INVITATION

Dear friends of organizations and networks for the rights of women,

During the 4th European Social Forum that will be held in Athens from the 4th to the 7th of May, the Women’s World March will organize a seminar against male domestic and public violence.

We still experience the invisible distress of millions of women in Europe. No one ignores that violence against women has taken incredible dimensions and that it constitutes the first cause of death of European women from 16 to 44 years old.

It is urgent, if we want this situation to be changed, to get out of our silence…

We have to mobilize ourselves because nobody else will do it for us.

The goal of the seminar is to examine how to organize a big mobilization on a European scale.

The goal of the seminar:

A) To prepare a mass mobilization against violence towards women on a European scale, that could begin on the 25th of next November, on the occasion of the International Day of Action Against Violence due to gender. To examine whether a European mobilization could start before the European elections.

With starting line our resistance

In order to create the bases of a European unitary movement of women and feminists with a simple and clear objective, on the 25th of November, we should begin from the real situation of the movement for the rights of women in Europe:

- If we want to find a common European objective that unites us, we should, firstly, get acquainted between us; we should learn the differences between countries. Accordingly, the seminar could, in a first phase, create the list of experiences and subjects of feminine movements in Europe.

We call all countries to make an intervention on the following matters:

-         Which are, in each country, the main fights concerning the violence against women?

-         Which are women’s main problems concerning violence?

-         Which are the main demands in each country?

-         Which are the forces, networks that are invested in each country? - Which are the particular fighting traditions and the real experiences from the day of action of November 25th?

The interventions (5 minutes each) could prepare their written answers before May. We could make a folder from them, if such a thing is possible.

Β) Having that as a basis, the goals could be fixed: Which demands, what  kind of climax and which slogan for this campaign?

In the Forum against violence during the European mobilization in Marseille,  World March of Women proposed to take as a reference the new Spanish law which is, probably today, the best one in Europe, and to begin with the demand for the extension of this law in all European countries. Could the peak of our campaign be to ask for such a harmonization upwards of all national legislations concerning that fight against violence against women?

But is this demand sufficient and can it unify and mobilize people in all European countries? Or should we add the lack of political will of our governments and their neoliberal policies to combat this problem?

C) To whom does the campaign appeal?

To women, to the European constitutions, to the public opinion, to men, to everybody?

D) How do we build the campaign?

How do we develop relations with the activists of movements that struggle in a European level against violence, so that we can prepare actively this mobilization (discuss the common European material, the slogans, the poster, the texts, the press conference, etc.) as well as the details of this mobilization, in central and national level? (It is not easy without money and secretariat).

-Moreover, it could be useful if the speaker from Spain explains the Spanish law.

-To have an intervention on the feasibility of a European legislation from the point of view of European right.

-To have a member of European Parliament who could advise us about tactics to adopt on this matter in the European Parliament.

In order to help the creation and to participate to this seminar, you can be in touch with Sonia Mitralia at the following e-mail: soniamitralia@gmail.com

Get informed for ESF’s program, register your organization and do not forget to propose your seminars and workshops until the 20th of February in the following website: http://workspace.fse-esf.org

Information for the European Social Forum:        

In the greek web page: http://Athens.fse-esf.org