Over the past few years, a troubling new trend at the international human rights level is being observed, where discourses on ‘protecting the family’ are being employed to defend violations committed against family members, to bolster and justify impunity, and to restrict equal rights within and to family life.
The campaign to "Protect the Family" is driven by ultra-conservative efforts to impose "traditional" and patriarchal interpretations of the family, and to move rights out of the hands of family members and into the institution of ‘the family’.
“Protection of the Family” efforts stem from:
rising traditionalism,
rising cultural, social and religious conservatism and
sentiment hostile to women’s human rights, sexual rights, child rights and the rights of persons with non-normative gender identities and sexual orientations.
Since 2014, a group of states have been operating as a bloc in human rights spaces under the name “Group of Friends of the Family”, and resolutions on “Protection of the Family” have been successfully passed every year since 2014.
This agenda has spread beyond the Human Rights Council. We have seen regressive language on “the family” being introduced at the Commission on the Status of Women, and attempts made to introduce it in negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Approach
AWID works with partners and allies to jointly resist “Protection of the Family” and other regressive agendas, and to uphold the universality of human rights.
In response to the increased influence of regressive actors in human rights spaces, AWID joined allies to form the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs). OURs is a collaborative project that monitors, analyzes, and shares information on anti-rights initiatives like “Protection of the Family”.
Rights at Risk, the first OURs report, charts a map of the actors making up the global anti-rights lobby, identifies their key discourses and strategies, and the effect they are having on our human rights.
The report outlines “Protection of the Family” as an agenda that has fostered collaboration across a broad range of regressive actors at the UN. It describes it as: “a strategic framework that houses “multiple patriarchal and anti-rights positions, where the framework, in turn, aims to justify and institutionalize these positions.”
Hevrin Khalaf était une grande dirigeante politique kurde de Syrie dans la région autonome du Rojava, où les femmes kurdes risquent leur vie pour résister aux offensives turques et pour bâtir un système féministe.
Elle a travaillé en tant que secrétaire-générale du Parti du Futur de la Syrie, un groupe qui souhaitait construire des ponts, réconcilier les différents groupes ethniques et mettre sur pied une « Syrie démocratique, pluraliste et décentralisée ».
Véritable symbole de cet effort de réconciliation, elle a également oeuvré à la promotion de l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes et fut représentante auprès des journalistes en visite, des humanitaires et des diplomates.
Hevrin a de plus été diplômée en tant qu’ingénieure civile, à la ville de Derik, ainsi que l’une des fondatrices de la Fondation pour la Science et la Libre pensée en 2012.
Elle a été torturée et assassinée le 12 octobre 2019 par la milice Ahrar al-Sharqiya, soutenue par la Turquie, lors d’une opération militaire contre les Forces démocratiques syriennes dans le Rojava.
« L’assassinat de Khalaf est un tournant majeur dans l’histoire moderne de la Syrie, celui-ci ayant une fois de plus confirmé la validité du vieux proverbe kurde qui dit : « Il n’y a de véritable ami·e que la montagne ». Je serai toujours ami avec Khalaf et sa vision d’un monde meilleur. » – Ahed Al Hendi
Freeing the Church, Decolonizing the Bible for West Papuan Women
By Rode Wanimbo (@rodwan986), Jayapura, Papua Province of Indonesia
“Lord, we are unworthy. We are the ones who committed sin for Eve ate the fruit in Eden. We are just women who grow sweet potatoes, look after pigs and give birth to children. We believe you died on the cross to set us free. Thank you, In Jesus’s name Amen.”
This is a typical prayer of women I have heard during my visits to ministries in several villages. Even I said the same prayer for many years.
I was born and grew up in Agamua, the Central Highlands of West Papua. My father belongs to the Lani tribe and my mother comes from Walak.
In Lani and Walak languages - languages spoken in the Central Highlands - tiru means a pillar. There are four tiru (pillars) standing firmly in the middle of the Lani roundhouse (honai), around wun’awe or a furnace. Tiru is always made of the strongest type of wood called a’pe (ironwood tree). The longer the wood gets heated and smoked from the fire in the honai, the stronger it becomes. Without tiru, the honai cannot stand firm. West Papuan women are these tiru.
West Papua is located in the western part of the New Guinea island, containing some of the world’s highest mountains, densest jungle, and richest mineral resources. It is home to over 250 groups and has an incredible biodiversity. Due to its natural wealth, West Papua has, over the centuries, been targeted by foreign occupiers. Until 1963, we were colonized by the Dutch. However in 1969, after a manipulative political act, we were transferred from the Dutch to Indonesia.
The first German missionaries arrived in Mansinam Island, Manokwari, in 1855. Then, in the 1950s, Christianity was brought to the Central Highlands of West Papua by Protestant missionaries of European descent from America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
According to Scripture in Genesis 1: 26-27, Man and Woman are created in the image of God. It means all humanity is made with the call and capacity to exercise dominion. Radah, the Hebrew word for dominion, means stewardship. Radah is not a call to exercise imperial power as declared by Pope Nicolas V, granting Catholic nations the right to “discover” and claim dominion over non-Christian lands. To diminish the capacity of humans to exercise dominion, is to diminish the image of God on earth (Lisa Sharon Harper, The Very Good Gospel).
