To commemorate December 6, the day when 14 women were massacred in Montreal’s Polytechnical Institute in 1989, and in protest of the violence which women continue to suffer in Québec, Canada and around the world, we, the Collective of Women of Diverse Origins whole-heartedly supports the resolutions which came out of the Workshop on Violence Against Women, at the Montreal International Women’s Conference August 13-15, 2010.
The workshop was attended by women from around the world; the conference brought together over 400 participants from 32 countries. It culminated in the forming of an anti-imperialist International Women’s Alliance.
• We denounce violence against women, whether perpetrated by individuals or more importantly by states, as well as sexist and racist responses of state and society to violence.
• Whether women are assaulted by members of the elite or state institutions, through imperialist forces or by local warlords and even by men who are purportedly their male comrades within a progressive movement, all violence is unacceptable, unjustifiable, and has to stop.
• We call for a stop to violence against marriage migrants by granting residency to marriage migrants who are raped and beaten by their spouses.
• We demand that refugee determination systems recognize violence against women and sexual violence as justification for granting refugee status.
• We resolve to demonstrate support and solidarity with indigenous women who are resisting the racist response of states to violence against them. (We condemn states as direct perpetrators of violence, or as indirect perpetrators through impunity, inaction when violence is committed against women from aboriginal or indigenous communities).
• We denounce patriarchy as the common denominator in sexual violence and that is nourished, reinforced and works in symbiosis with colonialism, imperialism and capitalism.
• We condemn sexual violence in all its forms, against women in the world.
• We support struggles of women fighting violence, and against impunity or the marginalization and silencing of women who experience violence.
• We demand justice for all women who experience violence.
• We resolve to promote popular education as a means to engage citizens in the fight against violence.
Women of Diverse Origins, Member, International Women’s Alliance
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