Adolfo Lujan | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Mass demonstration in Madrid on International Women's Day
Multitudinaria manifestación en Madrid en el día internacional de la mujer

Priority Areas

Supporting feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements to thrive, to be a driving force in challenging systems of oppression, and to co-create feminist realities.

Advancing Universal Rights and Justice

Uprooting Fascisms and Fundamentalisms

Across the globe, feminist, women’s rights and gender justice defenders are challenging the agendas of fascist and fundamentalist actors. These oppressive forces target women, persons who are non-conforming in their gender identity, expression and/or sexual orientation, and other oppressed communities.


Discriminatory ideologies are undermining and co-opting our human rights systems and standards,  with the aim of making rights the preserve of only certain groups. In the face of this, the Advancing Universal Rights and Justice (AURJ) initiative promotes the universality of rights - the foundational principle that human rights belong to everyone, no matter who they are, without exception.

We create space for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements and allies to recognize, strategize and take collective action to counter the influence and impact of anti-rights actors. We also seek to advance women’s rights and feminist frameworks, norms and proposals, and to protect and promote the universality of rights.


Our actions

Through this initiative, we:

  • Build knowledge: We support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements by disseminating and popularizing knowledge and key messages about anti-rights actors, their strategies, and impact in the international human rights systems through AWID’s leadership role in the collaborative platform, the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)*.
  • Advance feminist agendas: We ally ourselves with partners in international human rights spaces including, the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on the Status of Women and the UN General Assembly.
  • Create and amplify alternatives: We engage with our members to ensure that international commitments, resolutions and norms reflect and are fed back into organizing in other spaces locally, nationally and regionally.
  • Mobilize solidarity action: We take action alongside women human rights defenders (WHRDs) including trans and intersex defenders and young feminists, working to challenge fundamentalisms and fascisms and call attention to situations of risk.  

 

Related Content

Daphne Caruana Galizia

Media Centre

AWID in the media

News compilation regarding AWID's work and organization.


 

 


Press releases

Press kits and statements


Social Media Kits


Videos

Conferences, talks, seminars video recordings

Impunity for violence against women defenders of territory, common goods, and nature in Latin America
March 16, 2018
Rural women's resistance to closing civic space
March 15, 2018
 
Empowering rural women in mining affected environments
March 13, 2018
Feminist Perspectives on Accountability
March 13, 2018
Gender Perspectives on Corporate Accountability
March 12, 2018

 

 

Media contact

Contact email

+1 416 594 3773

Snippet - That Feminist Fire Logo (EN)

White text over transparent background. It says "that feminist fire" in all caps.

Selection of Forum activities

For each AWID Forum we call for contributions from a wide range of feminist and social justice movements to propose activities and create the Forum program.

For the 14th AWID international Forum, we want to make the program truly representative of the diversity of the movements.

That is why we put in place a new and engaging way to choose the proposals that will generate the final Forum program: the Participatory Selection Process (PSP).

What is the Participatory Selection Process (PSP)?

The Participatory Selection Process is the final step in reviewing the activity proposals and selecting those that will be part of the official Forum program. 

This is how it works: 

  1. Activity proposals have originally been submitted via our Call for Forum Activities, open to everyone - groups and individuals - interested in presenting their feminist reality at the Forum.
  2. Out of all the activities submitted, AWID staff pre-selects the ones best reflecting the Forum theme and presenting a creative approach for audience engagement.
  3. Activities are then reviewed and short-listed by different Forum Committees to ensure a good diversity of regions, movements and ideas.
  4. The selected proposals are then reviewed and rated by individuals and groups whose proposals have also been short-listed. The proposals which receive the most votes from fellow candidates will become part of the final Forum program.

The whole activity selection process at a glance:

Step

 

Step 1: 
Call for Forum Activities: Application submissions

Step 2:
First screening

 

Step 3:
Shortlisting 

 

Step 4:
Participatory Selection Process 

 

Timeline

December 2019 - mid.February 2020

 

January-February 2020

 

Summer 2020

 

timeline to be adjusted

 

People involved Everyone interested in co-creating the Forum program

AWID staff

 

AWID staff; Content and Methodology Committee; Access Committee

Shortlisted applicants

 

Number of activities involved

838 activities submitted

 

306 applications selected

 

126 activities selected

 

50-60 most voted activities selected for the final Forum program


Why did AWID decide to organize a PSP for the 14th AWID Forum activities?

We think a PSP is relevant for the AWID Forum because:

  • It places at the centre of the decision making process the communities who live the feminist realities that will be showcased and discussed at the Forum 

  • It is consistent with our identity and our role as a movement support/ accompaniment organization

  • It is in line with our vision of the Forum as co-created with different feminist and social justice movements, who shape the Forum through their participation in committees (content and methodology, access, artivist and host country), creating and facilitating activities as partners with AWID and also making decisions about the Program through the PSP.

  • It allows for greater diversity in the textures that will make up the Forum fabric (or in the voices that will compose the Forum song). It ensures we go beyond AWID itself and the movement partners that we already know and work with. It opens the door to the unexpected.

How did AWID come up with this PSP idea?

This is the first time AWID is considering such a process.

The initial idea came from AWID’s Co-EDs and staff. Before committing to a decision, we consulted some of the community funds that have been implementing participatory selection processes for years. These included FRIDA: The Young Feminists Fund, the International Trans Fund, UHAI - East Africa’s fund for sexual minorities and sex workers - and the Central American Women’s Fund. We consulted them to learn from their extensive experiences and get their feedback.

 


Pre-selected activities

  • Financial autonomy, breaker of silence
    ORGANISATION DES FEMMES AFRICAINES DE LA DIASPORA (OFAD) ASSOCIATION LES PETITES MERES PRODADPHE ASSOCIATION AMBE KUNKO (AAK)

  • Contribution of feminist organisations to the fight against violent extremism in Niger
    Femmes Actions et Développement (FAD)

  • Self-financing: home banking for women 
    Rassemblement des Femmes pour le développement endogène et solidaire RAFDES

  • Food and food sovereignty for rural women
    Association Song-taaba des Femmes Unies pour le Développement (ASFUD)

  • Feminist leaders, investing in positive masculinity, creating a new balanced social order: how to change mentalities? 
    Une societe cooperative, la chefferie traditionnelle des localites, les autorites administratives et les autres associations feminines ONG Centre Solidarite "Investir dans les Filles et les Femmes

  • Co-creating the sponsorship methodology.
    NEGES MAWON

  • Millennium of opportunities to save the earth (MOST) by supporting climate justice for local and Indigenous communities in Congo Basin. 
    Jeunesse Congolaise pour les Nations Unies (JCNU), Association Genre et Environnement pour le Développement (AGED)

  • Envisioning an Asian Queer Feminist Politics
    ASEAN Feminist LBQ Womxn Network Sayoni

  • Supporting the Self-Managed: Abortion Doulas, Acompanantes, and Radical Networks of support
    inroads

  • Online Feminisms: How Women Are Taking Back The Tech
    Feminism In India

  • Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Sex Workers
    Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), The International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP)

  • Sustainable Feminist Leadership and Organizing - Personal and Collective Experiences
    HER Fund, Institute for Women's Empowerment (IWE) ,Kalyanamita, AAF

  • Caribbean Realities: Black Sauna Radio
    WE-Change Jamaica

  • Telephone Helplines Care and Women Experience
    Generation Initiative for Women and Youth Network (GIWYN),Youth Network for Community and Sustainable Development (YNCSD), Community Health Rights Network (CORENET)

  • Sensuality as resistance; body movement workshop
    UHAI EASHRI

  • Lesbian Disco Eastern European Style
    Sapfo Collective

  • FitcliqueAfrica Feminist Utopia Installation, Trauma Healing and Self Defense Camp
    FitcliqueAfrica (Fitclique256 Uganda Limited)

  • Queering Communications for an Open Internet
    Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

  • Is the Way you Think about Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRHR) Ableist? Good Practices for Disability Inclusive SRHR Programmes and Advocacy.
    Asia Pacific Network of Women with Disabilities and Allies

  • Decolonizing Non-Violent Communication
    API Equality-LA, Sayoni, ASEAN Feminist LBQ Womxn Network

  • Feminist centred approaches to prosecuting sexual harassment in the world of work
    Women's Legal Centre

  • Women in Conflict in Myanmar
    Women's League of Burma, Rainfall

  • Caribbean Feminist Spaces, Creative Expressions & Spiritual Practices for Community Transformation
    CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice

  • POP-UPS: Just Power: Popular Education Tools for a Feminist Future
    JASS/Just Associates

  • UnAnonYmous: Queering Black African Diaspora Feminist Practices Sobriety

  • Digital Witchcraft: Magical Thinking for Cyberfeminist Futures
    The Digital Witchcraft Institute

  • Building Womanifestos: Grassroot Women's Agenda for Change in Asia Pacific
    Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development

