on
rural women's issues and their intersections with Environment, Land
Rights, Globalization, Fundamentalism, Class and Caste Divisions,
Militarization, and Strengthening the Women's Movement. Sarojeni Rengam
from Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Asia and the Pacific (Malaysia),
which provided the secretariat support for the conference,
justifies the wide gamut of issues addressed. "We were
are here from different regions, so it is a conscious decision to
include issues that affect rural women that otherwise gets
marginalized. It is essential to provide space on these issues, leading
to strategies and collective action," she said.
The harsh realities of globalisation and global mobility of people
in search of work will feature strongly. Nova Nelson of CARAM notes, "The
disintegration of the rural economy has forced rural women to seek
livelihoods through migration. Rural women who are pushed into
migration are confronted with the most severe degrees of
marginalisation. The ARWC was not only provide a platform for
CARAM to engage rural women in addressing their realities in the nexus
of globalisation and migration, it also ensured the development of
community oriented solutions". CARAM ASIA focuses on
migration, and vulnerabilities to HIV and treats facing migrant workers
health.
Shamima Akhtar, a former migrant worker from Bangladesh, adds: "I was
here to share solidarity, say no to forced migration of rural women and
to reclaim the rural economy to ensure livelihood in our
communities."
For P. Logeswary from Sri Lanka, who was leading the largest
delegation of 32 minority and plantation women, "the
Conference was very important because it provided us a space we
otherwise would not have, to voice out our struggles against ethic
marginalization; the impacts of the on-going conflict; and our
struggles as plantation workers. As women workers we have no rights, we
are treated and paid very badly and we suffer terrible health effects
from pesticides and other chemicals".
The conference aimed to build perspectives, engender unity and
solidarity among women and with other movements. It sought to
forge new visions and thinking on feminism, liberation, emancipation
and the rural women's perspective on socio-economic liberation and food
sovereignty. An organic food festival, films and other cultural
presentations from various countries were part of the programme.
On the International Women's Day, a caravan went through the
streets from Arakkonam to Sriperumbudur and culminate in a public
assembly of ten thousand rural women rallying to reclaim their right to
speak out, be heard and be seen.
"The build-up of synergy from this conference will go
beyond to develop into symbiotic partnerships that will lead to more
intensive debates and discussions on and a better understanding of the
women's issues and help bring out the women's agenda much more strongly
in future," concluded Rengam.
Contacts for Co-Organisers
Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP):
Jennifer Mourin, Email: jennifer.mourin@panap.net
Tel. in India: +91 978 78 12095
Marjo Busto Quinto, Email: marjo.busto@panap.net
/ or marjobq@yahoo.com
Tel. in India: +91 9791866484 (Arakkonam) calls only.
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