The (FFQ; English: "Quebec Women's Federation") is a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

organization binding individuals and groups in a common goal to "promote and defend the interests and the rights of women and to fight against all forms of violence, discrimination, marginalization and exclusion towards women" in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

History

The FFQ was founded in 1966 at the initiative of

Thérèse Casgrain Marie Thérèse Casgrain (; 10 July 1896 – 3 November 1981) was a French-Canadian feminist, reformer, politician and senator. She was a leader in the fight for women's right to vote in the province of Quebec, as well as the first woman t ...

, a

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist and leading feminist who contributed greatly to the achievement of

women suffrage A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

in Quebec. From the beginning, the FFQ organized symposiums, conferences, information campaigns, prepared memoirs and spoke for the interests of women in all tribunes, especially parliamentary and government consultations. Between 1992 and 2002, associative membership rose from 60 to 160 organizations and individual membership from 100 to 860.

Principles and mission

The ' adopted by members during the 2003 annual congress state that the FFQ is: * a place of militantism and action, analysis and reflexion, debate, training and concertation open to all women, without distinction of origin, sexual orientation, religion etc. (in accord with article 10 of Quebec's

Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms The ''Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms'' (, ), also known as the "Quebec Charter", is a statutory bill of rights and human rights code passed by the National Assembly of Quebec on June 27, 1975. It received Royal Assent from Lieutenant Go ...

). * participating to the current within the movement of women that fights against the systems of oppression or domination that are patriarchy, capitalism, racism, imperialism which marginalize and exploits women at the social, economic, cultural, political and religious level, in Quebec and abroad.

Organization and structure

Legally, the FFQ is charitable organization registered as a

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

, and whose headquarters are in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. It relies on the contributions of its members, donation and subsidies for the financing of its operations. Its decisions are taken democratically through the general assembly of all its members and a 19-member administration council oversees the conduct of the adopted policies.

Activities

Among the activities of the FFQ which have been most successful are the 1995 Bread and Roses March and the 2000 World March of Women.

Presidents

* Réjane Laberge-Colas (1966-1967) * Rita Racette-Cadieux (1967-1969) * Marie-Paul Marcil Dandois (1969-1970) * Yvette Boucher-Rousseau (1970-1973) * Ghislaine Patry-Buisson (1973-1977) * Sheila Finestone (1977-1980) * Gabrielle Hotte (1980-1981) * Huguette Lapointe-Roy (1981-1983) * Denyse Bélanger-Rochon (1983-1985) * Ginette Drouin-Busque (1985-1989) * Constance Middleton-Hope (1989) * Denise Crête (1990-1991) (interim) * Germaine Vaillancourt (1991-1992) * Céline Signori (1992-1994) *

Françoise David Françoise David (; born January 13, 1948) is a former spokesperson of Québec solidaire – a left-wing, feminist, and sovereigntist political party in the province of Quebec, Canada. She was elected to serve as the Member of the National As ...

(1994-2001) *

Vivian Barbot Vivian Barbot (born July 7, 1941) is a Canadian teacher, activist, and politician. She is a former president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, a former member of Parliament and former vice-president of the Bloc Québécois. She was th ...

(2001-2003) * Michèle Asselin (2003-2009) * Alexa Conradi (2009-2015) * Mélanie Sarazin (2015-2017) * Gabrielle Bouchard (2017-2020) The FFQ's president position has been vacant since Gabrielle Bouchard's departure.

Prix Idola Saint-Jean

Since 1991, the FFQ awards the Prix Idola Saint-Jean to a person or a group that made an exceptional contribution to the betterment of the condition of women in Quebec and the promotion of feminism, in conformity with the principles, mission and orientation of the federation.Prix Idola St-Jean
". Ffq.qc.ca. Retrieved on 2010-09-29.

References

External links

Fédération des femmes du Québec
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Federation Des Femmes Du Quebec Feminism in Quebec Feminist organizations in Canada Organizations based in Quebec