  • Designing your astral travels
    EuroNPUD, narcofeminists as a loose group

  • Collective Care
    RENFA Rede Nacional de Feministas Antiproibicionistas

  • Music of our movements
    Radical imagination

  • From waste to Ecofriendly coal
    KEMIT ECOLOGY SARL

  • Collective care and insurgency of feminist antiracist movements under authoritarian and violent contexts
    CFEMEA - Feminist Center of Studies and Advisory Services, CRIOLA - black women`s organization, Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras

  • Breaking Patriarchal Religion's Stranglehold on Family Laws that Affect Our Lives #FreeOurFamilyLaws
    Musawah

  • Feminist approach to claim and control over lands within investment
    Badabon Sangho, APWLD

  • Women's Global Strike: Our resistance, our future
    Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law & Development, ESCR-Net, Women's March Global

  • Towards an Inclusive ‘Mother Earth’
    Disability Rights Fund, Open Society Foundation

  • From Inclusion to Infiltration: Strategies for Building Intersectional Feminist Movements
    Mobility International USA (MIUSA)

  • The hidden stories of women with invisible disabilities: Art in action
    The Red Door, Merchants of Madness, Improving Mental Wellbeing through Art

  • Public-Private Partnership and Women´s Human Rights: learnings from case studies in the Global South
    Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)

  • The Interconnected Journey: Our Bodies, Our Sci-Fi! <3
    The Interconnected Journey Project, Laboratorio de Interconectividades

  • Compiling and Building: Alternative feminist vision to challenge the dominant world economic order
    IWRAW Asia Pacific

  • Self-publication as a feminist act
    International Women* Space

  • Good Practices of legal protection for gender & sexual minorities in Pakistan and their Intersectionality
    Activists Alliance Foundation, Khawja Sirah Society, Wajood Society, Wasaib Sanwaro

  • Feminist Approaches to Counter Trafficking
    IWRAW Asia Pacific, Business & Human Rights Resource Center

  • Critiquing individualism and state policies: transnational organizing against targeted violence
    Masaha: Accessible Feminist Knowledge

  • Decolonizing Intimacy: How Queer Identities Challenge Heteronormative Family Structures
    WOMANTRA

  • Yeki Hambe - Sex worker theatre
    Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force

  • Creating the Indigenous feminist reality: honoring the sacred feminine and building new paths for Indigenous women
    Cultural Survival, International Funders in Indigenous Peoples

  • Eyes on Anti-prohibitionism by Brazillian Women
    Mulheres Cannabicas, Tulipas do Cerrado

  • Black Feminist Truth Commission: Addressing Injustices to Revolutionize Intersectional Feminism as the New Reality
    Black Women in Development

  • Community care is self care: true stories are told in safer spaces
    Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, Metzineres, Urban Survivor’s Union, Salvage women and children from drug abuse

  • NO MOVES BARRED:Dancing connections between Disability,trans & sexual rights against violence
    National Forum of Women with Disabilities, Autonomy foundation, Nazyk kyz

  • The Impact of Corporate Capture on Feminist Realities: Developing Tools for Action
    ESCR-Net | Economic, Social, Cultural Rights Network

  • Reimagining AIDS: building a feminist HIV response
    Frontline AIDS, Aidsfonds, IPPI (Indonesian Network of Women Living with HIV), UHAI-EASHRI (East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative)

  • Advancing Economic Justice towards Realizing Our Vision of a Feminist Planet
    International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ESCR-Net

  • Sex Workers Cafe
    Hydra e.V.

  • Adopting an ecofeminist approach in dealing with climate change and food security
    Umphakatsi Peace Ecovillage, Human Rights Educational Centre

  • Connecting the grassroots with the international: experience from creative sex worker mobilisation in Europe
    International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe, STRASS - French Sex Worker Union, APROSEX, Red Edition

  • Experiment with how innovative tech can help us feel safer when navigating our cities
    Soul City Institute for Social Justice, Safetipin, Womanity Foundation

  • question “Are hierarchies within organisations UNfeminist?”
    Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya National, Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

  • We all are different, but we do have joint shared values
    UNWUD (Ukrainian network of women who use drugs), JurFem Association, Women's Prospects

  • A World Without Class
    Bunge La Wamama Mashinani (Grassroots Women's Parliament)

  • Women Empower the Community
    Institute for Women's Empowerment (IWE), Solidaritas Perempuan, ASEC Indonesia, Komunitas Swabina Pedesaan Salassae (KSPS)

  • Feminist Organizing: Transformational Leadership - Women Workers in Latin America Creating a Feminist Labor Movement and a Feminist World of Work
    Solidarity Center

  • Acting Out, Acting Up : Disability-Feminism decolonising narratives of Stigma thro' Participatory theatre
    Rising Flame, National Indigenous Disabled Women Association, Nepal, The Spectrum & Union of Abilities, The Red Door

  • Valuing and centering rest, pleasure and play
    ATHENA Network

  • The African feminist judgment project
    The Initiative for strategic Ligation in Africa (ISLA)

  • Voices from the frontlines: Bolstering collective power to end the incarceration of women worldwide
    International Drug Policy Consortium, Equis Justicia para las Mujeres, National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Women and Harm Reduction International Network

  • Queer Youth Organising: imagining in an era of human rights and sustainable development
    African Queer Youth Initiative, Success Capital Organisation

  • Our Struggles Our Stories Our Strengths
    Oriang Lumalaban, Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan

  • Breaking barriers for collective Indigenous climate action in Southeast Asia
    Cuso International, Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact

  • Love Positive Women: Going beyond romantic love to deep community love and social justice
    Eurasian Women's Network on AIDS

  • Intersex and Feminism
    Intersex Russia

  • Understanding the reproductive health experiences and needs of transgender and gender diverse people
    Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN)

  • Because She Cares: Critical conversations on HIV activism as (un)caring work
    Because We Care Collaborative

  • The Mississippi Food Systems Manifesto
    Center for Ideas, Equity & Transformative Change, National Council of Appropriate Technology - Gulf South, MS Food Justice Collaborative, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

  • Kurdish Women's Movement co-presidency experience as an example of a radical feminist realization: Co-presidency is our PURPLE line!
    The Free Women’s Movement (TJA)

  • WOES -"Walking on Egg Shells"
    Eldoret Women For Development (ELWOFOD), Mama Cash, Young women against Women Custodial Injustices Network

  • FREEDOM

  • Prison Isn’t Feminist: Exploring the impact and alternatives to reliance on police and incarceration
    Migrant Sex Workers Project, Showing Up For Racial Justice

  • Bondo without Blood: A Feminist Reimagining of Sierra Leonean Rites of Passage
    Purposeful

  • Liberated Land & Territories: A Pan-African Conversation
    Thousand Currents (USA), Abahlali baseMjondolo (South Africa), Nous Sommes la Solution (west Africa/regional), Movilización de Mujeres Negras por el Cuidado de la Vida y los Territorios Ancestrales (Colombia), and Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities (Brazil)

  • Popular Education and Organizing for a Feminist Economy
    Jamaica Household Workers Union (JHWU), United for a Fair Economy, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL)

  • So You Wish To Mobilise With An Empty Wallet? Let’s Make It Happen!
    Breakthrough India

  • Experience sharing establishing a network for women human rights defenders in East Africa: Ugandan perspective
    Women Human Rights Defenders Network Uganda

  • Tech clinic
    Stichting Syrian Female Journalists Netowrk

  • Building Inclusive Movements: Going Beyond Tokenism
    Rising Flame

  • Justice & Healing for Survivors of GBV: an interactive debate on restorative justice and the anatomy of an apology
    One Future Collective

  • Collective actions to ending transphobia through a feminist lens
    Asia Pacific Transgender Network, Iranti, Transgender Europe

  • LBQ women & Asylum
    Sehaq

  • Abortion and Disability: Towards an Intersectional Human Rights-Based Approach
    Women Enabled International

  • Learn how to support the self-organizing of undocumented, migrant, and criminalized and sex workers communities
    Buttrerfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network)

  • Self Care: A Fundamental Tool for Sustaining LGBTQI & Feminist Organizing
    United and Strong Inc., S.H.E Barbados, Lez Connect

  • Reclaiming Young African Feminist VOICES-REALITIES-POWER for climate justice
    Young Feminist organization Gasy Youth Up, Young African Feminist Dialogues

  • Women in action & solidarity: performing our realities (Asia & Africa)
    Young Feminist organization Gasy Youth Up ( co-founder) , Young African Feminist Dialogues ( member)

  • Women in action & solidarity: performing our realities (Asia & Africa)
    Women Performing the World (Asia/Africa)

  • Challenging patriarchy: Workers in entertainment sector
    Women Forum for Women in Nepal (WOFOWON)

  • The non-citizens: issues of women's citizenship in the context of migrant, vulnerable communities in South Asia
    NEthing

  • Visioning for voice in migration and climate crises
    Women's Refugee Commission, The Feminist Humanitarian Network, ActionAid

  • In It Together: Women's Funds and Feminist Movements Co-Creating Feminist Realities
    Mama Cash, Global Fund for Women, Urgent Action Fund - Africa

  • Co-creating magic with young feminist movements - participatory practices that spark joy
    Feminist organizing, FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund (Community), Teia

