Wired Women


	At a workshop sponsored by the Network of East-West Women Online, Albanian women make their first foray into cyberspace. (Photograph by Andy Hernandez)

irana, the ragtag Albanian capital still in the shadow of the fallen Iron Curtain: On February 8, 1996, a trainer for an electronic communications network for women's rights advocates in Central and Eastern Europe committed a revolutionary act. She introduced the women to email, and with that changed their lives forever. Victoria Vrana, of the Network of East-West Women (NEWW) Online, says, "I was not prepared for the intense experience of meeting so many women eager for this technology. In the U.S. we read about the novelty of the Internet, useless chat rooms, or information glut. But for these women, email is a lifeline."

Until recently, Albania was the North Korea of Europe -- repressive, xenophobic, and backwards. While it has opened its doors a crack to the outside world, change has been slow. "Very little here is democratic," says Elena Rezi of Tirana. "Hopefully, the Internet can quell some of the frustration."

Elena's words could serve as a mission statement for NEWW Online. Through donated equipment and hands-on training, the program encourages electronic dialogue among feminist activists across borders and cultures.

A woman's work is never done. At the Albanian workshop, Internet trainer Victoria Vrana prepares the computers while the floor is cleaned. NEWW Online hopes to open lines of communication for all women in Eastern Europe. (Photograph by Andy Hernandez)

So far, NEWW Online spans many countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Thanks to its efforts, Russian women are now using email to disseminate critiques of proposed laws they regard as unfriendly to their interests, particularly domestic violence legislation that would protect perpetrators rather than victims. In Poland, Roma Ciesla of Krakow acts as an electronic postmistress, uploading and downloading messages for local feminists. Jelica Todosijevic, a human rights activist in Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia, says the program has brought together women from her part of the world in a way never possible before.

"With email, we are no longer imprisoned by state limitations and censorship," Jelica says. "We are now in constant touch with our sisters from Zenica, Tuzla, Sarajevo, Zagreb, and Pristina, and can support each other in times of need. Usually it is only a warm letter of compassion, but it is hard to even realize how much those messages mean to us. For me, it was a miracle, something that changed not only our work but also our lives."