International Solidarity in the Feminist Movement Explore the history of international solidarity in Canada’s feminist movement through this collection of materials from our archive. The timeline highlights just some of the many events, organizations, and issues pertaining to anti-war, anti-imperial, and internationalist organizing within overlapping movement spaces from the 1960s to 1990s. 1962Voice of Women International Women’s ConferenceVoice of Women (VOW) hosts an International Women’s Conference in Canada to discuss the threat of nuclear war. The conference is the first meeting in Canada attended by women from the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. Click the title to learn more about VOW’s efforts to promote international peace throughout the 1960s and 70s. 1971Indochinese Women’s ConferencesIndochinese Women’s Conferences are held in April in Vancouver and Toronto to resist US imperialism and the Vietnam War. Hundreds of women from liberation groups in North America–including over 300 Third World delegates from Black, Chicano, Asian, and Native groups–meet with Indochinese delegates to strategize and build alliances. Click the title to listen to Carolyn Egan, Nancy Reynolds, and Maureen Hynes reflect on organizing the Toronto conference.1972Comisiones de Mujeres TourRepresentatives from the Comisiones de Mujeres go on a Canada-wide tour to discuss the role of women in the Spanish resistance. The representatives launch their tour in Toronto. Click the title to view the poster.1973India Mahila AssociationWomen from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Europe, and East Africa gather in Vancouver, eventually forming the India Mahila Association. The association is created to facilitate emotional support and skills and information sharing among Indian women in Canada around issues such as women’s rights, farmworkers’ rights, racism, and familial violence. Click the title to learn more about the association.1974Women Working with Immigrant WomenFrontline workers form the Women Working with Immigrant Women (WWIW) network in Toronto.The network includes groups such as the Rexdale Women’s Centre, Working Women Community Centre, Immigrant Women’s Health Centre, and the Coalition of Visible Minority Women. WWIW begins building alliances and solidarity among women of colour and migrant women, and between these communities and mainstream organizations. Click the title to learn more about the organization.1978International Women’s Day CommitteeWomen from the Revolutionary Workers’ Action League begin organizing the first International Women’s Day in Toronto. The International Women’s Day Committee (IWDC) is formed. The IWDC puts out a yearly call for the March 8 Coalition, a broad-based group in charge of organizing the annual march and rally. For the first IWD in 1978, protestors march in solidarity with the immigrant women garment workers on strike at Puretex, and Jamaican mothers under threat of deportation by the Canadian government. Click the title to learn more about the IWDC.1978Wages for Housework CampaignSelma James, co-founder of the International Wages for Housework Campaign, speaks at a panel in Toronto. The campaign was co-founded in 1972 by Selma James, Mariarosa Dalla Costa, Silvia Federici, and Brigitte Galtier, and was organized around the principle that women should be paid for performing the socially necessary labour of housework and childcare. The Toronto Wages for Housework Committee, established in 1975, became one of the largest and most active in Canada. Click the title to browse our materials on the campaign.1981INTERCEDE National CampaignThe International Coalition to End Domestics’ Exploitation (INTERCEDE) launches a national campaign to gain permanent status for migrant domestic workers. Migrant workers from the Caribbean, UK, and Philippines rally around the slogan, “Good enough to work, good enough to stay,” resulting in historic changes to the federal program. Click the title to listen to Martha Ocampo, Cenen Bagon, Anita Fortuno, and Genie Policarpio reflect on the campaign and the importance of Toronto-Vancouver networks. 1983Solidarity with Women in ArmaghCanadian women march in solidarity with Irish republican women in Armagh on International Women’s Day. Marchers advocate for status for Irish political prisoners and justice for women in Armagh who participated in the 1980 “No Wash” protest and hunger strike. Click the title to view a photo of the march.1984Conference in Solidarity with Women in South Africa and Namibia1984 is declared the ‘year of women’ by the African National Congress. In Toronto, feminist activists host a conference in solidarity with women in South Africa and Namibia. Participants send greetings to the SWAPO Women’s Council and declare their commitment to the struggle for a free and independent Namibia. Click the title to read the memo for the conference.198-Solidarity with Women in GrenadaOn International Women’s Day, women in Canada express solidarity with women in Grenada as they resist U.S. imperialism in the wake of the revolution. A pamphlet is distributed at IWD events outlining Grenada’s history and calling for material aid for victims of the October tragedy, referring to the U.S. invasion of Grenada. Click the title to read the pamphlet.197-Women in Solidarity with Central AmericaWomen in Solidarity with Central America (WISCA) is formed in Toronto. The organizers wish to strengthen the links between the women’s movement and solidarity movements by supporting women in Central America while building the anti-intervention movement in Toronto and the rest of Canada. Several actions and fundraisers are held in solidarity with women in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chile, and beyond. Click the title to read more about WISCA in an issue of the International Women’s Day Committee newsletter. 