  • Protection right of woman’s in difficult realities 3 organizations of women from marginally communities
    NGO Asteria, Ermolaeva Irena and Bayazitova Renata. NGO Ganesha Musagalieva Tatiana. NGO Ravniy Ravnomu Kucheryavyh Tanya

  • Feminnale - traditions against art and expression
    Bishkek Feminist Initiatives

  • Resistance through knowledge, arts and activism: creation of a feminist library in Armenia
    FemHouse, Armenia

  • Conquering the UN System with Feminist Strategies (You Don’t Need to be a Lawyer to Have Fun)
    Kazakhstan Feminist Initiative "Feminita", IWRAW Asia Pacific, ILGA World

  • Data. Huh. What is it good for? Feminist data and organizing for feminist outcomes
    International Women's Development Agency, Women's Rights Action Movement, Fiji Women's Rights Movement

  • Criminalized Women’s voice, leadership and influence on laws, policies and practices in Kenya
    Keeping Alive Societies Hope-KASH, Katindi Lawyers and Advocates, Vocal Kenya

  • From Colombia to the world, African women's changing force
    Proceso de Comunidades Negras en Colombia -PCN, Solidarité Féminine por la Paix el le Develppment Integral -SOFEPADI,

  • Afro Queer Listening Lounge and Story-Telling Booth
    AQ Studios, None on Record, AfroQueer Podcast

  • Reclaiming Bodily Integrity
    GBV Prevention Network : Coordinated by Raising Voices

  • Learning from diversity
    Circulo de Mujeres con Discapacidad -CIMUDIS, Alianza Discapacidad por nuestros Derechos -ADIDE, Fundación Dominicana de Ciegos -FUDCI, Filial Puerto Rico de Mujeres con Discapacidad

  • Football as a feminist tool
    Fundación GOLEES (Género, Orgullo, Libertad y Empoderamiento de Ellas en la Sociedad)

  • Migratory constellations
    LasVanders

  • Ecofeminist dialogues to defend territories
    CIEDUR (Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre el Desarrollo), Equit, Foro permanente de Manaos y Amazonia

  • La Frida BikesMoviment
    La Frida Bike

  • Witchcraft, shamanism and other insurgent knowledge against patriarchy.
    Colectiva Feminista MAPAS-Mujeres Andando Proceso por Autonomías Sororales

  • Experiences, learnings and challenges in managing holistic security of horizontal feminist organisations and of gender-dissidence in times of social and political crisis. The experience of the popular uprising in Chile of 18 October.
    Fudación Comunidades en Interfaz

  • Food that we all know about
    Las Nietas de Nonó, Parceleras Afrocaribeñas por la Transformación barrial (PATBA)

  • Practices of resistance against climate change of Indigenous women in Peru and Guatemala
    Thousand Currents, Red de Mujeres Productoras de la Agricultura Familiar, Asociación de Mujeres Ixpiyakok (ADEMI, Ixpiyakok Women's Association)

  • Building Feminist Cities
    CISCSA, Articulacion Feminista Marcosur

  • Stand in my place
    Alianza Discapacidad por nuestros Derechos - ADIDE, Circulo de Mujeres con Discapacidad -CIMUDIS

  • Clearing the way for women's fullness of life, healing collective and historical traumas
    Grupo de Mujeres Mayas Kaqla

  • Zapoteca Indigenous women challenged by nature

  • Houses of Care and Healing for Women Human Rights Defenders as part of Integral Feminist Protection: A Feminist Reality
    Iniciativa Mesoamericana De Defensoras de Derechos Humanos, Consorcio Oaxaca para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad A.C, Red Nacional De Defensoras De Derechos Humanos en Honduras, Coletivo Feminista de Autocuidado

  • Healing your unicornix voice: Weaving ancient and digital technologies to sharpen the tongue

  • Feminist trajectories for an assisted motherhood protocol for women with disabilities
    Circulo emancipador de mujeres y niñas con discapacidad de Chile, CIMUNIDIS, WEI

  • School for trans feminist children
    Fundación Selena

  • REDTRASEX: Experience of Organization and Struggle for the Rights of Women Sex Workers in Latin America and the Caribbean
    RedTraSex Red de mujeres trabajadoras sexuales LAC

  • Gender based violence and the world of sex work in Mexico
    Brigada Callejera de Apoyo a la Mujer, "Elisa Martínez", A.C., Red Mexicana de Organizaciones Contra la Criminalización del VIH. Red Mexicana de Trabajo Sexual

  • Migration forces us to draw the path as we walk
    Asociación de Trabajadoras del Hogar a Domicilio y de Maquila. ATRAHDOM

  • New narratives for Black women: body, healing and pleasure

  • Weaving memories and networks - Black Feminists strengthening Black feminisms in LAC
    Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas, Afrocaribeñas y de la Diáspora, Articulação de Organizações de Mulheres Negras Brasileiras (AMNB), Voces Caribeñas

Snippet Forum Quoate Nicky Mcintyre (EN)

All our change processes rely on the relationships we build at spaces like the AWID Forums where you dance together, your humour comes through, your real self, you tell stories. That is what makes the difference.
- Nicky Mcintyre, USA

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Winnie has been described as a “militant firebrand activist” who fought the apartheid regime in South Africa.

She was imprisoned multiple times, and on many occasions placed in solitary confinement.

Ma’Winnie, as she is affectionately remembered, was known for being outspoken about the challenges Black women faced during and after apartheid, having been on the receiving end of these brutalities herself as a mother, wife and activist during the struggle. She transcended the misconception that leadership is gender, class or race-based. Despite being a controversial figure, she is remembered by many by her Xhosa name, “ Nomzamo”, which means "She who endures trials".  

Ma’Winnie continues to be an inspiration to many, particularly young South African women for whom her death has spurred a burgeoning movement, with the mantra: "She didn't die, she multiplied."

 


 

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South Africa

Introduction to the films from Nuestramérica

By Alejandra Laprea

What a difficult task, that of condensing all the power and diversity of voices being raised in Latin America to tell the other stories emerging in this vast territory, to speak of the feminist realities we are building in our movement and other community-based organizations.

I spent a long time trying to establish parameters for the search and selection of these films, with the idea that they  would enable you to get a little closer to so many dreams and projects that are slowly coming into being in the territories Nuestroamericanos, of our Americas, as we like to call them ourselves. It was a tough job trying to establish parameters, such as geographic location, linguistic justice, and representation of diverse communities — Indigenous, Afro-descendants, migrants  — and the many causes and claims for which they raise their voices. I arrived at the conclusion that making such a compilation would be the work of years, one of those projects always under construction.

And so I decided to search for works that have emerged out of organizing and activism, as well as films that will perhaps spark major debates that we are yet to have.

In this selection of films you will find the voices of filmmakers who are not content with simply recording the feminist realities that palpitate in every corner of this vast and diverse territory. These are works that from their very conceptualization are questioning for what, by whom, and how films and videos are made. They understand film to be an instrument of struggle,  something more than images to be enjoyed on a screen. These are individual or collective filmmakers who see film and video making as an instrument to promote discussion, open a debate, and thus serve as a resource for popular and feminist pedagogies.

Seen in this light, this small film selection is a journeythrough feminist realities on two levels; on one level are the stories you will see, and on another level, there is the experimentation of filmmakers who are seeking and creating other feminist realities through the ways in which they are making films and telling stories. 

Enjoy this journey through films that Resist, Create, and Transform.


Lima is Burning

Direction: Giovana García Soto
Docu-fiction
Spanish with English subtitles


In Lima is Burning our work plays with documentary and fiction to take us into the life of Gía, a non-binary person, who uses performance art as a tool to denounce and transgress, as a vital manifesto against transfobia in every space, including gays spaces. With Gía we also take a look at transfeminism as a safe community in which Gía feels embraced, where she shares feelings and affections. 

Giovana Garcia Sojo is a young peruvian audiovisual producer, specialized in low-budget production, creation for children and adolescents in cinema and cinematographic script by the International School of Cinema and Television - EICTV in San Antonio de Baños - Cuba. Giovana has developed her path as a director towards women and feminized identities, Lima is Burning is one of her first works.  


Yo, Imposible / Being Impossible 

Director: Patricia Ortega
Fiction
Spanish with English subtitles

Patricia Ortega, director of «Yo, Imposible» [“Being Impossible”] explores through the character of Ariel, a young girl whose  intersex body was surgically violated as a child, the many ways that society attempts to normalize sexual and gender diversity.

The film tells the story of how Ariel discovers she was born intersex and subjected to several surgeries to normalize her genitals. This discovery leads the character to rediscover her body and reconstruct her identity. The audience is led to question a society dominated by heteronormativity which renders others invisible and condemns them to a life of unhappiness. 

Patricia Ortega is a Venezuelan filmmaker living in Argentina who studied at the International School of Film and Television in Cuba, where she specialized in film directing. Patricia uses fiction to address extreme situations that women or feminized bodies go through, and how they overcome them.

