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Feminist writer Zoe Samudzi reminds us that “intersectionality is such a vital framework for understanding systems of power, because ‘woman’ is not a catchall category that alone defines all our relationships to power”.

A black woman may experience misogyny and racism, but she will experience misogyny differently from a white woman and racism differently from a black man.

The work towards women’s rights must be intersectional – any feminism that purely represents the experiences of white, middle class, able-bodied, heterosexual etc. women will fail to achieve equality for all.

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If more marginalized groups face higher levels of emotional taxation,  then an avoidance response may result, which could manifest in a cisgender-whitewashed agenda-setting effect.

If this process biases what movements focus on and who focuses on them, the movement becomes more cisgender-white not only compositionally but also in terms of its political agenda.

Consequently, marginalized groups and their political interests are marginalized both outside and inside the LGBTQI movement that represents them, creating a feedback loop in which LGBTQI activism is both more difficult for marginalized activists and disproportionately less representative of their interests.

These underlying dynamics may affect the way campaigns are run and the types of issues that are selected.

Indeed, activities that attract collective support, such as protests, may still render the participants vulnerable to persecution.

Activist organizers need to recognize that not all activists experience the emotional costs of participation equally, and they should take care to protect marginalized activists from disproportionate emotional stress to the extent possible.

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Milestones in Australia History that have impacted LGTBI Community

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Milestones in Australia History that have impacted LGTBI Community

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The colonial invasion of Australia 1788 set the laws that would govern homosexuality and gender for nearly 100 years.

In 1970, lesbian groups Campaigned Against Moral Persecution, demonstrating the earliest organization of LGBTQI activists in 1995

In response to organized groups such as these, laws began to change.

Military service was legalized in 1992 and sodomy was illegal until 1997, when it was overturned following a decision by the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Same-sex marriage was legalized in Australia in 2017.

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" For us, the future is being included in the Australian Grand Narratives" Emelda Davis

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As chairwoman for Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) we are a significant site of conscience as for the past decade we have worked diligently to preserve the memory of Australia’s Pacific Slave trade known as the Blackbirding of some 62,500 men, women and children.

With the support of the Coalition through not only my representation as a board member but access to a vast global like minded network

- ASSIPJ in collaboration have raised our social justice and political profile as a leading organisation for our peoples in bringing about meaningful change

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Gadigal people who are 1 of the clans of the Eora Nation here in Sydney Australia (Port Jackson)

This land we call Australia was never seeded and it always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

I would also like to acknowledge and remember our global communities who are challenged with this global pandemic and have lost loved ones.

International Coalition of Sites of Conscience are a worldwide network of – historic sites, museums and memory initiatives – that activate the power of places of memory to engage a deeper understanding of the past, inspiring action to shape a just future.

There are opportunities for members of the coalition to be supported through funding initiatives and global networking of like-mindedness.

Key solutions for our communities are to improve on best practices and building trust within the community and new partnerships.

Leadership is also key for our communities as we strive for self-determination and community-driven solutions.

The coalition offers dioalogue opportunities, strategic planning, program development and advocacy introducing members to a global network of similarly minded sites.

The Coalition includes more than 200 members in 55 countries

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Overview

From industrialized cities to rural indigenous settlements, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are subjected to a panoply of discriminatory practices and human rights abuses due to their gender, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sexual orientation. According to Amnesty International, 76 countries criminalize sexual acts between adults of the same sex, and in 10 countries the death penalty is the maximum sentence for sexual acts between same sex adults.

When it comes to gender-based discrimination and violence, there are laws, customs and beliefs in all regions of the world that deny women and girls their rights. Gender stereotypes and norms are responsible for much of the violence, exclusion and lack of opportunities that women and girls suffer around the world. UN Women reports that globally, an estimated 736 million women -- almost one in three -- have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). This figure does not include sexual harassment.

Furthermore, the global COVID pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women, girls and the LGBTI community leaving them particularly vulnerable to violations, abuse and economic inequality. In addition to higher levels of domestic violence during lockdowns, across the world autoritharian regimes and conservative political parties have tried to reinforce their power by justifying discrimination in the name of morality, religion or ideology leading to increasing social stigma, moral opprobrium, bias, discrimination and violence towards women, girls and LGBTI people.

