WUNRN
Via Network of East-West Women
POLAND - STATEMENT OF WOMEN'S GROUPS FROM GDANSK
ON
THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOLIDARITY
The feminine side of „Solidarity” is often neglected and it makes us
speak up for those, who have no place in the masculine myth of
„Solidarity”.
„ Solidarity” was not created as a result of the lone fight of a few men.
It was the outcome of the collective effort of many people, both men and
women. In August 1980 women played a crucial role in initiating free trade
unions, they worked in strike committees, they publicly and
courageously demonstrated their convictions and support for „Solidarity”. Alina
Pienkowska and Anna Walentynowicz averted the looming collapse of the strike by
exhausted workers in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk. After „Solidarity” was
delegalized many women were repressed and arrested. Some, who were
abroad, started working for supporting the opposition in Poland, set up
organizations and groups for that purpose.
While men often gave the name and face for those groups, it was the women who did the tedious work. Sometimes the rule of men was just a facade and the women were real decision makers. However, there are few female names among the signatories of statements and resolutions. They were not eager to do that and often their identity was not known. When gradually „Solidarity” started to move to the level of power, women were more and more pushed into oblivion. By the Round Table negotiations there was only one chair reserved for a woman representing „Solidarity”.
Women's rights were not
included in the spectrum of rights that „Solidarity” was fighting for. The
energy of women as conscious citizens was stifled or even rejected. The Polish
democracy is of male gender. The feminine side of „Solidarity” is often
neglected and it makes us speak up for those, who have no place in the masculine
myth of „Solidarity”.
Our postulates:
1. To include the stories of women who were active in „Solidarity” in the
mainstream of the anniversary celebrations and consult them with women's groups
in Gdańsk.
2. To assign a space in
the new European Solidarity Center for a section dealing with women in the
Polish political opposition and to honor the great role of women in the
process of political and systemic transformation in Poland.
3. To inspire and finance research on the implementation of women's rights
during and after the transformation of 1989.
4. To organize a permanent exhibition in European Solidarity Center, as well as
worthy temporary exhibitions on the role of women in the movement. To collect
and secure documents pertaining to women in „Solidarity” and other freedom
movements. This would only be fair and do justice to the main principle of the
Center, which states that it is important „to protect from forgetting and
preserve everything that was experienced by the members of 10
million participants social movement, a phenomenon called „Solidarity”.
5. To educate about women in the opposition and use modern technologies for
that purpose.
Demokratyczna Unia Kobiet (Democratic Union of
Women)
Fundacja Wspierania Kobiet
Koło Naukowe Gender przy Uniwersytecie Gdańskim (Gender Studies, Gdansk University)
Network of East-West Women/NEWW-Polska
Partia Kobiet, Pomorze (Women’s Party, Pomerania)
Trójmiejska Akcja Kobiet (Tri-Citi Women’s Action)