London 2002

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In London, a Whistle-Stop Tour and Cacerolazo (pots and pans protest), kicked off at Shell headquarters against "piped pollution" which destroys health, livelihoods and environments, especially in Indigenous communities.  We were joined by survivors of the mental health system protesting against being denied women-only wards.  At the Ministry of Defence women from different faiths bore witness; speakers demanded that the $900 billion military budget, including $40+ billion for the US “war on terrorism", should go to mothers and caregivers for our communities' needs. 

The powerful and moving rally outside the World Bank demonstrated how many sectors of people oppose these “global loan sharks”: African women taking direct action by tearing up cash crops which benefit multinationals and the men whose land it is, while destroying women’s subsistence agriculture which feeds whole communities; Pakistani women paying for 65% of the budget going into military spending; Argentinian women calling neighbourhood assemblies against the crisis caused by the IMF/World Bank.  Between stops, a giant puppet led a lively multi-racial crowd, including dancers and drummers, wheelchair-users, deaf women, older and younger women, children, sex workers, lesbian and bisexual women, students, and men. 

Photo montage from Indymedia