«Yo, Imposible»' takes a position vis-à-vis the dominant conception of a world in which only the masculine and feminine exist, which makes others invisible. “They are not sick. They are just genetically different. Interventions are done on their genitals and bodies through hormones without their consent, which is a violation of their human rights and identity, forcing them to fit into established categories'' - Patricia Ortega


Cubanas, mujeres en revolución [Cuban Women in Revolution]

Director: Maria Torrellas Liebana
Documentary
Spanish with English subtitles

María Torrellas narrates the story of the Cuban Revolution through the women who brought it to life, Vilma Espín, Celia Sánchez, and Haydee Santamaría, among others.

For women, telling the story of the Cuban Revolution is not something of the past, but a daily struggle that Torrellas shows through the voices of Cuban rural women, professionals, students, and workers in the present. In “Cuban Women in Revolution” we encounter the current challenges facing Cuban women such as the persistence of old prejudices, new forms of violence, and the constant challenge of creating new feminist realities for themselves and the next generations in a territory besieged by USA imperialism for more than 70 years.

Maíia Torrellas

María Torrellas is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has a long trajectory of filmmaking and has won, among others, the Santiago Alvarez in Memoriam award for her documentary “Memoria de una hija de Oshun” [Memory of a Daughter of Oshun].

“In the documentary I have woven together the struggles of yesterday’s heroines with those of today’s women. The women tell their own stories and also describe those whose struggles they most admire. It made an impression on me to hear the words ‘The Revolution gave us everything’ or ‘What would have become of my family without the Revolution?’ from voices of compañeras who are poor, rural, or Black.” - María Torrellas


Serie documental Cuidanderas [Mini documentary series Women Healers/Carers]

Directors: Gabriela Arnal and Marzel Ávila for Fondo de Acción Urgente - LAC
Ecuador 2019
Spanish with English subtitles

CUIDANDERAS joins the words cuidar (to care for) and curanderas (women healers) synthesizing the identities of a series of women in Latin American territories, women who put their bodies and all their energy into protecting the Commons, what Pachamama gives us, with the commitment that we use it as wisely as the rest of living beings doThis mini series of documentary films presents the stories of three collectives of Latin American women who are committed to caring for their territories, healing their bodies, and confronting extractivist and racist projects in Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia.

GUARDIANAS DE LA AMAZONIA [GUARDIANS OF THE AMAZON]

Province of Orellana, Ecuador. For centuries the Waorani women have been engaged in a struggle for their territory in the Amazon and the preservation of their Indigenous culture. Today they confront threats by the oil industry and their death-production model. From the jungle, leaders from the Waorani Women’s Association of the Ecuadoran Amazon (AMWAE, in Spanish) share the motivation behind their resistance and show their greatest power: their inexhaustible joy.

COMADRES DEL PACÍFICO COLOMBIANO [BLACK SISTERHOOD OF THE PACIFIC]

Buenaventura, Colombia. In the largest and most violent port city in Colombia, plagued by decades of armed conflict, racism, and machismo, a group of women refuse to give in to fear and continue to resist in the face of adversity. The Butterflies with New Wings network is made up of Black women from the Pacific coast of Colombia who work together to protect their territory, recuperate their ancestral traditions, and heal the wounds of systematic and structural violence.

HERMANAS DEL ALTIPLANO [SISTERS OF THE HIGHLANDS]

Indigenous, rural, and regantes (women in charge of irrigation) in Bolivia are calling for the care and protection of bodies-earth-territories, as they are faced with an extractive production model which threatens their lives, health, physical and sexual integrity, and the survival of their communities and territories. The Network of Defenders of Mother Earth is made up of women from 12 Indigenous communities who are defending the right to water and denouncing mining companies’ violations of human rights and the rights of Nature while working to recuperate their ancestral ways of knowledge and practices of collective care.

“CUIDANDERAS, a combination of the words cuidar (to care for) and curanderas (women healers), presents the stories of Latin American women defenders who are caring for their territories and healing their bodies. The collective power of these women has changed the history of their communities in Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia as they confront extractivist and racist production models.”


Yo aborto, tú abortas, todxs callamos [I abort, you abort, we all keep silent]

Director: Carolina Reynoso
Argentina 2013
Spanish

If there is one thing that has marked feminist movements across the continent of Latin America that is the call for abortion to be made available, safe, and free. From North to South feminist movements are rising up and taking to the streets fighting for the liberation of our first territory, our bodies, which is why this selection must include a documentary on abortion to fully understand the power of the women of Nuestramérica.

Yo aborto, Tu Abortas, Todxs Callamos [I abort, you abort, we all keep silent] presents the stories of seven women from different social classes, including the director of the documentary herself, who reflect on something they have all experienced in their own bodies: clandestine abortion.  

Through their stories, the film aims to bust myths regarding the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, de-stigmatize the topic, and show one of the most common forms of violence in the Americas in a new light.

Carolina Reynoso

Director, researcher, and producer of feminist films. She is also a feminist activist who organizes workshops on screenwriting from a gender perspective so that more films are made showing other counterhegemonic realities and stories. Carolina Reynoso strikes a balance between activism and creation in each one of her works.

“We are a group of filmmakers who make documentaries in order to continue fighting to make abortion available, safe, and free in Argentina. The film presents the testimonies of seven women from different social classes, including the director of the documentary herself, who reflect on something they have all experienced in their own bodies: clandestine abortion.” -The filmmaking team


Historias Urgentes: Resistencia en ollas Comunes [Urgent Stories: Resistance in the Soup Kitchens]

Nosotras Audiovisuales, collective of Chilean women filmmakers
Chile 2020
Spanish

“Urgent Stories” is a series created by women to make their needs and important experiences visible to the people living in the territories that today comprise Chile. This film series aims to keep alive the flame ignited by the social uprising of October 2019, the flame ofChile in all its diversity that woke up and said, ‘Enough!’

«Resistencia en ollas comunes» [Resistance in the Soup Kitchens] is the first of these “Urgent Stories.” Through the voices of four women from Iquique, Valparaiso, Chillan and Santiago, it shows how by collectively assuming care work they are on the front lines of resistance, creating other feminist realities for themselves and the communities where Latin American women live.

Nosotras audiovisuales

This organization was formed in 2017 to link together women involved in the Chilean filmmaking scene. It helps women filmmakers to network, collaborate, and share information along with their works and perspectives on the field.

Nosotras Audiovisuales contributes to the Chilean uprising by documenting it and collectively generating new material.


Se trata de Mujeres [It’s about Women]

Micol Metzner
Argentina 2019
Spanish

Based on her personal experience, director Micol Metzner presents a film mixing documentary with fiction, aligning her filmmaker’s voice with that of thousands of women who have been victims of trafficking across the continent and showing how solidarity among women is the best form of protection.

Micol Metzner

Filmmaker trained at the Instituto de Arte Cinematográfico de Avellaneda [Avellaneda Institute of Film Arts]. Art director and editor. Metzner belongs to the Video Cluster of the City of Buenos Aires, a community space and multisectorial cooperative for independent projects.

She facilitates filmmaking workshops in working class neighbourhoods and spaces of enclosure (youth group homes and women’s prisons). She is a member of the film production house MVM.

“The production house MVM was born out of the necessity to express a lot of things that we regularly protest on the streets about while also doing it in a creative way through drawing, film, and photography.The production house MVM is a place that interrogates language, image, film from a feminist perspective. It is also a place for processing everything we have gone through and using art to make things sometimes to heal, sometimes to generate public debate as happened with this short film…I didn’t imagine that was going to happen, but when we showed  it,  a lot of things were set  in motion. Discussions happen that are even more enriching than the short film itself. That this can happen based on something we made is so good…” - Micol Metzner


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Annaliza Dinopol Gallardo Capinpin

Known as “Ate Liza,” Annaliza was the president of the Agrarian Reform Council for Mindanao Pioneers, an umbrella group in Tacurong City, Philippines.

A loved mother of four, teacher and community leader, Annaliza is remembered by her community as “she who leads when no one wants to lead, she who talks when no one wants to talk, she who stood with courage to help the agrarian reform beneficiaries to own lands.”

Annaliza was shot dead by unknown assailants in front of the Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU) while on her way to Salabaca National High School in Esperanza.

Her family have said “Naghihintay pa rin kami ng hustisya para sa kanya” (we are still waiting justice for her).


 

Amal Bayou

Amal was a prominent politician and parliamentarian in Libya. She was a faculty member at Benghazi University from 1995 until her death in 2017.

Amal was a civil society activist and a member of various social and political initiatives. She assisted the families of martyrs and the  disappeared, and was a founding member of a youth initiative called ‘’Youth of Benghazi Libya”. In the 2014 parliamentary elections, Amal was elected to the House of Representatives with more than 14,000 votes (the highest number of votes anyone received in the 2014 elections).

Amal will remain in the memories of many as a woman politician working to ensure a better future in one the most difficult and conflict-ridden contexts in the region.


