Interview: Christine Crowstaff, Founder of Women For A Change

Chris Crowstaff lives in South West England with her husband Andrew and has founded a global outreach called Women For A Change (WFAC). Chris has stated, “This is the most important work I have done in my life.” Her message of empowerment for women is inspirational with heart that reaches out to raise awareness and give voices to those who have not been able to do so themselves. Part of the mission statement of WFAC, which is a non-profit organization, reads, “We campaign to improve policy and attitudes relating to women and girls. By listening to women who suffer from oppression and injustice throughout the world, we ensure that the voices of the silent are heard.” The following is my interview with Christine Crowstaff:

Cher: Can you tell us a little about your background?

Chris: My Mum comes from a whole line of activists and radicals, many of them women, who in some way sacrificed their lives for something they believed in. Many of them were actually missionaries. I’m proud of the fact that they were willing to face huge challenges in doing so. I’ve been brought up on the story that we are descended from Anne Askew of Henry VIII’s time, who was the only woman tortured in the Tower of London. She was eventually burned at the stake. She was a radical feminist at the time, preaching about the ‘spirit within’ and women’s rights and handing out literature. I’m not sure we’re really descended from her, but the story made a big impact on me.

Cher: Was there a personal incident in your life that drove your activism in Women For A Change?

Chris: At my most radical phase I lived for 5 years in West Cork, Ireland. Three and a half years in a caravan on rented land with no electricity. Our son was born there by candlelight. It was a very meditational life. I read as much as I could of Taoism, Buddhism, Chang-Tzu, the Upanishads, Krishna Murti, etc! I adored our lifestyle. Then our third baby died at birth. My husband got seriously mentally ill for a while. I got divorced and later remarried to the lovely Andrew. We spent our honeymoon in the Middle East and then Uganda. We now live in the countryside in South West England. Regarding women, my baby dying rubbed it in for me completely that however much we want to be the same as men, we are different. We have an inherent sense of responsibility, of cause and effect. What for a man can be a fleeting moment of pleasure, for a woman can be a life-changing event.

Cher: Specifically, who are “the voices of the silent” you address in your Mission statement?

Chris: Women of the outlying villages in DR Congo, who Bahati (wife of Mugisho Theophile) our DR Congo representative is visiting. When Andrew and I visited Uganda it was arranged for us to visit women’s groups in outlying areas. Really outlying. I didn’t know such places still existed, places where we were the first white people they’d seen; where they rarely got any visitors; where they’d never even visited the nearest town. They had no radio, no electricity. Their needs are massive. They have very little knowledge of how the outside world lives.

We are working with a very young woman (who came across our site) who underwent FGM (female genital mutilation), and who didn’t know till a month ago that FGM is controversial, though she still has nightmares about the experience. We are also working to help a woman in India whose twin daughters were, and still are, victims of threatened gendercide. For women to tell their stories, and be listened to and validated, is in itself empowering and therapeutic. By connecting women with each other, there is so much which can be done to change the situation. In fact, a better question might be ‘whose are the voices heard’! Because I think there are very few women in the world who feel their voices are truly heard. We’ve only to look at the massive under-representation of women at major conferences, women involved in conflict resolution, women leaders.

Cher: Can you cite some specific cases in which women have been empowered by this activism?

Chris: There is a lovely Mother Theresa quote which says, “People are hungrier for love than they are for bread.” It is so easy for women to feel alone in their struggles. For women to simply know that other women care about them is also, in itself, empowering. Our bi-line is connect, support and empower. In Uganda, for example, we connected Grace and her women’s group with NGO’s who meet weekly in a hospital there. In the Middle East, Israeli women have been connecting through our network with each other and with Palestinian women.

Cher: What are some of the other organizations with which you collaborate?

Chris: It is important to connect groups and organizations to raise their profile so that people know where to turn for help and so the funders know they are there, and to campaign for more funding to go to such organizations (in line with the UN 1993 resolution—which forms the basis for our major 2011 campaign). Where there are no existing organizations or groups, we help women set them up. Such a group is our Affiliate in Cameroon, WFAC Buea—a group of empowered young Cameroonian women based at Buea University. They deal with highly sensitive issues like the horrendous process of  ‘breast ironing’ to keep women’s breasts smaller and flatter. We have Associate groups in Rwanda, Kenya, Pakistan, India and the USA. We also have key volunteers based in Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, Switzerland and Nigeria, to name a few.

Cher: How can people join your efforts to combat injustice toward women?

Chris: Everyone can do something. Everyone who supports our campaign needs to endorse it. For those who are online, that is easy. To reach those who are not online, we have petition forms which can be printed off. For people who have more time, we have an online volunteers centre. Our volunteers have the chance to get further involved with our campaign by helping to get endorsements, by advising about advocacy, by helping to collect material for our webzine, and many other ways. Women can join our online ethical social network, WFAC World, which has over 700 members, and which is a very ‘safe space for women’ to offer each other help.

Cher: I see there is a donate button on your site, and that you are a non-profit organization. Can you tell us how that money will be used to combat these issues?

Chris: Donations for our campaign can be made through our website via Paypal. All donations for our work go into one central fund in the name of The Women For A Change International Foundation, the NGO behind the campaign. Donations are used for our infrastructure. Running costs are very low indeed, as is our ‘carbon footprint.’  Once our running costs are covered, then funds will go toward employing staff, creating ethical employment for disadvantaged women, expanding our databases, further promoting our Associate groups and setting up WFAC chapters in other countries.

I thank Christine for taking her valuable time and consenting to this interview. She is a remarkable and magnanimous person who gives selflessly of her time in her efforts to empower women worldwide. Please take a moment to look at the WFAC widget here. If you have one hour to donate or some interest in furthering this cause, please contact Christine Crowstaff through that site.

—cher