The Wassila network (french: réseau Wassila) or l'Association contre les violences faites aux femmes et aux enfants or Avife (''Association against violence done to women and children'') is a network of Algerian citizens' groups and institutions that defend

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, established in October 2000.

Creation and structure

The Wassila network was created in October 2000, near the end of the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War ( ar, rtl=yes, الْحَرْبُ الْأَهْلِيَّةُ الجَزَائِرِيَّةُ, al-Ḥarb al-ʾAhlīyah al-Jazāʾirīyah) was a civil war in Algeria fought between the Algerian government and various Is ...

, a context within which women's rights were under attack both practically and legally. The network is named after a girl called Wassila who was adopted and abandoned and became a single mother. In 2011, the network included 28 citizens' associations and institutions. Member groups in 2013 included SOS Children's Villages, Atustep, Tharwa Fadhma n’Soumer, the ''Association pour l'émancipation des femmes'', Sarp, Amusnaw, Djazaïrouna, medical and mental health professionals, lawyers and human rights activists.

Aims

The Wassila network aims to obtain equal rights for women both in the legal system and in fighting against rape and other violence against women, including "massive marital violence". The network also handles sexual abuse of children. According to the Wassila network, 80% of its documented cases concern violence within the home.

Actions

The Wassila network published a "White paper of testimonies" of women victims of violence. According to the network, immolation, torture and murder became commonplace against Algerian women. The network has three branches of action: developing practical help for victims (including a telephone support helpline and legal aid), training of medical, legal and media personnel, and legal approaches (include criminal law against sexual violence). The network received between 800 and 2000 calls for help on its telephone helpline during 2011–2013. The Wassila network published a statement following the "punitive expedition" attacks on women workers in

Hassi Messaoud Hassi Messaoud ( ar, حاسي مسعود) is a town in Ouargla Province, eastern Algeria, located southeast of Ouargla. As of 2008 it had a population of 45,147 people, up from 40,360 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of 1.1%, the lowe ...

, known for the 2001

Hassi Messaoud mob attacks against women Hassi Messaoud controversy (mob attacks against women) (in French: L'affaire des femmes violées de Hassi Messaoud) refers to many especially violent attacks against women living in the city of Hassi Messaoud in Algeria in July 2001 and the continui ...

. The network stated that neither local nor national authorities protected the women from a systematic pattern of violence.

Hirak

On 16 March 2019, during the "Hirak"

2019 Algerian protests Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Musi ...

, Saadia Gacem and Faïka Medjahed, members of the Wassila network, together with other women, signed a declaration establishing Femmes algériennes pour un changement vers l'égalité (''Algerian women for a shift towards equality''), calling for "full and complete equality between female and male citizens, without distinction of gender, class, regional origin of beliefs", announcing the creation of a "feminist square french: carré féministe which will be located each Friday in front of the main gate of the Algiers 1 University starting from 13:00" and calling for "taking into account equal representation of women in any citizens' initiative aiming to solve" the issues of the Hirak protests. Later during the Hirak protests, an alliance of trade unions, citizens' groups and individuals, the

Dynamiques de la société civile The Dynamiques de la société civile are an alliance of trade unions, citizens' associations and individuals created during the 2019 Algerian protests, ''Hirak'', in a meeting on 15 June 2019. The Dynamiques stated that they would coordinate with ...

, was created in a meeting on 15 June 2019, with the aim of coordinating with other Algerian citizens' networks in fundamentally reorganising the Algerian state. The Wassila network withdrew from the 15 June conference, on the grounds that the meeting "'did not stated clearly and unambiguously the fundamental and non-negotiable political principle of equality between men and women.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , last1 =Djerbal , first1 =Dalila Iamarene , last2= Oussedik , first2= Fatma , title= Le réseau Wassila, un collectif algérien pour les droits des femmes et l'égalité , trans-title = , publisher =

Cairn.info Cairn.info is a French-language web portal, founded in 2005, containing scholarly materials in the humanities and social sciences. Much of the collection is in French, but it also includes an English-language international interface to facilita ...

, journal = Nouvelles Questions Féministes , date = 2014-10-16 , volume = 33 , issue =2 , pages = 136 , url = https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelles-questions-feministes-2014-2-page-136.htm , doi =10.3917/nqf.332.0136 , access-date = 2019-12-21 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191209205546/https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelles-questions-feministes-2014-2-page-136.htm , archive-date= 2019-12-09 , url-status=live , doi-access = free {{cite news , last1= Belkadi , first1= Mehdia , language=fr , title= Le réseau Wassila, un peu de douceur dans un monde de brutes , trans-title = The Wassila network, a bit of softness in a world of brutes , date= 2011-11-25 , newspaper=

El Watan ''El Watan'' (Arabic:الوطن, meaning ''the Homeland'') is an independent French-language newspaper in Algeria. History and profile The paper was founded in 1990 after Omar Belhouchet and nineteen colleagues left the FLN government-owned ne ...

