Accent of Women
285 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratingsA program by and about women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Distributed nationally on the Community Radio Network.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Bangladesh garment industry wage claim
April 29, 2024 22:30 - 25.6 MBIt’s 11 years since the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed some 5 garment factories. More than 1100 workers died on 24 April 2013 but this was no accident. Workers and in fact, just about every body, knew that the building was unstable. It was built on a pond, without the correct construction permits, extra floors were added to the building illegally, and the heavy equipment associated with the garment industry all meant that the building couldn’t hold the wei...
End weapons manufacturing in Australia!
April 22, 2024 22:30 - 25.6 MBOn this week’s show, we return take a closer look at a number of campaigns that have emerged in Australia in the wake of the genocide in Gaza. Specifically, anti-weapons manufacturing campaigns and demilitarisation campaigns.My guests today are Palestinian/Syrian woman Nathalie Farrah from Disrupt Wars and the Get Elbit Industries out of Australia campaign. And Palestinian activist, Dana Alshaer from Melbourne University Students for Palestine Action Group.
Papua Merdeka!
April 15, 2024 22:30 - 25.6 MBA recent military escalation in West Papua is the latest episode in a long history of repression and dispossession since the island came under Indonesian control. But the authorities in Jakarta still haven’t been able to stabilize their rule over West Papua.On today’s show, Accent of Women looks at the Resistance of the West Papuan people. 3CR’s Priya Kunjan spoke with leading Human Rights Activist in Indonesia, Vanessa Koman.
Book Launch: An Unexpected Life
April 08, 2024 22:30 - 25.8 MBOn this week’s show, we’re gonna chat about an exciting new book that’s being released in a couple of weeks’ time, called, “An Unexpected Life”, it documents the stories of 11 Canberra based women who are migrants to Australia, their journeys to this country, their successes and failures and loves and regrets. And interwoven across these 11 women’s stories, is that of the author herself,Vesna Cvjeticanin. I had the privilege and pleasure of chatting with Vesna about her book.
Refugees are Welcome Here
April 01, 2024 21:30 - 25.7 MBThe Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill proposes amendments to the Migration Act to deal with situations where non-citizens subject to removal are not cooperating with government authorities, or where their own government refuses to take them back. It is widely understood to be a response to the High Court’s ruling in November 2023 that found indefinite immigration detention to be unlawful.It’s also considered an attempt to pre-empt further litigation scheduled in the High C...
Gaze back on Gaza
March 25, 2024 21:30 - 25.6 MBOn this week’s show, we return our gaze to Gaza and the genocide of the Palestinian people there. It’s been almost 6 months since Israel launched its genocidal campaign of bombardment against the people of Gaza, ostensibly in response to Hamas’ attack on Nir Oz Kibbutz on the 7 October. The war has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, with some 1.2 million people now displaced in Rafah, with no where to go. All negotiations for a ceasefire have failed.First up, Rasha Abbas, the founder of Palesti...
Aboriginal Grandmothers Against Removals
March 18, 2024 21:30 - 25.6 MB23,000 Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander children in out of home care.Grandmothers Against Removals is an organisation – actually started by Lidia Thorpe – that aims to end the removal of Aboriginal children, or at the very least, place them with family members.GMAR Victoria was established in recognition of the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home-care. They’re all volunteers. They’re all Aboriginal grandmothers. GMAR’s volunteers understand first hand ...
The Myanmar Resistance
March 11, 2024 21:30 - 25.6 MBOn this week’s show, our last piece of coverage from the ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) meeting in Melbourne on 4, 5 & 6 of March, and today we continue our focus on Myanmar.Since the violent military coup on February 1, 2021, the people of Myanmar have staunchly rejected military rule, demonstrating resilience through the widespread Civil Disobedience Movement. Over the past three years, the country has continued to reject military governance and has mobilised an effect...
Myanmar People's Summit
March 04, 2024 21:30 - 25.6 MBSince the violent military coup on February 1, 2021, the people of Myanmar have staunchly rejected military rule, demonstrating resilience through the widespread Civil Disobedience Movement. Over the past three years, the country has continued to reject military governance and has mobilised an effective alternative - the civilian government, known as the National Unity Government (NUG), which continues to consolidate its rightful claim to leadership.In opposition to, and alongside the ASEAN ...
Protest Marcos! Protest ASEAN!
February 26, 2024 21:30 - 25.6 MBThe Albanese Government has invited Ferdinand Bong Bong Marcos Junior to address the Australian Parliament on Thursday the 29th February. Bong Bong Marcos Junior is the son of former brutal dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Snr, who was deposed in 1986. The apple does not fall far from the tree, and Marcos Junior is shaping up to be quite the dictator himself. Marcos’ visit coincides with the ASEAN summit, scheduled to take place in Melbourne on the 4, 5 & 6 of March.Progressive Filipinos in Austral...
