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In the year between IWD 1998 and IWD 1999, Australia has seen an explosion in women using the internet as both a resource and entertainment medium. Cybergrrrls from around the country are accessing the net at an ever increasing rate and gaining skills beyond their wildest dreams. This medium is a fluid medium, not linear like two dimensional hard-copy space, and women are taking it to new heights in regard to activism and information dissemination. Whilst women's groups are traditionally underfunded and resourced, this medium provides us with an opportunity to work together and work smarter by pooling resources and finding cost-efficient ways to get our information out. The call to unite nationally made in the broadsheet last year has been answered: the IWD e-letter has seen phenomenal growth over the last year with 495 recipients now receiving the newsletter in cyber form. The movement would be unable to afford this level of information dissemination in hard copy, so the medium has proven itself to be a resource for women that has changed our access to information permanently. Whilst some see the net as another elitist arena that only the well-heeled can access, the success of the IWD web and e-letter has shown that it need not limit information dissemination to those connected. There are many women liveware patched into the cyber side of the movement. Women who are connected phone on, fax on and post on information from the web and the e-letter to those who are not connected. The medium itself does not have to create barriers to information. The traffic on the IWD web has been increasing each year and is accessed by people from many different backgrounds. Men also use the web, as is evident by the signatures on the online international peace petition. That petition calls for 5% of each county's annual military budget to be reallocated to women's services. We have yet to achieve this in Australia and I urge everyone to sign the petition. Women's services have been continually eroded, regardless of which party is in power which is why it is critical that we lift women's issues off the party political level once and for all. The herstory of IWD by Joyce Stevens is still the most popular node on the web and is used by feminists the world over as a resource for information about IWD and women's struggles. In an attempt to make substantial ground in 1999 and 2000, a project on the IWD national web space records questions received from Oz women to politicians and their responses. The knowledge that millions of voters will be able to see their responses will help women make people in power accountable for their policy. Any non-response will be as visible as their responses and women, on election day, can vote with their feet. This is one way to lift the issues off the party political level and make people personally accountable for their actions. Information for the web, e-cards and e-letter copy can be sent to webweave@isis.aust.com or mailed to Susanne Martain, PO Box 1, Annandale NSW 2038. Those who are not liveware patched and want to receive the e-letter can send mailing details and a contribution to cover printing and mailing costs. The web and e-letter are sponsored by the Australian Women's Intra Network (AWIN) and Isis Creations and I thank them for the many thousands of dollars of sponsorship that they contribute each year by providing us with these invaluable resources free of charge. Visit www.isis.aust.com/iwd/ |
