casa de Charlotte Della Luna

Wednesday, March 19 was the 5 year anniversary of the U.S. invasion in Iraq.
The most recent newsletter from V-Day.org highlights a panel on the lives of women in war zones scheduled for the Superlove agenda for Friday, April 11.

This is a subject I am particularly interested in, having been witness to a Croatian woman-friend’s anguish during the Serb-Croatian War in the ’90’s. She immigrated to New Orleans as a teenager with her parents and still had family and friends there at the time of the war. My recent reading of A Thousand Splendid Suns, the story of two women’s lives in war-torn Afghanistan, reminded me again of the effects of war that are unique to women.

Here’s the blurb from the newsletter:

Yanar Mohammad, Founder of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), said recently in an interview, “The war made hundreds of women to lose their soul and dignity. Our lives have turned into a very delicate situation where being victims of violence isn’t important. We have to fight against this sad reality….”

As we move into the sixth year of war, it is important to continue to fight for an end to the brutal violence being perpetrated against the women of Iraq. It is important to continue to educate ourselves and others about these atrocities and to make our voices heard that this level of violence and death is not acceptable.

You can join Yanar in New Orleans where she will be taking part in a panel entitled FROM NEW ORLEANS TO THE WORLD: WOMEN IN CONFLICT ZONES at V-Day’s SUPERLOVE on Friday April 11. The panel will discuss women in Conflict Zones and disaster sites and will also include Carol Bebelle of New Orleans, Rada Boric of Bosnia, Christine Schuler Deschryver of Congo, Zoya of Afghanistan and Monique Wilson from the Philippines.

This is only one of many panels, exhibits and performances offered at Superlove, which is free of charge. The schedule is here.

Our own Katrina Warriors Network is working in collaboration with V-Day.org to present this amazing event in New Orleans.