GWS co-ordinator Selma James says:

As part of the International Women’s Strike, we are taking a stand against the hostile environment, the destruction of life, the threat to our planet caused by corporate greed, wars, arms sales … We invite all women, children and non-binary people to join us, and bring their case in defence of our kids, our relationships, our communities, our planet … We are all under attack.

WE ARE FORthe financial recognition of unwaged/low waged caring work in the family and outside

WE ARE AGAINST: the hostile environment, the forced separation of children from their families, poverty, unequal pay, sexism, racism, Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination, rape and domestic violence, exploitation, detention and deportation, climate change …

WHY THE HIGH COURT?

  • Many injustices are fought out there – destitution, detention, deportation, benefit cuts, zero-hours contracts, criminalisation, pollution, the state taking children from mothers…
  • Since the 1970s, Wages for Housework (WFH) which co-ordinates the Global Women’s Strike has defended mums threatened with losing their kids because they were poor, fleeing domestic violence, lesbian, sex workers.
  • Children from poor areas are now 10 times more likely to be taken; thousands are forcibly adopted each year. Mothers who are single, of colour, immigrant, disabled, victims of domestic violence are targeted.
  • Benefit cuts and sanctions (including Universal Credit), and starvation wages hit women and children hardest – 5m children live in poverty; single mother families are 85% of those affected by the benefit cap; women have shouldered 87% of austerity cuts.  Our efforts for survival are often criminalised.
  • Calling poverty ‘neglect’ is one excuse to steal children from their families – love, caring work, even breastfeeding, are dismissed. Families are denied their legal right to resources but millions are spent on placing children with strangers.
  • For two years Support not Separation (SnS) has picketed the family court. They will join the protest to demand a living wage for mothers and other carers.

THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S STRIKE

  • The first Global Women’s Strike (coordinated by the Wages for Housework Campaign – WFH) was called for 8 March 2000, inspired by the 1975 Icelandwomen’s Day Off and a strike call by women in Ireland ● In 2016 women in Poland stopped work against anti-abortion laws ● In 2017 they joined with the movement against femicide in Argentina, and coordinated an international strike with women in 50+ countries ● In 2018, 6m women in Spain went on strike ● The strikes highlighted unwaged caring work, unequal pay, rape and domestic violence, exploitation, climate change …

Global Women’s Strike  gws@globalwomenstrike.net  020 7482 2496

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By GWS

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