This meeting brought together organizations from the South and the North. Deepa Dhanraj, from D&N Productions, India, and Gigi Francisco, from Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), the Philippines, were there to share their vision as feminists from the South. Two questions structured the discussion: what are the main tendencies and important developments within the women's movements, and how can women's movements strive to be more proactive in the future?
Deepa Dhanraj's talk was based on a paper she had co-authored with Srilatha Batliwala (vice-president of Women's Environment and Development Organization, WEDO), who was also present at the workshop, titled "A South Asian perspective".
Making documentaries on issues relating to health, education and gender, Deepa came into contact with many Indian women who ended up seeing the camera as a sympathetic listener, to whom they could tell things that no one else wanted to hear.
Deepa described the experiences of women from the state of Gujarat, where the government pursued policies of genocide against the Moslem population. In addition to the brutal crimes that were denounced only by some of the press, systematic rapes of Moslem women were being committed, about which nobody said a word. When they finally overcame their fears and joined forces, these women managed to start making public the atrocities being committed against them and their families.
She ended her talk by announcing the imminent launch of the South Asian Women's Observatory -a sign that in that part of the world bridges are being built.
Gigi Francisco focused on the independence that women's movements have achieved vis-à-vis the international institutions that had originally served to bring them together. She denounced the growing tendency toward a fundamentalist takeover of those institutions and highlighted the fact that women are beginning to set their own agenda of issues and initiatives around which to organize.
With respect to possible strategies for being more proactive in the future, Gigi placed special emphasis on the importance of articulation between different forces. Previously when feminists got involved in labour organizations or political parties, they were often accused by other feminists of "sleeping with the enemy". Now the feminist movement is more aware of its potential for growth, and -this Philippine activist believes- should not let the opportunity pass it by.
>> See the filmography of Deepa Dhanraj.
>> Visit the DAWN web site.
