Charter of Feminist Principles cont.
INDIVIDUAL ETHICS
As individual feminists, we are committed to and believe in gender equality
based on feminist principles which are:
• The indivisibility, inalienability and universality of women’s
human rights.
• The effective participation in building and strengthening progressive
African feminist organizing and networking to bring about
transformatory change.
• A spirit of feminist solidarity and mutual respect based on frank,
honest and open discussion of difference with each other.
• The support, nurture, and care of other African feminists, along with
the care for our own well-being.
• The practice of non-violence and the achievement of
non-violent societies.
• The right of all women to live free of patriarchal oppression,
discrimination and violence.
• The right of all women to have access to sustainable and just
livelihoods as well as welfare provision, including quality health care,
education, water and sanitation.
• Freedom of choice and autonomy regarding bodily integrity
issues, including reproductive rights, abortion, sexual identity and
sexual orientation.
• A critical engagement with discourses of religion, culture, tradition
and domesticity with a focus on the centrality of women’s rights.
• The recognition and presentation of African women as the subjects
not the objects of our work, and as agents in their lives
and societies.
• The right to healthy, mutually respectful and fulfilling
personal relationships.
• The right to express our spirituality within or outside of organized religions.
• The acknowledgment of the feminist agency of African women which
has a rich History that has been largely undocumented and ignored.
VPS II
. 136
INSTITUTIONAL ETHICS
As feminist organisations we commit to the following:
• Advocating for openness, transparency, equality and accountability in
feminist- led institutions and organisations.
• Affirming that being a feminist institution is not incompatible with being
professional, efficient, disciplined and accountable.
• Insisting on and supporting African women’s labour rights, including
egalitarian governance, fair and equal remuneration and maternity policies.
• Using power and authority responsibly, and managing institutional
hierarchies with respect for all concerned. We believe that feminist spaces
are created to empower and uplift women. At no time should we allow our
institutional spaces to degenerate into sites of oppression and undermining
of other women.
• Exercising responsible leadership and manage