Today is International Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. In advance of this occasion, women from around the world gathered in New York City this past weekend, to say “no” to state violence, war and empire. Human rights, especially women’s human rights are incompatible with war and violence and the forced dislocation, impoverishment and gender subjugation associated with the use of force. Likewise, our basic human rights and life chances are undermined by the violent concentration of power and wealth.

The solution to our separation across lines of race and nation, and our silencing is solidarity and speaking out. From Phoenix, Arizona to the Philippines, Kabul and Baghdad, the women who gathered for Bodies of Revolution stand together against wars named and unnamed, and against the criminalization of the vulnerable. “We need care, not criminalization,” the women said.

 – Kimberle Crenshaw, Eve Ensler, & Laura Flanders

 

Bodies of Revolution: Women Rise Against the Violence of Police, States & Empire, a globally streamed event, was convened by One Billion Rising, the African American policy Forum, and the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies(CISPS) at Columbia Law School and was co-produced by the Laura Flanders Show.

Participants included Suad Amiry (Palestine), Fartuun Adan (Somalia), Kimberle Williams Crenshaw (US), Eve Ensler (US), Frances Garrett (US), Nimmi Gowrinathan (US/Sri Lanka), Yanar Mohammed (Iraq), Lu Pin (China), Thenmozhi Soundararajan (US/India), Sara Milena Ferrer Valencia (Colombia), Monique Wilson (Philippines), and Zoya (Afghanistan).

The following clips were released for International Human Rights Day. More clips and video of the complete event will be released in the near future, stay tuned for updates.

Nimmi Gowrinathan (US/Sri Lanka)

Visiting Professor at the Colin Powell Center for Civic and Global Leadership at City College, New York

Yanar Mohammed (Iraq)

Founder of the Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq, (OWFI)

Monique Wilson (Philippines)

Global Director, One Billion Rising

Zoya (Afghanistan)

Zoya is a women’s rights activist who has worked extensively in refugee camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan