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The power of movements - A prelude to AWID
Isabella Matambanadzo
September 11, 2008

Throughout August, I enjoyed favors extended to me in the name of women-s month. Looking back the spoils included first class service in restaurants and coffee shops discounts in stores and special treats in spas.

I also got a painful reality check: Increasingly professionalized and highly qualified, South Africa-s women still draw pay checks that are as much as a third less than their male counter parts for work of the same value. If you think that-s glum, take a look at the data coming out of education studies. Going to school is unsafe for thousands of girls. The taxi ride to and from class exposes girls to the very real possibility of rape. The classroom itself is no safe haven from abuse from taunting male peers and authority figures.

In a society working hard to stem new infections of HIV infection and respond to what HIV and AIDS means in women-s lives, the statistics of new infections among younger groups of women are a discouraging. As is the ongoing reporting of marital rape.

A sophisticated constitution and bill of rights offers adult women the right to live their sexual choices, but lesbians, bisexual and heterosexual women are victims of sexualized forms of abuse that fly in the face of these important provisions. Think back to the cases handled by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, FEW when black lesbian women were attacked in the townships.

Research by women-s rights groups illustrate how the justice system repeatedly fail survivors of domestic violence, dockets disappear, witnesses do not turn up, presumably because they have been intimidated, told to stay away or face the same fate as the complainant. Criminals get off on fines, technicalities or minimum sentences.

As for the media, not only are black south African women invisible from the press as authoritative sources for and of the news, they are, inspite of graduating top of their classes in journalism schools across the country being blocked from rising to the ranks of editors and proprietors of mainstream print and broadcast media industry. The weekly Mail and Guardian stands out as an exception. Ferial Haffajee is not only a top range Editor, she makes sure the paper-s copy attends to the principles of equality of women-s voice in the media.

And woe-betide the black foreign or refugee woman. She should just stay in her country. But the grim picture of the lack of quality, security, opportunity and equality in the lives of South African women seems to be all over the continent.

In Zambia, women are fighting for their rights to property they purchased with a partner or spouse at a time of love and sharing. In death the women become unequal beggars for the estate that is rightfully theirs. Hundreds of cases from all over the country are documented by Justice for Widows and Orphans, JWOP. In Zambia-s neighbouring state Zimbabwe women-s bodied have endured a political war. Tortured for being presumed supporters of an opposition party or denied food for voting the wrong way, their considerations are not at all informing a power-sharing deal being brokered in the name of SADC. SADC which has just adopted a protocol guarantying gender equality. Women-s rights groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo know how difficult it is to bring these violations before a just process once the political clubs have formed a unity government and are in power together.

Further north east, in Uganda this June Angelina Kyomugisha ,a mother acting in defence of her ten year old girl, cut the defiler-s penis. She was charged with "unlawful wounding of a person". Even Liberia-s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says she wants to see Africa elect more women Presidents because "it-s lonely here with just the men". And so on, and so forth.

This November 14-17, 2008, the Association for Women's Rights in Development AWID brings its international forum to Cape Town. What a coup for Africa! AWID has been held in Mexico and Thailand and now comes to, no pun intended, "The Mother City".

At least 1 500 feminists and activists from all over the world women's rights will rock cape Town with powerful debate and dialogue about where to take women-s rights? A key asset of AWID is that it brings together all the strategists. In my view AWID is to Women-s Rights, what Davos is to the world-s business leaders.

This year-s theme is "The power of movements". African women from neighbouring countries are organizing buses to save on airfares so that more sisters can attend. They are fixing to share rooms and resources because this time it is happening on our continent. The last big thing we had was the Dakar conference on Women in 1994, ahead of the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women. We scored the serious victory of making the girl child an international issue.

But some South African women-s groups are acting out. They are complaining that they have not been invited and organizing a parallel event in the face of such a huge opportunity. My sisters, when will you get that it is not just about you? That all the African women, who in many ways, some of them most painful, gave to the liberation of South Africa are looking forward to their first ever visit to Cape Town where the parliament of free South Africa now sits and has women actively contributing in a feminist way to the legislature.

We are looking forward to AWID. Some of us just need it. We have been planning panels for months to talk amongst other feminists about our crisis and heal the wounds of living in the mainstream. What will it take for us to move together? After all it was you who taught us the slogan, "an injury to one is an injury to all". We want to share with you how patriarchy is hurting us, and strategize about how to get out of this cul de sac. I hope you make it. With you, it will be one stupendous forum.

*Isabella Matambanadzo is a Zimbabwean feminist. She is the co-author of "Beyond Beijing, strategies and visions towards women-s equality". She will be speaking at a panel entitled Feminists on the Frontlines at AWID, exploring women's organizing in Zimbabwe's conflict.

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