 

Amal Bayou, Libya

تَجسُّد اللذة المدرِكة للتروما

Decorative Element


Tshegofatso Senne Portrait

تشيخوفاتسو سيني هي نسوية كويرية سوداء، تعاني من أمراض مزمنة، وهي تعمل أكثر من غيرها. الكثير من عملهم متجذّر في المتعة، والمجتمع، والحلم، بينما يتمّ إعلامهم من خلال الإلغاء الجسدي والإعاقة، والشفاء، والعدالة التحويلية. الكتابة والبحث والتحدّث حول القضايا المتعلقة بالنسوية والمجتمع والعدالة الجنسية والإنجابية والموافقة وثقافة الاغتصاب والعدالة، لدى تشيغوفاتسو خبرة 8 سنوات في التنظير حول الطرق التي تتقاطع بها هذه الموضوعات مع المتعة. يديرون أعمالهم الخاصة بعنوان Thembekile Stationery، ومنصّة Hedone تجمع الناس معًا لاستكشاف وفهم قوة الوعي بالصدمات والمتعة في حياتهم اليومية.


الجسد. البيت الأكثر ديمومة لدينا.

الجسد، وليس العقل المفكّر، هو المكان حيث نشعر بالألم، واللذة، والفرح، وحيث يجري أغلب ما يحصل لنا. وهو أيضاً المكان الذي نعالج فيه أنفسنا، من ضمنها تحقيق الشفاء النفسي والعاطفي. وهو المكان الذي نشعر فيه بالمرونة والإحساس بالتدفّق.

هذه الكلمات التي كتبها ريسما ميناكيم في كتابه: «يدَي جدّتي»، بقيت معي.

الجسد؛ يحمل خبراتنا. ذكرياتنا. مرونتنا. وكما كتب ميناكيم، الجسد يحمل كذلك صدماتنا. يستجيب من خلال آليات وقائية عفوية لوقف أو منع المزيد من الضرر. قوة الجسد. الصدمة ليست الحدث؛ إنها أجسادنا التي تستجيب للأحداث التي تشعرنا بخطرها علينا. وفي أغلب الأحوال تبقى عالقة في أجسادنا، إلى أن نتعامل معها. لا يوجد حديث عن أجسادنا خارج هذه الاستجابة – لأنها كذلك.

من خلال استخدامي لتطبيق ديجيتال سوبرباور– Digital Superpower من شركة لينغ تان Ling Tan، تتبّعت كيف كان جسدي يشعر كلّما مشيت في أرجاء مختلفة من مدينتي، جوهانسبورغ، في جنوب أفريقيا. التطبيق هو كناية عن منصّة عبر الإنترنت تعتمد على الإيماءات التي تتيح لك ملاحقة تصوّراتك خلال تحرّكاتك في المواقع من خلال الدخول وتسجيل بياناتك. استعملت التطبيق لتتبّع العوارض البدنيّة-النفسيّة، أي ردود الفعل الجسدية المرتبطة بأسباب عقلية. سواء كان ذلك عبارة عن ذكريات، نوبات هلع، الآلام في الصدر، تسارع في ضربات القلب، آلام الرأس، آلام العضل، أرق، صعوبة بالتنفس. تتبّعت هذه العوارض كلّما كنت أمشي أو أتنقّل في مناطق مختلفة من جوهانسبورغ. وسألت نفسي:

أين يمكن أن نكون آمنات؟ هل يمكن أن نكون آمنات؟

يمكن أن تحصل ردود الفعل البدنيّة-النفسيّة بسبب مجموعة من الأمور، وبعضها ليس شديد الوقع كالبعض الآخر. بعد اختبار أي نوع من الصدمات يمكن أن تشعرك بضيق كبير في أحداث أو مواقف مشابهة. تتبّعت أحساسي، وقيّمت على مقياس يتراوح ما بين 1 إلى 5، رقم 1 يرمز إلى الحالات التي بالكاد شعرت فيها بأيٍّ من هذه العوارض – شعرت بالراحة عوضاً عن الحذر والقلق، وكان تنفّسي وضربات قلبي مستقرة، ولم أنظر إلى الخلف – أما رقم 5 فيرمز إلى العكس – العوارض التي جعلتني أشعر باقتراب الإصابة بنوبة هلع.

كشخص أسود البشرة، كشخص كويري، كشخص كويري جندرياً، يُصار إلى النظر إليه كإمرأة، تبعاً للتمظهر الجندري المُختار في يومٍ مُعيّن.

سألت نفسي.

أين يمكننا أن نكون آمنات؟

حتى في الأحياء التي يمكن اعتبارها «آمنة»، شعرت بالذعر المستمرّ. أنظر حولي للتأكّد من عدم وجود مَن يلاحقني، أعدِّل ملابسي حتى لا يظهر ثدياي كثيراً، وأتلفّت حولي للتأكّد من وجود عدّة مخارج للهروب من المكان في حال شعرت بالخطر. الطرقات الفارغة تسبِّب لي القلق. كذلك الطرقات المكتظّة. وعندما أستقلّ سيارة «أوبر». وعندما أمشي في الطرقات العامّة. وأن أكون في شقتي كذلك الأمر. إضافة إلى استلام أغراضي من خدمة التوصيل من أمام المبنى.

هل يمكن أن نكون آمنات؟

تكتب بوملا دينيو جكولا عن مصنع الخوف النسائي. قد يبدو هذا مألوفاً أو لا، لكن، إذا كنتِ امرأة اجتماعياً، ستعلمين هذا الشعور بشكل جيد. الشعور الذي يدفعك إلى التخطيط لكلّ خطوة تخطينها، سواء في طريقك إلى العمل، أو المدرسة أو مجرد القيام بمهمّة ما. الشعور الذي يتملّكك عند ملاحظة كيف هي ملابسك وتصرّفاتك وحديثك في الأماكن العامّة والخاصة. الشعور بالألم في رأس معدتك إذا كان عليك التنقّل ليلاً، للحصول على أغراضك من خدمة التوصيل، أو التعامل مع شخص يستمرّ بالتواصل مع الناس اجتماعياً كرجل مُطابقٍ جنسياً. التحرّش في الشوارع، والتهديد المتواصل بالعنف. نحن الموجودات في أي مكان يأتينا الخوف فطرياً.
 

الخوف هو ظاهرة فردية واجتماعية-سياسية في الوقت عينه. على المستوى الفردي، يمكن أن يكون الخوف موجوداً كنظامٍ داخليّ صحيّ للتحذير الذاتي […] عندما نفكّر عن الخوف، من المهمّ الاحتفاظ بمفهومَي التجربة العاطفية والطرق السياسية التي يُستخدم فيها الخوف في مختلف العصور للسيطرة.
- بوملا دينيو جقولا، في كتابها «الاغتصاب: كابوس جنوب إفريقي»

Cover for EMBODYING TRAUMA-INFORMED PLEASURE

تعرف النساء الجنوب إفريقيات والكويريات، كيف أنّ كلّ خطوة تخطينها خارج المنزل – خطوات للقيام بأمور عادية: التوجّه إلى المتجر، استقلال التاكسي للذهاب إلى العمل، أو «الأوبر» للذهاب إلى حفلة – كلّ هذه الأفعال هي تفاوض مع العنف. الخوف، هو جزء من الصدمة. للتغلّب على الصدمة التي نحملها داخل أجسادنا، نطوّر استجابات لتحسسّ الخطر – مراقبة الاستجابات العاطفية في محيطنا، استطلاع «الودّ»، نحن دوماً متأهّبات.

يوم بعد يوم، وسنة بعد أُخرى، حياة بعد حياة، و جيل بعد آخر.

حول التحدّي الإضافي لنظام الدفاع المكتسب، كتب بيسيل فان دي كولك، في كتاب «الجسد يستمر بالأرشفة»

إنه يعطل هذه القدرة على قراءة الآخرين بشكل دقيق، الأمر الذي يجعل الناجي/ة من الصدمة، إما أقلّ قدرة على اكتشاف الخطر، أو يكون/تكون أكثر عرضة لسوء تقدير الخطر في حال انعدامه. يتطلّب الأمر طاقة كبيرة جداً للاستمرار في الوقت عينه حاملين/ات ذكرى الرعب وعار الضعف والهشاشة.

كما كتب ريسما ميناكيم، الصدمة موجودة في كلّ شيء؛ تدخل مع الهواء الذي نتنشّقه، والماء الذي نشربه، والطعام الذي نأكله. إنها في الأنظمة التي تحكمنا، والمؤسسات التي تعلّم ولكن أيضاً تسبّب لنا الصدمة، وكذلك ضمن العقود الاجتماعية التي نتشارك بها مع الآخرين. والأهمّ من كل ذلك، أننا نأخذها معنا أينما ذهبنا، داخل أجسادنا، الأمر الذي يرهقنا ويضعف صحتنا وسعادتنا. نحن نحمل هذه الحقيقة في أجسادنا. أجيال منّا تفعل ذلك.

لذلك، وفي وقت كنت أتجوّل في مدينتي، سواء كانت المنطقة «آمنة» أم لا، أحمل معي صدمات الأجيال التي كانت ردود أفعالها مدغمة بجسدي. يخفق قلبي، ويصبح صعباً عليّ التنفس، ويضيق صدري – لأن جسدي يحسّ كما لو أن الصدمة تحصل في ذلك الوقت بالتحديد. أعيش مترقّبة بشدة. إلى درجة تصبح فيه الإنسانة إما متيقّظة للغاية للاستمتاع بحياتها، أو مخدَّرة للغاية حتى تستوعب التجارب الجديدة.

