BY ANTHEA STUTTER & KAMALA EMANUEL
HOBART — A lively evening rally and march was held on the Salamanca Lawns on October 13 as part of the World March of Women 2000. Combining with the annual Reclaim the Night march, the action was initiated to oppose poverty and violence against women.
Around 150 people heard speakers before marching to the Elizabeth Street mall and Franklin Square. Organisers had planned to hold a speak-out in the mall but were denied permission by the council.
Cardboard figures of women from around the world formed a display profiling women's opposition to poverty and violence. A large contingent of Sudanese women participated in the rally.
Lis de Vries from the Tasmanian Council of Social Service said that women make up the majority of those living under the poverty line and suffer disproportionately when social security benefits are cut.
Anthea Stutter, a member of the World March for Women collective and Resistance, spoke about the impact of sexist media images on women. She said such images were partly responsible for a recent finding, reported in the Hobart Mercury, that 40% of men and 12% of women aged from their teens to their mid-twenties believe that it is all right for a man to rape a woman if he believes that she has led him on.
Kamala Emanuel, a member of the rally organising collective and the Democratic Socialist Party, spoke about the worldwide movement against neo-liberal globalisation, pointing out that women make up 70% of the poorest in the world and emphasising the importance of the women's liberation movement linking up with the rising anti-globalisation movement.
A client of the Sexual Assault Support Service bravely described her treatment by the police and legal system. She said that, because her rapist was someone she knew, she had not been believed and was made to feel that she was the one who had committed the crime.
Rally participants demanded the abolition of the GST, safety for sex workers and reproductive rights.
World March for Women actions were held in 157 countries, in support of the march in New York on October 17, which presented to the United Nations millions of postcards demanding action to end poverty and violence against women.