Events and Resources
Women of Conscience events bring women from around the world together to discuss the issues shaping their communities locally and to share the best practices, tools and mechanisms needed for building a strong support system for women at Sites of Conscience and the world over.
Whose Hero? New Perspectives on Monuments in Public Landscapes
June 24 and 26, 2020
For centuries now, the Haudenosaunee women of New York State have lived equally among their male counterparts in a way their non-Native women neighbors often have not. In fact, when women in the state began to organize for their rights in 1848, they looked to Haudenosaunee women for inspiration and guidance. This history served as a starting point for presentations and a discussion that explored ways in which history, art and activism intersect in both the past and present-day.
From conversations around confederate memorials and the memorialization of Native American heritage, public dialogue that addresses the historical exclusion inherent in many current existing representations of marginalized groups is profoundly important. This panel discussion and half-day workshop aimed to help museums and communities deepen their understandings of feminist and indigenous ways of utilizing landscapes, objects and dialogic thinking for memorialization and justice.
Panelists:
Linda Norris, Senior Specialist, Membership and Practice, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
Michelle Schenandoah, Founder and CEO, Rematriation Magazine Indigenous Concepts Consulting; Traditional Member of the Oneida Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
Jolene Rickard, Associate Professor in the History of Art and Visual Studies Department and affiliated faculty with the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Cornell University, Citizen of the Tuscarora Nation
Sally Roesch Wagner, Executive Director, Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and Author of “Sisters in Spirir Haudenosaunee Influence on Early American Feminists”
Julia Watson, Landscape Architect, Julia Watson Studio and Author of “Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism.”
Women and COVID-19
May 21, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly harmful to women in ways that must be addressed if women’s economic stability and emotional and physical welfare are to be sustained after the pandemic’s end. According to UN Women, “Globally, women make up 70% of workers in the health and social sector, and they do three times as much unpaid care work at home as men.” In addition, with COVID-19-related restrictions on public movement, women are facing increasing limitations on their right to reproductive and sexual health, while women who are sheltering in their homes alongside abusive partners are facing the most dehumanizing and unbearable of challenges. In this webinar, partners and members of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience discussed the specific hurdles women have been facing during the pandemic and suggested strategies for support.
Panelists:
Fatou Baldeh, Founder and CEO of Women in Liberation and Leadership - WILL, The Gambia
Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, Member and Rapporteur of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Senegal
Farah Tanis, Co-Founder of Black Women's Blueprint and Curator of the Museum of Women's Resistance, USA
Countering Exclusion: Activating Women’s Stories
March 18, 2020
The inclusion of women’s stories is integral to ensuring that communities develop a full understanding of injustices past and present, but are too often left out of official narratives. In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience hosted a practical session on the best strategies for collecting women’s stories and incorporating these in the official and grand narratives through a variety of platforms, visual, aural and text-based.
Panelists:
Silvia Fernandez, Global Networks Program Director, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
Bonney Djuric, Artist, Activist and Co-founder of the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct Project, Australia,
Pooja Pant, Photographer, Filmmaker and Executive Director of Voices of Women Media, Nepal
Listening to Women: Collecting Stories After War
August 29, 2019
Women's narratives are central to social cohesion and peaceful communities after a conflict, yet their experiences are often ignored or marginalized. In this session, panelists spoke about specific challenges women face in sharing their stories and suggested concrete strategies for overcoming them through platforms that take into account women's post-conflict needs.
Panelists:
Ashley Nelson, Communications Director, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
Alissandra Cummins (Board member of ICSC and member of WoC Leadership Council),
Gege Leme Joseph, Senior Program Manager for Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
Carolina Rendon, Juan Jose Gerardi, Guatemala.
Women in War: Stopping Sexual Conflict in War
May 29, 2020
Adopted in April 2019, the UN Resolution 2467 calls for a survivor-centered approach to the prevention of sexual violence against women in conflict, and emboldens efforts to strengthen justice and accountability around the issue. This webinar brought together a panel of experts to discuss the importance of UN Resolution 2467and the equally important next steps that need to be taken to guarantee that perpetrators are held accountable, that survivors’ needs are met through a holistic range of practical and sustainable support, and that NGOs, activists and other allies can equip women with the training and networks they need to be active leaders on this issue.
Panelists:
Fatou Baldeh, Founder and CEO of Women in Leadership
Gunnar Berkemeier, Specialist, UN Peace Operations, Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations
Milica Kostic, Program Director, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
Akila Radhakrishnan, President, Global Justice Center,
Elizabeth Silkes, Executive Director, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
From Trauma to Transformation: Incarceration to Activism
March 14, 2019
Women have long been incarcerated alongside men, and yet their experiences of it have been far less explored or, often, remain entirely unknown. On March 14th, three Sites of Conscience worked to change this by foregrounding the history of women’s imprisonment and the ways in which women’s individual trauma has led to reconciliation, healing and advocacy.
Panelists:
Linda Norris, Senior Specialist, Membership and Practice, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
Lebo Marishane, Constitution Hill in South Africa
Fatna al Bouih, Casa Memoire, Morocco
Maria Jose Kahn, Museo Sitio de Memoria – ESMA, Argentina
#MuseumsToo
Sites of Conscience have an important role to play in facilitating constructive conversations and creating spaces where visitors, particularly those who may not always agree, listen to each other in new ways. Below is one model for engaging visitors or your staff in dialogue around the #MeToo movement.
Women and Voting Rights
Sites of Conscience have an important role to play in facilitating constructive conversations and creating spaces where visitors, particularly those who may not always agree, listen to each other in new ways. Below is one model for engaging visitors in dialogue around voting rights. We encourage you to adapt and ground the dialogue in the unique history that your Site of Conscience works to preserve and share