International Women's Day 1997
International Women's Day on the internet
by Susanne Martain

International Women's Day '97, marks the launch of an international call for Women to Unite - Create Our Future.

IWD has an international space on the internet at http://www.isis.aust.com/iwd/

The local focus and global distribution network that this space provides are its most empowering tools. We will be able to act locally from a globally informed perspective. Women from around the world can pool energy through this medium, and work smarter instead of just harder to make real change in our local and global lived experience.

The vision for this potential web is to stop our "group" energy being consumed by fighting brush fires, when the main bushfire is raging seemingly out of control. We march, lobby, write, etc., but even now, our demands lists would fill many books. Issues divide our attention. Whilst we pursue policy changes for one issue, another issue comes crashing into focus and shifts our already depleted energy toward another direction.

We can gain energy from our collective of international women, some of whom already visibly work for women, wearing more than one "hat" at a time. Some of us are tired, jaded and frustrated with the lack of due process promised by a democratic society. Ironically, this democratic system is being propagated to the world as a model, but who benefits really - not women. Some of us are fresh, enthusiastic and vibrant, with ideas that shouldn't fail.

This webspace can serve to provide a gateway for women, who up to now are vastly underrepresented as users of this form of technology. The internet, whatever your personal feelings about it are, as a tool for women has unlimited potential - we have never before had such a global mechanism for communication available to us.

Learn to log on and do it!

[The IWD page is available for publication of IWD events around Australia.
Email or send details to PO Box 1, Annandale NSW Australia 2038]