Women Around the World Overcoming Violence The Fourth War Resisters' International (WRI) Women's Conference has been attracting attention from women interested in nonviolence from around the world. A sampling of the groups which want to sent activists to the conference reveal the wide variety of nonviolent initiatives women are involved in: the Anti-War Campaign Council (Croatia), Commission for Justice and Peace (Bangladesh), Conscientious Objectors Support Group (South Africa), Interfaith Women (Sri Lanka), Maori Women's Centre (Aotearoa/New Zealand), Lisistrata (State of Spain), Women Development Society (Nepal) and the Union of Conscientious Objectors (Finland). The conference, co-organised by a network of Asian social change groups called PP21, will be held 25 November through 1 December, near Bangkok, Thailand. The conference's title, "Women Overcoming Violence: Redefining Development and Changing Society Through Nonviolence", reflects the organisers' three main focuses: militarism, development and nonviolence. The range of potential participants reflect the multiplicity of ways in which women from different countries and fields of activity are in a position to address the interconnections among these issues. Around sixty workshops will be offered at the conference. The workshop topics will cover subjects such as sustainable development and nonviolence, community organising models, discrimination against immigrant women and indigenous women and militarisation. A substantial number of workshops will deal with how women are tackling violence against women in all its forms: domestic battering (4,000 women are beaten to death in the USA every year; eight out of ten wives in India are victims of violence) and forced prostitution (in Thailand, an increasing number of teenaged women are being sold by weight to brothel owners, while women from Burmese minority groups are being kidnapped and sold to procurers) . Applications are coming in from around the world. Some of the women who want to participate include: * Nicole Waia of the Union Syndicale des Travailleurs Kanak et des Exploites is active in the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement and also works for Radio DJIDO in Kanaky - New Caledonia. French pacifists are raising money for her to go to the Conference by selling badges and note cards (which are also available through the WRI London office). * Rose Gregoire, an Innu woman from Nitassinan - Labrador, will be able to attend thanks to a Canadian foundation. Rose has long experience with nonviolent civil disobedience, as she has been active in opposing the expansion of a NATO base on Innu land. She also works to end domestic violence in Innu communities. * George Friday is an African-American who works for social change in a rural part of the USA where the Ku Klux Klan has been active. She is Development and Literacy Director for the Piedmont Peace Project in North Carolina, which fights factory shutdowns and struggles for economic democracy. Funds are still needed so more women can participate. If you know of any group or individual who might be willing to sponsor a participant, please contact Connect, c/- 19 Murray St, West Brunswick, Victoria 3055. Shelley Anderson Reprinted from Peace News June 1992. Note: Shelley is not involved with Connect, nor did Connect submit this article. We include their address only for the convenience of the majority of our readers.