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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| March 22, 2005 |
The Fight for Women’s Rights – Judith Martin-Razi |
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| Judith Martin-Razi (photo by Jeff Kennel) |
After sponsoring optional tours aiming to help participants to learn more about women’s issues in Eritrea, Libya, and France, Peace Boat was fortunate to have Judith Martin-Razi onboard from Marseilles, France to Las Palmas, Spain. Ms. Martin-Razi, a photojournalist with extensive international experience, is actively involved with women’s issues in Marseilles’ Centre d’Information sur les Droits des Femmes (Women’s Rights Information Center) as well as in the World March of Women. Although her time onboard was short, she made a significant contribution to raising participants’ awareness of women’s rights and gender issues. |
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| This work of performance art depicts a woman, covered by a black shawl and bound with rope, held captive by a man. The man reads his newspaper, thinking nothing is wrong, but he is blind to his role in her subservience. |
Through a two-part workshop entitled “What is Gender?” Ms. Martin-Razi helped attendees to consider the concept of gender in a more critical way than they had previously been accustomed. In Part One of the workshop, attendees discussed their ideas of what gender is and developed a set of questions to be asked to both Japanese and non-Japanese participants, staff and crew members. These questions, covering issues such as health care, marriage, labor distribution, and reproductive matters, provided participants with the opportunity to discuss a broad range of gender-related topics with people of varying ages, genders, and nationalities. The results of these interviews were discussed and analyzed in Part Two of the workshop. “We often hear people saying ‘this is a man’s job’ or ‘women should stay at home’, and it is easy for us to accept that that is the way things should be,” a workshop participant commented. “I think it is good for us to think more deeply about gender roles and why we have these ideas. If we do, we can often see that there is no real reason.” |
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| “We have to be aware of the issues first, then we can take action. This is the way we can change the world.” |
Ms. Martin-Razi also introduced participants to the World March of Women, an organization working to build a society in which all people’s human rights are protected. The march was first organized in 2000 and is being held again this year, 2005. The organization developed a document called the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity, which “calls on women and men and all oppressed peoples and groups of the planet to proclaim, individually and collectively, their power to transform the world and radically change social structures with a view to developing relationships based on equality, peace, freedom, solidarity and justice.” From March 8 (International Women’s Day) through October 17, 2005, the world relay of the Women's Global Charter for Humanity will be held. During this time, women from all over the world will pass the charter hand to hand, country to country, as a way of raising awareness and sharing the principals that the charter contains. |
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| Ms. Martin-Razi presents Peace Boat’s 48th Voyage Director, Shimura Yoichi, a World Women’s March flag in appreciation for Peace Boat’s support. |
Onboard Peace Boat, Ms. Martin-Razi, in cooperation with members of the Global English/Espanol Training (GET) Programme, organized a fundraising event called the Peace Boat World Women’s March. The money was raised to assist North African women with transportation to Marseilles, so that they would be able to participate in the 2005 World Women’s March. In the event, participants recruited sponsors, who pledged to contribute money for each lap walked around the Peace Boat over the course of an hour and a half. The enthusiasm of the walkers and the lively atmosphere of the march created a feeling of excitement onboard, even among Peace Boat participants who had previously had not been involved in women’s issues. Such an increase of public awareness is one of the major aims of the World Women’s March. “We have to be aware of the issues first,” Ms. Martin-Razi commented, “then we can take action. This is the way we can change the world.” |
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Please see the following links for more information about the World March of Women:
World March of Women – http://www.marchemondiale.org
The Women’s Global Charter for Humanity – http://www.marchemondiale.org/en/charter3.html |
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