11:40-12:30 Opening Rally
25 November marks the International Day for Elimination of Gender-based Violence – a day of struggle globally against endemic violence, misogyny and sexism. Selected to honour the Mirabal sisters - three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered by the regime in 1960 - N25 points decisively to the state as a central perpetrator of gender violence. From attacks on Trans healthcare and abortion rights, slashed public services and judicial complicity in sexual violence to ravishing war and genocide, N25 is a call to action against a system based to its very core on the oppression of us all.
12:30-2:00 Commissions (choose between the two)
Commission 1: War & Gender-based Violence
Military spending is on the increase whilst conflicts wage across different parts of the planet, not least with the genocidal onslaught against the Palestinian masses in Gaza. The terrible loss of life is coupled with violence against women as a weapon of war. But the oppressed have not just accepted this. Not only in war but under repressive regimes, such as the incredible Woman, Life, Freedom movement that shook Iran’s rulers, there have been mass movements. How can these movements end all wars and win democratic rights and liberation for all?
Commission 2: Fight for bodily autonomy
“Aborto legal para no morir” (legal abortion, so as not to die!) is defiantly printed across the green scarves worn by activists in Latin America - a bold pronouncement that bodily autonomy is a matter of life and death. Whether it be reproductive choice or gender-affirming care, join us to discuss why the state has such a vested interest in denying us rights to our own bodies, and how women and people of all genders are rising up to fight back.
Lunch (45 minutes)
2:45-4:00 Panel on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Sexism, sexual harassment and misogyny exist across society, and the workplace is no exception. Whether it is through austerity cuts that disproportionately impact women and gender non-conforming or direct harassment from your boss, It can have a damaging and devastating impact on those who experience it. It also weakens our collective strength against the employer. However, workers don’t have to accept it! We can get organised against this scourge through a united struggle, campaigning for concrete improvements in the workplace and the root causes through action and building fighting, democratic trade unions. This session will discuss how the situation and what we can do about it!
Break/Announcement (15 minutes)
4:15-4:45 Closing rally
Our closing rally will draw together all of the critical discussions we have had throughout the day and look at the necessity of building a socialist feminist campaigning force committed to ending gender-based violence, transphobia, sexism, racism and all forms of oppression. We’ll look at the need to get organised whether that is in our university, school, workplace or community.
We will have a social to tie it all together in the end!