In Solidarity

We have also used this form of protest at many of our programmes in different parts of the world to highlight and make public the issues that have never been recognised as human rights violations.
For example, in the Philippines, with the Lila Pilipina, the organisation of the former comfort women, we have stood protesting the silence on this war crime of the Second World War demanding justice and reparation from the Japanese government.
In Nepal, we have stood in support of women who have been trafficked and women in prostitution.
We have stood in solidarity with other groups all over the world seeking justice for Sarah Balabagan, a Filipino migrant worker who was convicted for murdering her employer who raped her; and for thousands like her who are working in the most dehumanised and exploitative conditions in alien lands where they have no support.
We have stood in support of the brave women of Bosnia who inspite of the genocide, do not seek revenge but say “that this violence that has happened to us will never happen again to anybody in any part of the world”.
Through our protest and silence we continue to reach out gently to touch and embrace, to heal the scars and erase the immeasurable pain caused by all forms of violence against women and in the hope that a time will come when we will be able to look into each other’s faces, unafraid.

Courts of Women

The AWHRC – a network of women and human rights organization in the Asia Pacific region has integrated the spirit of the Women in Black Movement into one of its major programmes, the Courts of Women.
In the words of Corinne Kumar who is the founder of the AWHRC and the International Coordinator of the Courts of Women “The Courts of Women are an unfolding of a space, an imaginary: a horizon that invites us to think, to feel, to challenge to connect, to dance, to dream. It is an attempt to define a new space for women, and to infuse this space with a new vision, a new politics. It is a gathering of voices and visions of the global south, locating itself in a discourse of dissent: it is in itself a dislocating practice, challenging the new world order of globalisation, crossing lines, breaking new ground: listening to the voices and movements in the margins”
The Courts of Women are public hearings.
They are symbolic spaces; sacred spaces where the voices of women victims of violence, of survivors, of resistors are listened to and through the listening attempt to challenge the universality of the human rights discourse, hegemonic knowledge paradigms that have excluded the visions, wisdoms and experiences of women. The Courts of Women hear of the need to extend the discourse to include the meanings and symbols and perspectives of women.
While the Courts of Women began in Asia and several Courts have been held in the region, Corinne Kumar who is at present the Secretary General of El Taller – an international ngo based in Tunisia has taken the Courts of Women to the other regions of the world – Africa, Arab, Central and Latin America.
Thirty nine Courts have been held so far on different issues and held mostly in the global south; some Courts have been World Courts, some regional and several Country Courts.
There are several events that are held before and after each Court including the Women in Black which is held before the day of the Court.
The following are some of the Courts before which the Women in Black was organized
• Speaking Tree Womenspeak on Crimes against Women Related to the Violence of Development, Bangalore, January 1995
• Daughters of Maat
First World Court of Women on Crimes against Women, Beijing, September, 1995
• Mahakama ya Wamama Wa Afrika, June 1999 Nairobi, Kenya
• The World Court of Women Against War for Peace, Cape Town, South Africa, March, 2001
• The South Asia Court of Women on the Violence of Trafficking and HIV/AIDS, August 2001, Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Daughters of Fire, the India Court of Women on Dowry and Related Forms of Violence was held from July 2009, Bangalore.

