. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the Nobel Women’s Initiative

Indigenous leader, councillor. Anne Marie is from Nak’azdli First Nation, in British Columbia, Canada. Anne Marie was first elected as a Councillor for her community of Nak’azdli in 2007. She is a board member of Mining Watch Canada  and a member of First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining (FNWARM), a group of female chiefs, councillors and former chiefs who are working to reform the mining process in BC to balance the economics of mining developments with respect for First Nations rights and culture.

Photo courtesy of Anne Marie Sam

What is your story?

I was born in to the Lusilyoo frog clan, and our clan’s responsibility is to protect the water. I was also brought in to my dad’s clan, which is the Lhts’umusyoo beaver clan. Their responsibility as a clan is as warriors for the community. I was born into this, the work to protect who we are and to protect the water. So even before I started my work, I think it was already chosen for me. I think the creator and my ancestors led me here and prepared me for this. I’m from the Nak’azdli community and I came to the work I’m doing through the guidance of my environment and through the land I grew up on. It was always instilled in me by my grandparents how important the water and land is.

Your work recently has involved a response to a new mining project in your community. What was your approach?

As a community we didn’t outright oppose economic development or the mine. I wanted to protect the headwaters and the mountain. But the community as a whole could see benefits to economic development. So once we could see that it was going to move ahead, I started learning more about the process of mining and how we could minimize negative impacts. When the project was first considered it was a very big footprint and so we looked at how we could lessen the impact on the water and wildlife, like moose, caribou and bears—and also on the lives of our people. We saw so many flaws in the approval process— it didn’t take into account the impact on the land, wildlife, or the lives of the people who lived there, so we challenged the government’s review approach in court three times. Later, we identified an approach that allows us to work together with the mining company, and my family and the community can still uphold our stewardship responsibilities through environmental monitoring of the mine.

The mining project went ahead, but there are some successes. Please tell us more.

As it was being built, every time I travelled to the mine site I felt very angry and hurt. I knew it wasn’t healthy to carry that with me. I needed a way to let go of the anger and hurt feelings. I encouraged the company and even our governance—our own community—so that we could have a ceremony at the mine site. We need to be up there to let the land know we are not forgetting or giving up on our responsibility to care for it. I bring my children up every year, and we have a ceremony with our community. We put tobacco down and we share our words. We also invite the company employees to take part. They need to provide for their families, and so we pray for the protection of all of the workers that are up there.

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Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

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Another success that was really important is the environmental monitoring on the ground. Our people—our family—have a responsibility to care for the area. We need to track environmental impact and build capacity. The water and soil sampling shouldn’t be done only by mine workers. We have developed what we call a “guardian program” where our members are learning the skill of environmental monitoring from a western point of view, but they are also teaching the company and the workers what is important to us, what is Indigenous monitoring. 

What other impacts are you trying to mitigate?

Across the country, the impacts to women and communities when industrial activity comes into the area are clear—increases in domestic violence, drug trafficking, prostitution and sex trafficking. It’s also what I’m finding when I talk to women when I travel around the world—the story is the same. Indigenous people are bearing the brunt of impacts, especially Indigenous women. I am an Indigenous woman and my daughters are Indigenous, and we are at higher risk when industry comes to the area. Where it really came to a forefront for me was that when reviewing pipelines being proposed in our area; there were a lot of camps of workers, mostly men. As a community we had to consider developing rape crisis plans because we have to tell our women “we can’t prevent rape from happening, so this is what you do when it does happen”. It is unacceptable that we cannot protect our communities. Somewhere along the way this has to stop. I want to protect my daughters. But there are so many daughters out there, and sisters, aunts, and mothers who are impacted. We live along the Highway of Tears here in northern British Columbia. So many of our women are missing, are injured, and are found murdered. We desperately need change.

What is it like and what challenges have you faced being a woman leader?

It is tough to be an Indigenous woman leader but I also get to have the opportunity to advocate for change. I see strength in being able to live a healthy life, to show that it can be done. I am on a council that elected 50% women—for years we only had one, sometimes two women on council. I think that women bring a different perspective to the table, and I think it’s something that is needed. I ran in the recent provincial election. It was less about winning, though that would have been great, but more about honouring my grandmother and showing my girls and other young Indigenous girls what opportunities are there for them.

What is something that keeps you motivated?

The ability for me to continue our traditions and be with my family on the land keeps me going. I see the successes and opportunities that my son and daughters and nieces have in front of them and that keeps me going. And I see changes in industry and government, so I am optimistic. Looking in the eyes of our young people motivates me.

What do you hope for the future?

I hope my children and grandchildren are not fighting the same fight I am. I hope that we get beyond “us versus them” and understand that we are in this together, and need to find solutions together. I hope that in our community we move away from a place of being told to just forget what has happened. And in 5 to 10 years I hope to see healthier communities that are stronger and upholding each other. 

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the Nobel Women’s Initiative

Lawyer. Amanda is the Legal Director at the Canadian Centre for International Justice. CCIJ supports and assists people seeking justice for serious human rights violations and engages with Canadians through education and awareness programming. Amanda is also Director of the Philippe Kirsch Institute, which provides specialised legal education programmes with a focus on international law, human rights, and international criminal law, among others. In 2016, Amanda successfully spearheaded the international campaign #FREEHOMA to release the Canadian-Iranian political prisoner, Professor Homa Hoodfar, from Evin prison in Iran.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Ghahremani

My academic background before law school was in cultural studies and peace and conflict resolution. While spending time in Australia during my master’s degree, I started working on refugee issues and realized that knowledge of law would allow me to have a greater impact on refugee policy. Throughout law school I worked with refugee women who were survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and this experience steered me to the intersection of refugees, conflict, violence and justice. At the Centre, I work on these issues in a manner that has direct impact on survivors, but also empowers survivors to take a leading role in their justice efforts.

