The Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD) was an activist organisation for British Black and Asian women established in 1978, with founder members including Stella Dadzie, Olive Morris, and Gail Lewis.[1] It has been called "a watershed in the history of Black women's rights activism".[2]
OWAAD was a broadly socialist, non-hierarchical national umbrella organisation. It held four annual conferences from 1979 to 1982, the first leading to black women's groups being formed nationwide. OWAAD held a sit-in at Heathrow Airport to protest virginity tests being carried out on Asian female immigrants to test their residency and marriage claims.[3]
OWAAD disbanded in 1982 for a variety of reasons.[4]
Ethnic differences were the major factor in the demise of the OWAAD, but the gay/straight split and tensions between those interested in advancing women within Britain and those stressing global feminism played roles as well.
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