16 Days of AFFIRMation

AF3IRM/GABNet Commemorates International Human Rights Day Nationwide

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:47:00 -0800

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2009
Emelyn dela Pena, GABNET Campaigns Director
campaigns@gabnet.org
Tel: (858) 688-2385

AF3IRM/GABNet Commemorates International Human Rights Day Nationwide

While governments, corporations and so-called progressive groups around the world celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 2009, this day reminds us that even after 60 years after the adoption of this declaration, there is a widening chasm between what has been declared in writing and what has been achieved in the areas of human, political, and women’s rights around the world.

Along with hundreds of thousands of women in over 150 countries, AF3IRM/GABNet once again acknowledges the widespread violence that women, especially poor women, experience every day. In solidarity with all women defenders of human rights, AF3IRM/GABNet firmly expresses its opposition to Violence Against Women and demands both immediate and structural changes to end women’s oppression.

The human rights of women and the violence that they experience are both a cause and consequence of poverty and class oppression, affirming our belief that ending one requires ending the other.

Even as we raged in the streets in protest, 21 women, five of whom appear to have been raped and mutilated, and 30 journalists were massacred in Maguindanao, on their way to assert their basic human rights, while the Philippine government continues to remain silent about the human rights violations perpetrated by private armies. The Philippine government continues to arrest, beat, and forcibly disappear defenders of human rights who dare bring to light the current atrocities against the people of the Philippines brought by the Arroyo administration.

During our 16 Days campaign, we highlighted the many forms of violence against women, from lack of access to healthcare, to interpersonal violence, to state violence against women. AF3IRM/GABNet chapters nationwide raged for 16 days through awareness campaigns and direct action. We affirmed that access to services and education are fundamental rights. We affirmed that the sex trade of women and children must be abolished immediately. We affirmed that all women throughout history have remained resilient, determined, strong, and hopeful.

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, AF3IRM/GABNet participated in activities from the west coast to the east coast, which shed light on and protested the ongoing political, economic, and patriarchal repression that women face worldwide.

AF3IRM/GABNet Irvine hosted its annual “Human Writes Day” event where nearly 100 local community memebers, musicians, performers, and poets shared their protest art and expression. In Los Angeles, the chapter co-sponsored a vigil/rally with The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP), ANSWER-LA, KmB (Pro People youth), EFJP, Mindanao Bangsa Moro Caucus, and PESANTE-USA to demand justice for the Maguindanao Massacre victims. Members of AF3IRM/Gabnet Los Angeles joined with over 50 other individuals to protest in front of the Philippine Consulate, which was under heavy police surveillance and chanted slogans such as “No to Warlordism, End Political Repression” and “No Justice, No Peace, US out of the Philippines.”

In San Diego, chapter members dropped hundreds of leaflets about healthcare reform at several strategic locations around the county, highlighting the disproportionate burden that women without healthcare face and highlighting the issue of violence as a health epidemic. In Riverside chapter members hosted a 16 Days Closing Ceremony honoring the experiences of women affected by violence, and celebrating their strength and resilience.

With the closing of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, AF3IRM/GABNet once again reiterates its commitment to 365 days of activism to assert that women’s rights are human rights. We call on every person to help promote and defend those rights!

OPPOSE WOMEN’S OPPRESSION NOW!

END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN NOW!

ERADICATE CLASS, RACE AND GENDER OPPRESSION NOW!

WE ARE THE LIBERATION WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! —##

AF3IRM/GabNet Riverside held a vigil for Day 8 of the 16 days of...

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:01:00 -0800

AF3IRM/GabNet Riverside held a vigil for Day 8 of the 16 days of AFFIRMations. The vigil was held for the women’s lives that were lost due to “backdoor” abortions because their reproductive rights were taken away.

