22nd November 2020
It has been an interesting few weeks, packed with ups, more ups and a couple of minor challenges.
We should have been hosting FiLiA2020 last month, but of course it has had to be postponed. Tickets have been carried over to 2021, and we are working hard to plan for when we all next meet - what a party that is going to be! We will start to release speaker details in the New Year. Tickets are available already, and please do consider gifting a Solidarity Ticket if you can comfortably do so.
The FiLiA Legacy Project is going well. We held our first webinar for the local (Portsmouth and surrounding areas) book club with Hibo Wardere, focusing on her book ‘Cut’. There were the compulsory technical hitches, but Women were patient, engaged and keen to ask Hibo questions about her life and book. We all learned from each other and are looking forward to the December book which is ‘The Space Between Black and White’ by Esua Goldsmith. Drop us an email if you’d like to join in.
We’ll let you know soon about some very exciting work that will be taking place in Portsmouth throughout next year ….
FiLiA was actively prevented from attending an online session on Misogyny as a Hate Crime for spurious reasons. It’s quite extraordinary - the power to prevent an organisation or individual from participating in an online meeting by blocking their registration. ‘Where participation was not appropriate it was not enabled’ was the reason given. A woefully inadequate excuse and one that FiLiA rejects. Our follow up query has been ignored by both the elected official and the lobbying group involved in organising the meeting.
Woman’s Hour felt it appropriate to caution listeners that FiLiA, WPUK and Fair Play For Women were ‘groups that some people have described in some circumstances as transphobic’ … a less than convincing warning! Read our joint statement HERE. We are still waiting for the BBC to respond to our rejection of their initial reply to our complaint letter.
The final rejection we encountered was regarding a panel discussion about attacks on Women’s rights (!). It was meant to be taking place this evening, which means that I finally have time to catch up with the FiLiA diary. Apparently ‘based on the information we found about FILIA's attitude towards transgender people, we must thank you for your willingness to speak at the webinar today. The difference of views turns out to be fundamental for us and it is impossible to build common ground’.
Our response:
Hello *****,
We must all follow our political conscience, and I hope that your event goes well. Of course, I disagree with the position taken and feel compelled to respond briefly.
You state that it is impossible to build common ground, but one thing that I feel we must unite around is challenging male violence. It is men that murder those who identify as trans, and it is Feminists who fight against male violence. A large percentage of those murders (by men) of trans-identified people occur within the sex trade - again; it is Feminists fighting for the abolition of prostitution, and the liberation of all those within it.
As for our 'attitude towards trans people' - what is that attitude? and who are those trans people? Do you include those who support us? It is deeply problematic to assume that any particular group of people feel the same way about the issue of Women's sex-based rights. Many are concerned by the intrusion of identity politics, and recognise the threat that it poses to Women around the globe.
All oppressed groups (including Women - subjugated, battered, raped and murdered on the basis of our sex) must be able to both name their oppression and organise against it. This is a fundamental principle of the politics of liberation and one that FiLiA will continue to defend.
We have a couple of new volunteers and a few more Friends of FiLiA - welcome, and thank you. We’ve a new series about to start with the politically astute Radical Girlsss and have recent podcasts and blogs from Canada, Kenya, Afghanistan, Japan, France, Australia, Saudi, New Zealand, Spain and Cameroon. Our Listening to Survivors podcast series is particularly powerful and we would urge anyone trying to make sense of the arguments around the sex trade to take the time to listen to them. It’s an honour to be networked with such a diverse array of Feminist activists and we are looking forward to welcoming our global Sisters to FiLiA2021.
FiLiA Signed the Kongra Star call for Solidarity against occupation and genocide and sent a message of Solidarity to our Sisters in Rojava for their 8th Congress.
‘Your message of greetings also made it clear that we have sisters all over the world and that our struggle is one. We have presented your message to our 8th congress. On behalf of all our comrades who were moved by your message, we thank you for your message. JIN JIYAN AZADÎ’
Again, if you have the time, it’s worth looking up jineology (the science of Women) and Jinwar ‘an ecological women’s village currently under construction in the heart of Rojava’, where they strive for a ‘peaceful place for the co-existence of women, free of any and all violence’.
We look forward to the 16 Days of activism against male violence against Women and stand in Solidarity with our Sisters across the globe.
The last piece of very good news for now - FiLiA has won funding for three projects. We can’t tell you what they are yet, but will do soon. Think Women’s history, global connections and abolitionism!
And that, my friends, is called a shit sandwich.
Sisterhood and Solidarity!
