INCITE! developed these anti-war materials after 9/11 and in the midst of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“War of Terror”:

The “War of Terror” intensifies violence against women of color, third world women, and our communities. Invading armies have never liberated women of color and third world women! Only we can liberate ourselves.

The “War of Terror” increases sexual assaults and rape against us

• Militaries have always sexually assaulted and raped women of color and third world women under attacke as part of their war and colonization strategy. Rapes were documented in 22 countries that suffered military invasions in the 1990’s.
• In the “U.S.,” the police and border patrol sexually assault women of color and immigrant third world women on a regular basis. The ‘War of Terror’ expands the power and numbers of border patrol and police. We suffer a higher risk of being sexually assaulted because we are arrested, detained, and locked up at higher rates than white women.
• In the ”U.S.,” women in the military suffer a greater risk of being sexually assaulted and raped. The attacker is usually a man in the same military.

The “War of Terror” increases poverty in our communities

• Third world women who survive invasion will live in a country/colony that has been devastated and impoverished and has little or no access to jobs and education.
• The government pours money into the military ($396 billion in ‘2003) and gives hand outs to oil and military contractors. This huge bill is paid by severe cuts in the budgets for women’s and family’s social services including welfare, housing, health, education and transportation.
• The excuse of a wartime economy and national security are used to cut tens of thousands of jobs from women of color and third world women and our communities, like the massive firings of immigrants in airline security.
• The Homeland Security Department can decertify or prevent any union operating under the department from forming if the union is seen as a threat to “national security.” Without unions, working conditions and salaries for poor folks and people of color will get worse

The “War of Terror” attacks our health

• Women of color and third world women are usually the ones who support, nurture, heal and feed our families; war makes this harder for us to do this:
• Women in countries under attack are killed or disabled. If they survive they will bear the brunt of caring or physically and psychologically disabled family.
• To a lesser extent, women of color in the “U.S.” will bare the brunt of caring for psychologically and physically disabled family who return because the military recruits men and women of color from poor communities at higher rates.
• Women in the countries under attack search for clean water because poisons from weapons pollute the soil and water, leading to starvation, cancers, and birth disabilities.

The “War of Terror” intensifies the legal attacks on us and our communities

The “War of Terror” was used as an excuse to pass the PATRIOT Act 1 and the Homeland Security Act. These new laws expand the power of the racist criminal injustice system.

• The laws give more legal power to do racial profiling, surveillance, sweeps, detentions and lock ups.
• The PATRIOT Act removes our rights to equal protection under the law, to due process, to legal counsel, to attorney/client confidentiality and to protection from search and seizure without probable cause is we are seen as a threat to “national security.” These laws are mostly attacking South Asian, Arab, and Muslim communities and immigrants from Muslim countries but they also have and will attack all people of color.
• Immigrants can be denied re-entry into the “U.S.,” locked-up and deported with no evidence if they are seen as a threat to “national security.”
• Women of color and third world women are also at risk for these attacks and often suffer the added burden of having to solely support their families when men are detained, deported and incarcerated.

The “War of Terror” increases domestic and hate violence against us

People in the military are trained to kill. They are trained to think of force and aggression as ‘manly’ and weakness and submission as ‘womanly.’ TV, movies, ‘newspapers’ and magazines spin the same message in war and police stories. Soldiers are seen as ‘manly’ and the third world people under attack as ‘womanly.’ This breeds racist and exist hatred and violence against the people surviving invasion and anybody that is not ‘super-aggressive manly.’

• Queer (LBGT) folks and anyone who isn’t seen as a subservient woman or aggressive man are more likely to be violently attacked.
• Hate violence increases against members of the community being invaded who live in the “U.S.”
• Women of color in the military and other parts of the police state have to act as violently aggressive as men or be afraid of being attacked themselves.
• Men in the military are 2 to 3 times more likely to be abusive to their partners. Because people of color make up a larger part of the military than the general population, we are at greater risk to be violently abused.

Join us in STOPPING the “War of Terror” and its attacks on our communities!

Together we are building a movement to end violence against women of color, third world women and our communities!

The new “War of Terror” intensifies the attacks on us, though the attacks are waged at different levels and in different ways throughout the world. It sets out to colonize our Arab, Latin American, Asian and African sisters and brothers.

We must strengthen our resistance against the increased attacks on us here in the “U.S.” and stand in struggle and antiracist solidarity with Iraqis, Palestinians, Colombians, Syrians, Iranians and whoever are chosen as targets of the brutal and terrorist “U.S.” government. We have and will always resist colonization!