Sunday, January 26, 2014

USA - STAND UP AGAINST the March for "Life" and FOR Abortion on Demand & Without Apology!


Wed.—Jan. 22—Supreme Court, Washington, DC
Sat.—Jan. 25—San Francisco

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January 2014—the beginning of a new year and an escalating SHOWDOWN over the lives and future of women.
On Wednesday, January 22, 2014 in Washington, DC, the anti-abortion movement will stage their annual March for "Life" on the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.* In DC, tens of thousands will stream past the Supreme Court in a frenzy of anti-abortion lies, religious backwardness & anti-science ignorance. On Saturday, January 25 in San Francisco, the anti's stage their Walk for "Life." In both SF and DC, they will fill the streets with their dehumanizing portrayals of women as murderers, and all the messages of shame and condemnation that typifies this front of the war on women. They are puffed up over their vicious progress in dismantling women's reproductive rights.
Taking the demand "Abortion on Demand and Without Apology" into the midst of anti-abortion, anti-women forces, Washington DC, January 2013. Photo: Li Onesto/Revolution
All this at a time when women are being slammed back in every realm: from the mainstreaming of violent and degrading pornography to a global epidemic of rape, from a culture that celebrates pimping to the shaming of women who choose to have sex, and from the sexual enslavement of millions of women and girls in the sex industry to the widespread celebration of Pope Francis while he has changed nothing of church doctrine that enslaves and humiliates women and LGBT people.
This must be opposed!
Fetuses are NOT babies. Women are NOT incubators.
Abortion is NOT murder.
Take a stand. On Wednesday, January 22, noon at the Supreme Court in DC, and on Saturday, January 25, 1:00 pm in San Francisco—against what truthfully should be called the "March for Forced Motherhood & Female Enslavement." Stand up for Abortion on Demand & Without Apology! Stand up for the full liberation of women! Bring truth, your joyful defiance, your creativity & morality for the liberation of women.
There are only two sides in the battle over abortion: Do you think woman are full human beings who must be able to decide for themselves when or whether to have a child OR do you think women should be reduced to breeders?
Reproductive rights are in a state of emergency. 2013 was another record year of assault on abortion and birth control:
  • In 2013 alone, 22 states passed 70 new restrictions including late abortion bans which defy Supreme Court precedent, unwarranted doctor and clinic regulations, limits on medication abortion, and bans on insurance coverage.
  • FIVE states have only ONE abortion clinic and in 2013 more clinics were forced to shut down abortion services including almost one-third of clinics in Texas alone. 97% of rural counties have no abortion provider.
  • A homegrown American Christian fascist movement of anti-abortion fanatics continues to threaten and harass doctors and patients outside clinics across the country.
But 2013 was also a year of important new resistance against this assault and the war on women from the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, to the ten of thousands in the streets in Texas, to the significant defeat of a so-called "fetal pain" abortion ban in Albuquerque. This must be multiplied a million-fold. We must rely on ourselves—not the politicians. In our lives and in the streets. In independent mass political resistance.
Where do YOU stand? Make it clear on January 22nd in Washington, DC and January 25th in San Francisco.
"Women are not objects. Women are not things to be used for the sexual pleasure of men NOR are they breeders of children. WOMEN ARE HUMAN BEINGS CAPABLE OF FULL EQUALITY IN EVERY REALM!"
—From the Call to End Pornography & Patriarchy: The Enslavement and Degradation of Women!
For more information and to get involved in planning: contact StopPatriarchy@gmail.com or StopPatriarchyBayArea@gmail.com

Report and Press Release of protest staged in Calcutta against Fastrack advertisement showing woman on sale

