Women’s Marchers, unite! If you’re still feeling the fire of feminist fury, Alex Casey has compiled this list of activities and associations across New Zealand. Now is the time to get involved!
New Zealand led the world during January 2017’s Women’s Marches, and millions of people around the world marched with us and in the days that followed. United for equality, it was a powerful moment.
A lot has changed since those innocent days in January. President Trump is the new reality, and people everywhere are afraid for the future. But let’s keep the momentum up, and grow, and move forward.
We encourage people to connect to grassroots movements currently taking shape right here in NZ. The following list is just a handful of the activities you can participate in, resources you can use, and associations you can support for a positive New Zealand.
Step 1:
Enrol to vote, and make sure your information is correct and up to date.
Encourage everyone you know to do the same.
If you are in Wellington, visit Photival during Feb-March and have a geeze at photography on positive issues and kindness around the world.
Get on twitter and follow @TheWeavingHouse; feminist magic with a stunning flow of New Zealand news.
Join Good Bitches Baking; they organize baking every Sunday and donate the goods to people in need.
Become a volunteer and teach English to migrants and refugees through English Language Partners NZ.
Follow the events in New Zealand for International Women’s Day; this year’s theme is ‘Women in the Changing World of Work.’
Visit Together We Make a Nation to read the unbelievable stories of refugee women; their bravery, their loss, and their journey to making a home in New Zealand.
Support the movement to help transgendered New Zealanders change their gender names with less of a financial barrier.
For all it’s faults, Facebook is a good way to connect people. Follow women’s groups online (like this, this, and this), share cool memes, motivational quotes, and everything else that other women might be interested in.
Have you signed the petition to legalise abortion in New Zealand? If you haven’t, consider doing it now.
Support social businesses like Pomegranate Kitchen and Eat My Lunch that plow their profits back into the communities they serve. If you have the time, consider volunteering to share your skills with their causes.
Actively join a local organisation (many are listed below), or union, or a book club. When you do this you gather like-minded people in one place and magic can happen. From tiny circles of chat, one day all the circles may join up and make a huge circle.
Learn about bodily autonomy issues impacting New Zealanders; for example, the genital mutilation of intersex babies, and the lack of competent health care. Support people who are gender diverse.
Double check everything you read, and only share it if it is verified. Ignore fake news. Go out of your way to prove it wrong. Stand for reputable content, and strive for the best.
Spread light in New Zealand. If you can volunteer, donate, fundraise, and spread the good, then you are in the very place you should be.
Image credit The Spinoff
Now, Part 2.
Below is a list of organizations with a wide range of focuses, client groups, and activities. Join them formally, or just help where you can. Find your passion and go for it.
Action Station is a useful online forum for people to connect with specific issues, sign petitions, and send their voices all around the world. Easy entry into activism for the armchair protester.
Amnesty International focuses on a wide range of human rights issues such as refugee welfare, the crisis in Syria, etc. You can contribute by signing petitions, joining your local chapter, or going all out and waging a full-scale assault on human rights injustice. It’s up to you.
Child Poverty Action Group is a charity working to abolish child poverty in New Zealand via education and advocacy.
Dear Em is a hub for young women. Here they can raise issues, get advice, support each other, and find ways to become stronger.
Family Planning New Zealand shares a number of services including sexual and reproductive health information, education, training, and research.
Girl Guiding New Zealand looks for volunteers, and teaches young Kiwi women to become stronger despite life’s difficulties.
HELP supports survivors of sexual abuse.
Islamic Women’s Council provides help to people in need, supporting the empowerment of Muslim women in NZ.
New Zealand Prostitute’s Collective stands for the rights of all sex workers. Sex workers confront issues of gender inequality, gender-based violence, and social stigma about their work whether they chose to become sex workers or not. For some, it is a job like any other. Include sex workers in your feminism.
The Auckland Women’s Centre provides affordable well-being and support services, events, and educational opportunities.
The Human Rights Commission works for the development and bright future of New Zealand, where diversity is much valued and human rights are protected.
The National Council of Women New Zealand has been fighting for gender equality in New Zealand for over 120 years.
The Red Cross ias the primary provider of New Zealand’s refugee resettlement programme. They organizes activities from taking donations of used goods, to helping refugees find employment opportunities.
RAW offers education and training opportunities to socially disadvantaged women to help them change their lives and have prosperous futures.
Refugees as Survivors provides mental health support to refugees who settle to New Zealand for a new life.
Shakti New Zealand is responsible for the well-being of New Zealand’s migrants through culturally competent services.
Shine fights to abolish domestic violence in New Zealand.
UN Women National Committee Aotearoa New Zealand aims to increase women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Pacific. They accept volunteers.
Wellington Rape Crisis offers support and advocacy for survivors of rape and sexual abuse, their family, friends, and whanau.
White Ribbon promotes ending men’s violence towards women, by encouraging men to talk to other men and share their thoughts.
Women’s Refuge NZ was established to prevent and end family violence in New Zealand. The organisation offers various educational programs and support services for children of abuse, and aims to have healthy families in New Zealand.
YWCA New Zealand supports community change by empowering young women.
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