Steps towards the constitution of the WMW in the United States of America

The intense program began on the morning of the 22nd, with a rehearsal of the “batucada”, which inaugurated the Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) block (photo). In the inauguration ceremony, we emphasized how important it is for all movements and organizations taking part in the process of the World Social Forum to join the struggle against the patriarchy by participating in the debates and actions for the construction of a different possible world. We issued a special call to support the campaign that focuses on domestic workers in the United States, who struggle for the approval of a law that will grant them basic rights. Invited by the GGJ and the Global Fund for Women, the WMW took part in discussions about the construction of a feminist anti-militarism movement in the United States and in a convergence panel about resistances to the crisis, which brought together several international movements.

Feminism in the struggle against militarization

The workshop “Transnational Feminist Organizing to Resist Militarism & Empire”, which was held on the 24th, was a convergence point among the struggles promoted by women’s and pacifist groups. For the American movements, it is more and more evident that it is not possible to assure work, welfare and basic rights without a large movement to challenge the military-industrial complex. This activity has enabled us to establish contact with the women from the following organizations:  Esperanza and Peace Justice Center, of San Antonio, a city in the south of the country with the presence of five military bases; the Bus Riders Union – The Labor Community Strategy Center, of Los Angeles; the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice, as well as the International Network of Women against the American Military Bases and Women for Genuine Security.

The debate focused on complex issues, such as, the cycle of financial dependence created by the presence of the military bases and institutions in the communities, the strategy of promoting militarization through cuts in social services which result in the increase of military enlistment, as the Army is an economic sector which is not affected by the crisis and presents itself as a work alternative, especially for poor young men. Another point in focus was the increase in militarization on behalf of the war against drugs, gangs or the criminalization of the poverty, which generates in the US a figure of 2.2 million prisoners, 1 million of those being African-American men. Or also the routine to which young people are submitted in High Schools, forced to go through metal detectors and to have routine police surveillance in classrooms and corridors. In Guaham, the community is resisting plans to increase the US military presence and trying to expand contacts with groups from Japan and the Philippines to enlarge the movement in the region. The Women’s Social Movements Against War and for Peace (MSM), from Colombia, presented a history of the military cooperation between the US and the Colombian government, which resulted in the creation of a paramilitary army that acts against the country’s population, with significant harmful impact on the lives of women, like regular sexual violence and forced domestic work, among other consequences. This situation has stimulated the MSM to organize the Women and People’s Summit of the Americas against Militarization, from August 16 to August 23 this year, co-organized by WMW as regional activity within the framework of the Third International Action.
We explained how the WMW responds to militarization through the development of a common positioning and the organization of international actions, with a local approach, such as the Third International Action. We call upon the US sisters to guarantee their presence and to be alert in solidarity during our actions in Colombia and the closing act in the Democratic Republic of Congo (October 13 – 17 this year).
Towards a US chapter of the WMW
Performing solidarity actions in August and October, mapping grass-roots organizations in which women are protagonists, and calling a large meeting to discuss setting up a national coordination, as well as carrying on with information exchange and analysis on the action areas, have been some of the proposal that have emerged from the various talks about he WMW that took place during the US Social Forum. Deepening the bonds that were established following up on this plan are challenges that motivate us!