international feminist network
The International Feminist Network (IFN) is an international network to mobilize support and solidarity for women. The history of people's solidarity internationally is long:
there are now well established organisations to fight for workers' rights, for the release of political prisoners, and against racism. But there has been no such organisation
for women. Over the past decade we have come to realise the extent of the countless injustices against women throughout the world , and if we are to gain strength and power to combat these injustices, it is imperative to create and build up international solidarity. IFN is an attempt to do this.
IFN started after the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Brussels, Belgium, in March 1976. The idea was that there should be continuing support and publicity for crimes against women anywhere. ISIS coordinates IFN by sending out appeals for support to national contact people in (at present) twenty-four countries. These national contacts then disseminate the information with in their own countries, for action. Usually, the action to be taken consists of sending telegrams and letters of protest or support, of organising demonstrations, and of getting national and international publicity for the case. Any woman or group of women can send in information to ISIS for distribution through IFN.
The guidelines under which IFN operates for taking up cases are as follows:
a) priority is given to supporting feminist issues and women not supported by other kinds of networks or channels;
b) women should be supported even if the issue is not particularly " feminist " wherever their struggles are looked on as "secondary", (e.g. women political prisoners, women in mixed groups such as labour unions, liberation movements etc.) ;
c) care is taken that the IFN is not used as an instrument of male-dominated or male-oriented groups.
The cases we have dealt with up to now have included: abortion campaigns, victims of sterilization abuse, women workers' struggles for their rights, forced kidnapping, victims of rape, and women who have defended themselves against rape and battering. Since our last report in the ISIS Bulletin No. 10 (winter 1978/79), the following cases have been taken up:
1. Yvonne Wanrow, a native American woman (USA), who had to stand trial a second time for second degree murder. In August 1972 Yvonne Wanrow shot and killed in
self-defense a white child molester who trespassed on the Colville reservation and broke into the house where she was staying. He had molested her son and her neighbour's child
before. Police did not respond to her calls then. Yvonne
feared for her safety and the safety of her children. She was
convicted of second degree murder and second degree assault
on Mother's Day of 1973. She did not face a jury of her
peers - the jury was white . She had to fight for the right to
wear her native dress in court Her conviction was largely
based on her phone call to the police after the shooting.
The prosecution charged that her voice on the phone (the
police tape-recorded it) was to calm for a woman who just killed a man in self-defense. The male court would have believed her more had her voice been hysterical.
This conviction was overturned on grounds the tape of the phone calls to the police to report the shooting was improperly used in the trial . However, the state prosecutor pressed for are trial , and she was tried again on April 2,1979, under the felony-murder law. In the days before the trial , letters poured into Washington State in support of Yvonne. At the trial she pleaded guilty to manslaughter and second degree assault, and received a five-year suspended sentence. She will be on probation for five years - but she will be free! The Yvonne Wanrow Defense Committee feels that the intense pressure from Yvonne's supporters was a key factor in her victory . Further information from : Yvonne Wanrow Defense Committee, 1205 South Tower, Seattle, Wa. 98104, USA.
2. Jenna Kelsie who shot and killed her ex-husband in 1973 while he was beating her. This was after years of repeated beatings, including a near-death accident in which he drove her car off the road with his truck . All this was systematically ignored by the local police. She was convicted of second-degree murder and started serving a 15-16 year sentence in 1976 at the Indiana Women's prison. A petition for clemency is now being prepared. More information from: Carol Hegland, 4407 Linwood Ct. 1, Indianapolis, Ind. 46201 , USA.
3. Janice Painter who was convicted for shooting her son, a Vietnam veteran who had repeatedly abused her, her blind husband, her other children and two elderly women, after he threatened and then physically attacked her when she tried to call the police. She is appealing her life sentence for first-degree murder. At her trial , her court-appointed lawyer failed to represent her adequately, and she herself was on heavy medication for her injuries and could not effectively defend herself. Contact the Janice Painter Defense Committee, P.O. Box 1018, Tacoma, Wa. 98401, USA. She needs support and money.
4. Maria Antonia Palla, a Portuguese woman journalist who was accused of "moral offences" and of "encouraging 35 crime " because she was responsible for a film shown on television in 1976, which talked about abortion and the aspiration (Karman) method. The film was part of a series (Nome: Mulher) for which Maria Antonia was responsible, and which has been banned ever since.