A Propensity for Tyranny by Ninotchka Rosca

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:14:55 -0800

A Propensity for Tyranny by Ninotchka Rosca

Join AF3IRM/GABNet LA: Educational Forum (12/8) and PROTEST Against the Maguindanao Massacre on Human Rights Day (12/10)!

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:36:34 -0800

AF3IRM/GABNet/Mariposa Alliance Statement on Human Rights Day:

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:29:26 -0800

Raging for 16 Days and Renewing Our Commitment to 365 Days of Activism

Along with hundreds of thousands of women in over 150 countries, AF3IRM/GABNet once again firmly expressed its opposition to Violence Against Women and demanded both immediate and structural changes to end women’s oppression.

On the 15th anniversary of the historic Beijing Platform on Women, the world is nowhere near even making a dent on the worldwide incidence of violence against women. To AF3IRM/GABNet, this is merely an indication of how inextricably intertwined women’s oppression is to class societies; to end one, the other must be ended as well. There is no escape from this equation, as the political devolution of Russia and China have shown.

Even as we raged in the streets in protest, 21 women, five of whom appear to have been raped, were massacred, along with 30 journalists, in one of the most impoverished areas of the Philippines, the country that is the world’s top exporter of women into the global labor and sex markets. This year, the Philippine government is exporting nearly a million Filipinas, 30% of whom end up in the sex trade. This unprecedented record of villainy is directly linked to the intense penetration of imperialist globalization into the Philippine national economy, wrecking alternative sources of women’s livelihood, destroying whatever traditional protection they have, commodifying their essence and leaving them subject to ever increasing violence on both the individual and collective levels of being. It is no coincidence that the worst instance of the massacre of women and of journalists in the world occurred in a country that lives off the selling of women.

It is also no coincidence that such vileness occurred in an area of operation for US “aid” programs and military incursion. Some of the weapons used in the massacre were marked US government while all were products of US weapons manufacturers. Be clear-eyed about this, America! This is the result of US intervention in the internal affairs of countries! Be clear-eyed as you contemplate the coming US military surge in Afghanistan!

During our 16 Days campaign, we affirmed that as women, we must demand an immediate end to the current US “War on Terror” and withdrawal of all troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and everywhere else the US imperial forces are stationed. On day 8 of the campaign, AF3IRM/GABNet rallied in the streets after Obama announced the escalation of the US occupation of Afghanistan.

We affirmed that domestic violence is systemic and must end immediately and unconditionally. Chapters across the country held speak-outs, AF3IRM/GABNet Youth hosted high school workshops, and art was used as a vehicle for women to share their stories: women in Irvine created an online video explaining the impact of violence, LA chapter member Loralei Bingamon hosted an art workshop in a local mall, and the Riverside chapter held up signs with statistics on domestic violence in a dramatic silent protest on campus.

We affirmed that access to services and education are fundamental rights. AF3IRM Riverside and Irvine continue their campaign against the 32% tuition increase on UC campuses, while chapters nationwide participated in phone-banking and letter-writing to demand single-payer healthcare and to stop the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which proposes to cut access to abortion coverage.

We affirmed that the sex trade of women and children must be abolished immediately. AF3IRM/GABNet Irvine launched a letter-writing campaign to remove all mail-order bride ads from Myspace. The Riverside chapter held educational pickets on the UC Riverside campus to bring light to the plight of trafficked Filipinas. Nationally, AFI3RM/GABNet partnered with Tahirih to disseminate resources for women who may be victims of the mail order bride industry.

On December 10, Human Rights Day, AF3IRM/GABNet will participate in nationwide activities to shed light on and protest the ongoing political repression that women face worldwide. AF3IRM/GABNet Irvine will be hosting its annual “Human Writes Day” event where local musicians, performers, and poets will share their protest art. In Los Angeles, the chapter will picket at the Philippine Consulate, to hold the Philippine government accountable for the Maguindanao Massacre and subsequent declaration of martial law. San Diego will be holding an educational event on the UC San Diego campus, and Riverside will be hosting a ceremony on the UC Riverside campus. For details of Human Rights Day events, please go to www.16daysofgabnet.tumblr.com.

