PAST CONFERENCES

Women Living Under Muslim Laws

From April 18 to 24, 1986, women from eight countries gathered together in the small village of Aragon, France, to share experiences and discuss future strategies for the international solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws. This was the network's first organized meeting since it grew out of an informal meeting of Muslim women in Europe in 1984.

Representing Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Sudan, the group talked about the different ways in which Islam is deliberately misinterpreted and used by men and the state to suppress women's basic human rights in their countries. All agreed that the situation is particularly urgent at this time of escalating Islamic fundamentalism in so many parts of the world. As well as pledging to continue mobilizing support for individual cases, such as that of Shehnaaz Sheikh, a 24-year-old Sunni Muslim woman in India who has for the first time dared to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the personal Muslim Law in the face of mental and physical torture from her husband, the meeting identified certain needs including:

• collecting relevant information, such as laws relating to women (divorce, marriage, inheritance, etc.) in various Muslim communities; strategies adopted by individual women and women's groups challenging Muslim laws; legal petitions and progressive interpretation of Koranic verses; and examples of marriage model contracts
• disseminating information through existing journals, magazines, and bulletins in different languages that reach women living in Muslim communities
• establishing exchange programs allowing Muslim women to share experiences and organizing strategies, and programs allowing individual women to work short term with the coordination center in France.

A follow-up meeting is planned to take place in Tunisia in 1987. If you can provide information and/or would like to know more about the network, please write to:

Women Living Under Muslim Laws
International Solidarity Network
34980 Combaillaux
France

Second International Feminist Book Fair

Book trading, skills sharing, networking and socializing marked the Second International Feminist Book Fair held in Oslo, Norway from June 21 to 27, 1986. Not surprisingly in such a comparatively small capital city, attendance from the general public was a bit disappointing, especially compared to the overwhelming interest shown at the first book fair in London in 1984. However, the event was still an inspiring testimony to the development of feminist writing and publishing in recent years.

On top of Norway and the rest of Scandinavia, countries represented included India, Zimbabwe, Chile, Japan, Morocco, Canada, Australia, Palestine, England, Ireland, France, Italy and Spain. As well as providing plenty of time for writers, publishers, distributors and others to meet individually, the fair was a forum for debate on various aspects of feminist writing. A number of Third World women took part in discussions on themes such as "Writing as a liberating force" and "Anti-racism and feminism" and "Black women and who they write for" and there was also a chance to hear writers reading from their own works. Most of us returned home tired and penniless -Norway has a staggeringly high cost of living - but greatly looking forward to the Third Book Fair, tentatively planned for New Delhi, India in February 1988.

Brazilian Feminist Meeting

From August 7 to 10, 1986, several hundred Brazilian women gathered in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro for the Eighth National Feminist Meeting. These meetings, which have been held annually for the past seven years, are Brazilian women's response on a national level to what Latin American Feminist Meetings do on a regional level.

The meetings and seminars were organized around three main themes: building women's identity and image in the workplace, mass media, sexuality, art and culture; relations of power in the family, with the state, and with organizations of larger society - labor unions, political parties, associations, etc.; and the uses and abuses of our body - health, racism, sexism, and environmentalism. There were also a series of informal activities such as dance, theatre, art demonstrations, audiovisual showings, and self-examination.

For more details, contact:

Comissao Organizadora do VIII Encontra National Feminista
Av. Franklin Roosevelt, 39 S/713 CEP 20, 021
Rio de Janeiro-RJ
Brazil
Tel. 220-5128

Send Materials

The Education Research Institute of the University of the South Pacific held a ten-day workshop from June 27 to July 7, 1986 to develop teaching materials related to women. The conference covered a variety of topics including village health care, gardening, small business, alcohol and violence against women and women and the media. Though the conference is over, organizers still welcome any useful development educational materials or materials helpful in developing new materials.

Please send information to:

Elizabeth Cox
Education Research Unit
University of Papua New Guinea
University Post Office, Box 320
NCD, Papua New Guinea

FUTURE CONFERENCES

The Fifth International Women and Health Meeting

Women health activists, researchers, and practicioners from all over the world will gather in San Jose, Costa Rica next spring for the Fifth International Women and Health Meeting. The Centro Feminista de Informacion y Accion (CEFEMINA) is coordinating the planning for the conference, which is scheduled to take place from May 23 to 28, 1987. This marks the first time the meeting will be held in a Third World country; the previous four meetings have been held in European cities.

