he fifth World Social Forum (WSF) is taking place in Porto Alegre, Brazil. For the fifth time, trade unions NGOs, and other social movement actors discuss their future together in a world confronted by wars, natural disasters, social injustice and discrimination. Women's rights and feminism are presented at the WSF in a number of events, demonstrations, panel discussions and debates. Are these events enough or do we need to take more action in future ?
Women's rights
Let's take a closer look : from 570 events that happened on the first day of the Forum, only 25 are related directly to women's rights. This makes up about 4 percent of all the events. The topics that were covered on this day were mainly on : sexuality issues, violence against women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual struggles. Very few events dealt with problems related to education of young women, the impact of war on women, solidarity-based economy, trade injustices and the new challenges of globalisation.
The above activities cannot compare with the number of events on US foreign policy, labour issues, democratisation and development, communication rights and freedom of expressions. Of course, we must talk about all of these issues ! But is this the right balance ?
Feminist inclusion in the Forum panels
Women represent 60 percent of the population, and along with children, they are also the most vulnerable. Then, why are there so few events on social issues that impact on women ? Where lies the priority ?
Mercy Siame, an active Forum participants offers a solution : "We need to ensure the inclusion of women and feminist issues in all the panels of the Forum, and not just speak about this separately." The Feminist Dialogues have become the main opportunity to discuss women's issues .The "Diversity boat" or "El Barco" of Articulacion Feminista Marcosur is another option - it is a space to discuss different ideas, and one that reflects the diversity of issues and strategies in the fight against fundamentalism. Participants in the World March of Women have also shown creativity in carrying out their campaigns--music, dance, and colorful costumes are used to promote change in the minds of people. But we should not stop here. Women need to unite, strategise, and network so that in the next Social Forum, we will have a better representation !
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