Accent of Women

In 1994, close to a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus lost their lives in the Rwandan Genocide.  We commemorate the 25th anniversary by bringing you stories of hope and resilience. In the second half of the program, you'll hear a snippet of the event Fighting for Black Issues in a White Democracy , organised by First Nations Workers Alliance and Victorian Trades Hall Council .   

Two million people took to the streets in Hong Kong last week and they were joined by the organsied labour movement days later, in a general strike on Monday 19 June, in massive protests opposing a proposed extradition bill. These are the biggest protests in Hong Kong with approximately 2 thirds of the entire city participating. But what is the extradition bill, and why has this proposal brought s...

Rai Ismail and Abuk Nyandeng discuss Sudan's uprising & Bhakthi Puvanenthiran, the managing editor at Crikey, looks at last week's AFP raids and their implications for press freedom

Yemen is being described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, but hardly anyone knows or understands what’s going on. The Houthi movement, an Islamic religious-political-armed movement that emerged from Sa'dah in northern Yemen in the 1990s, took the capital, Sana’a in 2014. But who are they are? Is the war about them? To discuss this issue and the complexity of the Yemen war and catastr...

This week we bring you some interesting conversations about healing, self-compassion, and healthy egos. These conversations were part of the Siblings of the Yam workshops organized by Aisha Tramabas and Inez Tramabas of Negro Speaks of Books. The workshops are part of a month-long series called Black Tourmaline. 

May 18 is the anniversary of the Tamil genocide and the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This year, 2019, marks 10 years. On today’s program, we look at the situation for Tamils in Sri Lanka. On today's program, Nilanthi Kanapathipillai, a Tamil activist based here in Melbourne Victoria. and Shivani Jegarajah, human rights activist and barrister in Sri Lanka.

Samsung is a vehemently anti-union company. It has avoided all attempts to be held to account for the occupational deaths in its factory, a direct result of the chemicals used in the production of microchips that go into its electronic products. A compensation claim that is currently before the courts accidentally revealed that Samsung has been running surveillance on unionists and activists as a...

International Workers Day – May Day, is both celebrated used as a day of continuing struggle right across the world. In some parts of the world, taking to the streets is, in itself, an act of dissent and of resistance, and workers risk their lives just doing that. Iran is one such country where workers’ organising is heavily and brutally repressed. Hana is a labour movement activist, originally fr...

This week we listen to a panel discussion hosted by Allies Decolonising. The event, Sovereignty, Treaty and Constitutional Recognition brought together Aboriginal community members to discuss the treaty process and Aboriginal sovereignty. PanelistsLidia Thorpe is a Gunnai-Gunditjmara woman, living on Wurundjeri country in Melbourne’s north. She is a community worker, mother and grandmother. Lidia...

March 31st is Trans Day of Visibility, so today on Accent of Women, we are going to hand over to Sally Goldner, and her show Out of The Pan. On Sunday 31 March, Out of The Pan held a special, Trans Voices of Colour, and that’s what we bring you today.

Women of Color Speak Out is a collective of five climate justice, racial justice, gender justice and intersectional movement activists that came together in 2015 in Seattle during the ShellNo campaign. Those women formed Women of Colour Speak Out, out of a desire to create a space for women of color in the climate movement which, according to them, is dominated by white, cis men. In December 2015,...

This week we speak to Abbey Mag and Awak Kongor about their contributions to the South Sudanese community in Melbourne and the ethical risks of creating for/about community. Abbey Mag is a proud Dinka Bor woman of Junub Sudan, now formally known as South Sudan. Abbey’s interest lay in the use of social media and how it can be utilised as means of telling stories and changing narrative. Awak Rech K...

On today’s program, we speak with Fiori Giovanni motivational speaker, social commentator, and author of the about to be released life memoir, Defy Your Destiny. Fiori is a woman who uses her own story of survival to help others. Born in war torn Eritrea, in north east Africa, Fiori defies a destiny of being a child bride, being a child soldier, and eventually being a refugee, to make it in Austra...

