In recent months, repression towards social centers in Rome has increased. Now also the feminist social spaces and women’s anti-violence centers are at risk of being evicted.
In this documentary we follow the feminist struggles in Rome and the feminist movement “Non una di meno” (Not One Less) in defense of these social spaces. Continuar leyendo «Rome:’You Can’t Evict the Feminist City’. video with English subs.»
photo: 3 anarchist women after legally registering a General Strike.
by Julius Gavroche main text from autonomies with thanks
This year’s call for a global women’s strike to mark the 8th of March women’s day was expressed in protests throughout the world. But it found no greater resonance than in the Spanish State.
The call to strike was already in itself a radical gesture, to move beyond the ever so often tepid parades of slogans for equality of rights. However useful such moments may be, their political limitations are profound.
In the Spanish State, the strike call was made in the name of feminism: March 8th was to be a Huelga Feminista, under the rallying cry of “If we stop, the world stops!”. And if Spain did not come altogether to a stand still, tens of thousands protested during the day and roving pickets closed roads, public transportation services, shops. Public and private sector workers (teachers, journalists, care workers, cleaners (las kellys) and so on) struck.
Originally called by radical labour unions (the CNT, CGT, among others), along with hundreds of feminist collectives and other political groups, its extraordinary resonance finally forced Spain’s larger labour unions (the CCOO and the UGT) to join, with their membership contributing to a two hour afternoon labour stoppage involving some 6 million people. (El Pais 08/03/2018).
CAN YOU describe how the strike was organized? What were the most important organizations? …..THE STRIKE began to be organized in August and September of 2017, a time during which many feminist collectives in the Spanish state met to analyze the feminist movement and the situation in which it was operating and to assess the potential for organizing a strike on March 8, 2018, following the strike organized by feminists in Argentina in March 2017. …YOU CAN read the strike’s manifesto here. Continuar leyendo «6 Million Women Reclaim their Power: The1st Feminist General Strike»
Transgender Sex Worker and Activist Raped, Beaten, and Burned in Turkey – http://www.affinitymagazine
The openly fascist dictator is promoting attacks and enslavement of women and a macho jihadist mindset. He has locked up over 160,000 people who might not like him, murdered thousands of Kurds, minorities and homosexuals, uses refugees as illegal semi-slave labour, blackmails Europe with sending more IS terrorists, and now has invaded Afrin, destroying a peaceful democratic revolution, with Russian connivance.
British holidaymaker raped by taxi driver in notorious Turkish …Daily Mirror
by Yilmaz Özdil at Hurriyet newspaper
Here is a rough translation of the article and various Turkish press reports:
«I was raped in Izmit», said an Italian female artist who was going to Israel to do hitchhiking for world peace, she was later strangled and murdered.
https://www.theglobepost Mar 9, 2017 – 5 Austrians, all believed to be critics of President Erdogan, were deported from Turkey after brief detentions. Ece Heper, a Canadian citizen, was held in prison over allegations of insulting President Erdogan Another Canadian, Davut Hanci, on a 2 week vacation has been held in a solitary confinement for 7 months. 5 Austrian citizens who previously spoke out against Mr. Erdogan were first detained and then deported from Turkey.
Turkish women protest proposed law to let off rapists who marry their victims
An American woman was stabbed with a razor in the heart of Istanbul and her head was crushed with a rock …
By submedia.tv
Trouble #11: Destroying Domination from sub.Media on Vimeo
Trouble #11: Destroying Domination from sub.Media on Vimeo.
Today, decades of hard-fought victories in the struggle for female emancipation are under threat from waves of resurgent misogyny.
From attacks on abortion and reproductive justice, to the revival and spread of religious fundamentalism and authoritarian nationalism… patriarchy is on the march. Continuar leyendo «Revolutionary Feminism In an Age of Misogynist Reaction»
A wave of brutal crackdowns on LGBT communities in the post-Soviet space has exposed civil society’s shortcomings — and is destroying lives.