What most often hinders you from achieving justice?

Ironically, laws and policies are what most often hinder us from achieving justice for our clients. For example, Canada’s State Immunity Act generally gives foreign governments immunity in Canadian courts, making it very difficult for survivors to seek compensation for torture and other atrocities committed by those governments. Another example has been the reluctance by Canadian courts, until very recently, to allow Canadian corporations to be sued in Canada for the human rights abuses they commit abroad. However, these barriers make my work that much more important, because every success we achieve for our clients sets a precedent that brings us one step closer to achieving justice for many others.

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Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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You’ve worked on cases involving political prisoners. Was the case of your aunt, Professor Homa Hoodfar, at all unique?

Homa’s case was not necessarily unique. There is a long-standing track record of academics and intellectuals being imprisoned in Iran, including but not limited to dual nationals. However, what made Homa’s case unique was the the speed at which it was resolved, in very large part a testament to the effectiveness of diplomacy. From the perspective of a lawyer, it was very difficult to navigate the campaign and messaging knowing that Homa’s trial was still unfolding; everything we said and did would be scrutinized and had the potential to impact her case. Ultimately, the success of Homa’s case came from a concerted and collective effort: the United Nations, the Canadian government, other national governments, academics, activists, and individuals, particularly those in the Global South such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Malaysia. The campaign really was a global effort.

How have you found the environment for women in the legal world?

Women must work ten times harder to prove their worth and value, whether you are in a large corporate law firm or in a non-governmental organization. I was the keynote speaker at Law Needs Feminism Because Forum in Montreal this year because I strongly believe that women in law need to create spaces to support each other. I was happy to see women law students, law professors, and lawyers uniting to discuss the ongoing challenges we face in this profession, and the opportunities that we have to change these structural inequities. I have also implemented an intersectional feminist policy in CCIJ‘s legal department as I believe it is imperative that we are guided by intersectional feminism not only in our immediate work environment, but also in the work we carry out with clients and in our broader communities. In the context of international justice, I find an intersectional feminist approach poses the question: “How do we make sure that our mission for justice is not in its very process exploiting the stories and experiences of survivors – often racialised, marginalised, and othered people, especially women?”

Could you tell us about Women’s Charters and Declarations. Why did you create this network?

Women’s Charters and Declarations is a project that emerged out of several collaborative meetings with feminists from various backgrounds, emphasizing the need to have an archive of the legal and policy work that has taken place in women’s rights movements across the globe. The project is designed as a resource centre with quick, searchable, and structured access to women’s charters, declarations, and manifestos. My hope is that it will help mobilize and encourage new generations to get inspired by, learn from, and adapt these charters to their own contexts.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the Huffington Post (reprinted according to principles of “fair use”)

A black woman named Tarana Burke is the original creator of the #MeToo campaign that has recently taken over social media. 

Tarana Burke in the Democracy Now interview

Burke, founder of youth organization Just Be Inc., created the “Me Too” campaign in 2007 long before hashtags even existed. The 44-year-old told Ebony Magazine that she created the campaign as a grass-roots movement to reach sexual assault survivors in underprivileged communities. 

“It wasn’t built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow,” Burke told Ebony on Monday. “It was a catchphrase to be used from survivor to survivor to let folks know that they were not alone and that a movement for radical healing was happening and possible.”

The campaign recently turned into a hashtag after actress Alyssa Milano wrote a call-out on Twitter asking followers to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault using the phrase “Me too.” While Milano did not state that she created the campaign, many media outlets credited the actress for originating the hashtag. 

Burke told Ebony that it’s “powerful” to see the hashtag go viral. “What’s happening now is powerful,” she said. “And I salute it and the women who have disclosed but the power of using ‘me too’ has always been in the fact that it can be a conversation starter or the whole conversation ― but it was us talking to us.” 

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Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

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On Monday, Milano tweeted that she was “made aware of an earlier #MeToo movement” and linked to Burke’s story. 

Alyssa Milano: “I was just made aware of an earlier #MeToo movement, and the origin story is equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring”

In a Tuesday morning interview with Democracy Now, Burke discussed the origins of the “Me Too” movement and why it’s still so relevant today. As a survivor of sexual violence herself, Burke said she used the “me too” phrase as a way to connect with other survivors, specifically young women of color. 

”[I was] trying to find a succinct way to show empathy,” Burke said. “Me too is so powerful because somebody had said it to me and it changed the trajectory of my healing process once I heard that. Me too was about reaching the places that other people wouldn’t go, bringing messages and words and encouragement to survivors of sexual violence where other people wouldn’t be talking about it.” 

Burke tweeted her thoughts about the hashtag going viral on Sunday night, writing: “The point of the work we’ve done over the last decade with the ‘me too movement’ is to let women, particularly young women of color know that they are not alone ― it’s a movement.” . . .

The #MeToo movement highlights a common problem: Feminist movements are often whitewashed when they’re brought into mainstream conversations. Women of color are often overlooked and left out of the very conversations they create.numbers.

As the #MeToo hashtag went viral, many people thanked Burke and tweeted their support of her movement. 

Co-founder of Black Lives Matter Alicia Garza thanked Burke, tweeting: “Thank you @TaranaBurke for bringing us this gift of #MeToo almost 10 years ago. Still powerful today.”

Other Twitter users gave credit to Burke for #MeToo and asked media to stop crediting white women for the work of women of color. ”#MeToo was started by Tarana Burke. Stop erasing black women,” Twitter user Aura Bogado wrote.