January 26, 2014
By Krantikari Naujawan Sabha
“Fastrack has always stood for being a fun, quirky and youthful brand. Our intention was never to project women in any demeaning manner whatsoever or objectify them, Fastrack has the highest respect and regard for women. We acknowledge that the current campaign has hurt the sentiments of some sections of the society. In light of this, Fastrack has withdrawn this campaign with immediate effect and have proactively replaced it with another advertisement”
Rajeswari Srinivasau (Regional Bussiness Head)
The authorities at ‘Fastrack’ a (TITAN) brand name belonging to the TATA group of companies were finally forced to backtrack on the highly offensive advertisement released by them showing a woman wrapped in a tape bearing ‘SALE’. The company has not only declared that it will withdraw the ad from all over the country within Monday (27th January), but has also given a public apology for issuing such an advertisement. The many words professing ‘respect’ for women in the apology notwithstanding, it is clear that neither Fastrack, nor any other big companies of its kind has ever had any reservations about the use and abuse of the image of women’s bodies for shooting up their profits. Clearly, the apology, and the withdrawal of the ad is no evidence of the company’s gender sensitivity but only that of the pressure brought upon it by the active sections of the public. While the ad had already been withdrawn from Delhi metro by concerned authorities after a protest staged by some journalists in the capital, the loud slogans, banners and posters brought by protesters from Krantikari Naujawan Sabha and the public burning of a copy of the advertisement in front of the company’s main showroom in Calcutta finally forced the company to put this in effect all across the country.
This particular advertisement by ‘Fastrack’ is however, little more than a drop in the ocean of advertisements, films and pornographic material using sexualised images of women’s body. In substituting the commodity up for sale by the body of a woman, it on one hand exploits the aggressiveness of male desire prevalent in our society, while on the other hand, propagates a perception of women as passive objects for sale and consumption both of which are amongst the primary impulses that are responsible for the astounding rise of sexual violence in society today. Innumerable brands, from Quality Walls to Reebok to the most notorious ones in this respect like AXE deodorants, all sail in the same boat.
We feel that the removal of this particular ad is a small success, which can only be useful if it can translate our anger against the incidents of sexual violence to an imagination of fighting against the causes of it, if we can imagine that the capitalist-patriarchal system can be really thrown out by our collective effort.
24th January, 2014
KRANTIKARI NAUJAWAN SABHA
___________________________________________________
Press release by KNS for the protest demonstration:
Demanding an apology and the immediate removal of the ‘Fastrack’ advertisement, with woman tagged for ‘SALE’…
At the time, when we all are both disturbed and angry by the consecutive incidents of rape in Kamduni, Madhyamgram, Khidirpur and lastly Lavpur of Birbhum, we, on behalf of KRANTIKARI NAUJAWAN SABHA, an independent revolutionary youth organization, are protesting against the recent advertisement of ‘FLAT 20% OFF’, posed by FASTRACK (a TATA brand), the famous dealer of watches, bags and sunglasses. This advertisement by ‘Fastrack’ depicts a woman, wrapped with a ‘SALE’ tag. The imagery very strongly suggests that the girl in the picture is on sale as it features little apart from her body.
We feel that in today’s times, when rapes are frequent in the city and voices of protest have been raised from all corners of society, such misogynist advertisements, depicting women as commodities to satisfy the greed of profit, must be protested against. We will protest and burn a copy of the advertisement in front of the Fastrack showroom at Park Street on 24th January, 2pm. We demand that Fastrack must apologize and remove the advertisement without delay. We would have to take further steps nationwide if this advertisement is not removed immediately.
If we watch the advertisement closely, we will see that the model in the picture is neither having sunglass, watch or bag (things ‘Fastrack’ is selling), she is here used only as a ‘sex-object’. In this context, we must specify that our problem with the advertisement is NOT with the ‘nudity’. Our problem is with the ‘SALE’ tag on the woman’s body, depicting it as a commodity for sale. We strongly uphold the right of a woman to wear whatever dress she likes, and condemn the opinion that goes around- “rapes occur due to woman wearing ‘short’ dresses”.
We feel that the patriarchal ‘rape culture’ in our society is propagated as much through these types of ‘modern’ advertisements as through ‘old’ institutions like ‘Khap Panchayats’ or the ‘Salishi Sabha’ of interior areas of Birbhum. We have heard that DELHI METRO AUTHORITY has agreed to remove the ‘Fastrack’ advertisement in the recent past after protests in Delhi. We demand that the West Bengal state government, State Police along with the State Women’s Commission must take necessary steps to remove this objectionable advertisement immediately. We also demand that immediate steps be taken against the using of women’s bodies in advertisements as sexual objects, a phenomenon which stares at us from every other hoarding on the streets. We also appeal to the public to recognize and discourage such abuse of women’s bodies and their sexual identity for profit making.
Moumita Das (9748868697, kns.youth@gmail.com),
on behalf of
KRANTIKARI NAUJAWAN SABHA
Dated: the 24th January, 2014

- See more at: http://sanhati.com/articles/9006/#sthash.5zelrmMz.dpuf

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