Rafah's Bombardment
February 12, 2024 21:30 - 25.6 MBIt’s been 130 days of war and genocide in Palestine. The world watches on and there is no ceasefire in sight. Israel continues to play the victim. Netanyahu is now promising to bombard Rafah – where they have sent over 1.5 million Palestinians to escape from bombardments in the north.Ahmad Tibi, a Knesset member, and Palestinian citizen of Israel, is urging the international community to “stop this war”. He has said that anyone who intends to invade Rafah intends to commit a war crime’ At lea...
Invasion Day Solidarity
January 29, 2024 21:30 - 25.6 MBJanuary 26. Australia Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip, the invasion of Australia and the start of genocide against the original owners of this land. January 26 is a day of mourning and a day of struggle, marked by big, loud, powerful Invasion Day rallies right across the country. In Melbourne, over 100,000 people marched...
More than a year on from Roe v Wade
December 18, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBIt’s been more than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court wiped out half a century of federally protected abortion rights. Since then, the speed and breadth of far-right attacks on reproductive justice has been breathtaking. So has the resistance on the ground.Nga Bui, coordinator of the Mobilisation for Reproductive Justice in New York City, joins me today to speak about the war on women, trans folks and queers, people of colour, Indigenous, disabled, working class and poor. If you’re based in...
Stand with Palestine
December 11, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBAs we enter the 10th week of bombardment in Gaza, and over 17,000 people there have now been slain. It becomes clearer and clearer that these atrocities have very little to do with avenging the 240 hostages taken, and it always was about pushing Palestinians out of the tiny Gaza strip and occupying it. Hamas is only active in Gaza, but the killings and repression are unabated in the West Bank.So today, we return to our coverage of the movement in support and solidarity with the Palestinians –...
Myanmar Resistance hits back
December 04, 2023 21:30 - 64.4 MBOne of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed alliances launched a coordinated attack, on 27 October, attacking a dozen military outposts in northern Shan State, along the country’s eastern border with China.Code-named Operation 1027, the plan is to assert and defend territory against Myanmar military incursions, eradicate “oppressive military dictatorship”, and combat online fraud along the border, according to a statement from its organisers, the Three Brotherhood Alliance.My guest today is t...
Justice for Bangladeshi Garment Workers
November 27, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBBangladeshi textiles works in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry have been taking industrial action for most of this year in pursuit of an increase in the minimum wage to meet soaring prices on basic commodities owing to an economic inflation crisis.These protests have been met with fierce repression, including reports of at least four workers having been killed by police, and more than 11,000 being charged with violence and vandalism.The secretary of Garment Workers Solidarity, and a garm...
Black Feminist Writers and Palestine
November 20, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBOn Sunday, October 22nd Black Women Radicals hosted the online event, “Black Feminist Writers and Palestine."This online event focused on the importance of the Black feminist literary and political canon and the mandate of Black feminist commitments to a free Palestine. Angela Davis is well known to many listeners and she is am activist and an academic at the University of California Santa Cruz.Beverley Guy Sheftall is also a political activist and academic, and she is based at Spellman Colle...
Palestine, G4S and the Prison Industrial Complex
November 13, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBAccent of Women broadcasts a speech by Angela Davis from 2013 – 10 years ago. This talk is called Justice for Palestine and the Stop G4S campaign. I broadcast this speech, at this point in time, to remind us all that this current bombardment did not start on October 7 and did not start with Hamas’ defensive attack on Israel. This speech was given in memorium of Nelson Mandela’s death only a few weeks earlier, and Angela Davis here draws the links between South African and Israeli Apartheid.
It's Genocide
November 06, 2023 21:30 - 25.8 MBIsrael’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza has intensified its yet again, though now it’s becoming less and less easy for world leaders to support it. The international movement for a Free Palestine is marching in its millions world wide and growing by the day. More than 10,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip, and residents of the West Bank are systematically being harrassed and assaulted and murdered by Israeli settlers. On today’s program, Accent of Women cont...
Palestine Will Be Free
October 30, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBIt’s now over three weeks that Israel has intensified its genocidal war against Gaza and the international movement for a Free Palestine is marching in its millions world wide. More than 7,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip, and residents of the West Bank are systematically being harrassed and assaulted by Israeli settlers. On today’s program, I bring you noises and speeches from various Free Palestine rallies held over the last three weeks in Melbourne. Th...
