Film Night collection donated to Athens feminist migrant solidarity initiative

For our last film night in reaction to the migrant squat evictions in Athens from the new government we showed “Love and Revolution” and had a discussion on the current situation in Greece and any parallels it might have with the UK. All the money that was raised from the event was donated to a feminist initiative that operates in Athens to offer solidarity and support to refugee women and detained migrant women, the House of Women.

The House of Women for the Empowerment & Emancipation, is a self-organised Feminist Initiative that operates horizontally, through assemblies, without hierarchies and the involvement of NGOs or political parties. Inspired by anti sexist, anti-racist and antifascist principles, they fight for the eradication of gender violence, homophobia / transphobia, with a focus on supporting female refugees that are victims of sexual and psychological harassment. After leaving their countries to come here to the “civilised” capitalist West, they find themselves arrested and detained in a hellhole of unbearable isolation, with non-existent hygiene, just for not having papers. For almost three and a half years, the group pays monthly visits to the Detained Women, in the Illegal Aliens’ Police Detention centre in Athens, on Petrou Ralli, at Tavros, and tries to provide them with the necessary essential items, as well as with psychological, legal and practical support, through a broader network of solidarity. It organises gatherings of co-education to raise consciousness and empower the struggles against the culture of rape, which patriarchy with its war and neo-liberal politics reproduces and washes away globally; it organises solidarity events that provide a safe platform for women and former detainees to speak or write about their experiences; it publishes denunciations to make their voice heard publicly and spread information about the torturous conditions of their detention and the human rights violations that take place there. Outside the detention centre, the group participates in demonstrations or events organised by the antiauthoritarian solidarity movement, for the breakdown of borders, the abolition of detention centres and concentration camps, and for women’s issues. Solidarity and Self-Organisation are the group’s weapons.