leafletting soldiers

REFUSING WAR

Since 2003, when the war in Iraq broke out, Payday has organized or joined a number of international campaigns working with some organisations in the Global Women's Strike (GWS) to support soldiers and conscientious objectors who refuse to fight or men and women who refuse conscription.

We have supported individual campaigns in many countries including Turkey, Greece, Israel the US and the UK. These campaigns were almost always led by women - partners, mothers, sisters, relatives. For many years, with Queer Strike, we joined an international and successful campaign to free Chelsea Manning, a transexual army analyst who leaked thousands of classified military files to Wikileaks.

We have also worked to defeat legislations that punish refuseniks or that exonerate war crimes. We have also opposed rape within the military and military families as well as the mistreatment of soldiers and veterans.

FOR MORE INFORMATION on our support to past campaigns by & with refuseniks, visit www.refusingtokill.net, our former website.  For an overview, watch our 2005 video Refusing to Kill - Refuseniks around the world speak out

Refuseniks of the world

Ukraine war: Petition supporting refuseniks delivered to the EU

15 May 2023
petition to EU for refuseniks

By Payday men’s network

On 15 May 2023, Payday and War Resisters International delivered a petition to the EU delegation in London demanding protection and asylum for the hundreds of thousands refuseniks from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

The military kill people and planet

22 April 2023
Flyer Military kill planet

By Payday

The US military is the biggest single polluter on earth. Global military expenditures are about two trillion dollars annually. Imagine how that money could be used to repair the planet, end poverty & care for each other.

Protection & asylum for deserters and conscientious objectors from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine

1 April 2023
Object War Campaign logo

By international organisations

Please sign the petition below to the European Commission/Council/Parliament demanding “protection and asylum for deserters and conscientious objectors” from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and to “open the borders to those who oppose war at great personal risk in their country”.

Anti-war letter from Russian mothers

27 November 2022
Russian mothers against war

By mothers of the Russian Feminist Anti-War Resistance movement and an initiative group of mothers of conscripts and conscripts

We demand the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine, the return of all soldiers home, the protection of conscript soldiers from participating in any hostilities, the adoption of a law on the prevention of domestic violence, worthy material support for childhood and motherhood!

Objector: a film on Israeli refuseniks

4 April 2021

By Payday men’s network

In 2021, we co-hosted with many organisations the online showing of the film Objector organised by the Jewish Network for Palestine and others.

Supporting Israeli Shministim

1 January 2021
Statement by Shministim

By Payday men’s network

One of the movements that has recreated itself one generation to the next, has been the Shministim, a movement of high schools students who have pledged to refuse to do their military service.

Oppose the Overseas Operations Bill

1 January 2021
Scrap Overseas Operation Bill

By Payday men’s network

In 2021, with GWS and Women of Colour GWS we campaigned against the Overseas Operations Bill and with other anti-war and human rights organisations we defeated the government who conceded that prosecuting War Crimes should not be time limited.

Opposing rape in/by the military

4 July 2020

By Payday men’s network

With Women Against Rape and Black Women Rape Action Project, we spoke out against rape in and out of the military, and supported the victims whatever the gender.