حتى نبدأ بالشفاء، علينا الاعتراف بهذه الحقائق.

هذه الحقائق التي تعيش بأجسادنا.

هذه الصدمة هي التي تمنع الكثيرين منّا من عيش الحياة التي نريدها. اسألوا/ن أي أنثى أو كويرية ماذا تعني السلامة لها، وستشارك معكم/ن على الأغلب الأمثلة التي تمثّل مهاماً بسيطة – القدرة على عيش حياة هانئة بكل بساطة، من دون تهديد مستمرّ بالعنف.

الشعور بالأمان، بالراحة والسهولة هو شعور مكانيّ. عندما تتجسد فينا صدماتنا، فإننا نؤثر على الطرق التي ندرك فيها معنى سلامتنا، كما تؤثر على طرق تفاعلنا مع العالم، وتغيّر الطرق التي يمكننا من خلالها اختبار أو استيعاب أي شيء ممتع أو مفرح.

علينا رفض هذه المسؤولية المرهِقة، والنضال من أجل عالمٍ لنا كلّنا. نحن المقاتلات، بجروحنا نسير قُدمًا. يمكن للنظام الأبوي أن يرهبنا ويعاملنا بوحشية، ولكننا لن نتراجع عن النضال. في حين نخرج إلى الشارع بشكل مستمرّ، متحدّيات الخوف بطرق مذهلة ومتواضعة، فإننا ندافع عن أنفسنا ونُعبّر عن ذواتنا.
- بوملا دينيو جقولا، في كتابها «الاغتصاب: كابوس جنوب إفريقي»

أين يمكننا أن نكون بأمان؟ كيف نبدأ بالدفاع عن أنفسنا، ليس بطريقة جسدية وحسب، إنّما بطريقة عاطفية ونفسية وروحية؟

قالت أدريان ماري براون خلال مقابلة أجراها معها جوستين سكوت كامبل: «الصدمة تُحوّلنا جميعاً إلى مُقاتلات ومقاتلين». قدّم لنا عملها، نشاطية اللذة، عدّة منهجيات لعلاج مثل تلك الصدمة، وترسيخ أنفسنا في إدراك كون الشفاء والعدالة والتحرّر يمكن أن تحمل في طياتها شيئاً من اللذة والمُتعة. خاصة أولئك من بيننا الأكثر عرضة للتهميش، واللواتي ربما تربّين على أن يخلقن ترادفاً ما بين المُعاناة و»العمل». العمل الذي انخرطت فيه الكثير من الناشطات، بنّاءات المجتمعات وعاملاتها، اللواتي يساعدن الفئات الأكثر تهميشاً، العمل الذي نصارع بهدف القيام به، ونستنزف أنفسنا، ونادراً ما نهتم بأجسادنا و أذهاننا. البديل هو أن نصبح على علم بصدمتنا، وأن نكون قادرات على تحديد ما نحتاج، وأن نُصار في أن نتعمّق في أعماق ذواتنا. من شأن التعمّق في ذواتنا السماح لنا بإدراك تجاربنا مباشرةً عبر حواس وأحاسيس أجسادنا، بهدف الإقرار الصريح لما تُخبرنا به أجسادنا عوضاً عن قمعها وتجاهل ما تُحاول إيصاله لنا من معلومات.

إنّ التواصل المستمرّ مع أجسادنا الحيّة، وممارسة ذلك التواصل عن سبق إصرارٍ، من شأنه أن يزيد من متانة تعمُّقنا في ذواتنا، ما يسمح لنا بإخراج المشاعر التي تنتابنا أثناء تفاعلنا مع العالم إلى فضاء المرئي، وبلورة علاقة صادقة بيننا وبين أجسادنا، لفهم كلّ ما تُحاول تلك الأجساد تعليمنا إيّاه. إن فهم الصدمة ومسألة التعمّق في الذات في آن معاً، يمكّننا من البدء بسيروة الشفاء والوصول إلى اللذة بشكل أكثر شمولية وصحّية في حياتنا اليومية، من دون الإحساس بالعار أو الذنب. يمكننا الوصول إلى اللذة كوسيلة للتغيير الفردي والاجتماعي، والاستفادة من القوة الكامنة في ملذات الجسد كما وصفتها أودري لورد، قوة تسمح لنا بمشاركة الفرح الذي بلغناه واختبرناه، وتوسيع قدرتنا على الفرح وفهم أننا نستحقه، حتى مع صدماتنا.

إن المتعة والتعمّق في القوة الكامنة داخل ملذّات الجسد، تُعزّز الإرادة الكامنة في فعل أن نكون على قيد الحياة، إنها تؤمّن لنا إحساساً بالثبات والاستقرار والقدرة على فهم أجهزتنا العصبية. إنها تساعدنا على فهم العبء المتوارث بين الأجيال والتحرّر منه. هكذا نكون قد زوّدنا ذواتنا بمعرفةٍ قادرةٍ على تذكيرنا بحقّنا في الوصول إلى المتعة والاحتفاء بحيواتنا رغماً عن الصدمة التي عشناها أو قد نعيشها، وكلّ ذلك بصيغة قوة يمكن لنا مشاركتها مع شعوبنا. إن الجانب المجتمعي هو المفقود من السبل التي نهتمّ بها بأنفسنا، العناية بالذات لا يمكن أن تكون من دون اهتمام بالمجتمعات. نحن قادرات على الشعور بثقة داخلية أكبر، وبالأمان وقوة أنفسنا، وخاصة في مواجهة الصدمات المقبلة التي ستنكأنا، ومعرفة كيفية تهدئة أنفسنا وإعادة الاستقرار إليها. كل هذا الفهم سيقودنا إلى قوة داخلية عميقة، مدعّمة بالموارد اللازمة لمواجهة أي تحدّيات ستعترض طرقنا.

بصفتنا أولئك اللواتي عانين من صدمات جيلية عميقة، وصلنا نتيجتها إلى انعدام ثقةٍ في قُدرتنا على الوصول إلى القوة الكامنة فينا. تُعلّمنا لورد في كتابها «استعمالات الإيروتيكية: الإيروتيكية كقوة»، أن الإيروتيكية توفر مصدراً للتجديد، وطريقة للمطالبة بالأفضل لأنفسنا وحياتنا. 

إن المتعة التي تُخالج الجسد (الإيروتيكا) لا يُمكن اختزالها بفعلٍ بعينه، لأنها مسألةٌ مُتعلقة باستحكامنا واندماجنا الكامل بالشعور الذي يُخالجنا في مخاض القيام بفعلٍ ما. ما إن نعرف إلى أي مدى نحن قادرات على الشعور بالرضا والكمال، يمكننا عندها ملاحظة أيّ من مساعينا الحياتية المتعددة، تلك التي تجعلنا أقرب إلى هذا الإشباع.

أنا لا أقول ذلك باستخفاف – أعلم أن قوله أهين من الفعل. أعلم أن الكثيرات منّا ممنوعات من فهم هذه الحقائق أو استيعابها أو حتى معالجتها. يولّد فعل المقاومة إحساساً من انعدام الأمان، ولكن هذه الأحاسيس لا تجعل من قرار المقاومة مستحيلاً. إن مقاومة بُنى القوة التي لاتوفّر الأمان سوى لمن هُم في موقع القوة، ستعرّض كلّ من وُضع عند أعتاب هذا العالم للخطر. إدراك الصدمات التي تواجهينها هو إعلان استملاكك لتجاربك الماضية ولكل تلك التي ستلحق. إن المقاومة هي التعبير الحقيقي عن المعرفة القائلة بأننا نستحق أكثر من فتات الخبز التي أجبرتنا هذه الأنظمة على التطلّع إلى لا شيء غيرها. إنها مقاومة تدرك أن صدماتنا هي مورد يربطنا ببعضنا البعض، ويسمح بالحفاظ على أمان بعضنا الآخر. إنها مقاومة تدرك أن المتعة والفرح لا تعني قيام اليوتوبيا، لأننا سنظل نتأذّى ونتعرّض للأذى، ولكننا سنكون جاهزات بشكل أفضل للبقاء والاستمرار في مجتمعات تتميّز بالرعاية واللطف المتنوّعَين. مقاومة تفسح المجال للشفاء والتواصل مع ذواتنا البشرية الكاملة.

لن يكون الشفاء أبداً رحلة سهلة وردية، إنما يبدأ الأمر بالاعتراف بإمكانية التغيير. يجعلنا الاضطهاد ندرك أن اللذة والمتعة ليسا شيئاً يتسنّى لأيٍّ كان الوصول إليهما بشكل متساوٍ. لكن إحدى الطرق التي نستعيد بها ذواتنا كاملة – ذواتنا الكاملة، والمحرّرة – هي عبر استعادة قدرتنا على التماس المتعة واللذة.