B+W illustrations: Anastasia Vikulova.
Every day, before leaving the house, Milan zips his jacket all the way up to his chin. He puts on his sunglasses, hat and earphones with the volume cranked up to the max and walks to a language class.
“People can barely see my face that way, and I can barely hear what is happening around me. I go to class, and then sometimes I meet with the social worker or go to the doctor. Then I have something to eat and set off to walk around the city until I’m so exhausted I can barely walk. Only then do I go home,” Milan says, adding that the thing he is most afraid of is closing his eyes and not being able to fall asleep.
see also .. Gay concentration camps in Chechnya – Wikipedia
Gays Being Attacked and Killed Across Russia, Not Just in Chechnya
Azerbaijan authorities arrest dozens of LGBTQ people
“This is why I prefer to come home so tired that I literally pass out. Otherwise, every time I close my eyes, I feel the cold concrete floor against my stomach, I can taste the blood on my tongue, hear the shouting of the guards and see those smeared walls.”
Almost a year after Russia’s Novaya Gazeta broke horrific accounts of the roundups and severe torture that gay men were subjected to in Chechnya (the exact number of deaths remains unknown), the crisis is far from over.
Though many gay men in Chechnya, like Milan, fled abroad with the help of Russian LGBT rights defenders, they still have to hide their real identities and locations to prevent possible harassment from the Chechen intelligence — just like in Chechnya.
Over the summer of 2017, reports of similar crimes across the North Caucasus increased, and in September, reports of similar roundups, humiliation and torture against LGBT people (who allegedly had STDs and were involved in sex work) emerged from Azerbaijan — and in October, Tajikistan created a registry of LGBT citizens after police conducted operations to identity them.
While each crisis had its specifics, they all were used by the authorities to demonstrate their ability to crush any vulnerable community in an atmosphere of impunity, as well as to divert attention from other issues and extort money from the victims.
Our article in INFOSHOP from a few weeks ago entitled, “Stick It To The Manarchy” generated a lot of response and enthusiasm. We have a response to the criticism, clarifying a few points along with our analysis of the dialogue..click .HERE. Our criticism of manarchy and its implications is our way of contributing to the dialogue. Competitive, aggressive, elitist, and exclusive behavior is contrary to our understanding of anarchist ideals and practice. “Manarchy” is the term we use to describe this behavior because it exemplifies traditional male gender roles.
[1] A 2013 global study on homicide by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that males accounted for about 96 percent of all homicide perpetrators worldwide.
the original post.
By The Rock Bloc Collective
Manarchy: Aggressive, competitive behavior within the Anarchist movement that is frighteningly reminiscent of historically oppressive male gender roles. Such behavior includes acting macho, holier than thou and elitist. Manarchy often results in exclusivity.
We feel obliged to share our discomfort with manarchy as it presents itself in the Anarchist movement. We are excited and inspired by the development and practice of Anarchist ideals, and we must remain critical of our movement in an effort to maximize our effectiveness. Anarchism and direct action are powerful forces, yet we are still susceptible to taking on some of the oppressive cultural practices of the very system we are challenging.
We are two women and two men, all white and coming from economically privileged backgrounds. We are Anarchists. We support direct action and the Black Bloc as a tactic for empowerment. In this article we focus on what has been coined “manarchy.” We intend to explain and criticize manarchist behavior by running through a series of experiences that we have had at mass actions, conferences, and in our day-to-day organizing.
Most insidious is the dogmatism of ‘no compromise’ that is often accompanied with a macho spirit that assumes a ‘tougher than thou’ attitude toward dominant culture as well as allies in the movement. Continuar leyendo «The ‘Manarchy’ debate: Fighting ingrained Sexism.»
The past year has seen a wave of revelations about powerful people—nearly all men—perpetrating sexual violence against those beneath them. The #MeToo moment has provided a platform for countless courageous survivors.
