2007 Feminist Night March

2007 Press Statement - Kurdish Dear friends, my beloved sisters! We know, and we repeat for those who do not know... The history of March 8 is the history of women's resistance. We do not moan on March 8. We salute March 8 as women's day of struggle. As women, we call out to rulers and men... We say: fear us... As Feminists, we call out to clerics, husbands, fathers and others who raise their voices against us and wave their sticks over us. Fear us, because we will not remain silent... We will not remain silent about our oppression and exploitation... We say: do not block our path, do not steal our words... Our liberation is in our hands, and to free ourselves from the order of male domination, we have no remedy other than struggling together. Today is March 8, and it is celebrated everywhere by everyone. Today the media, parliament and big companies work with all their might to distance March 8 from the struggle against dominant men's violence and exploitation. What an enormous effort to distance March 8 from feminism... We have not forgotten that we inherited March 8 from working women's struggle to the death demanding shorter working hours and better working conditions; moreover, we repeat once again to friend and foe that we inherited this day from those who fought the Mustafas who said a woman's back should never be spared the stick. Today, here, we openly shout our solidarity with those whose labor has been appropriated, condemned to slavery at home and lower wages at work, exploited at home, in workplaces and brothels, forced to endure beatings by their fathers and husbands, killed in honour killings, dying in clandestine abortions, sold by international gangs into the prostitution industry, and subjected to harassment and rape on the streets, at work, in war and in custody. LONG LIVE MARCH 8! Rebellion Liberates! Women! Join the Struggle for Our Liberation! Our rebellion; is against men's appropriation of women's labor, bodies and identities. Our rebellion; is against the ORDER OF MALE DOMINATION! Our rebellion; is against men's appropriation of our labor at home... Against the exploitation of our invisible labor. Our rebellion; is against beatings by husbands and men's sexual assaults behind closed doors, which can target their daughters and even their sons... Our rebellion; is against the protection of “our honour” not being in our own hands, but being surrendered to the male-dominated state and men, both of whose own honour is questionable. Our rebellion; is against the mentality that expects us to be “good/a lady/honourable/a virgin/a slave/a wife”. Our rebellion; is against state violence and torture, harassment and rape by village guards, soldiers and police. Our rebellion; is against those who exploit us in the capitalist market, consider our labor cheap because we are women and do not want to be second-class, fail to pay us equal wages for equal work, and divide work in a sexist way. Our rebellion; is against bosses and male-dominated unions that fail to see capitalism's attack on women workers, join arms with male domination and do not share their leadership with women. Our rebellion; is against the lies of male domination... against lesbians sometimes being excluded even by gay men... against prostitution being offered to transvestite and transgender women as their only option for living... against men's hypocrisy in both pouring money into homosexual prostitution and casting homosexuals outside humanity. Our rebellion; is against fascism that draws strength from militarism and is reinforced by armies, military tutelage regimes and war policies... Our rebellion is against those who see our sisters Zozan, Silva and Karin as enemies and count them as nothing. Our rebellion; is against leaving unhealed the wounds of Kurdish women whose language has been banned and whose identity has been denied. Our rebellion is against those who cannot say “Long Live the Sisterhood and Brotherhood of Peoples!” Our rebellion; is against our bodies being spoils of war throughout the world. Our rebellion is against the reality that every kind of assault and violence against women in wars receives less attention than a bombed ammunition depot. Our rebellion; is against imperialist attacks and occupations that continue under the false slogan of women's liberation. Our rebellion is against America, which has turned Iraq into hell, and against America's supposed enemies who silently await the execution of three women named Wassan, Zeynep and Liqa on March 20. Our rebellion; is against proponents of sharia, against the imprisonment of women in Iran for their struggle against male-dominated ruling sharia and discriminatory laws. Our rebellion; is against the burning of our textile-worker sisters in Bursa, against women drowning in Ceylanpınar while travelling atop a truck to do cheap subcontracted work. Our rebellion is against women workers at Novamed being fired for joining a union... OUR Rebellion; Is against those who want to count the history of our struggle as nothing and make it forgotten. But we know well that we are strong together; if we rise up together, we will be stronger. LONG LIVE MARCH 8 LONG LIVE OUR STRUGGLE LONG LIVE MARCH 8 WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM FEMINISTS