From the River to the Sea
October 23, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBThe siege on Gaza continues, and so too does Accent of Women’s campaign for a Free Palestine. More than 5,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip, , since Israel began its bombardment in response to Hamas’ defensive attack on 7 October, in which at least 1,400 people were killed and 222 taken hostage.Israel has also cut off electricity and most water and stopped imports of food and medicine, although it has allowed in a few aid carrying trucks through Egypt's Raf...
Free Free Palestine
October 16, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBIn the wake of Hamas’s attacks on 7 October, which involved atrocities against civilians, Israel has declared war on Gaza. The country’s military—one of the most powerful in the world—is attacking hospitals, schools, mosques, markets, infrastructure and residential areas. Civilians are being slaughtered and a total siege has been imposed, preventing vital supplies and aid from entering the besieged territory and worsening the already dire situation of residents. On the program today, we hear ...
State of the World’s Girls – a focus on activism
October 09, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBOctober 11 is International Day of the Girl and last week, Plan International released its annual report, State of the World’s Girls, which is research on girl’s rights. This year’s report looks at the experiences of girls and young women in activist – the barriers and significant challenges they face as campaigners.On Today’s show, I am joined by a panel of young women activists of colour who participated in Plan International’s report. They are:Yasmin Poole and she co-authored the report. Y...
Arundhati Roy
September 25, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBArundhati Roy accepted the 45th European Essay Award on September 12, 2023.In her acceptance speech, Arundhati Roy calls out the fascism of the Modi Government, and provides gruelling examples both corporate and communal. Arundhati Roy's conclusion though, is that "However grim the situation is, please know that there is a tremendous fight back".
Part 3 - Incarcerated Women and the California Fires
September 18, 2023 22:30 - 25.7 MBThis conversation between activist scholars Sarah Haley and Romarilyn Ralston takes as a point of departure the firefighting labor of people imprisoned in California’s women’s prisons. The discussion considers the specific contradictions of that forced labor and meanders to cover the carceral state’s relationship to disappearance, precarity, interiority, intimacy, possibility, performance, and violence.
Part 2 - Incarcerated Women and the California Fires
September 11, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBThis conversation between activist scholars Sarah Haley and Romarilyn Ralston takes as a point of departure the firefighting labor of people imprisoned in California’s women’s prisons. The discussion considers the specific contradictions of that forced labor and meanders to cover the carceral state’s relationship to disappearance, precarity, interiority, intimacy, possibility, performance, and violence.
Part 1 - Incarcerated Women and the California Fires
September 04, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBThis conversation between activist scholars Sarah Haley and Romarilyn Ralston takes as a point of departure the firefighting labor of people imprisoned in California’s women’s prisons. The discussion considers the specific contradictions of that forced labor and meanders to cover the carceral state’s relationship to disappearance, precarity, interiority, intimacy, possibility, performance, and violence.
Understanding the election results in Thailand
August 28, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBA joint session of Thailand’s parliament on Tuesday 22 August, selected the Pheu Thai Party candidate Srettha Thavisin to become the next prime minister—a decision that was endorsed by the King of Thailand. This comes after 3 months of deadlock, after the progressive and union-supported Move Forward Party was prevented from forming government. On the same day that Thavisin was elected Prime Minister, former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand after 15 years of self-imposed...
The Progressive No Vote
August 21, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBLidia Thorpe is a Djab Wurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman and Independent Senator.She is the former Greens’ First Nations spokesperson prior to her leaving the Greens in 2023.She spoke about Sovereignty, Treaty and justice at this forum organised by Green Left in Naarm/Melbourne earlier this year.
The Rojava Revolution and the Uprisings in Iran - Part 2
August 07, 2023 22:30 - 19.2 MBOn today's show we conclude our coverage of Woman, Life, Freedom – the ideas that inspired the Rojava revolution and the popular uprising in Iran. Nilüfer Koç, Executive Council member and spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) will share some of the new ideas inspiring the Kurdish-led feminist and green revolutionary movement that has liberated north and east Syria (Rojava) and its spread to other parts of Kurdistan, including Rojhelat (...
The Rojava Revolution and the Uprisings in Iran - Part 1
July 31, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBWoman, Life, Freedom – the ideas that inspired the Rojava revolution and the popular uprising in Iran. That’s the topic of this week’s show and next week’s.Nilüfer Koç, Executive Council member and spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) will share some of the new ideas inspiring the Kurdish-led feminist and green revolutionary movement that has liberated north and east Syria (Rojava) and its spread to other parts of Kurdistan, including R...
Saving India’s Hasdeo Forest
July 24, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBClimate 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 o...
Middle Eastern Solidarity with Ukraine
July 17, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBWe 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 femi...
Asia Pacific Solidarity with Ukraine
June 19, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBEvery 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 ...
Russia out of Ukraine!
June 05, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBOn 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 ...