Presentations, peer-to-peer exchanges, and case studies from our Reckoning with Systemic Racism (May 25-28, 2021) and Embracing Religious Diversity (July 27-29, 2021) global workshops showed that systemic discrimination is rooted in historic political, economic and socio-cultural systems that have perpetuated rather than eradicated inequality and exclusion; that discrimination needs to be understood in terms of intersectionality; and that at the heart of all forms of discrimination is prejudice based on concepts of identity and on a social pressure to identify with and adhere to a certain group.

From September 14-16, 2021, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC) is hosting “Challenging Bias Against Women, Girls and the LGBTI Community,” the third and final global workshop that comprise the 2021 Global Summit, “Building Global Capacity for Inclusive Democracies,” designed to support peer-to-peer learning, capacity building and project collaboration in promoting inclusivity and democratic values in our communities.

Building off the belief that sex and gender should not define or limit anyone’s role in society, “Challenging Bias Against Women, Girls and the LGBTI Community” will bring together Sites of Conscience and community members across the world to build allyship and develop joint-strategies to counter the systemic discrimination, ill-treatment and violence that women, girls and LGBTI people suffer today.

To that end, the workshop will offer a combination of global Sites of Conscience panels and case studies, trainings, and community-led sessions aimed to challenge the discriminatory laws and practices that oppress women, girls and the LGBTI people today. Sessions will draw attention to the multiplicity of factors and/or root causes of the violence and discrimination against people due to their gender, gender identity and sexual orientation with the end goal of developing effective projects and advocacy campaigns that promote tolerance, respect and equal rights for all.

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Silvia Fernández, Global Networks Program Director, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC) 

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Silvia Fernández, Global Networks Program Director, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC) 

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As the Global Networks Program Director, Silvia Fernández leads the Coalition’s programmatic work in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa, helping to build the capacity of more than 300 members in 65 countries through trainings and workshops, collaborative projects, cross-regional exchanges, and advocacy campaigns.

Throughout her career, Silvia has worked for and collaborated with a variety of public and private institutions dedicated to a spectrum of human rights work including education, advocacy and public engagement; has organized conferences and workshops on human rights, memorialization and transitional justice around the globe; and has spoken widely in international summits on memorialization and new methodologies for human rights education and social change.

Silvia has worked with the Coalition in various roles since 2008, providing overall support to its membership and leading the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects devoted to transforming sites of trauma into centers for positive social change.

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Emelda Davis, President, Australian South Islanders (Port Jackson), ICSC Board Member 

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Emelda Davis, President, Australian South Islanders (Port Jackson), ICSC Board Member 

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Ms. (Waskam) Emelda Davis is a second-generation Australian South Sea Islander who has worked for federal, state, community and grassroots organisations in Australia where she has exhibited diverse expertise in community development, education, training, media, and marketing.

As chairwoman of the Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) (ASSIPJ) since 2009 under Emelda’s leadership ASSIPJ have revived the focus on ‘the call for recognition’ for the descendants of Australia’s Blackbirding trade through the coordination of seven ‘Wantok’ national workshops between 2012-2015, and the development of the National Australian South Sea Islander Association constitution adopted at Tweed Heads New South Wales (NSW 2015).

Holding a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Technology Sydney Emelda was awarded partial funding through the Networking Tranby ARC Scholarship for her work on Children of the Sugar Slaves – ‘Black and Resilient.’ Emelda is founder of The Black Collective AU working group in 2018 and was key advocate in 2019 towards the establishment of the Australian Museums – Pacific Cultural Collection Advisory Panel of which she sits followed by the appointed to the Board of Trustees for the International Coalition Sites of Conscious and Sydney NSW – International Council on Monuments and Sites committee. More recently Emelda is a committee member for the COVID-19 response Health Directory for Pacific Communities coordinated by state representative NSW Council for Pacific Communities and Multicultural NSW.