While the WSF itself is a progressive undertaking, it still is, unfortunately, a male-dominated space, with the women’s movements initially inhabiting the margins. Candido Grzybowski, member of the WSF organising committee and Director of the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses (IBASE), lamented the Forum’s limitation. “Women were just 43 percent of WSF delegates, although they make up over 50 percent of the world’s population!... Women are a ‘minority’ created by ourselves within civil society. With respect to that, there is no point in blaming capitalism, neoliberalism, globalisation, exclusionary states, etc. This is a major problem that is engendered, developed, and maintained in the culture of civil society itself.” On top of this marginalisation, the feminist movements—with their diverse perspectives, locations and experiences—are already faced with multiple challenges of globalisation, fundamentalism, war and militarisation. In the current geo-political context, there was a need to understand these phenomena that pose threats to women’s rights and to discuss the many dimensions of our identities and struggles as women, as well as to engage much more with other global social justice movements. Transcending national boundaries, the FD is an effort towards strengthening the feminist movements’ abilities to organise and resist, to soften or even reverse the blows of globalisation. --(from/ Building Global Solidarity through Feminist Dialogues, Mari M. Santiago, Women in Action, 2:2004)/

In having the meeting before the WSF the FD hopes to achieve a two-way political exchange: firstly, to effectively intervene in the broader WSF process as feminists organizing for change, and to establish strategic and politically relevant links with other social movements. As a site of resistance, the WSF is one of the most dynamic spaces available to feminist activists and it is important to participate in it while at the same time retaining our autonomy within the FD. The FD can be a platform that strengthens diversities as well as common politics.


Link to FD website <http://feministdialogues.isiswomen.org>