Women and migration

The ninth and final workshop in the Making the Connections series saw Maggie and Laurie (Cohen) organise a day on the theme of women and migration. The morning set the scene with presentations by Usha Sood (on the law as it effects, and can sometimes work for asylum women); Marsha Meskimmon on the work that art can do to challenge stereotypes of sexuality, gender, nationality and ethnicity; Ruth Lister on the challenges of global citizenship and Hildegard Dumper on the numbers of women asylum seekers. The afternoon offered five workshops coordinated by local arts groups and activist groups working with women asylum seekers, allowing participants to discuss (and experience!) ways in which arts can be used as a means of challenging the forms of oppression, exploitation and destitution that effect many asylum seeking women. The outcome, to be published on the Making the Connections website as a Manifesto for Women's rights within the Asylum system. A good day, and a nice way to round off our network series in Refugee week. Two weeks and counting until the Final Conference!