Accent of Women

February 6th is the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. To learn more about the practice I spoke to health professional Medina Idriess from the Family & Reproductive Rights Education Program.  In the second half of the show, Monica Majak and Adongwot Manyoul from the South Sudanese Mother's Coalition of Victoria discuss the challenges of resettlement.  

Donald Trump joined with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in the final weeks of January to publicly unveil what the US president described as his “vision for peace” in the Middle East. It was a farcical proposal, endorsing all of the policies of the Israeli right while guaranteeing rejection by the Palestinian people. To discuss these developments in the struggle for a Free Palestine, I am joined by Palestinian socialist, Reem.

This week we speak to writer and cultural producer Alia Gabres about her gorgeous children’s book, Haboba’s House.Haboba’s House tells the story of Iman - a young Eritrean girl staying at her Haboba’s (grandmother) House during the school holidays. It's the first book in Iman’s Really Really Big World! series.In this interview, Alia discusses the inspiration for Haboba’s House and explains why children of colour deserve to see themselves represented in books.To learn more about this exciting series, go to imansworld.com.Song To Be Young, Gifted and BlackArtist Nina Simone Produced by Ayan Shirwa

January 26.  Australia Day.  It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson and the start of genocide against the original owners of this land.  We should not celebrate Australia Day.  It's a day that has been sanctified and sanitised.  Instead, we should be protesting and fighting for land rights, sovereignty and self-determination for all Aboriginal people. This week's show features Celeste Liddle and Kim Bullimore

Across the Pacific and Torres Strait, rising seal levels are forcing many communities to seek a new home. And while climate change denialists bicker over the validity of the claims, people are being evacuated because their islands are uninhabitable.This week I chat to radio broadcaster Maureen Mopio about her documentary - No Land, No Livelihood, No Home. No Land, No Livelihood, No Home is a ten part series about what happens when communities are displaced by climate change.You can find all ten episodes here. GuestMaureen Mopio is a Presenter on Women's Profile - Radio 4EBProduced/Presented Ayan Shirwa

Today's show is about about developments within the feminist movement in Algeria.The facilitator is Fatemeh Masjedi, an Iranian academic historian and activist based in Berlin. She is a former political prisoner in Iran because of her women’s rights activities.And the person being interviewed is Selma Oumari. She’s an Algerian French member  of the New Anticapitalist in France.  She is  involved in antiracist struggles as well as international solidarity.

In under 24 hours, a number of academics, community activists, artists and writers will gather at the University of Melbourne for a three day forum called ‘Black-Palestinian Solidarity Conference’. To mark this historic event, I spoke to Irene Watson, a Professor of Law at the University of South Australia and Tasnim Sammak, a PHD candidate and an advocate for the rights of young people and women of colour.Produced by Ayan Shirwa

On today’s show we will broadcast just the first question of a panel discussion between women of colour involved in the Alliance of Middle Eastern and North African socialists. You’ll hear when the compare introduces the panel, that the whole discussion goes for about two hours, but of course we don’t have time for all of it on Accent of Women. We will post a link to the whole call on our facebook page. The discussion took place in August 2019, which was at the height of the recent uprisings in Sudan and Algeria. A content warning on today’s program, there is discussion about the use of rape in war, and the struggle for women in the context of these rapes.

For the first time since the fascist military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, tanks rolled into downtown Santiago, Chile, this weekend, deployed against protesters demonstrating against a drastic fare hike of the Santiago metro, from the equivalent of USD $1.12 to $1.16.On Saturday, the right-wing government of billionaire Sebastián Piñera invoked the still-standing 1980 Constitution established by Pinochet to declare a state of emergency across the country and to impose curfews.This is off the back of a massive strike wave earlier in the year where 17,000 walmart workers, 80,000 school teachers and other workers across mining and railways took strike action amidst massive state repression.This week's show features Marisol Salinas, a Mapuche Indigenous woman from Chile, based here in Melbourne, and one of the founders of the Latin American Solidarity Network, and also with Friends of the Earth Melbourne.

This week we look at the circumstances that bring Tamil refugees to Australia and in the second half of the show, two of the founders of the online talk show ‘Set The Tone’ discuss their pilot episode.GuestsNiro Kandasamy is a Tamil studies researcher at the University of Melbourne.Yar Biar and Adier Maluk are young women from the African diaspora and members of the platform Set the Tone.

On today’s program we continue with the broadcast of Flesh, the law and black humanity, that Ayan started on the program last week.  Firstly, Flesh, the law and black humanity was an event hosted in Melbourne Victoria by the Feminist Book Collective, and particularly, by Nilmini Fernando, a Sri Lankan born woman living in Australia.  According to the event description, Flesh, the law and black humanity aims to stand outside of white Western colonial frames to discuss, theorize and address the outcast locations of the intellect, literature, art and bodies of First People, raced and gendered others in the settler colony.

