Dearest supporter,
Your donations, however small, will directly impact our capacity to hold more community events.
With much thanks and gratitude,
WoCA Events Team
About the event
Women of Colour Australia (WoCA), Australia's leading not-for-profit organisation advocating for a fairer and more equitable Australia for all Women of Colour is proud to hold its first Community Consultation event.
In partnership with the Australian Human Rights Commission, we are inviting members of our WoCA Community to engage with the team tasked with undertaking consultations to progress the National Anti-Racism Framework.
WoCA's inaugural Women of Colour in the Workplace survey painted a stark reality for women of colour in Australian workplaces, finding more than 60% have experienced some form of discrimination, including sexism, tokenism, and racism.
We strongly believe that the voices and lived experiences of those most affected by racism is vital in shaping the Framework.
March 21 is also the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on the day the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid "pass laws" in 1960.
Back here in Australia, since 1991, March 21 has been celebrated as "Harmony Day". Harmony Day is about promoting social cohesion and racial harmony. While these are undoubtedly critical and important messages, we must not and cannot look away from the plague of interpersonal, institutional, systemic and structural racism still savagely ravaging our society. We must acknowledge and tell the truth that the very foundation of this country is built on the racial subjugation and usurpation of the sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
It is our hope that our event will serve as a way to come together as a community, have open and honest conversations in a safe space about the devastating impacts of racism on our lives and experiences as women with intersecting and overlapping identities, and center our often missing but deeply crucial voices in reimagining an Australia free of racism.
As the event is capped at 40 attendees, in line with our Charitable Purpose of Promoting and Protecting the Human Rights of Women of Colour with particular regard to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, we have a duty and responsibility to offer the opportunity to attend to as many First Nations Women, Black Women and Women of Colour as possible.
If you're an ally, we value you and your continuing support and ask that on this occasion you show up in solidarity by making a donation. Our organisation is predominantly run by volunteers and your financial contributions, however small, will help us create more initiatives that support our community.
We exist to champion Australia’s Women of Colour.
ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "WOMEN OF COLOR"
"Women of Color is not a biological designation. It is a solidarity definition. A commitment to work in collaboration with other oppressed women of color who have been minoritized. It is a term that has a lot of power." Loretta Ross
Learn more here
WOMEN DEFINITION
Women - Transgender and cisgender, all those who experience or have experienced oppression as women, including non-binary and gender non-conforming people and all those who identify as women. Self-definition is at the discretion of the individual.
Definition credit: wire.org.au
ALLY DEFINITION
A - always centre the impacted
L - listen and learn from those who live in oppression
L - leverage your privilege
Y - yield the floor
*Mnemonic credit: Kayla Reed Executive Director ACTION St. Louis Follow Kayla Reed on Twitter @iKaylaReed
Privacy Policy Refund Policy Terms Of Use
WOMEN OF COLOUR LTD ACN 643 518 576 ABN 17 643 518 576 is an Australian Public Company Limited by Guarantee. We are a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved
We acknowledge the Wallumattagal clan of the Darug nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which Women of Colour Australia is situated. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge and honour the strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with whom we stand in solidarity. We acknowledge that as settlers on this stolen Aboriginal land, we are beneficiaries of the dispossession, genocide, and ongoing colonial violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We believe that it is our collective responsibility to help dismantle the structural inequities and systemic barriers oppressing the original inhabitants of this land. This land is and always will be Aboriginal land. Sovereignty was never ceded.