Feminists in NYC were outraged in 1993, when news of war crimes in the Former Yugoslavia brought to international attention the use of rape as a tool for violent ethnic cleansing. Prompted to respond, they began standing in silent weekly vigils in front of the United Nations, inspired by, and in solidarity with, the international women's peace movement active in Belgrade: Women in Black.

Started in Israel in 1988 by Israeli and Palestinian women protesting the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Women in Black stand in silent vigil against war and military aggression. The movement continued in Italy, France, and Spain during the Gulf War, and spread to the Former Yugoslavia where, since 1991, Women in Black in Belgrade have held weekly vigils in opposition to the Serbian regime's policies of nationalist aggression, exposing themselves to public and government harassment.

Women in Black NYC periodically have kept their silent vigils in the years following the Dayton agreement. In autumn, 1998, in the face of rising Serbian aggression in Kosovo, they renewed their weekly commitment. This lasted throughout the spring of 1999, during NATO's "humanitarian intervention" in Kosovo. Women In Black NYC, whose members hail from across the Former Yugoslavia as well as from the United States, now stand on a monthly basis outside the New York Public Library. Women in Black in Belgrade and NYC condemn both NATO's inhumane and fatal bombing of Serbian and Kosovar Albanian citizens, as well as the atrocities that continue on all sides.

On June 17th, Lepa Mladjenovic, a renowned feminist activist and co-founder of Belgrade Women in Black, will join members of Women in Black NYC to discuss the oppositional role this international peace coalition has taken in the Balkan conflicts. Ms. Mladjenovic, a self-described "radical feminist lesbian identified in Serbia as an anti-fascist feminist," is the co-founder of LABRIS, a lesbian rights group, and a counselor at both the Autonomous Women's Center Against Sexual Violence, and the SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims Of Violence.

After a year-long break, Little Miss Big Mouth, the women's performance series curated by Sara Valentine, is happy to again take the stage, now at Bluestockings Women's Bookstore. Little Miss Big Mouth (LMBM) is a vehicle for feminist artists, writers, musicians, poets and intellectuals to create community across genres, race, sexual orientation, and concern. By reaching out to NYC's vast network of international feminists, LMBM hopes to raise awareness about the conditions in which women caught in a seemingly endless cycle of war and violence really live. An evening of shared experience and knowledge, LMBM's mission is to encourage feminist practice towards a space of mutual understanding and support.

Site Last Updated: November 11, 2002 -for site information