|
DYKES ON STRIKE 8 February 2002Dear Sisters and Friends, We write to invite you to join women around the world in the 3rd Global Women’s Strike on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2002. There was a fantastic response to Strike 2001 with women and girls in over 60 countries taking part. From the responses so far, this year’s Strike will be even bigger and better! In many countries lesbian women are forced to hide in fear of our lives, and everywhere we face institutionalised discrimination. Even in countries where we've won some legal protections, we constantly have to fight to hold on to them. Whether we're able to be publicly "out" or not, most of us face homophobia and other discrimination in our daily lives: pressure to conform from our families, neighbours, religious or other communities; surviving on low "women’s" wages and benefits without access to "family" benefits; harassment by police or other authorities; our children being bullied at school and getting little support from teachers deterred by Section 28; fighting for immigration, asylum, housing and domestic partnership rights; defending our right to custody of our children or for access after break up of relationships; recovering from rape or other sexual abuse; coping with multiple health problems, including drug and alcohol use; trying to keep our relationships together. On top of all this, especially if we live in small towns or villages, we have to struggle to find each other - in social, discussion, campaigning, arts or sports groups, and in pubs, clubs and cafes. Many of us are also active in women's, trade union, Black and anti-racist, disability, community and other groups working for change. For all these reasons and more, lesbian women are internationally active in co-ordinating the Global Women’s Strike. We are using the Strike demands to make visible our issues and concerns, and in doing so, help strengthen ourselves as lesbian women as well as the wider movement. For example, by demanding wages for caring work we can make visible the work we have in common with other women, as well as the additional caring work we are forced to do in order to survive in hostile environments. Please get in touch to find out more about Strike activities. If you'd like to send us a personal statement about why you and/or your group will be involved, send it to us and we'll put it on the Website with other Striking statements. Payday Men’s Group, which includes gay men, are co-ordinating men’s support for the Strike internationally and can be contacted at the same address. Please get in touch to find out more – phone as above; email: womenstrike8m@server101.com, and the Website http://womenstrike8m.server101.com. We look forward to hearing from you! Cristel Amiss Didi Rossi |