Blood in the Mobile

Free film screening

7:30pm, Wednesday 7th March

St Barnabas Church, Holden Road, Woodside Park

This Fairtrade Fortnight, joins us as we explore the next challenge for ethical consumers - conflict free minerals.

We love our mobiles but the production of phones has a dark, bloody side.

Many of the minerals used to produce mobile  phones come from mines in the Eastern DR Congo. In buying these conflict minerals, the West is financing  a civil war that, according to human rights organisations, has been the bloodiest conflict since the  Second World War.

With footage from inside Congo’s mines and interviews with mobile giant Nokia, Blood in Mobile is a film about conflict, consumerism and collective responsibility. 

As well as the film, there will be Fairtrade nibbles and market stalls with merchandise from ethical and Fairtrade jewellery companies. 

It's going to be a great evening, so we hope you can join us!

For more information

http://tinyurl.com/jmbloodmobile

Screened with permission of Dogwoof Documentary.

Ending violence against women

"In the UK, 25% of women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Both women and men need to stand together to end this horrific and all pervasive reality that affects so many women and children."

In January, Justice Matters were honoured to have Nathalie from Restored visit and share her story with us. Through her own painful life experiences she now works to raise awareness of domestic violence, equipping groups like ours to be better prepared to spot and support those suffering in this way. Her presentation was frank and unflinching in its details, provoking some lively discussion from members and practical responses for many.

We heard about the First Man Standing campaign which calls men everywhere to be the first in their family, club, church or workplace to stand up and speak out about ending violence against women. By signing up to be a First Man Standing, men are committing to:

1. Respect all women everywhere and demonstrate love and support for women and children in your family.
2. Challenge other men by speaking out to their friends and colleagues about ending violence and negative attitudes towards women.
3. Join the cause and make a personal pledge; “never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women”

More information on the campaign can be found here.

Continuing the theme of ending violence against women, our pub chat in early February looked at the link between glamazon culture, cosmetic surgery and FGM. Labiaplasty is on the rise in the UK (inspired in no small part by the influence of the pornography industry on public perceptions of female beauty), but women from FGM practising countries are banned from having this type of surgery, begging the question: how can the same medical procedure be considered mutilation for some and fashionable for others? We learnt about the origins of FGM as a practise to identify female slaves and considered the parallels with the objectification of women in pornography, and we explored practical ways to empower teachers and others to protect children who they suspect may be at risk of being taken abroad to undergo FGM.

Thanks to those who came and shared in the discussions. More information on the issues around FGM can be found on the 28toomany website, which is run by Justice Matters leader Ann-Marie.

February Update

Thanks to those of you who have dragged yourselves out of your warm homes to join us at gatherings already this year. Both our January session on domestic violence and the last week's pub chat on FGM were as uncompromising as they were engaging. You will be able to see a report on these discussions on this blog shortly.

With Fairtrade Fortnight on the horizon (27 Feb - 11 March), our next two sessions will be focused on the issue of trade justice. On the 15th February we will be hearing from Colin about why he is passionate about Fairtrade and how we can all make a difference to the lives of those who produce many of the goods we take for granted. Then we'll be putting that information to good use planning ways to promote trade justice in our work places, families and communities during Fairtrade Fortnight. As ever, come along from 7pm for food and networking before the main session. Let us know if you are coming on the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/236630936419875/

On the 7th March we'll be doing something new and hosting a screening of the provocative documentary film, Blood in the Mobile. As well as the movie, which looks at the murky connection between the minerals that power our modern luxuries and the bloody conflict in DR Congo, there will be Fairtrade nibbles and stalls for ethical jewellery companies. This will be taking place in the Parish Hall at St Barnabas Church on Holden Road, Woodside Park from 7pm. The Facebook page for the event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/361364947215687/

We're excited about both sessions, so we hope you'll be able to join us.