2007 Press Statement Dear friends, my dear sisters We know, and we repeat for those who do not know... The history of March 8 is the history of women's resistance. We do not whine on March 8. We salute March 8 as women's day of struggle. As women, we address men and those who rule... We say: fear us... As Feminists, we address clerics, husbands, fathers, ministers, those who raise their voices and wield batons. Fear us, because we will not be silent... We will not be silent about our oppression and exploitation... We say: do not stand in our way, do not steal our words... Our liberation is in our own hands, and we women have no option but to struggle together to escape the male-dominated order... Today March 8 is celebrated everywhere, by everyone. Today the big media, parliament and companies work with all their might to strip March 8 of its character as a day of struggle against the violence and exploitation of male rulers... What an enormous effort to distance March 8 from feminism... Just as we do not forget that we inherited March 8 from women workers' struggle to the death in the eighteen hundreds for shorter working hours and better working conditions, we repeat once again to friend and foe that we also inherited it from those who fought the Mustafas who said a woman's back should never be without a beating. Today, here, we shout our solidarity with those whose labor is appropriated, those condemned to slavery at home and low pay at work, those exploited in factories, brothels, homes, wherever they may be, those forced to endure beatings by fathers, husbands and men, those murdered in honour killings, those who die in clandestine abortions, those sold into the prostitution industry by international gangs, those subjected to harassment and rape on the streets, at work, in war and in custody... LONG LIVE MARCH 8 LONG LIVE MARCH 8 Rebellion Liberates! Women, INTO THE STRUGGLE for Our Liberation; Our rebellion; is against men's appropriation of women's labor, bodies and identities; our rebellion is against the PATRIARCHAL ORDER Our rebellion is against men's appropriation of our labor at home... Against the exploitation of our invisible labor Our rebellion; is against beatings by husbands, against men's sexual aggression behind closed doors that can target their daughters and even their sons... Our rebellion; is against the guardianship of our “honour” not being left to us, against our bodies being surrendered to the male state and to men whose own honour and integrity should be questioned Our rebellion; is against being the “good woman/lady/honourable woman/virgin/slave/wife” expected of us Our rebellion; is against state violence, torture, harassment and rape by village guards, soldiers and police Our rebellion; is against exploitation in the capitalist market, and additionally being cheap labor and secondary because we are women, against those who do not pay equal wages for work of equal value, against the sexist division of labor Our rebellion; is against bosses, against male unions that fail to see capitalism's assault on women workers as it joins arms with patriarchy, that do not share their leadership with women Our rebellion; is against patriarchy's lies... against lesbians sometimes being excluded even by gay men... against prostitution being offered to transvestite and transsexual women as their only option for living, against male hypocrisy that both pours money into homosexual prostitution and casts homosexuals outside humanity... Our rebellion; is against fascism nourished by militarism, strengthened by armies, military tutelage regimes and war policies... against those who see our sisters Zozan, Silva and Karin as enemies and deny their existence Our rebellion; is against leaving unhealed the wounds of Kurdish women whose identities are denied and whose language is banned, against those who cannot say long live the siblinghood of peoples... Our rebellion; is against our bodies being spoils of war across the world. Against every kind of assault and violence against women in wars leaving less of a mark than even a bombed ammunition depot Our rebellion; is against imperialist attacks and occupations continuing under the lie of liberating women. Against America, which has turned Iraq into hell, against the supposed enemies of America who silently await the execution on March 20 of three women resisters, Wassan, Zeynep and Liqa Our rebellion; is against proponents of sharia, against women being held in prisons in Iran for struggling against male-dominated sharia and discriminatory laws... Our rebellion; is against our textile-worker sisters being burned alive in Bursa... Against women drowning in Ceylanpınar while travelling atop a truck to do cheap subcontracted work... Against women workers at Novamed being fired for unionising... OUR Rebellion; Is against those who deny the history of our struggle, who try to make it forgotten; But we know we are strong together; rebelling together, we will be stronger! LONG LIVE MARCH 8 LONG LIVE OUR STRUGGLE LONG LIVE MARCH 8 WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM FEMINISTS WOMEN EXIST TO STAY SILENT, TO SIT STILL ALWAYS TO SUBMIT TO WATCH LIFE PASS US BY WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTED UNTIL NOW WOMEN EXIST WOMEN EXIST WOMEN ARE EVERYWHERE WE WERE SILENT AND WE WAITED LIFE WENT ON AND WE WATCHED AT LAST WE SAID ENOUGH WE WILL NEVER BE SILENT AGAIN WOMEN EXIST WOMEN EXIST WOMEN ARE EVERYWHERE