[Brussels 21 February 2019] This year, on International Women’s Day, we organise an evening hosted together with the City of Brussels and isala asbl to mark International Women’s Day, 08 March 2018, as part of Women’s Rights Week (Semaine des Droits des Femmes-SDDF) at the City Hall of Brussels.
We are honoured to welcome as special guest Gail Dines, Professor, Anti-Pornography Activist, Lecturer and Author
Other speakers are:
Catriona Graham, Policy & Campaigns Officer, European Women’s Lobby
Yagmur Arica, Researcher, Fondation Scelles
Pierrette Pape, President, isala asbl
THE EVENT IS FULL however you can still join the waiting list here.
Find here the event on Facebook.
Walking through the city, reading a magazine, watching TV or scrolling online – no matter where you look, you will be bombarded with images of hypersexualized young women. Whether it be to sell a product, an idea, or a story – the impact of the message is the same: Women’s bodies are objects for corporate profit. We see the real, lived impact of this, ranging from sexist attitudes, male violence against women, and the undermining of women’s equality, and safety.
We want to challenge this status quo, examine why these ideas persist, and offer alternatives to truly empower women and girls. We want to make a clear statement that women’s and girls’ rights must be a priority. We do not exist for men’s pleasure!
These sexist attitudes are strengthened and normalized by the prevalence, and easy access to, online hardcore mainstream porn. Over forty years of research tells us that porn has a negative impact on the emotional, sexual and cognitive functioning of boys and men, and leads to sexual callousness, violence, lack of empathy towards women, and men’s decreased capacity for intimate and close relationships.
UPDATE:
We are really sad to announce Prof. Gail Dines will not be able to join us at the conference of March 8th due to health issues. However, she will be with us in her thoughts and send us great material to share with you.
We will be visioning an excerpt of the documentary “Pornland: How the Porn Industry has Hijacked our Sexuality” based on Gail Dines book.
Please note the conference will take place partly in English and partly in French. No live translation will be provided but we will make sure for the messages are repeated and accessible in both languages throughout the whole event.
TRIGGER WARNING: As we will be projecting part of Gail Dines documentary as well as other images, we would like to warn the audience the content might be very shocking and disturbing.
Please may we remind you if you made a reservation through Eventbrite and you changed up your mind, to let us know as fast as possible so we can inform people on the waiting list.
This event will explore the topics above, offer multiple solutions, and create a space for activist feminist discussion towards a more equal, empowered Brussels.
