In a world smouldering with hotspots, women’s rights are often at the forefront. In Nigeria, the case of Amina Lawal, 31, sentenced to death in March 2002 by an Islamic court for the “crime” of having sex outside marriage, has ignited national and international outrage. She was sentenced to die by stoning in January 2004,… Read more »
Radical Women
Gaylene Seadon – Farewell to a gutsy feminist fighter
On 31 May, Gaylene Seadon’s long fight with breast cancer came to a close. Gaylene, who was mother to Matthew and Katie, was 49 years old. She fought cancer in the same way she struggled against bosses, sell-out bureaucrats and patriarchs — with tenacity! Until ill health slowed her down, I knew I’d find myself… Read more »
Nelson and Costello’s plans for Higher Education: bad for all, worse for women
The outcome of the recent review by Federal Minister for Education Dr Brendan Nelson, Higher Education at the Crossroads, is a 10-year plan for tertiary education which will complete the reintroduction of tuition fees and transform universities from institutions of learning into corporations managing the bottom line. Nelson and Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, both received… Read more »
Bosses alarmed by working women’s “fertility strike!” Finish the fight for reproductive rights now!
I’ve been a working mum for 25 years. Having raised two daughters as a sole parent, I know all about navigating the minefield for women, commonly referred to as “choices.” Whenever I hear today’s media discussion about maternity leave and welfare reform, the alarm bells go off. Big Business wants us home — at taxpayers’… Read more »
Crush incipient fascism whatever its guise: Build the campaign to shut down the patriarchal Blackshirts!
I remember the morning I opened up the newspaper to find a huge spread on a Christian fundamentalist “men’s rights” group calling itself the Blackshirts. I felt sick. A couple of nights earlier, a Radical Women meeting featured a talk on the Citizens Electoral Council, adherents of American fascist Lyndon LaRouche (See “LaRouche: Fascism Restyled… Read more »
Ngarrindjeri women vindicated! Make the developers pay compensation now!
On September 20, 2002 the Ngarrindjeri Nation of South Australia finally got some justice. National media reported the discovery of the 200-year-old bones of a woman and her baby daughter at Goolwa, outside Adelaide. Eighteen months earlier, the Hindmarsh Island Bridge had been opened with much fanfare, linking Goolwa to Kumarangk (traditional name for Hindmarsh… Read more »
Victorian State election November 30, 2002 – A Radical Woman hits the Socialist Alliance Campaign Trail in Lara
When I was first approached to seek preselection as a Socialist Alliance (SA) candidate for the Victorian State elections I was filled with trepidation. How was I going to cope with being thrown into the spotlight? But then I remembered that I am a member of Radical Women and could not allow silly fears to… Read more »
Goodbye Delia: Huge crowd pays tribute at memorial meeting
On a hot summer’s evening, family, friends and comrades gathered at the home of Delia Maxwell, who had died from breast cancer, to pay tribute to a remarkable woman. It was December 21, and this would have been her 70th birthday. As a member of Radical Women, Delia had turned her house, with her lovingly… Read more »
Fully paid maternity leave now! Women must not fund motherhood
Australia and the United States are the only two wealthy countries which do not provide a national paid maternity leave scheme. Compare this to Haiti and Jamaica, where women not only have this right, but employers pay for it! The lack of paid leave means that for two-thirds of working women, the “choice” is simple:… Read more »
Refugee Women: Desperate but Defiant!
Five hundred and eighty-two refugee children, some of them alone, some of them orphaned, are incarcerated in concentration camps. Their only offence is to seek a new life, free from war, or State persecution, or poverty. Some have been tortured by their guards, others sexually abused. All are desperately traumatised by their disgraceful treatment. And… Read more »
