The Relay of the Women's Global Charter for Humanity Mobilized Thousands of Women against Violence, Poverty and All Forms of Discrimination

Denouncing poverty and all forms of violence against women, the core targets of the World March of Women, was at the heart of the Relay of the Women's Global Charter for Humanity, which passed through some 50 countries between March 8 and October 17, 2005.

The South American and Central American women who answered the World March call unanimously denounced the effects of neoliberal policies on women. In Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia, where the terms of a free trade agreement with the United States are being discussed, they rejected any foreign control over their natural resources.

The women of El Salvador emphasized the migrations caused by such agreements. Impoverished women and men are forced to go to other countries to look for work in very difficult circumstances.

In Mexico, which has participated in a free trade zone with its neighbours to the north for ten years now, eco-feminist Ursula Oswald pointed out that the North American Free Trade Agreement has, “on average, stunted children's height by one centimetre in those ten years.”

An end to all forms of discrimination in the workplace was one of Québec women's demands.  

Portuguese women asked the political parties to “take measures to fight poverty, unemployment and lack of job security, which are phenomena that mostly affect women; to respect and implement the constitutional prohibition of gender-based discrimination and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, ethnic background and origin.”

In Thailand and Myanmar, women demanded “the elimination of poverty and guarantees for a fair distribution of the planet's wealth among rich and poor and among women and men.” Mozambican women protested “against the feminization of poverty and against AIDS.”

Denunciation of Violence

The Relay was also the occasion for many women's groups to remind others that women experience violence in many different ways: rape, wife assault, sexual assault, discrimination in society, in the workplace and even in sport, as denounced by Galicia's women rowers.

“I've been married for 46 years and my husband beats me. My mother had told me I should respect my husband and never raise a hand or my voice to him. But I tell my three daughters to stand up for themselves. It's time to put an end to mistreatment!” said Carmen Carrasco, a 66-year-old Ecuadorean mother, when the Charter arrived in her country.

The Québec coordinating body demanded (as it has done for a long time) a ten-year information and awareness-raising campaign on violence against women. Before the Relay took place, women in Turkey had presented a list of demands to the National Assembly. Among the demands was one to implement a national action plan and special measures to fight violations of their rights such as “honour” crimes in the country.

In Greece, the focus was on women who are victims of sexual trafficking. In the port of Patras, where many ships pass as they sail back and forth between Greece and Italy, “Much solidarity was expressed with a Ukrainian woman who was trafficked and dared denounce the traffickers' practices,” Sonia Mitralias explained.

Seminars organized in Pakistan and India dealt most particularly with the issue of violence against women. Meanwhile, women in Portugal asked the political party representatives they met with “to set up mechanisms to protect women who are subjected to domestic violence.”

In Haiti, the Coordination Nationale de Plaidoyer pour les Droits des Femmes (CONAP) restated its “commitment in the fight for Haitian women's rights to live their lives free of violence, with dignity and in an independent and sovereign country.”

Peace, a Value Extolled Especially Often

Peace was also a very important value.

When the Charter was taken through Colombia, Ecuadorean leaders Doris Trujillo and Blanca Chancoso expressed their deep concern over the militarization and authoritarianism their countries' peoples are experiencing.

Angela de Pérez, the wife of a senator kidnapped three years ago, stated that the mobilization helped make the government aware that the armed conflict in Colombia will only be resolved once all sides_the government, groups outside the law and civil society_sit down together to talk.

In Cyprus, Turkish and Greek Cypriot women from the March staged an action together, and each one made a patchwork quilt square. The press described the event as having international importance!

In Switzerland, women organized a debate on women soldiers. In Italy they discussed the role of women in peace building.

In Japan, women voiced their opposition to the remilitarization of the country and denounced a revision of Article 9 of the Constitution. As for Korean women, the sign appearing on their quilt square is a peace symbol. This highlights the importance they attach to this value.

Women from India and Pakistan also came together, as a delegation of Indian women travelled to Pakistan to stage “an event on behalf of peace and hope,” as Shashi Sail, coordinator of the March in India, remarked.

Arab women also launched an appeal for peace in their region during the Relay of the Charter, whether in Lebanon, Tunisia or Jordan. At a Women in Black conference held in Jerusalem in late August, a group of participants journeyed to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian women.

“The Charter is a declaration on behalf of all the women of the world to demand equality, justice and freedom,” said Salwa Abu Khadra, General Secretary of the Union of Palestinian Women.

From Jerusalem the Relay went on to Sudan and the Great Lakes region of Africa, where women from Burundi, Congo and Rwanda have collaborated for many years to build a society free of conflict and war.

The Relay draws to a close but not the mobilization. Many women have decided to see each other again to organize joint actions and maintain the bridges built. “The European meeting in Marseille allowed many women from the region and from other countries (especially in North Africa) to join the meeting. This was possible because the World March of Women is a movement for which, above all else, solidarity with women all over the world comes first and those who suffer the most come before anyone else,” the European women noted.

Full accounts of actions staged during the Relay of the Women's Global Charter for Humanity are posted on this Web site.

World March of Women, 110 rue Ste-Thérèse, #203, Montréal, Québec (Canada) H2Y 1E6

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