Yet although some men have been made to face consequences for the harm they have done, we are far from being able to solve the problem of male sexual violence. Focusing on the wrongdoings of specific men tends to exceptionalize them, as if their actions took place in a vacuum.
This is consistent with the mechanisms of a criminal justice system focused on individual guilt and a reformist politics premised on the idea that the existing government and market economy would serve us perfectly if only the right people were in power.
But with the bad behavior of so many men coming to light, we have to consider the possibility that these are not exceptions at all—that these attacks are the inevitable, systemic result of this social order. Is there a way to treat the cause as well as the symptoms?
Virtually all recent mainstream coverage has treated sexual harassment and assault as an issue distinct from capitalism and hierarchy. When writers admit that capitalism and hierarchy play some role, they imply that what is harmful about these systems can be fixed through reform. Continuar leyendo «Fuck Abuse, Kill Power: Cutting the Roots of Sexual Attacks»
Posted ≈ Comments in original
The Tories and Republicans often like to claim the Left is abusive, especially online. But most online sexist, racist and homophobic abuse comes from Far Right who enjoy impunity due to majority right wing media control.
But a new survey by Amnesty International of abuse received by women MPs in the run-up to the last election clearly shows that online abuse in Britain comes overwhelmingly from the Right:
And the MP who easily receives the most abuse is Britain’s first female black MP Diane Abbott:
Hats off to Diane for taking such industrial scale horrific abuse so fearlessly.
By OwenJones (summary ) All online abuse is unacceptable. The principal victims of online abuse are women. I have female friends who have turned down television appearances because men will bombard them on social media with sickening misogynistic abuse about how they look….
There is a certain type of man — whatever their political persuasion — who cannot stand women with opinions, and believe those who express them are fair game.
More generally, women of colour face particular abuse. It is unlikely there is any British politician who as great a victim of online abuse as Diane Abbott, both in terms of intensity and how sustained it is. Continuar leyendo «Proof that most Online Abuse of Women, Blacks and Gays comes from Right-wingers»
On the 10th September a group calling itself ‘Gays against Sharia’ is coming to Bristol to try to spread their Islamophobic and racist agenda. This is a blatant attempt by the far-right to tokenise LGBTQIA+ communities and use us for their own ends.
This has been tried before in Bristol: in 2012, the EDL marched on the same day as Pride. While their PR insisted they weren’t homophobic, their violent attacks on gay men on the day told another story.[0]
Let’s not be fooled by their latest clumsy attempt to wrap fascism in a rainbow flag.
We will not be used to spread oppression that would inevitably turn straight back on us. History shows that wherever these bigots gain momentum by scapegoating one group (Muslims and migrants today, Jews in the 30s) they target us soon after.
Exact details about when and where to meet will be released nearer the time via:Cops and far-right thugs can be unpredictable, so to keep each other as safe as we can, it’s recommended to come with friends and stick together.
This event is queer-led but anyone who wants to stop fascism, racism and homophobia is very welcome.
On their last outing (Manchester, June 2017) they yelled racist and homophobic abuse and attacked people. A homeless man was hospitalised while protecting a mum and young daughter from them.[1] Sikh volunteers giving away food were threatened and ‘had to scarper for our own safety’.[2]
‘Annie Greek‘ (Ioanna Photiou): The main organiser of their Bristol demo, hilariously spotted on twitter[3] saying:
‘Tommy English‘ (Tommy Cook): used to be the (mostly one-man) ‘LGBT division’ of the EDL.
Jack Buckby: ex-BNP who stood as a candidate MP in Jo Cox’s area after she was murdered by the far-right.
Ann Marie Waters: so toxic that even UKIP deselected her as a candidate. Writes for Breitbart.
‘Tommy Robinson‘ (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon): former EDL leader. What a lovely guy. Not.
B+W Leaflet and poster for cheap printing.
Colour versions (nicer): Leaflet and poster
Contact: angryqueerantifascists(at)riseup(dot)net
The Free 