Interview with Feminist Author & Activist Andrea Gunraj

I first met Andrea when I served on the Board at METRAC in 2002, and worked with her along with the great staff of this wonderful grassroots organization for 2 years.This dynamic articulate woman is a feminist, activist, author and a positive force behind empowering communities.

I have separated the interview into 3 parts.  In Part 1, Andrea gives us an idea of her work at METRAC; Part 2 speaks about Women & Empowerment; and the Third part speaks about Activism & What it means to be a "Feminist".

Q.What is METRAC all about?

 The Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC) is a community-based, not-for-profit organization that works to prevent and end violence against diverse women, youth, and children. The organization started in 1984 in response to a series of rapes and murders of women in public parks. Ever since, we’ve been engaging in public outreach and education, legal information, training, safety initiatives, policy reform, and research to build the capacity of communities to prevent gender-based violence.

Q. How long have you worked at METRAC and what role have you played in eradicating violence against women and children?

I have worked at METRAC since 2001 and have played many different roles – summer student, co-coordinator of the Respect in Action peer youth violence prevention program, safety audit coordinator, Community Safety Night coordinator, and Outreach Director. In all of these roles, I have tried to support youth and communities in the things they have already been doing to build safety, rights, and respect for women, youth, and children – mostly, I’ve learned from diverse community members themselves and my coworkers and community partners, always with the intent of taking the lead from them.

 

Q. What are some of the challenges of working from an anti-oppression framework?  What are the rewards?

A lot of people use the term “anti-oppression”, but it’s not just a service delivery model. To engage with it, you have to be willing to evaluate your own power and come to terms with your own experiences of oppression. It’s reflexive, and that can make it difficult and painful at times. I remember when I first began to understand how racism worked in my life, how it’s so often internalized and causes racialized folks to devalue ourselves and accomplishments.

That process of coming to terms with oppression is personally difficult. What was also difficult was being challenged on my heterosexist ideas of what I thought was “typical” behaviour for women and men – that’s hard as well, admitting the areas where I hold power and how it can prevent me from appreciating the experiences of folks who are marginalized in different ways. It’s an ongoing process; you never stop learning, reflecting, getting challenged, and coming to terms. But I don’t think of it in terms of rewards. For me, it’s necessity – anyone who purports to want to make a difference in our communities can’t neglect the utility and strength of working from an anti-oppression framework.

Q. Tell me about Metrac's blog...how has the community responded to this?

Megaphone Diaries, METRAC’s staff and volunteer blog, was started in September 2009. It features the voices of staff members and volunteers, speaking personally on different issues every week. The response has been quite positive so far in sheer numbers – in a short time, we’ve built a decent readership that seems to be growing. But there’s more to come, I hope. More engagement and cross-commenting and learning.

Q. It must be difficult to encompass so many different ideas, and cultural beliefs, how does METRAC reach out to all the different communities out there?

There’s often a perception that different ideas and cultural beliefs makes it “hard” in a Canadian context to work to prevent violence. I don’t buy it. It’s not difficult when the communities you’re seeking to support are genuinely leading the way and working as your partners. What can be difficult is keeping yourself in check and recognizing that your own experiences aren’t the end all and be all, especially in areas where you hold power and privilege – but that’s what working in an anti-oppressive manner is all about. Taking yourself and your experiences out of the centre and appreciating where you can and must learn.

Part 2: Women & Empowerment

Q. Mary Wollstonecraft once said (speaking about women), "I do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves".  Is it possible for women to take the reigns and navigate themselves within a patriarchal society and successfully stand up for each other?

I believe women are constantly doing just that – even in the face of barriers and challenges, working in contexts that are often set up against them, they are doing what have to do to support themselves and each other. It’s not always appreciated, but how is it that women are surviving, even in the midst of less money, vulnerability to violence, a lot of disrespect, and less power? They are navigating, doing what they have to do. As organizations and people who want to act and make a difference, then, I don’t believe it’s our job to “empower” women – that’s assuming they’re disempowered and that it’s somehow their fault the world is the way it is. I think our job is to pay attention and recognize where women are empowering themselves, offering support in whatever ways we can.

Q. Do you think the gains from the women's movements all over the world are impacting so-called patriarchal systems, does it make a difference?

Canada is a great example of a patriarchal system that is slowly changing because of women’s movements. For example, it wasn’t too long ago when a man could legally rape his wife. But women lobbied and argued for it to be changed. Now that many laws and policies are getting better, we need to go beyond the letter of the law and pay attention to how they’re being applied – there’s still a long way to go, especially for women and girls “on the margins” who get even less rights and respect.

Women are making a difference everywhere. For example, a women’s organization named WiLDAF-Ghana with whom METRAC is partnering with through the support of Canadian Crossroads International recently lobbied to get domestic violence legislation in place. It’s a groundbreaking set of laws that they’ve worked hard to establish, and Canada should take the example from Ghana.

Q.Is it important to trace the journey of feminism, or do you think we (in the present) can simple step into the role of activist and move on from whatever social location we inhabit?

Many people have said that you can’t move into your future without knowing your past. It’s important to respect and understand the past and, at the same time, learn from past mistakes so they don’t get repeated – feminism is no different.

Q.We heard about the waves of feminism what wave are we in right now, and what is the new fight (is there one)?

I’m not that knowledgeable on the “waves” – I’ve heard people speak of “third wave” feminism and “post-feminism” and such. No one would mistake me for a women’s studies major.

