Women's liberation movement in Oceania

rdf:langString Women's liberation movement in Oceania

rdf:langString The women's liberation movement in Oceania was a feminist movement that started in the late 1960s and continued through the early 1980s. Influenced by the movement which sought to make personal issues political and bring discussion of sexism into the political discourse in the United States and elsewhere, women in Australia and New Zealand began forming WLM groups in 1969 and 1970. Few organisations formed in the Pacific Islands, but both Fiji and Guam had women affiliated with the movement. Quickly adherents spread throughout Australia and New Zealand. Their primary issue was autonomy for women in all spheres of life, including focus on child care centers, equal opportunity for and pay and employment, objectification of women, reproductive rights, sexuality and sexual abuse. Most importantly, they wanted a fundamental change in the way society perceived women. Rejecting that reforming existing laws would change women's place in society without an accompanying change in the thoughts about women, liberationists participated in public protests, published information on issues, and held meetings to organise lobbying efforts.