The International Tribunal on Crimes against Women was a people's tribunal which took place on March 4–8, 1976 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

.Doughty, Frances. ''lesbians and International Women's Year: A Report on Three Conferences'', in ''Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book'', Ginny Vida, Prentice Hall, 1978, , p148 The event was created with the intention to "make public the full range of crimes, both violently brutal and subtly discriminatory, committed against women of all cultures."

History

Diana E. H. Russell Diana E. H. Russell (6 November 1938 – 28 July 2020) was a feminist writer and activist. Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, she moved to England in 1957, and then to the United States in 1961. For the past 45 years she was engag ...

and Nicole Van Den Ven, the main organizers of the tribunal,Chesler, Phyllis. ''Rape as a War Crime: Reaching Moral Clarity'', ''On the Issues'', May 1996, p14 were inspired by

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

International War Crimes Tribunal The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal, Russell–Sartre Tribunal, or Stockholm Tribunal, was a private People's Tribunal organised in 1966 by Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, and ...

, a people's tribunal on crimes committed in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Content

The ITCW was attended by over 2000 women from 40 countries, and specific topics include medical and economic crimes,

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s, crimes against

lesbians A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fem ...

spousal abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

and

femicide Femicide or feminicide is a hate crime which is broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female," but definitions of it vary depending on cultural context. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russel ...

. Numerous testimonies were provided in writing by women who were unable to attend the tribunal. Attendee Frances Doughty noted that the Tribunal confirmed for her that "the oppression of women in general and of lesbians in particular is truly worldwide" Lesbian poet

Pat Parker Pat Parker (born Patricia Cooks; January 20, 1944June 17, 1989) was an American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian Feminism, feminist.Pat Parker. Contemporary Authors On ...

was among the contributors of testimony, speaking about her eldest sister, who was murdered by her husband.Alexander, Ilene 1998
/ref> A Take Back the Night march took place as a candlelight procession in association with the Tribunal.

Impact

Organizers Russell and Van Den Ven published a book based on the Tribunal, ''Crimes Against Women: Proceedings of the International Tribunal'' later in 1976.

References

{{reflist Civil rights and liberties Women's rights Feminism and history

History

Content

Impact

See also

References