As women of Philippine ancestry, as feminists and as residents of the leading imperialist country in the world, AF3IRM/GABNet states bluntly that we are duty-bound to continue with our activism 365 days of the year. This commitment to end women’s oppression and to affirm our right to exist as full human beings is our historic responsibility.

OPPOSE WOMEN’S OPPRESSION NOW!

END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN NOW!

ERADICATE CLASS, RACE AND GENDER OPPRESSION NOW!

WE ARE THE LIBERATION WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!

—

Jollene Levid, GABNet Secretary-General
secgen@gabnet.org
Tel: 323-356-4748

AF3IRM/GABNET IRVINE’S HUMAN WRITES OPEN MIC TO...

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:34:58 -0800

AF3IRM/GABNET IRVINE’S HUMAN WRITES OPEN MIC TO COMMEMORATE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY THIS THURSDAY 12/10 7-10PM! If you would like to perform, please contact irvine@gabnet.org by Monday 12/7. SEE YOU THERE!

AF3IRM/ GabNet Irvine Launches Letter-Writing Campaign; Demands Myspace Take Down Mail-Order Bride Ad "Chnlove.com"

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:25:00 -0800

Dear Friends,

AF3irm/GabNet Irvine denounces Myspace’s ad for “Chnlove.com,” a mail-order bride ad that invites viewers to join and choose a Chinese woman for his/her pleasure.

As part of GabNet’s 16 Days Against Gender Violence, AF3IRM/Gabnet Irvine today launches this letter-writing campaign to pressure Myspace.com to take down this disgusting display of Chinese women for sale.

Sample ads:

Websites such as “Chnlove.com” participate in the auctioning off of women for sexual labor. Under the guise of an invitation like “Chinese women seek men for love and marriage,” mail-order bride ads are one of the most common mediums that make sex trafficking possible. These “dating agencies” profit at the hands of sexual exploitation.

JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN!!!

Write a letter to Myspace.com to demand the removal of its “Chnlove.com” ad.

Below is a template for you to use at your discretion. Feel free to edit and add in your personal remarks.

MAIL your LETTERS to help@support.myspace.com

Stand in solidarity against the sexual trafficking of women and children!

Speak out against this unjust exploitation of women’s bodies!

In solidarity,

AF3IRM/GabNet Irvine

P.O. Box 3032.

Cerritos, CA 90703-3032

www.gabnet.org

CLICK on READ MORE for LETTER TEMPLATE

GabNet Irvine’s Letter Template: Feel Free to Use At Your Own Discretion. Insert Your Personal Reactions, Opinions.

To Whom It May Concern:

Hi, my name is ____________. I am from (city), (state).

And I am a student at _________ (if relevant).

I am writing to express my grievance against an ad that Myspace displays every day: Myspace’s “Chnlove.com” ad. This ad tastelessly displays the nameless, bar-coded faces of Chinese women and disregards the fact that women on websites such as this one are sexually trafficked every day.

As a socially conscious Internet user, I expect Myspace.com to hold higher standards of its participation in the sale of mail-order brides, and its invitations to users like myself to participate with them.

I demand that Myspace take down its ad for “Chnlove.com.”

I demand that Myspace relent support of mail-order bride agencies’ ads. Myspace, as an international source of sharing information, can choose not to be complicit in this capitalist assault on women’s bodies.