كتبت ليا لاكشمي بيبزنا-ساماراسينها في مقالها المعنون نشاطية اللذة (الذي ساهمت فيه):

أعلم أنه بالنسبة لمعظم الناس، لا يمكن لكلمات مثل «رعاية» و»لذّة» أن تكونا في نفس الجملة. جميعنا نعاني من التمييز ضدّ الأجساد بحسب المعايير النمطية للقدرة البدنية، وهي نهج تمييزيّ كاره للأجساد ذات الاحتياجات الخاصة، ونكون أمام خيار مخزي: ألّا تكون أجسادنا بحاجة لاحتياجات خاصة فتباعًا نحصل على الاستقلالية، والكرامة، والسيطرة على حياتنا من جهة، أو أن تكون أجسادنا في حالة تتطلّب احتياجات خاصة، الأمر الذي يُخسرنا كل ما سبق من كرامة واستقلال ولذة إذا ما جاهرنا به. 

ما هي القوة الكامنة بذلك؟ نحن نفهم صدماتنا، ولذلك نفهم صدمات الآخرين؛ وتتجسّد بنا أحاسيس نختبرها ونقصدها بدلاً من تجنّبها وتفاديها. نحن نصل إلى اللذة بطرق تجعلنا نريد تبادل ذلك الفرح ضمن مجتمعاتنا، عندما نعلم بالصدمة، فإننا نمنح أنفسنا مساحة لاختبار كلّ ذلك وإعطاء أنفسنا والآخرين الإذن بالشفاء. تخيّلي، مجتمعاً لدى الجميع فيه إمكانية الوصول إلى الموارد والوقت لعيش حياة ممتعة، بالطريقة التي يريدونها ويستحقّونها. حيث تنحسِر تجلّيات الصدمات مكانيًا لأن الأشخاص يحملون إدراكًا لماهيّة الصدمات يغذّي فيهم احساساً مرهفاً بالتآزر. أليس هذا هو الشفاء؟ أليس مواجهة للصدمات العابرة للأجيال؟ ألا يبني ذلك مستقبلاً أكثر صحة واستدامةً لنا جميعاً.

لقد حان الوقت لإعادة التواصل مع معرفة أسلافنا التي نستحقها حتى نعيش حياة كاملة. نحتاج إلى إعادة الاتصال مع الحقّ الطبيعي بالفرح والوجود من أجل أنفسنا. حتى نتمكن من الشعور باللذة لمجرّد الرغبة بها. وألا نعيش حياة مرعبة. يبدو الأمر راديكالياً؛ إنه شعور راديكالي. في عالم نشعر به بالصدمة والخدر، والخوف، والشعور والبقاء يكون للأقوى، والجشع والعيش مع القضايا البنيوية التي تفضي بنا إلى الأمراض العقلية، يا لها من هدية وأمر مفرح أن نبدأ بالشعور، أن نكون في مجتمعات مع أولئك اللواتي يشعرن، أن يكنّ متكاتفات بشكل صحّي، حتى ليحببن بعضهن البعض بكل شجاعة. الشعور راديكالي. اللذة راديكالية. الشفاء راديكالي. 

لديك الإذن للشعور باللذة. لديك الإذن بالرقص، والخلق وحبّ نفسك والآخرين، للاحتفال وتنمية الفرح. أنت مدعوّة لفعل ذلك. لديك الإذن بالشفاء. لا تراكميها داخلك، ولا تحاولي تجاوز المحنة بمفردك. لديك الإذن بالحزن، ولديك الإذن بالحياة.
- أدريان ماري براون، «لديك الإذن»

يسمح التجسّد بإدراك صدماتنا والعمل من خلالها وإقامة روابط ذات معنى مع أنفسنا والمجموعة. القيام بذلك مع الوقت يحافظ على شفائنا؛ تماماً كالصدمة، الشفاء ليس حدثاً يحصل لمرة واحدة فقط. هذا الشفاء يساعد على دفعنا باتجاه التحرّر الذاتي والجماعي.

أشار أندي جونسون في كتابه «السياسات الكويرية للّذة» إلى الطرق التي من خلالها توفّر لنا كويرية (queering) اللذة مصادر الشفاء، والقبول، والإطلاق، والمرح، والكمال، والتحدّي، والانشقاق، والحرية. يا له من اتساع! عندما تتجسد المتعة من خلال طرق بكلّ هذه الشمولية، والكويرية، فنكون قادرات على الاعتراف بالحدود.

دائما ما تسألنا كويرة اللذة أسئلة تتقاطع مع أحلامنا وواقعنا المُعاش.

من هو الحرّ كفاية أو يستحقّ ما يكفي حتى يشعر باللذة؟ متى يُسمح للمرء بأن يلتذّذ أو يُشعِر غيره باللذة؟ مع مَن يمكن للمرء الشعور باللذة؟ ما هو نوع اللذة المتاحة؟ ما هي حدود الوصول إلى كل الإمكانيات الإيروتيكية والممتعة؟
- أندي جونسون، «السياسات الكويرية للّذة»

عندما ترتكز الممارسات التلذذية المدركة للتروما على الرعاية المجتمعية، نبدأ عندها بالإجابة على بعض هذه الأسئلة. نبدأ بفهم إمكانيات التحرّر. كناشطات من أجل اللذة، هذا هو الواقع الذي نرتكز عليه. يقول الواقع، إن اللذة يمكن أن تكون قليلة، لكن لديها إمكانية الشفاء ليس فقط تحقيق شفائي وشفاء مجتمعي، إنما كلّ الأجيال الآتية.

أنا نظام متكامل؛ كلّنا نظام متكامل. نحن لسنا عبارة عن آلام فقط، ولسنا مجرّد مخاوف، ولسنا مجرّد أفكار. نحن نظام متكامل من أجل اللذة، ويمكننا تعلّم كيف نقول نعم من الداخل إلى الخارج.
- برينتيس هيمفيل – مقابلة مع شار جوسيل

 هناك عالم من اللذة يسمح لنا بأن نبدأ بفهم أنفسنا بشكل كامل، بطرق تعطينا مجالاً لبناء واقع يؤكد لنا أننا قادرات على تحقيق اللذة اليومية المستحقّة. التربيط والتأديب والهيمنة والخضوع إحدى أعمق ملذاتي، تسمح لي بإلقاء نظرة على تلك الوقائع حيث يمكنني الشعور والشفاء من صدماتي، كما الشعور بفرصٍ لا حدود لها من أجل قول نعم من الداخل إلى الخارج. في حين تُبقيني الصدمة عالقة في دوامة من النضال أو الهروب، فإن التربيط والركوع والأثر ولعبة التنفس تشجعني على البقاء متصلة بالأرض، وأعيد الاتصال لإعادة الترميم. تتيح لي اللذة المرِحة بالشفاء، وبتحديد مكان وجود الطاقة المؤلمة في جسدي والتركيز على طاقتي هناك. وتسمح لي بالتعبير عن الأحاسيس التي يشعر بها جسدي بواسطة صراخ الألم والابتهاج، والتعبير عن الـ»لا» من دون خوف والاستمتاع بالـ «نعم» إلى أبعد الحدود. بواسطة خطة السلامة، والعناية اللاحقة، والفهم العميق للصدمة، تمنح الغرابات الجنسية (kink) مكاناً للتلذذ والشفاء اللذين لا يمكن تقديرهما بأي ثمن.

لذلك إذا كانت لذّتك تشبه طهي طعامك في وقت الفراغ، أو ممارسة الجنس، أو إمضاء يومك بالسرير مع أصدقائك، أو المشاركة في المجموعات المهتمّة بالمعوقين، أو بصق أحدهم بفمك، أو الخروج بنزهات يمكن الوصول إليها، أو الخروج إلى مواعيد لتبادل المداعبات، أو المشاركة في حفلات راقصة عبر الانترنت، أو تمضية وقت في الحديقة، أو الاختناق في غرفة ضيقة.
 

دراك قوة الإيروتيكية في حياتنا يمكن أن تعطينا الطاقة لمتابعة تغيير حقيقي داخل عالمنا.
- أودري لورد «توظيف الإيروتيك: الإيروتيكية كأداة للقوة»


Decorative element
Cover image for Communicating Desire
 
Explore Transnational Embodiments

This journal edition in partnership with Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research, will explore feminist solutions, proposals and realities for transforming our current world, our bodies and our sexualities.

Explore

Cover image, woman biting a fruit
 

التجسيدات العابرة للحدود

نصدر النسخة هذه من المجلة بالشراكة مع «كحل: مجلة لأبحاث الجسد والجندر»، وسنستكشف عبرها الحلول والاقتراحات وأنواع الواقع النسوية لتغيير عالمنا الحالي وكذلك أجسادنا وجنسانياتنا.

استكشف المجلة

CFA 2023 - Tiytle Hybrid like never before: in person - EN

Hybrid like never before

For the first time, the AWID Forum offers three modes of participation

Andaiye

Andaiye in Swahili means ‘a daughter comes home’. Born Sandra Williams on 11 September 1942 in Georgetown, Guyana, she changed her name to ‘Andaiye’ in 1970 as the Black Power movements swept her country and the wider Caribbean region. 