What I do believe, though, is that we’re at a point of crisis and opportunity. I believe there is a crisis, because diverse women and girls in Canada and beyond are facing a create deal of disrespect, violence, oppression, and stereotyping every day. And in our current cultural imagination, we love to think that it’s in the past, that everyone is “equal” now, that the problem is “over there” amongst “those people”. It’s a strange kind of denial, considering the fact that, for example, Muslim women are continually berated and under the microscope and there are so many missing and murdered Aboriginal women in this country.

But I also believe we’re at a point of opportunity because consciousness is rising, slowly but surely, at home and around the world – and as Incite! has said, “the revolution will not be funded”. I’ve learned that opportunities for change don’t rest with organizations and institutions; they rest with women and diverse communities working together for things they really want and need.

Q.What are some features of successful activism when dealing with women's and children's rights?

As I’ve said before, I believe that paying attention to where women and children are moving and supporting them in what they’re already doing is best. Of course, an anti-oppression framework is important. I also believe that a strong focus on supporting young women in activism is key, because they are often at higher risk of all forms of violence and their voices are so essential to making a difference in our world today.

Part 3: Activism & The Definition of Feminism

Q. How would you describe your journey to where you are today, are you a feminist? Does it matter?

I am a feminist and I do think it matters. There are folks who say, “I’m not a feminist, but I believe in women’ s rights …” I always think, “You’re not a feminist but you really believe in women’s rights? Well, is there ever such a thing, in truth?”

But in some ways, I don’t think it matters as much as we sometimes go on about. Because the reality is that feminism as it has been conceptualized in this western, colonial context has traditionally ignored women who are not white, middle class, heterosexual, adult, and so on. And that “traditional feminism” has little to say about how we experience our world and communities, how important justice for all is to so many of us, how much we love the people in our lives and long to bring them into our struggles, how we incorporate our spiritualities and faiths into what we do, and so on. The baggage of traditional feminism has been a difficult one for many of us, including myself.

Speaking very personally, I’m a feminist and I believe in rights for all women and girls because I’m a Christian and I believe in God. Some folks might be critical of that, from all sides of the spectrum. But that’s my journey, my life, my day-to-day joy and peace. I’ve never been a “traditional feminist”, I suppose.

Q. Often times men/boys blame women/girls by saying that they dress, speak or act a certain way, thus they deserve abuse or assault. How do you respond to this?

I’d simply say that blaming the victim is never okay – that lets those who abuse and assault off of the hook way too easily. Those who hurt others need to take responsibility for their actions, and we’re doing no favours by placing the blame on women for their dress, talk, and actions. Abuse is never deserved and never an appropriate or suitable response. The minute we start to blame the victim, we’re making excuses for those who abuse and setting the bar for respecting each other way too low.

Q.If you could give simple words of wisdom to a young lady/girl, what would they be?

Instead of venturing to give advice or wisdom, I hope I would listen to that young woman. I’d prefer to be open to what she has to say, offer my support if she asked for it, and learn something from her.

Q. I have heard many men say that women and children have all the rights and that men have no rights, how would you answer to this?

You don’t have to look further than the facts. Regardless of our personal perceptions of the way things are or how much “girl power” stuff we watch on television, the fact remains that women make less money than men for doing the same jobs. Women most often have the “double duty” of taking care of dependents and earning a paid wage at the same time to survive. Women, young women in particular, are more vulnerable to sexual assault, stalking, and harassment. Women with disabilities are abused in even higher numbers. Women and girls, particularly those who face further marginalization because of who they are, are much more likely to feel afraid on the street, on public transit, at school, and even in their own homes.

I could go on. That’s not to say that some men don’t experience abuse, oppression, and denial of rights. Especially men who are marginalized by factors such as their race, class, gender identities, ability, sexuality, age – they often experience various forms of oppression in our society. But the fact remains that being a man in this society entails certain privileges, and being a woman or child, particularly a girl, entails certain experiences of oppression. Women, youth, and children simply don’t get the rights and respect they deserve.

When we’re facing abuse and oppression and feeling the pain it brings, it can be really hard for us to see the power we have in some areas of our lives. When men say, “You women have all the power”, I believe that’s often a result of feelings of powerlessness in their own lives. I don’t want to minimize it. For me, the key point is not to get caught up in our personal perceptions but to appreciate the aggregate realities, contextualizing our lives in the bigger picture. That way, we can start to do something about things that are much bigger than us in a fair, authentic way. And everybody, men included, needs to be on board and involved in ending this denial of rights and respect that women and girls tend to experience in the “bigger picture”.

Q. How can everyone become active on women's rights issues or become involved in Metrac's work?

There are many things people can do to become involved in METRAC’s work – donate, become a member, and apply to become a volunteer. Information about all these things can be found on our website. And on top of that, it’s important to share your support of the work with others so they will want to become involved too – people generally care about organizations and causes that other people they know care about.

But women’s rights isn’t just about organizations. We need to, in our own lives, do more to support women we know and encourage our children, friends, and family to care more about what women and girls go through. And we need to call our political representatives to account for what they’re doing to build women’s rights and end gender-based violence – I believe that if they’re silent about the issue or can’t speak to it, they don’t really deserve women’s votes, at the least.

We’re more than 50% of the population. And there are so many things men can do to be allies as well – men can use the male privilege they have in an active way to support women and encourage other men to be allies.

Visit METRAC :
http://www.metrac.org/

METRAC - Megaphone Diaries
http://metrac.wordpress.com/