“Trafficking victims to the United States come from no less than 50 countries and are often forced to toil in garment shops on the outskirts of Los Angeles, brothels in San Francisco, bars in New Jersey and slave-labour farm camps in Florida. United States officials note that 14,500 to 17,500 people are brought into the country for purposes of exploitation every year”.
RN - (RN, UNFPA, State of the World Population 2006: A Passage to Hope; Women and International Migration, 2006) 47

Websites like Myspace set the precedent for other influential networking sites. Please set a standard that is conscious of the dehumanizing effects of global sex trafficking. Remove the “Chnlove.com” ads from your website.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

___________

(address)

AF3IRM/GABNET IRVINE'S DAY 10 OF OUR 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE: DISCUSSION ON INCARCERATED BATTERED WOMEN

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:08:01 -0800

A majority of women in prison for manslaughter are women who have long-suffered abuse from their intimate partners.

A study on a California state prison found that 93% of women who had killed their intimate partners had been battered by them; 67% of these women indicated the homicide resulted from an attempt to protect themselves or their children.
A study of a Chicago women’s prison found that 40 percent of inmates incarcerated for murder or manslaughter had killed partners who repeatedly assaulted them. These women had sought police protection at least five 5 before resorting to homicide.

http://www.freebatteredwomen.org/resources/incarcerated.html

http://www.womenprisoners.org/resources/critical_statistics.html

http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/statistics.php

Seeing statistics such as these, there are questions that need to be raised:

Why are these homicides treated the same as other homicides?
If women have sought protection 5 times before resorting to homicide, what does it say about law enforcement and their job to protect women from abuse?
What constitutes self-defense? Why are women convicted when homicide is an act of self-defense?

During AF3IRM/GABNET’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, we have brought up discussion and held events regarding domestic abuse survivors and had community dialogue regarding trafficking victims. It is time to bring up discussion about this forgotten population - a population of women who have survived domestic abuse at the expense of their freedom.

Any comments, questions, statistics are welcomed in this discussion. It is time to spread awareness on this issue!

AF3IRM/GabNet Riverside protest against the human trafficking of...

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:33:29 -0800

AF3IRM/GabNet Riverside protest against the human trafficking of our Filipina sisters and children on UCR’s campus. For more information about the Purple Rose Campaign please visit http://www.gabnet.org/campaigns.php?page=2.

STOP STUPAK!! Act now to protect women's reproductive rights!!!!

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:34:29 -0800

TODAY’s the day! Call toll-free at 888-423-5983 and tell your Senators you support health care reform that protects women’s existing access to reproductive health care!! Or go to stopstupak.com to send an electronic letter to Congress. ACT TODAY — PROTECT WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS!!!!!!!

For more information please contact sandiego@gabnet.org

Mixed Media Art Workshop to focus on Activism Against Gender Violence

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:09:06 -0800

In partnership with Eagle Rock Plaza, a workshop led by AF3IRM/GABNet LA member Loralei Bingamon:

DAY 7: Gabnet Youth Affirms Commitment to End Dating Violence

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:22:08 -0800

Today members of Gabnet Youth of the Civitas School of Leadership at the Edward Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles discussed dating violence among young girls of color.

At-risk youth are impacted disproportionately by dating violence. One in three teens will experience a form of dating violence in their lifetime. Nearly 92% of girls who enter the correctional system have reported sexual or physical abuse. Women and girls living in poverty are twice as likely to be raped than those who are not.

These unsettling statistics are unknown to many, which the members of Gabnet Youth vowed to change. “We will continue to discuss dating violence, as well as other major issues that affect us girls, because it is rarely talked about in the community, our schools, and at home,” said Cassandra Roman.

Gabnet Youth affirms their commitment to ending dating violence and will meet again on November 21st to plan future workshops, events, and demonstrations. To join or for more information, please contact Ivy Quicho at (951) 333-4306 or organizing@gabnet.org.

