We, the  women affected by dams, workers in the field and in the city, representatives of 16 Brazilian states and three countries:  Argentina, Paraguay and Mexico, met in Brasilia between April 4 and 7, 2011, at the National Meeting of Women fighting for rights and the construction of a popular energy project, aiming to denounce the social and environmental impacts of the current energy model, discuss our rights and the need to build a new energy  popular plan. we conclude that:

We live in a capitalist model of society, imperialist, patriarchal, where transnational corporations control the economy, appropriating nature, technology, workforce, our territories, with one goal: to amass wealth at the expense of worker exploitation , in particular women.

This model of development forces the hegemony of a life style based on individualism, competition, consumerism, where everything becomes a commodity, including women’s bodies. This model is unfair and unsustainable and endangers the life of the planet and humans.

This patriarchal model, based on oppression and violence against women, makes us women, have a double day of work where the offered jobs are of lower prestige and pay, in addition to requiring a standard of beauty based on consumerism and appearance, violating of our self esteem.

We are hit by an energy model that violates human rights because the energy in current society is central to the reproduction of capital, which it uses as a way of accelerating labor productivity of the working class, in order to extract and accumulate the maximum value in the hands of big capitalists, where the state is the organizer of this form of exploitation, which plans, finances, processes, creates the laws and gives the security needed to advance the interests of big business.

Thus, we denounce:

Based on this model for society and the current energy model, the violation of human rights of people affected by dam construction affects women’s lives, where:

• No recognition of domestic and field work;
• Loss of Work and Income;
• The absence of women in the deliberative spaces;Ouvir
• No qualification of women for urban work;
• The authoritarian and truculent way companies treat employees and discriminate against women;
• Absence of basic services that prevent the mobilization and participation of affected women;
• Loss of links with the community;
• Loss and breaking of family ties;
• Worsening of sexual violence and prostitution.

We therefore propose:

Organize all workers, especially those that are affected by dams and large infrastructure works;

Move forward in areas of training, so that through study we can understand the current energy model and construct ways to combat it;

Encourage women’s active participation, creating the conditions for their effective participation in all areas of the policy making and the process of organization and struggle;

Build this unity of the working class, by coordination with other organizations, especially with the categories and women’s organizations, of the electricity, oil tankers, construction workers, with Via Campesina, with the People’s Assembly and with other people of Latin America.

Finally, we pledge to continue making the Movement of People Affected by Dams, a beautiful and strong organization,  with the participation of women as protagonists, men, youths and children, strengthening national unity, making the fight for our rights and the construction of a popular energy project.

Women, water and electricity are not commodities!