The conference will focus on five main themes: population policies and reproductive rights; community health; environmental health hazards; drugs; and the health care system. The organizers welcome any suggestions for specific workshops to be organized under these categories as well as general input into the planning of the conference. Meetings will be held in Spanish, French or English, with simultaneous translation available for plenary sessions. Childcare facilities for participants' children will be provided.

The conference organizers also urge women who want to attend to begin fundraising immediately to cover travel costs and expenses. Those who can are encouraged to help raise funds for women who cannot cover their own costs.

Eleven national and international women's organizations, including Isis International and the Latin American and Caribbean Health Network which we coordinate, are sponsoring the conference. The others are Peru Mujer, Centro Ecuatoriano para la Promocion y Accion de la Mujer, Women's Global Network on Reproductive Rights, International Baby Food Action Network, Health Action International, SOSHIREN Tokyo, Isis WICCE, Dispensaire des Femmes, and the Boston Women's Health Book Collective.

Please contribute your ideas to the conference planning or enter your name for registration by filling out the following questionnaire (opposite page) and returning it to CEFEMINA by October 1986.

Five Years After Nairobi

An international group of women who call themselves GROOTS - Grass Roots Organizations Operating Together for Sisterhood - are planning a "Grassroots Forum" to be held in Madras, India in 1990. The Working Women's Forum, an organization of 37,000 women in South India, will host the meeting.

The forum will expand on networking begun in Nairobi among low income rural women and women workers. It aims to enable women from community-based organizations to share problems of day to day organizing and exchange technical and managerial resources. Special attention will be paid to community development strategies that help women overcome oppressive situations in the home, the workplace, with moneylenders, etc.

To get in touch with GROOTS, contact one of the following women:

Gloria Gay
46 Park Ave.
Deptford, New Jersey 08096
USA

Remy Rikken
P.O. Box 463
Manila
Philippines

Nandani Azad
No. 55 Bhinasena Garden St.
Mylapore Madras 600.004
India

Immigrant Film Festival

Kaleidoscope, an immigrant filmmakers association in Sweden, is organizing the Third International Immigrant Film Festival to take place November 24-30, 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden. The festival will bring together immigrant filmmakers and immigrant films from all over the world to share experiences and film resources.

The festival is "also an occasion for participants to discuss the special situation of immigrant filmmakers and the delights and difficulties encountered by someone striving to create film in a foreign country, with foreign language and culture," say the organizers.

Festival organizers are soliciting any short or feature films made by immigrants or films that deal with the problem of immigration. Films should be submitted to the organizing committee in videocasette, VHS, or Pal Secam by September 25, 1986. Films with dialogue in other than Nordic languages must be subtitled in English.

To register, or for more information, contact:

Kaleidoscope
c/o Devkino
Box 43073 S-100 72 Stockholm
Sweden

Third World Studies

Scholars, students, researchers and others from distant countries will gather in Omaha, Nebraska, USA for the Third World Studies Conference, October 16 to 18, 1986. For a $50 fee, groups working on the Third World may display their materials at this conference.

For more information contact:

Third World Studies Conference
The University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska 68182
USA
Tel. (402) 554-2376

Women and the Military System

This international symposium sponsored by the International Peace Bureau and the Peace Union of Finland will bring together about 150 women researchers, peace and feminist activists, and representatives of peace institutes for four days to examine the relation between women and the military. The workshops promise to touch on a some provocative themes, for example women, men and the military; the impact of the military economy on women; liberation struggles and the liberation of women; and women as creators of world peace. Elise Boulding and Cynthia Enloe, both American feminists and authors of works on women and the military, will deliver keynote addresses.

The symposium will be held from January 22 to 25, 1987 in Siuntio Baths, Finland. Registration forms plus a fee of US $150, for accomodation, meals, and materials, must be received by October 31, 1986.

For more information, contact:

Symposium on "Women and the Military System"
c/o Peace Union of Finland
Sahkottajankatu 6
00520 Helsinki
Finland

Catholics for a Free Choice

An international conference on "Ethical Questions of Reproductive Health: A Religious Perspective" is being organized by Catholics for a Free Choice, a US-based organization of Catholic women and men who favor women's right to abortion. Theologists, feminists, lawyers, philosophers and public health professionals will attend the conference in Washington, DC from December 5 through 7,1986. One day will be devoted to examining the situation in Latin America.For more information, write:

Pauline Nunez-Morales
Catholics for a Free Choice
2008 17th St., NW
Washington, DC 20009
USA
Tel. (202) 638-1706