TOMORROW: AF3IRM/GABNet to RALLY AGAINST ESCALATION OF WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:55:00 -0800

EMERGENCY PROTEST!
TOMORROW, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 5pm
Westwood Federal Building
11000 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles

GABNet is disgusted by the Obama administration’s decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. We have examined US intervention in Afghanistan and this war’s impact on women and have seen that the US-backed Karzai/warlord alliance has only dragged women down further in Afghan society. This year alone, martial rape has become legal – a law was passed requiring women to have sex with their husbands up to four times a week, a law that must be followed unless the woman is ill. Islamic fundamentalism views women as sub-human, fit only for household slavery and procreation. Sexual crimes against women, gang raping, lust murders, abductions of young females, blackmail of families with eligible daughters, etc. were commonplace during the rule of the pre-Taliban fundamentalists, who now once again have key positions in the government of Hamid Karzai. They are free to brutalize Afghan women in areas under their domination and the unholy alliance of Karzai’s gang and the United States will only protects and funds murderers.

During this 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence we must answer the call to protest the escalation of the war in Afghanistan and continued US occupation!

AF3IRM/GABNet stands in solidarity with the women, the people of Afghanistan!

[For more information on the AF3IRM/GABNet contingent, please email organizing@gabnet.org or call Ivy Quicho at 951-333-4306.]

AF3IRM/GABNet Riverside commemorates World AIDS Day

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:28:36 -0800

In Honor of Worlds Aids DAY AF3IRM/GABNET Riverside recognizes the plight of women affected by this disease as many of them struggle, with little hope, to survive. Globally, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age. An estimated 146,692 (in 2007) women in the US are affected by AIDS. Areas such as the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia have had alarming increases in women affected by AIDS ( numbers that exceed that of men affected by aids ). These women are often victims of sexual violence and rape, in which, a condom is rarely if ever used. This lack of protection increases their possible exposure to HIV…AIDS…and inevitably death.

“‘She died after passing her HIV to her husband’. This is an often-repeated sentence in Zimbabwe. The echoes can be heard in homes in workplaces and in graveyards, at times shrill, at times in a hushed whisper. The tone, though, is always accusatory…The corollary to this statement, i.e. ‘He died after passing HIV to his wife’, is seldom heard” – Madhu Bala Nath36.

(numbers Taken from the Avert website http://www.avert.org/women-hiv-aids.htm)

AF3IRM/GabNet San Diego held a film screening for In the Time of...

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:57:10 -0800

AF3IRM/GabNet San Diego held a film screening for In the Time of the Butterflies on Sunday, November 29th. AF3IRM San Diego members and allies gathered at the Bonita Sunnyside Library to watch the film in celebration of International Women Human Rights Defenders Day.

In the Time of the Butterflies is based on a novel by Julia Alvarez, fictionalizing the lives of the Mirabal sisters from their personal accounts of what happened during the time. The drama tells the story of a woman who, along with her family, found the courage to defy a corrupt dictator — and paid a fearful price for their actions. Minerva Mirabal (Salma Hayek) and her sisters Patria (Lumi Cavazos), Mate (Mia Maestro), and Dede (Pilar Padilla) are the daughters of Enrique (Fernando Becerril), a man who owns a plantation and a small store in the Dominican Republic during the rule of the despotic Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (Edwards James Olmos).

When several members of her family are killed by Trujillo’s forces, Minerva pledges that she will some day win revenge against the dictator, though when the leader first encounters Minerva, it’s after she helps foil a friend’s poorly planned assassination attempt.

AF3IRM/GabNet Irivine member, Christina, honors Women Defender, Mia Mingus

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:25:00 -0800

Mia Mingus
Age: 28
Co-Executive Director of SPARK Reproductive Justice Now

With the Senate’s most recent amendments to healthcare reform, I choose to spotlight Mia Mingus. Mia Mingus is an active defender of women’s reproductive rights. She is co-executive director of SPARK, a coalition that joins with communities to build and sustain a powerful reproductive justice movement throughout Georgia and the South.

Current healthcare reform has denied recognition of women’s reproductive rights as worthy of being provided to our country’s citizens. Let us recognize the work Ms. Mingus is doing in the field of women’s reproductive rights, as an advocate for women and an organizer for communities around her.