At the World Social Forum

Yet another gathering which has been infused with the spirit of Women in Black is the World Social Forum.
The World Social Forum which was created in 2001 is a space for social movements and individuals resisting and in search of alternatives to the process of globalisation and neoliberalism to gather, to share ideas and experiences, to debate and to articulate another vision of a world. Visions that is more rooted in the lifeworlds of those who are at the margins; visions that are more wholistic.
The social movements that gather at the forum come from the global south and north and believe in the dream that another world is possible.
El Taller International, the AWHRC and Vimochana have been part of the WSF and together with other partner organisations have organised several Courts of Women and Women in Black Vigils at the World Social and Polycentric Forums, Africa and the Asia Social Forum.
• At the WSF 2003 held in Porto Allegre, Brazil we held with our partner organisations in Cuba and Latin America the World Court of Women against the Economic Blockade in Cuba.
• At the WSF 2004 held in Mumbai, India we held with our partner organisations the World Court of Women on War as Crime (focussing on US war crimes).
• At the WSF 2005 held again in Brazil we offered with the Africa Social Forum, the Africa Court of Women on Poverty: Lives, Livelihoods, Lifeworlds.
• At the WSF polycentric 2006, we have held the World Court of Women on Resistance to Wars: Wars of Globalisation, Wars against Women in Bamako, Mali, in Caracas, Venezuela and in Karachi, Pakistan.
• In January 2003 the Asian Women’s human Rights Council with Vimochana organised Women in Black Against War for Peace at the Asian Social Forum in Hyderabad.
• In preparation to the World Social Forum 2004 to be held in Mumbai, there were many country specific forums that were held. India too held the India Social Forum in Delhi subsequent to the Asia Social Forum in Hyderabad.
• World Court of Women on Resistance to Wars, Wars of Globalization, Wars against Women, World Social Forum Polycentric, January, 2006 Bamako Mali
• World Court of Women on Resistance to Wars: Wars of Globalisation, Wars against Women, Karachi, Pakistan, 2006. World Social Forum Polycentric, January, 2006
For more information on the vision and perspectives on the Courts of Women and the Courts held so far, WIB vigils held at the Courts of Women and the WSF see www.womeninblack.in

Background: India Court of Women on Dowry and Related Forms of Violence against Women

Full details attached for download (link below)

Excerpt:
The Vision and Objectives of the Court of Women

Through the voices of women who will share their testimonies of pain and resistance and also women and men who will offer their analyses and wisdoms, the India Court of Women on Dowry and other Related Forms of Violence against Women will attempt to recover this lost language of justice. Specifically this Court will seek to:

bring back to the centre of public consciousness and conscience the phenomena of dowry violence that has become invisible, normal and routine
initiate a rethink on our analyses of what constitutes dowry in the present context and understand its links not only to other forms of violence against women but also to the larger culture of violence and marginalisation inherent in the contemporary processes of development and globalisation.
reflect on and review the methodologies of redress including the law and
revision a mass movement that is multi layered thereby taking deeper root in people’s collective consciousness and in public polity.

Processes towards the Court
A process as much as an event, this Court since January 2008 has begun to gather together the experience, knowledges and analyses on the changing face of dowry and related forms of violence against women from different parts of the state and country. This is being done through several state level events including smaller public hearings, workshops and roundtable discussions as also storytelling, theatre performances, songs, film festivals, and other forms of creative and reflective interactions among different rural and urban communities.

 

 

India Court of Women on Dowry and Related Forms of Violence against Women (inc WIB vigil)

Through the voices of women who will share their testimonies of pain and resistance and also women and men who will offer their analyses and wisdoms, the India Court of Women on Dowry and other Related Forms of Violence against Women will attempt to recover this lost language of justice. Specifically this Court will seek to:

– bring back to the centre of public consciousness and conscience the phenomena of dowry violence that has become invisible, normal and routine
– initiate a rethink on our analyses of what constitutes dowry in the present context and understand its links not only to other forms of violence against women but also to the larger culture of violence and marginalisation inherent in the contemporary processes of development and globalisation.
– reflect on and review the methodologies of redress including the law and revision a mass movement that is multi layered thereby taking deeper root in people’s collective consciousness and in public polity.

27 July – Women in Black vigil
An action of women and men dressed in black and standing in a public place in the city on the evening before the Court and focusing on the issues of the Court through placards, banners, pamphlets and lamps.
Secretariat:

Vimochana
Forum for Women’s Rights
33/1-9, Thyagraj Layout
Jaibharath Nagar
MS Nagar PO
Bangalore 560033
India
Telefax: 080-25492782
Tel: 080-25496934/ 25492781/25492783
Email: vimochana79@gmail.com
eltaller.international@gmail.com
Website: http://www. vimochana.org

See here for further information