Accent of Women

Climate change poses an extreme threat to natural environments and people around the world. The world needs a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to prevent dangerous climate change. However this is just half the story of climate justice. The other half is about creating a just future and centering stories of communities and Indigenous peoples. One organisation that does that is Sapna South Asian Climate Solidarity, an Australian-based climate justice collective. Ruchira Talukdar is one of Sapna’s Co-founders and she gave a keynote address at the ecosocialism conference hosted by Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance on the weekend of 1 & 2 of July.

We have been sharing with you the monthly meetings hosted by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine, which, every month focuses on a different region of the world, to discuss what solidarity activists are doing to support Ukraine in its resistance to Russian aggression and the current war.The June meeting, held on 22 June, focused on solidarity from Middle Eastern countries, and the two feature pieces I will bring you today come from Iran.  We’ll hear from two Iranian socialist feminists, Fatemeh Masjedi and Frieda Afary.

Every month the Global Network in Solidarity with Ukraine meets to exchange information about the activities of left-wing solidarity groups, and create a space to discuss what progressive solidarity with Ukraine looks like in different regions of the world.  In May, they hosted a discussion focusing on the Asia Pacific Region, and on today’s Accent of Women, I will bring you two of the presentations at this meeting.

On today’s program we will hear from Jeonom kim from the People's solidarity for social progress in South Korea and Arora from New Bloom and Taiwan Stands With Ukraine.

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had begun in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides, and instigated Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.The war has divided Leftists – there’s no real, united movement against the war. Most of us are calling for a peace of sorts. But some of us are calling for a ceasefire, while others of us are calling for the right of Ukrainians to defend themselves with arms – nuclear if necessary. Others still say that this is a NATO and US proxy war against Russia, and Russia has a right to defend itself against the encroachment of NATO.Today’s program will bring you one thread of these arguments about the war in Russia Ukraine. An organisation, Ukraine Solidarity Network, organised a public panel meeting on the 1 year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. The panel was facilitated by Ramah Kudaimi, who introduces the whole panel and the format of the discussion. However, on today’s program, I only broadcasting the voices of women.

The Move Forward party unexpectedly won the Thailand general election on Sunday 14 May, and seems likely to form the first non-military backed government since the 2014 coup. Move Forward will form government with another opposition party, Pheu Thai, which is led by a member of the Shinawatra family and had been the predicted winner. Move Forward are widely seen as the most progressive party in this election as they have been willing to engage with unions and even place union leaders high on their ticket. There is still a long road ahead for the Move Forward party to form government, and the balance of forces may not necessarily mean that they will be able to reform some of the most repressive laws in that country, namely, the Lese Majeste Law. There’s also the ever looming threat of yet another military coup.On today’s program, I speak with Thai activist, Junya Lek Yimprasert, who still remains in exile in Finland, but, possibly, things might be looking up for Lek.

Today’s Accent of Women is a repeat of a program that I produced in 2019 to mark the 10 year anniversary of the Tamil Genocide which is the 18 May.May 18 is the anniversary of the Tamil genocide and the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This year, 2019, marks 10 years. On today’s program, we look at the situation for Tamils in Sri Lanka.On today's program, Nilanthi Kanapathipillai, a Tamil activist based here in Melbourne Victoria. and Shivani Jegarajah, human rights activist and barrister in Sri Lanka.

Today on Accent of Women, I am in conversation with Madelaine Imber and Tandiwe Aebi-Moyo about Butch and Butch Identity. Butch is not a dirty word is a publication, originating in Melbourne, Australia, and the brain child of Butch activist, Esther Godoy.

It’s been 12 years since the Arab Spring erupted in North Africa and spread to West Asia – and the current state of the Middle East could have you thinking that no such mass uprising took place, that was on the cusp of anti-capitalist revolution. Though many have engaged in deep analysis of how the Arab Spring was betrayed, how the United States and CIA intervened to hijack the revolution and so on, on today’s program I want to broadcast a speech of one of my favourite writers and activists, Nawal El Sadawi who died in March 2021.On today’s program,I will broadcast a speech by Nawal El Saadawi, delievered in Germany almost 10 years ago today, two years after the start of the Egyptian uprisings and the overthrow of Hosni Mobarak. This speech is about feminism and the intersections of economics, poverty and revolution.

On 24 April 2013 the eight-story Rana Plaza building in Dhaka Bangladesh collapsed. The owners of a number of garment factories in the building had ignored the most basic safety regulations, and forced workers to keep working when it was clear the walls were cracking. In Bangladesh, workers are paid monthly, at the end of the month. The collapse happened on the 24th, and workers were threatened with non payment of wages, if they didn’t enter the clearly unstable building. The confirmed death toll was 1,130. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued. Rana Plaza shows how little the fashion brands care about the lives of the workers that produce the clothes that make them insane profits.  My guests today are Rupali Akter and Taslima Akter. Rupali is a survivor of the Rana Plazar collapse. She was in the building on the day, and she was buried under the rubble for 17 hours before being rescued. Taslima Akter is a photo journalist and activist. She was onsite in the immediate aftermath, documenting and bearing witness to the horror. Taslima is the Secretary and Rupali is the President of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity. Taslima is interpreting for Rupali in this interview

In Cambodia, 11 union leaders and activists are on trial for organising a strike at NagaWorld – one of the countries largest corporations that owns gaming venues, restaurants, hotels and casinos. Teh charges are incitement to commit a felony.The case is the latest against the NagaWorld union members and part of a larger crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party on unions ahead of a general election slated for July 23.My guest today is Taphalin Ou, the President of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation in Cambodia.