On January 23, the US government sponsored a political coup in Venezuela, with right-wing politician Juan Guaidó’s self-swearing in as “interim president,” a stunt worked out in advance with the Trump administration. Washington immediately recognized Guaidó, an operative of the extreme right, US-funded Voluntad Popular party, who had been suddenly elevated to the presidency of the opposition-contr...

A recording of a fundraiser organised by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. The panel, Decolonising Solidarity - what can i do, was part of WAR's 7 days of resistance campaign. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to Tanya Day's family in the lead up to the Deaths in Custody trial in March. PanelistsCaroline Martin is a descendant of the Briggs family and Custodian of Boonwurrung Country, and...

Meriki Onus, is from the Gunai and Gunditjmara nations and one of the co-founders of Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (WAR).Meriki discusses the Invasion Day Rally and the legacy of Aboriginal activism. Check out WAR's website - Invasion Day,  for information about events, resources and how to donate/support. 

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is held on 3 December each year. This year’s theme is ‘Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality’. To mark this important date, Marisa Sposaro spoke to Jiselle Hanna about meaningful inclusion, self-determination and the accessibility of activist spaces. Marisa Sposaro, is a broadcaster at Community Radio 3CR, a...

Ayan Shirwa sits in on a debriefing session organized by Naarm Imagining Abolition. Naarm Imagining Abolition was organized by Meriki Onus and Idil Ali to address the inequity of capital. Through a series of fundraisers they were able to send a group of young people to Brisbane for the Imagining Abolition Conference organised by Sisters Inside.

Can you say whatever you want on social media? On today's program I chat to Tarneen Onus about the cost of speaking out against instituional racism. Later in the show Areej Nur sits down with me to make sense of our rights and responsibilities on Facebook. Areej Nur is a radio producer and educator Tarneen Onus is a Yigar Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta, Bindal and Torres Strait Islander. She has been a...

For Us By UsThis episode is a recording of a keynote speech by Antoinette Braybrook, who's an Aboriginal woman and the CEO of Djirra. Antoinette spoke at the Tranforming Democracy conference organized by the Federation of Community Legal Centres. Antoinette discusses why Aboriginal led organizations are better placed to address complex and multilayered issues like family violence. Content warning...

On today’s episode of Accent of Women, we look at the leading causes of gender inequality in the Australian workplace and why female dominated sectors are underpaid. We speak to Kara Keyes, the Australian Council of Trade Union’s Campaign Director, and Achut, who is an early childhood educator in Victoria. If you want to know more information about the Change the Rules Campaign, go to  https://cha...

This week on Accent of Women we speak with Corallanne Pohlman, a proud Murri woman from Far North Queensland. Corallanne is a Youth Justice Worker in custodial settings whose late ADHD diagnosis as a young adult led her to question the effectiveness of the current education system for Aboriginal children. Corallanne looks at the way the current schooling system impacts Aboriginal children and reim...

On today’s episode of Accent, we ask the old adage: can sticks and stones break our bones? We look at the impact biased reporting has had on African youth in Australia. We also speak to Amy Maquire, a Darumbal/South Sea journalist and researcher about anti-blackness and lessons African communities can learn from First Nation people. 

Is Newstart a new beginning? On today’s episode of Accent, we ask, does Newstart allowance provide for a basic living wage - or should the payment be raised to meet the changing living standards. To help us understand the challenges faced by job seekers on Newstart allowance, we spoke to Gemma Mahadeo, a Melbourne-based writer and musician. Gemma's family emigrated from England to Australia in 198...

The Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation has a newly elected President – Ou Tep Phallin who was formerly herself a beer promotions worker.  Listeners might recall the major campaign run back in 2016, in defence of women in teh beer promotions industry in Cambodia – this is where women are required to encourage tourists in night clubs to keep drinking, and are compelled to drink themselve...