In a speech she delivered on gender violence, Ms. Mingus said:

“Violence against women is a form of sexism and we cannot end it until we can end sexism. Sexism is a form of oppression and we cannot end it until we end oppression—in all forms.

But in order to do this we must commit ourselves to forging a better world and a better community.”

Mia Mingus is also involved in advocacy for the queer, API, and disability social justice movements. She was named one of the 30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30 for 2009 on Angry Asian Man’s annual list.

For more information, see her recognition on Asian-American blog http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/05/30-under-30-mia-mingus.html.

AF3IRM/GabNet Riverside member, Jennifer, honors Women Defender, Somaly Mam

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:18:00 -0800

Somaly Mam is the epitome of what a shero is. Having been sold into slavery by a man that pretended to be her grandfather, Mam has no recollection of her age, her parents or life before the brothel. While living in the brothel she experienced the horrors of rape and violence. She witnessed things that no human being should, including the vicious murder of her best friend. (1) However, she was able to escape the brothel with the aid of a French social worker.(2) Though many people that escape do not go back, Mam is even more admirable for returning to Cambodia to save girls from the fate that her best friend went through.

She created the nonprofit organization called AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire, translated it’s Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances) which effectively takes down brothels and councils the victims so that they can go back into the world. Many sex slaves, even after they leave the brothel, carry the emotional scars from the experiences, some are mentally ill and some even contract STDs.Mam’s organization has rescued about 3,000 girls and provides them with counseling in hopes of giving them a future.

Mam has faced and overcome great odds to become a model for change. She is threatened often by brothel owners and her daughter was even kidnapped, though was later returned. Despite all of this, Mam has continued living in Cambodia and giving girls new hope and love. For all of her relentless efforts to stop sex trafficking and her endless generosity, Somaly Mam is an exemplary shero.

1. http://www.somaly.org/whoweare/somaly/

2.http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1894289_1894268,00.html

http://www.asianjournal.com/dateline-usa/15-dateline-usa/3723-fil-ams-express-outrage-over-ampatuan-massacre.html

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:15:47 -0800

http://www.asianjournal.com/dateline-usa/15-dateline-usa/3723-fil-ams-express-outrage-over-ampatuan-massacre.html

AF3IRM/GABNet Officer Laureen Abustan Honors Woman Defender Andrea Smith

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:09:25 -0800

As this Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close, we cannot forget the plight of the Native American people and their continued determination. Therefore, we must honor one notable women defender of indigenous women’s rights - Andrea Smith, a Cherokee professor, feminist, and anti-violence activist. Her work has focused on issues of violence against women of color and their communities, specifically Native American women. She was co-founder of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, a national grassroots organization that engages in direct action and critical dialogue to end violence against women of color and their communities. INCITE! is a supporter of AF3IRM/GabNet and the Mariposa Alliance.

For many years, Ms. Smith has been a persevering social justice advocate for anti-violence activism, working as a rape crisis counselor and starting the Chicago chapter of Women of All Red Nations. She also was a founding member of the Boarding School Healing Project, which “seeks to document Native boarding school abuses so that Native communities can begin healing from boarding school abuses and demand justice.” Currently, she is an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside’s Department of Media and Cultural Studies.

Having worked with Amnesty International, Ms. Smith coordinated the research project on sexual violence and American Indian women. In 1991 at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, she represented the Indigenous Women’s Network and the American Indian Law Alliance. In 2005, she was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize “as a woman who works daily for peace” in recognition of her research and work regarding violence against women of color in the U.S.

Quoted as being “one of the greatest indigenous feminist intellectuals of our time,” Andrea Smith has truly proven to be a human rights defender for not only Native American women but for all women alike.

10 YEARS LATER, GABNet REMEMBERS THE BATTLE OF SEATTLE. WE PROTESTED IMPERIALISM THEN, AND WE CONTINUE DOING SO UNTIL WE DISMANTLE IT.

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:40:00 -0800