, url= https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/le-reseau-wassila-un-peu-de-douceur-dans-un-monde-de-brutes-25-11-2011 , access-date=2019-12-21 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191220020747/https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/le-reseau-wassila-un-peu-de-douceur-dans-un-monde-de-brutes-25-11-2011 , archive-date= 2019-12-20 , url-status=live {{cite news , title= Le Réseau Wassila atteint un record de 792 appels , language=fr , trans-title = The Wassila network reaches a record of 792 calls , date= 2013-08-28 , newspaper= Liberté (Algeria) , url= https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/le-reseau-wassila-atteint-un-record-de-792-appels-194122 , access-date=2019-12-21 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191220021655/https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/le-reseau-wassila-atteint-un-record-de-792-appels-194122 , archive-date= 2019-12-20 , url-status=live {{cite web , language =fr , title= Algérie: le Réseau Wassila se bat contre les violences faites aux femmes , trans-title = Algeria: the Wassila network fights against violence done to women , website=

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

, date =2016-09-12 , url = http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20160912-algerie-wassila-hassi-messaoud-femmes-victimes-violences , access-date = 2019-12-21 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191220021526/http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20160912-algerie-wassila-hassi-messaoud-femmes-victimes-violences , archive-date= 2019-12-20 , url-status=live {{cite news , language = fr , title= Dynamiques de la Société civile: la rencontre du 24 août, une "solution salutaire" , trans-title = Dynamiques de la Société civile: the 24 August meeting, "a good solution" , date= 2019-08-19 , newspaper=

Le Matin d'Algérie (''The Sunrise of Algeria'') is an Algerian online newspaper. According to the newspaper's self-description on its website, it aims to continue in the tradition of the paper newspaper, , arbitrarily suspended by the Algerian authorities in Jul ...

, url= https://www.lematindalgerie.com/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-la-rencontre-du-24-aout-une-solution-salutaire , access-date=2019-12-09 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191209010957/https://www.lematindalgerie.com/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-la-rencontre-du-24-aout-une-solution-salutaire , archive-date= 2019-12-09 , url-status=live {{cite news , last1= Iddir , first1= Nadir , language =fr , title= Dynamiques de la société civile : Cap sur la conférence nationale , trans-title = Dynamiques de la société civile: towards a national meeting , date= 2019-11-17 , newspaper=

, url= https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-cap-sur-la-conference-nationale-17-11-2019 , access-date=2019-12-15 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191215220523/https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-cap-sur-la-conference-nationale-17-11-2019 , archive-date= 2019-12-15 , url-status=live {{cite web , last1 =Chenaoui , first1 =Zahra , language = en , title=En Algérie, des organisations de la société civile se mettent d'accord pour une " transition de six mois à un an " , trans-title = In Algeria, civil society organisations agree to a "six-to-twelve month transition" , website=

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

, date =2019-06-16 , url =https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/06/16/en-algerie-des-organisations-de-la-societe-civile-se-mettent-d-accord-pour-une-transition-de-six-mois-a-un-an_5476910_3212.html , access-date = 2019-12-20 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216133515/https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/06/16/en-algerie-des-organisations-de-la-societe-civile-se-mettent-d-accord-pour-une-transition-de-six-mois-a-un-an_5476910_3212.html , archive-date= 2019-12-16 , url-status=live {{cite news , language =fr , title= Femmes algériennes pour un changement vers l'égalité , trans-title = Algerian women for shifting to equality , date= 2019-03-21 , newspaper=

, url= https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/femmes-algeriennes-pour-un-changement-vers-legalite-21-03-2019 , access-date=2019-12-22 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191222155534/https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/femmes-algeriennes-pour-un-changement-vers-legalite-21-03-2019 , archive-date=2019-12-22 , url-status=live {{cite news , last1= Ouitis , first1=Leïla , language =en , title= Feminists on the front lines of the Algerian uprising , date= 2019-09-06 , newspaper=

ROAR Magazine ''ROAR Magazine'' was an independent publication that described itself as a “journal of the radical imagination.” Its stated aim was to “provide grassroots perspectives from the front-lines of the global struggle for real democracy.” Foun ...

, url= https://roarmag.org/essays/feminism-algerian-uprising/ , access-date=2019-12-22 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191216133215/https://roarmag.org/essays/feminism-algerian-uprising/ , archive-date= 2019-12-16 , url-status=live Feminist organisations in Algeria Child-related organisations in Algeria 2019–2021 Algerian protests