Abstract

PIP: It is estimated that 80% of the people involved in grassroots environmental protection advocacy in the US are women. One such self-described "average" woman became an activist upon learning that her drinking water was contaminated with uranium leaking from a US Department of Energy (DOE) facility. When DOE officials tried to brush off her concerns and those of her neighbors at a hearing, she presented them with a jar of water from her kitchen tap and challenged them to drink it. They refused. Thus began a long, but ultimately successful, struggle to shut down the offending facility. The efforts of these US women are mirrored all over the world as women have embraced environmental justice as one of their causes. At recent UN conferences, activists have challenged conventional strategies of economic development as being incompatible with equity and environmental sustainability. They have also established that "women's rights are human rights" and added domestic violence and rape to the human rights agenda. The recent International Conference on Population and Development revolved around women's health and rights issues. Throughout the world, women activists have challenged and changed the social dynamics of families, households, communities, and societies in general. One reason for the increased success of women's groups is that they have adopted the tactics of mass communication, including the use of computers, radio, and film. Although the various efforts are arising from diverse circumstances, they have some things in common such as finding personal experience to be a major impetus for action, realizing the self-reinforcing empowering nature of advocacy work, breaking the silence surrounding culturally taboo topics, and challenging the status quo. Such challenges often lead to political backlash or to counter measures taken by fundamentalist religious groups who link improvements in women's status with societal ills. Despite these challenges, the global women's movement continues to grow and to seek democracy and social justice.