Friday, November 12, 2004
Women in black
Who are Women in Black
Women in Black (WiB) is a world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and other forms of violence.
We are not an organisation, but a means of mobilisation and a formula for action. Women in Black actions are generally women only, and often take the form of women wearing black, standing in a public place in silent, non-violent vigils at regular times and intervals, carrying placards and handing out leaflets.
Non-violent actions…
We use non-violent and non-aggressive forms of action. In addition to vigils Women in Black groups use many other forms of non-violent direct action such as sitting down to block a road, entering military bases and other forbidden zones, refusing to comply with orders, and "bearing witness". Wearing black in some cultures signifies mourning, and feminist actions dressed in black convert women's traditional passive mourning for the dead in war into a powerful refusal of the logic of war.
A worldwide movement…
It is impossible to know exactly how many Women in Black groups exist, how many women they include and how many actions have been held. When Women in Black in Israel/Palestine, as part of a coalition of Women for a Just Peace, called for vigils in June 2001 against the Occupation of Palestinian lands, at least 150 WiB groups across the world responded. Countries reporting vigils included: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Maldive Islands, Mexico, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the USA. The organisers estimate that altogether 10,000 women were involved.
International Women in Black conferences and encounters have been held in Jerusalem, Beijing, former Yugoslavia, and Brussels. Another is planned for Italy in 2003. In 2001 Women in Black was awarded the Millennium Peace Prize for Women by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and International Alert. Women in Black in Israel/Palestine and former Yugoslavia were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Right Livelihood Award.
International networking...
Women in Black has an international e-mail list and website. Go to the International section for more information. Click here.
A feminist perspective…
Women in Black groups do not have an agreed constitution - our perspective is clear from our actions and words. We have a feminist understanding that male violence against women in domestic life and in war are related. Women experience a continuum of gendered violence, generated and sustained in masculine cultures.
Women in Black attempt to resist all forms of violence. WiB includes women of many ethnic and national backgrounds, co-operating across these (and other) differences in the interests of justice and peace. We also recognise that when people are oppressed as an ethnic or national group they may need to organize resistance in that name. We work for a world where difference does not mean inequality, oppression or exclusion.
Women in Black is about building bridges across differences and borders, based on a shared perspective that we and other women create.
Women in Black (WiB) is a world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and other forms of violence.
We are not an organisation, but a means of mobilisation and a formula for action. Women in Black actions are generally women only, and often take the form of women wearing black, standing in a public place in silent, non-violent vigils at regular times and intervals, carrying placards and handing out leaflets.
Non-violent actions…
We use non-violent and non-aggressive forms of action. In addition to vigils Women in Black groups use many other forms of non-violent direct action such as sitting down to block a road, entering military bases and other forbidden zones, refusing to comply with orders, and "bearing witness". Wearing black in some cultures signifies mourning, and feminist actions dressed in black convert women's traditional passive mourning for the dead in war into a powerful refusal of the logic of war.
A worldwide movement…
It is impossible to know exactly how many Women in Black groups exist, how many women they include and how many actions have been held. When Women in Black in Israel/Palestine, as part of a coalition of Women for a Just Peace, called for vigils in June 2001 against the Occupation of Palestinian lands, at least 150 WiB groups across the world responded. Countries reporting vigils included: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Maldive Islands, Mexico, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the USA. The organisers estimate that altogether 10,000 women were involved.
International Women in Black conferences and encounters have been held in Jerusalem, Beijing, former Yugoslavia, and Brussels. Another is planned for Italy in 2003. In 2001 Women in Black was awarded the Millennium Peace Prize for Women by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and International Alert. Women in Black in Israel/Palestine and former Yugoslavia were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Right Livelihood Award.
International networking...
Women in Black has an international e-mail list and website. Go to the International section for more information. Click here.
A feminist perspective…
Women in Black groups do not have an agreed constitution - our perspective is clear from our actions and words. We have a feminist understanding that male violence against women in domestic life and in war are related. Women experience a continuum of gendered violence, generated and sustained in masculine cultures.
Women in Black attempt to resist all forms of violence. WiB includes women of many ethnic and national backgrounds, co-operating across these (and other) differences in the interests of justice and peace. We also recognise that when people are oppressed as an ethnic or national group they may need to organize resistance in that name. We work for a world where difference does not mean inequality, oppression or exclusion.
Women in Black is about building bridges across differences and borders, based on a shared perspective that we and other women create.
