on May Day: Women of Color Making Connections Between Immigration and Rape Culture

Since it is May Day, one day of many to celebrate the contributions and demand the rights of immigrant workers, it seems appropriate to share a historical precendent through which Women of Color in London organized at the intersections of immigration policy and sexual violence.

In November 1982 a broad coalition of organizations came together to put together a one day event (sound familiar yet?). The coalition included English Collective of Prostitutes, Housewives in Dialogue, Women Against Rape, Wages Due Lesbians and others who had collaborated to takeover a community center in their region (Camden). Only a few days after their first big event "Bringing it All Back Home:Black and Immigrant Women Speak out and Claim Our Rights", the conference attendees supported the English Collective of Prostitutes as they occupied a local church to claim sanctuary from the constant police harassment and brutality they were experiencing. If you can't tell...I am inspired and thrilled by the bravery of these women (mostly women of color, mostly with threatened immigration status) who not only demanded fair wages for the "private" labor of nurturing, but who also repeatedly took over public spaces and spoke out against sexual violence.

Anyway..at this particular conference Women Against Rape released a statement entitled "Racism is Rapism" which explicitly calls out the way in which sexual assault impacts the most vulnerable among us through the same mechanisms as racism, classism and xenophobia:
"On arriving in another country, we have found ourselves threatened again by the tacism which stems directly from one government after another saying 'you are not welcome, don't expect any rights!' Such policis set us up as easy targets and legitimise every kind of racist attack against us, whether from immigration officers, the police, the courts, employers or individual men."

They also protest the absurdity of immigration laws that make residency contingent on staying with a husband and explain the complexity on going to the violent state to mitigate intra-community violence.

"We have been afraid to go to the police for help, particularly when attacks have comefrom within our own community, since we have seen how a woman's cry forhelp has been usedas an excuse to rampage in our community, particularly if we are black."

and
"We have seen how sexism combines with and reinforces racism....
As women we have all experienced, if not rape itself, then the threat or fear of rape. We know how rape has been used to limit our movement and our lives. We refuse to be locked into our homes or into our countries. A WOMAN'S PLACE IS EVERYWHERE!"

Just another example of the history we move in...
love,
lex
p.s. hey Emily...wanna post that info you were sharing about responses to sexual violence in the civil rights movement?