Andaiye was seen as a transformative figure on the frontlines of the struggles for liberation and freedom. She was an early member and active in the leadership of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a socialist party in Guyana which fought against authoritarian rule and continued throughout her life to focus on justice for the working-class and rural women’s rights and on bridging ethnic barriers between Indo and Afro-Guyanese women. 

Andaiye was a founding member of Red Thread Women, an organization that advocated for women’s care work to be fairly remunerated, worked at the University of the West Indies and with CARICOM. Never afraid to challenge governments, she pointed out gender imbalances in state boards, laws that discriminated against sex workers, called for abortion rights in Jamaica and spoke out against trade agreements such as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allowed for the free movement of women domestic migrant workers but did not give their children the same rights.  

Andaiye published several scholarly essays, wrote newspaper columns and also edited the last books of Walter Rodney, the Guyanese political activist and fellow WPA leader, who was assassinated in 1980. A cancer survivor, Andaiye was one of the founders of the Guyana Cancer Society and the Cancer Survivors’ Action Group. She also served on the executive of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), as a Director of Help and Shelter and as Board Member of the Guyana National Commission on Women. She received a number of awards, including the Golden Arrow of Achievement in Guyana (the fourth highest national award).

Andaiye passed away on 31 May 2019 at the age of 77. The subsequent tributes that flowed in from activists, friends and those inspired by her life spoke eloquently to her amazing legacy and her beautiful humanity.

Here are but a few: 

“Andaiye had a profound effect on me...she was so many things, an educator, fighter, she taught me to be self-critical, to think more clearly, she taught me about survival, about incredible courage, about compassion, about going beyond external appearances and treating people as people and not being distracted by status, class, race...anything.”
- Peggy Antrobus, Feminist Activist, Author, Scholar, Barbados

“The kind of confident idealism Andaiye expressed, this willingness to confront the world and a stubborn belief that you could actually change it... That politics of hope...How else to honour her life, legacy and memory but to keep doing the work ethically and with ongoing self-critique? And to put women’s caring work at the center of it.”
- Tonya Haynes, Barbados

“I can hear her quip at our collective keening. So through the tears I can laugh. Deep bows to you beloved Andaiye, thank you for everything. Love and light for your spirit’s journey. Tell Walter and all the ancestors howdy.” - Carol Narcisse, Jamaica

Read more tributes to Andaiye

Love letter to Feminist Movements #4

To my beloved feminists living with HIV,

Scrapbook envelopes that say Love Letters to Feminist Movements. The top envelope says Love letters to feminist movements from Jessica Whitbread

We’ve been together for over 20 years and how deeply I’ve treasured your love and support. It is interesting to think that you too are a similar age to AWID - both trying to figure out how to engage and support the community on a similar timeline. To the mothers in the movement, your leadership and guidance has been unmatched. I think of Prudence Mabele, Kate Thompson, Darien Taylor, Patricia Perez, Martha Tholanah, Deloris Dockery, Iris De La Cruise, Doris Peltier, Cecilia Chung and so many more. While not perfect (as none of us are), you always put your community first and champion the inclusion of ALL women living with HIV in feminist spaces.

I love the way you have held me when no one else has been able to, but more importantly how we hold each other. While you understand stigma, discrimination, violence and pain, you also understand joy, love and forgiveness. As feminists living with HIV, we are glorious and powerful in our intersectionality. We understand that feminism includes and is led by communities - our Black, Brown and Indigenous sisters, communities who are trans and gender diverse, sex workers, queer/lesbian, those who have been incarcerated, and those who use drugs - as set out in the GIPA (Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV) principles. Your feminism is all encompassing. We talk about the hard issues and about criminalized communities, because as people living with HIV, we ourselves are criminalized. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t send special love to the young women living with HIV, the heartbeat of the movement. I see you Kia Lebejia, Keren Dunaway, Liz Onyango, Faith Ona, Sara Thapa Maga, Doreen Moraa, Yana Panfilova and millions of others incredible activists living with HIV. You are the power that will continue to propel us forward and allow us to be seen as important in mainstream feminst movements. Thank you for taking our movement further to ALWAYS include trans and gender diverse folks, to talk about the links between climate change and sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

I love, love, love, love you so much. For better or for worse, let’s move forward together because this is our community - this is my community. 

 

With love, 
Jessica Whitbread

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الموعد الأخير لتقديم المقترحات: 1 فبراير/ شباط 2024

 

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Janet Benshoof

Janet Benshoof was a human rights lawyer from the United States and an advocate for women’s equality, sexual and reproductive rights.

She campaigned to broaden access to contraceptives and abortions across the world, and battled anti-abortion rulings and in the American territory of Guam. She was arrested in 1990 for opposing her country’s most restrictive abortion law, but won an injunction at the local court in Guam that blocked the law and eventually won at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, striking down the law for good.

“The women in Guam are in a very tragic situation. I never intend to be quiet about that.” - Janet Benshoof for People Magazine

Janet established landmark legal precedents including the US Food and Drug Administrations’ approval of emergency contraception, as well as the application of international law to ensure the rights of rape victims in the Iraqi High Tribunal’s prosecution of Saddam-era war crimes. 

Janet was President and founder of the Global Justice Center, as well as founder of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the world’s first international human rights organization focused on reproductive choice and equality. She served 15 years as Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Rights Project, where she spearheaded litigation shaping US constitutional law on gender equality, free speech, and reproductive rights.

“Janet was known for her brilliant legal mind, her sharp sense of humor, and for her courage in the face of injustice.” - Anthony D. Romero

Named one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by the National Law Journal, Janet was the recipient of numerous awards and honors. 

She was born in May 1947 and passed away in December 2017. 

Three Boats, a Horse and a Taxi: Pacific Feminists at the AWID Forums

Cover for the story: Three Boats, a Horse and a Taxi: Pacific Feminists at the AWID Forums

Three Boats, a Horse and a Taxi: Pacific Feminists at the AWID Forums

This story is about how an increasingly diverse group of feminists from the Pacific organized through the years to attend the AWID Forums and how that process changed them personally, as organizations, and as a movement through what they learned, discovered and experienced. It illustrates the importance of the Forums as a space through which a region that tends to be marginalized or ignored at the global level can build a strong presence in the feminist movement that is then replicated at other international women’s rights spaces.

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Gloria Chicaiza

Gloria Chicaiza, an Ecuadorian social and environmental activist, was a fervent defender of land and water. She defied the status quo, fighting against a model of development based on extraction and worked tirelessly for ecological justice and the rights of communities affected by mining.  

In diverse areas of Ecuador, Gloria was part of resistance actions in favour of protecting the ecosystem. With passion and dedication, Gloria supported the indigenous and environmental movement, its communities and organizations who oppose mining projects and protect their territories and collective life projects. She spoke out, in local and international foras, against the criminalization of dissent and resistance, the pressure and violence being enacted against community activists, in particular, women human rights defenders and in support of community led efforts for food sovereignty and sustainability

She was the Mining Justice Coordinator at Acción Ecológica, member of the Latin American Network of Women Defenders of the Social and Environmental Rights and a Board member at the Observatory of Mining Conflicts of Latin America.

In October 2010, Gloria was accused by the mining company Curimining / Salazar Resources S.A. (with Headquarters in Vancouver, Canada) of sponsoring an act of terrorism, sabotage and illegal association to commit a crime. Acción Ecológica believed this to be “in retaliation for her work of denouncing the impacts of mining activities in the country.”

In 2014, Gloria supported the coordination of a delegation to the UN COP 20 Dialogue on Climate Change. The group consisted of 25 Indigenous women from Latin America.

Gloria passed away due to complications from a lung transplant on December 28, 2019. She is remembered for her resistance and tireless work. 

"The fastest way to achieve sustainability is still resistance." -  Gloria Chicaiza (2010 interview)



Tributes:

“Para GLORIA. GLORIA Agua. GLORIA Tierra. GLORIA Madre. GLORIA Revolución. GLORIA Hermana. GLORIA Cielo. GLORIAmiga. GLORIAstral. Thank you for weaving us together.” -Liliana Gutierrez

“Thank you Glorita, for sustaining hope, for keeping the fabric strong, for connecting the community, for the united hands, for solidarity, thank you Glorita for standing with us in the most difficult moments. Thank you for teaching us that throughout life, nobody gets tired.” (Chakana News)

“Gloria Chicaiza cherished and flourished in being one of many. And as humble as she was, she had an uncanny ability to lead and maintain a steady and thunderous beat, a life-affirming pulse that guided, mobilized, and inspired communities and networks in the protection of Mother Earth. She denounced all forms of violence against cuerpos-territorios. She endorsed el buen vivir.” - Gabriela Jiménez, Latin America Partnerships Coordinator, KAIROS

“Thank you Gloria Chicaiza from infinity we are sure that you will continue to support our struggle. You who continued to struggle with us despite your failing health. You will live on in the forests and the water that you defended with such courage. You will live on in our hearts.”- The community of Intag in Ecuador

Read more Tributes to Gloria