The law on abortion in Portugal is nearly a century old , and
penalises any abortion or accomplice to abortion with 2-8 years imprisonment. In spite of pressure to change this law, nothing has yet been done by the Assembly of Republic (Portuguese Parliament). There are about 180,000 abortions every year in Portugal and 2,000 women are estimated to die because of bad conditions. Maria Antonia ' s film talked about this and showed a women's group that performed abortions by the Karman method.Because of national and international pressure, Maria Antonia Palla was acquitted on June 11, 1979.
BUT, the struggle goes on with the case of Conceicao Massano do Santos, a 22-year-old woman, and mother of a two-year-old girl . She is going on trial , accused of the " crime " of an abortion which she had on 1976. She is married to a working man, who was then her boyfriend , and he is being incriminated, as well as a woman friend , because they helped her to have this abortion. They might get four years in prison, and she risks a penalty of eight years. Conceicao is very poor and lives in a small village in Alentejo , Aldesa dos Fernandos, Rua Nova no. 22 , Almodovar.
The Portuguese National Abortion and Contraception Campaign (CNAC) is supporting her, but they are counting on the help of women all around the world , who have already supported Maria Antonia Palla and have pressed the government and public opinion for her acquittal. CNAC asks all women and women's organisations for support to stop this trial and free Conceicao and all the other women who have abortions and are now risking imprisonment.
They ask for demonstrations of solidarity such as:
- demonstrations at Portuguese Embassies
- telegrams to the Presidente da Republica, Presidente da Assembleia da Republica, and the Ministro da Justica, Lisboa, Portugal (copies to CNAC)
- pressing the International press to publish this case, which is against the Portuguese constitution and against women's rights.
Contact: CNAC, Rua Rodrigues Sampaio No 79-r/c, Lisboa, Portugal.
5. On 38th April 1979, the Progressive Women's Organisation of Turkey was banned by a Martial Law Command of Istanbul. The head office and all branch offices were searched and closed down , and several officers were detained. PWO has a membership of over 15,000, and none of their activities constitutes a breach of the law, according to their report. On July 20-23 the women organised a long march and demonstration to attract international support. Contact:Beria Onger, Bakirkoy, Zeytinlik Mah., Hocahasan Sk. No. 1/2, Istanbul, Turkey.
6. Norma Jean Serena, Pittsburg, USA, whose case was sent out earlier through IFN, finally won part of her fight. She charged that Welfare officials placed her children in foster homes and had her sterilized against her will . When her case came up for trial , the verdict, arrived at by an all-white jury of six men and two women, declared that the two social workers were guilty of misrepresenting Serena's case and placed her children in foster homes under false pretenses. As compensation for that and for the years Serena has spent trying to get her children back, the court awarded her US$ 17.000.
However, the jury decided that Serena had given consent for her sterilization , although the paper she has signed was dated the day after the operation. This confusion has had some impact on the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's decision to set up guidelines on sterilization, designating a 30-day waiting period in between signing consent forms and having a federally funded sterilization procedure.
7. A South Wales woman (United Kingdom) is on remand at Pucklechurch Remand Centre, accused of murdering her ex-husband. She has been divorced for three years, during which time she and her three children aged nine, seven and three were terrorised by her ex-husband. He broke into her home and destroyed property , as well as using violence and threats of violence.
Last November this woman came to a Women's Aid refuge for protection against him and left the refuge confident and " together " .
Her ex-husband broke into her home and lay in wait for her on her return on Christmas Eve. When she arrived there was a struggle when he tried to assault her, during which time he received fatal injuries. She was then arrested and charged with murder. She has been repeatedly refused bail. Newport Women's Aid and Women's Action Group are giving her support.
This woman desperately needs support. She is pleading not guilty , but if the case is proved she could go to prison for ten years at least. Letters of support and donations to her Defence Fund, c/o Newport Women's Aid , P.O. Box 11, Newport, Wales.
8. Dessie Woods. The struggle to free Dessie Woods is picking up momentum and it is vitally important that we continue to support her. We are presenting the details of her case here. Please support Dessie by any of the actions listed below.
On June 16, 1975 Dessie Woods, a 32-year-old black mother of two children, successfully defended herself and a friend, Cheryl Todd, against an armed rape attack by white Ronnie Horne. She got his (unlicensed) gun and shot and killed him. Woods was sentenced to a 22-year term in Georgia's Women's Institute of Corrections.