1985Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid CommitteeLGBTQ+ activists in Toronto form the Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee (SNAAC), named after an anti-apartheid, gay rights, and AIDS activist in South Africa. The committee aims to mobilize the LGBTQ+ community against apartheid, and the anti-apartheid movement around LGBTQ+ issues. Click the title to read more about SNAAC.1985International Peace Conference in Halifax350 women from 33 countries meet in Halifax for an international peace conference. Delegates from Iceland, Nicaragua, Kenya, the Philippines, East Germany and many other countries strategize around the urgent need for peace. The conference coincides with the 25th anniversary of Voice of Women, a Canadian peace coalition. Click the title to read more about the conference in an issue of Broadside.1986IWD ’86 — Fighting Racism from Toronto to South AfricaThe theme for International Women’s Day 1986 is ‘Fighting Racism from Toronto to South Africa.’ The theme is chosen by white feminist organizers in the March 8 Coalition, and women of colour are invited to join. In the aftermath of IWD, the Coalition puts out a statement explicitly naming and taking responsibility for the racism that pervaded the organizing process and the treatment of women of colour by white feminists. Three years later, the Black Women’s Collective pen an open letter to the March 8 Coalition calling for greater diversity and representation of women of colour in IWD organizing. Click the title to read the letter.1986Garment Workers Strike on SpadinaOne thousand Toronto garment workers–mostly immigrant women–launch strike action against 18 clothing factories up and down Spadina Avenue. Many of them belong to the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. After four days, the strike is won! Click the title to hear Winnie Ng and others reflect on their success at a Toronto Workers’ History Project panel.1987The Women’s KitThe Participatory Research Group in Toronto publishes a series of booklets as part of the Women’s Kit. A collaboration between Third World groups and activist-educators in Toronto, the Women’s Kit booklets feature material about women’s lives from Latin America, Africa, and England, and are intended for use by women in English as a Second Language classes, literacy groups, and other women’s groups. They are produced by the Participatory Research Group and the International Council for Adult Education. Click the title to access the booklets.1988Sisters in Struggle: Building a Global MovementAngela Y. Davis speaks at an event in Toronto called “Sisters in Struggle: Building a Global Movement.” The event is hosted by the Black Women’s Collective and features Angela Davis as the keynote speaker alongside panelists such as Winnie Ng, Carmencita Hernandez, and Eun-Sook Lee. Click the title to browse our archival materials on the Black Women’s Collective.1989Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation of the West Bank and GazaA collective of Jewish feminist activists in Toronto form the Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza (JWCEO). To paraphrase one of JWCEO flyers: “As a people with a centuries-old history of oppression, we cannot stand by and watch an illegal and violent occupation and destruction of another people in our name.” On International Women’s Day 1990, JWCEO marched with the Palestinian women’s contingent in a historic moment in Toronto’s feminist movement. Click the title to read more about JWCEO.1991IWD ’91 — Oka to the Gulf: Make the LinksThe theme for International Women’s Day in Toronto is ‘Oka to the Gulf: Make the Links’. The theme refers to the Gulf War of 1990-91 and the Kanehsatake Resistance in Oka, Quebec in 1990, in which the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke fought for their sovereignty. The theme highlights the role of the military in both and urges participants to connect militarism, colonialism, and imperialism within so-called Canada and internationally. Click the title to view a series of photographs taken at the Oka Peace Camp, established in solidarity with the Mohawk land defenders.1995First Latin American Women’s EncounterThe First Latin American Women’s Encounter is held in Toronto. 650 women and 150 children gather from across the province to discuss issues pertaining to the lives of Latin American and Caribbean women in Canada and abroad, including childcare, pay equity, gender-based violence, LGBTQ+ issues, immigration, anti-racism, and more. The Encuentro is organized by Latin American Coalition to End Violence Against Women and Children (LACEV), and part of a series of Encuentros that began in 1981 to build transnational networks around women of colour feminism. Click the title to learn more about LACEV. These are just some examples of key efforts that characterized international solidarity politics in the women’s movement in Canada throughout the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. For a higher level analysis, check out our Women Unite! interview with Cynthia Wright, who joined the International Women’s Day Committee as a young woman in the early 1980s, here. Cynthia expands on the relationship between solidarity politics and debates about racism–including racism in the feminist movement–as well as nationalism, colonialism and imperialism. For more on this subject, listen to Judy Vashti Persad and Carolyn Egan–longtime IWD organizers and members of Women Working with Immigrant Women–discuss their experiences of building an anti-racist women’s movement in the 80s and 90s, here [add item to site].