Unexpected Thailand Election Result
May 29, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBThe 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 ...
Commemorating the Tamil Genocide
May 22, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBToday’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 an...
Butch is not a dirty word
May 15, 2023 22:30 - 24.8 MBToday 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.
Religion: Between faith, culture and politics
May 08, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBIt’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, ...
Remembering Rana Plaza - 10 years on
April 24, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBOn 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 ...
Free the NagaWorld Leaders!
April 10, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBIn 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 ...
Political crisis in Israel
April 03, 2023 22:30 - 25.6 MBWhat do these Israeli protests mean, especially the general strike by workers? Is there any chance for working class solidarity between Israeli's and Palestinians? The history of Israeli apartheid against Palestinians probably means no, but to share her analysis, I am joined by Palestinian socialist and educator, Reem Yunis.
Palestine in the Age of Trump
March 27, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBWell if we thought things couldn’t get any worse, tensions further intensify in Palestine with Israel’s latest progrom against the Palestinians. From endorsing a settler rampage in the areas of Huwara and Nablus, to this week denying the existence of Palestinians. The escalations are not unsurprising, while the question of Palestinian sovereignty remains unanswered. This week on Accent of women, we revisit a lecture delivered by Noura Erakat, Palestinian-American human rights attorney and Ass...
Justice for Filipina Comfort Women
March 20, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBOn March 4, 2023, Lila Pilipina—an organization of Filipino comfort women —held a protest action in Manila to call on the Japanese government to finally address the calls for justice of Filipino “Comfort Women”, who were victims of Japanese wartime military sex slavery. Japan recently presented its official human rights report to the United Nations Human Rights Council but has continued to ignore the pleas of the Filipino women victims who have been fighting for decades to achieve justice. Si...
Part 2: Disability, Madness, Liberation: Deinstitutionalisation and Prison Abolition
March 13, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBAt the Socialism 2022 conference, held in September 2022, in Chicago, Dr Liat Ben-Moshe gave a talk, titled Disability, Madness, Liberation: Deinstitutionalisation and Prison Abolition.Prison abolition and massive decarceration are often portrayed as utopian ideals, but few have grappled with the fact that it has happened already. The history of the deinstitutionalization movement from psychiatric hospitals and residential institutions shows the limits of rights and legal discourses as well a...
Part 1: Disability, Madness, Liberation: Deinstitutionalisation and Prison Abolition
February 27, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBAt the Socialism 2022 conference, held in September 2022, in Chicago, Dr Liat Ben-Moshe gave a talk, titled Disability, Madness, Liberation: Deinstitutionalisation and Prison Abolition.Prison abolition and massive decarceration are often portrayed as utopian ideals, but few have grappled with the fact that it has happened already. The history of the deinstitutionalization movement from psychiatric hospitals and residential institutions shows the limits of rights and legal discourses as well a...
Woman, Life, Freedom
February 20, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBToday’s Accent of women brings you a special solidarity event organised by the Canadian Union of Public Servants, held on Wednesday 8 February. The public meeting was called, Solidarity with the Workers’ Movement and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” Uprising in Iran.The first speaker up is Niloofar Golkar, CUPE Executive Committee member and PhD candidate in Politics at York University, focusing on the environment and the labour movement. She is a feminist activist and sits on the editorial commit...
Economic Restructuring in the Ukraine
February 13, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBOn today’s program, we look at economic restructuring in the Ukraine, and the impact of the war. PhD Yuliya Yurchenko is the author of 'Ukraine and the Empire of Capital: From Marketization to Armed Conflict'. She is a Senior Lecturer in in Political Economy at the University of Greenwich, UK. She gave a speech titled Debt, war, and (macro)economic restructuring: lessons from Ukraine in September of last year, and we are going to hear that speech today.But first up on the program today, NETFA...
Myanmar – Two years on from the coup
February 06, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBThe 1 February 2023 marks the 2nd year anniversary of the coup in Myanmar. Last week, the Junta announced an extension to the State of Emergency, which was supposed to come to an end on the 31 January. They also announced that the supposed democratic elections would be put off for another year. Joining me on today’s program to discuss the ongoing civil war in Myanmar is Debbie Stothard, founding member of the Alternative ASEAN on Burma.
Treaty Before Voice
January 30, 2023 21:30 - 25.6 MBMarching under the banner, Treaty Not Voice, tens of thousands of people across Australia protested on the 26th January – Invasion Day. Rally organisers said that the 26th January is not a day to celebrate. It is an annual reminder of invasion, occupation, genocide and the ongoing impacts of colonisation that continues to destroy the land and waters of First Nations People. Today’s show features range of speeches at the Melbourne Invasion Day rally, MCed by Veronica Gorrie.