The National Committee to Free Dessie Woods reports that Dessie has been subjected to brutal treatment during the last three years because she is strong, militant and proud of her Africaness. They report that she has been beaten, drugged, held nude in a freezing-cold isolation cell and denied visits from her children and supporters. She has been taken twice to Milledvillage State Mental Institution and, according to the Committee, she has been drugged with prolixin , (generic name: fluphenazine), a very dangerous mind - controlling drug, whose known side effects include tremors, rigidity , immobility, and stiffening of the extremities (may persist and be irreversible), hypertension, nausea, lack of appetite and blurred vision. A successful barrage of telephone call- in support for Woods and protest for her treatment got Dessie Woods released back to the prison.
Dessie Woods is not the only person t o be receiving prolixin or other forms of behaviour modification treatment in prison. She is someone we can build support around and focus on exposing such things and getting her release from prison. Demand an end to the drugging and unjust imprisonment of Dessie Woods! We can do any of the following:
* WRITE AND SEND LETTERS to President Carter, White House, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. and to Governor George Busbee, Capitol BIdg., Atlanta , Georgia, U.S.A., demanding the immediate release of Dessie Woods!
* SEND LETTERS AND MAKE PHONE CALLS to U.S. Embassies demanding Dessie Woods immediate freedom, and condemning U.S. colonial domination over African people.
* SEND LETTERS to K. Linahan, Warden, Georgia Women's Institute of Corrections, Hardwick, Georgia 30314, U.S.A., demanding an end to the forced druggings, and that he guarantee the safety of Dessie Woods.
* WRITE LETTERS to Judge Wilbur Owens, P.O. Box 65, Macon, Georgia 31202, U.S.A. Judge Owen will soon be hearing a Writ of Habeas Corpus appeal on Dessie's behalf. Demand that he grant Dessie Woods an appeal!
* WRITE OR CALL Amnesty International c/o Ms. Anne Burley, International Secretariat, A . I . 10, Southampton Street, London WC2, England (Tel. 01-836-7788) urging
Amnesty International to adopt the case of Dessie Woods
and demand that the U.S. state release her immediately.
* WRITE LETTERS to Dessie Woods (A78927) G.W.I.C.,
Hardwick, Georgia 30314 U.S.A., and tell her of your support. This will also put prison officials on notice that Dessie Woods continues to have thousands of supporters who are aware of her plight and will not tolerate her imprisonment or abuse any longer!
* HELP BUILD for the European tour of Damesha Blackearth, Chairwoman of the NCDDW, in October 1979. You can help through raising funds, distributing materials, organizing speaking engagements, arranging transportation and lodging in your area, and many other ways. Please contact the National Committee to Defend Dessie Woods (address below) and the Dessie Woods Support Coalition if you are interested in helping in any way.
* CONTRIBUTE TO the Trust Fund for Dessie's two children, Samanthia and Calvin who are presently barely surviving in Savannah, Georgia with Dessie's elderly grandmother. We urge supporters to send "Dollars for Dessie's Chiidren " to the National Committee to Defend Dessie Woods.
* The NCDDW is in urgent need of financial support to continue this difficult struggle. Send a financial contribution — check or money order — to the National Committee to Defend Dessie Woods, P.O. Box 92084 , Morris Brown Station, Atlanta , Georgia, 30314 , U.S.A.
With your support, the international campaign will be successful , and Dessie Woods will be free!
Further information and contacts:
National Committee to Defend Dessie Woods, P.O. Box 92084, Morris Brown Station, Atlanta, Georgia 30314, USA
Dessie Woods Support Coalition , P.O. Box 921 , San Francisco, Ca. 94101 , USA.
New York Dessie Woods Support Coalition, P.O. Box 565, Brooklyn , N.Y. 11215, USA.
Campaign to free Dessie Woods, c/o Gerolaan 52, ZEIST, Netherlands
The countries currently within the IFN network are: Australia, Austria , Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa , Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA. If your country is among these, it does not mean you cannot also become an IFN contact. It is very difficult for individuals or groups to cover a whole country. IFN needs to expand if it is going to become more effective. We need to cover more stories, to be able to support more women — the thousands who need international support. If you would like to become an IFN contact, please let us know. If you have information to be sent out internationally, please send it to us. IFN also needs financial support. Donations, information and further details to : IFN , c/o ISIS, CP.301,1227 Carouge/Geneva, Switzerland.
INTERNATIONAL SISTERHOOD IS MORE POWERFUL !