This week we look at some of the issues affecting trans and gender diverse communities in Australia and play a snippet from the event ‘Flesh, the law, and black humanity’.GuestsAmao Leota Lu is a proud Samoan Fa'afafine and trans woman of color. She is an international speaker, performing artist, writer, activist and storyteller who infuses the intersectionality of gender, culture and life experiences in her performance works and talks.Associate Professor Sandy O'Sullivan is a Wiradjuri (Aboriginal) academic, researcher and creative practitioner. Produced by: Ayan Shirwa

Massive civil society protests have continued in Hong Kong. Commencing on 9 June, we’ve seen millions of people march, originally against the introduction of the extradition bill, but now the movement has raised a number of demands including full suffrage for the people of Hong Kong. Accent of Women first covered this issue in June, and you can go back and listen to that podcast, which is posted to our page on 3CR’s website. Since that broadcast, much has happened in Hong Kong. We’ve seen the formal entry of the workers movement, we’ve seen right wing elements assert themselves in the movement – what happens now is a matter of political analysis. And to have that conversation with me, I welcome back Carol Ng, the elected women’s officer of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions.

Creative producer Daisy Nduta talks about her exciting new show - Assimilate. Assimilate is showing at Darebin Arts as part of Melbourne Fringe 2019. Tickets can be purchased here. Assimilate was created and produced by Daisy Nduta and is performed by Naomi Sepiso, Tamara Bailey, Anyuop Dau, and Daisy Nduta.

Veteran broadcaster Namila Benson talks ghost-writing, community radio, and Jack Charles.Later in the show, cultural historian Samia Khatun discusses the inspiration for her book - Australianama.GuestsNamila Benson is a broadcaster, media trainer and national radio producer who works across multiple media platforms. She got her start in radio 26 years ago on 3CR. Most recently, she ghostwrote the memoir of respected actor, activist and Elder - Uncle Jack Charles. The book is called, “Jack Charles: Born-again Blakfella”. Outside of media and motherhood, Namila hosts, moderates and guests on public talks at various festivals and events across so-called Melbourne and beyond.Samia Khatun is a writer, filmmaker and cultural historian whose documentaries have screened on SBS-TV and ABC-TV. 

August 30, 2019 commemorates 20 years since the East Timor referendum on independence. In 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor, beginning a brutal regime of occupation that would last until 1999. More than 200,000 East Timorese died and many more suffered during massacres, torture and starvation.Carla Chung is an organiser with the United Workers Union, she is East Timorese, and an East Timor independence activist. She both grew up in East Timor and is one of the younger generation of activists she says is continuing to fight for East Timor’s future, and she joins me on today’s program.

Thirteen million people in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir have spent the last three weeks under a regime of extraordinary repression and collective punishment at the hands of India’s Hindu supremacist BJP government. Freedom of speech and assembly have been abolished, with gatherings of more than four people outlawed. Critics who have denounced the repression to the media have been imprisoned. Public transport has been shut down, and the region’s economy has ground to a halt.  So, what is this dispute about? Hasn’t Kashmir always been contested, isn’t it always highly militarised? To answer these questions, I am joined on today’s program by Kavita Krishnan, leftists and feminist activist in India, and leading member of the Communist Party of India Marxist Leninist

What comes to mind when you hear the word love? Is it romantic relationships? Friendships? Self-love? Community? Arts and cultural curator Bigoa Choul joins us this week to make sense of a concept that is so polarizing. Today’s episode is inspired by an upcoming event called ‘Let's Talk Love’ hosted by Bigoa Chuol and featuring the contributors of 'Growing Up African in Australia'. The event is part of the Melbourne Writers Festival.Artist bio: Bigoa is an arts and cultural curator, writer and presenter. Her work has featured internationally and in various renowned literature, music and poetry festivals all around Melbourne Australia since 2015. Presently, she is working on (re) establishing cultural connection, re-distributing knowledge and language inter-generationally within the South Sudanese diaspora through different artistic mediums in the co-produced Medida Winter Series. As well as a research project with the University of Melbourne Social Equity School into perceived gender norms amon

The face of the environmentalism movement in Australia is predominantly white. Why is this the case and how can the movement expand to include all voices?The Multicultural Greens Victoria hosted a panel that tackled those exact questions. We also spoke to Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Green's Senator for NSW, about islamophobia, decolonisation and why she continues to speak out against misogyny and racism. Panelists- Dr. Priya Srinivasan, Associate Professor Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization Deakin University- Lidia Thorpe, First Aboriginal Women in Victorian Parliament- Lisa Maza, Professional Actor/Singer and Member of the Blak Greens- Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Senator for NSW

The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, recently announced plans to introduce an Indigenous voice to parliament. Some embraced the news as a positive step towards self-determination,  while others were more skeptical.On today's episode we ask Gunnai-Kurnai and Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpewhat she thinks about an Indigenous voice to parliament, and also get updates on Victoria’s exciting treaty negotiations. Lidia Thorpe is a human rights advocate and a former greens MP for the seat of Northcote.  If you’d like to know more about treaty, sovereignty and land rights check out 3CR programs, Fire First, Blak 'n' Deadly and Blaknoise!