The Evangelical Church of Indonesia (GIDI) was established as an institution in 1963. In the Sunday Service liturgy of GIDI, Women are considered unworthy to take any responsibility except collecting offerings. In 2003, after 40 years, the Department of Women was introduced within the structure of the Synod leadership.
In November 2013, I was entrusted to be a chairperson of the Women’s Department of the GIDI Synod.
Together with several other women leaders, we started a cell group that is committed to “decolonizing the Bible.” We learn together how to reconstruct the interpretation of biblical texts to champion women.
A feminist theologian named Elisabeth S Florenza calls it a feminist hermeneutic theory (Josina Wospakrik, Biblical Interpretation and Marginalization of Woman in the Churches of West Papua).
Besides the cell group, we interview our elderly women to collect our ancestors’ wisdom and values. As Bernard Narakobi in his book The Melanesian Way said: “Our history did not begin with contact with the Western explorers. Our civilization did not start with the coming of the Christian missionaries. Because we have an ancient civilization. It is important for us to give proper dignity and place to our history”.
Yum is a knotted net or woven bag handmade from wood fiber or leaves. Yum is highly valued for it symbolizes life and hope. When women of Lani and Walak get married, our maternal aunts put yum on our heads. It means we bear the responsibility for giving life and for providing food. Yum is used to carry garden produce as well as being used as a container to put a baby to sleep in as it gives warmth and a sense of security.
“West Papuan Women are Yum and Tiru” became the prime references as we contextualized women in the eyes of Jesus Christ in seminar and focus group discussions. From 2013 to 2018, we focused on reconstructing the view of women in GIDI and in gaining a healthy self-image. We are still in the process of understanding who we are to Jesus, rather than who we have been told we are by theologians and the fathers of the early Churches. Josina Wospakrik, a West Papuan Theologian said “The Gospel is incredibly rich but it was impoverished due to human ambitions and agendas.”
Since 2018, the GIDI Women Leadership team and I have formulated four priority programs: Decolonizing the Bible, Storytelling in a circle, Training of trainers for Literacy and Gender. The fourth, supported simple bookkeeping and savings groups workshops facilitated by Yapelin and Yasumat, which are faith based organizations established by GIDI leaders to reach the economic, social and health needs of women in the communities.
Storytelling in a Circle
In this programme we create a safe space for women to talk - each woman has a story. We all sit together and learn how to be good listeners.
“I became Christian and was taught that the government is God’s representative. Why did the government do nothing when the army burnt down my village and killed my relatives?” asked one woman in the storytelling circle. “My aunt was raped.” She stopped for a while. Could not talk. She cried. We all did.
The process of storytelling has driven us into deep conversation. We began to contextualize Biblical texts within our daily realities.
We started asking questions amongst ourselves: Where is God in our toughest times? Does the state government truly represent God on earth? Why does the Creator allow privileged people to destroy His own image in the name of Christianity and Development? During the process, I realized that I have been reading the Bible using somebody else’s glasses.
The church has to be a safe place to share stories and be a place of comfort to be still and rest. As we reflect on the testimonies, those who tell their stories begin the process of recovering from wounds and trauma.
Financial Literacy for Women
Culturally, West Papuans invest in relationships. The concept of saving is understood as an investment in relations, not in a bank account. And while the Indonesian central government has granted special autonomy to respond to West Papuans’ demand for self-determination, many government policies harm the quality of family life and they do not account for women’s lives. High illiteracy rates amongst women mean most women do not have access to a bank account. With no money saved, access to medical services becomes a struggle.
Through the priority programmes, Yapelin, with the active involvement and support of women, created saving groups in Bokondini and Jayapura. The saving groups are chaired by women who have access to a bank.
In coordination with Yayasan Bethany Indonesia (YBI) and Yayasan Suluh, a faith-based organization (FBO) based in Jayapura, we facilitated four literacy workshops. The literacy team facilitated the training of trainers in three different dioceses: Merauke, Sentani, and Benawa. We now have 30 facilitators in different congregations who run literacy programs.
Lack of financial support for our programs will not stop us. Being stigmatized as rebels will not stop us from standing up and speaking in church evaluation meetings and conferences. It is stressful but I am committed together with several women leaders to calling on the power-holders within to free the church.
The Gospel known as Good News should become news that liberates women from a very patriarchal circle of power, liberates women from social stigma and returns women to the original purpose of The Creator.
The Gospel must be a mirror to reflect who we are collectively. As Lisa Sharon Harper, in her book The Very Good Gospel said “The Gospel is not only about an individual’s reconciliation with God, self and communities. But also speaks on systemic justice, peace between people groups and freedom for the oppressed”.
Rode Wanimbo is the chairperson of the Women’s Department of Evangelical Church of Indonesia (GIDI).
“Offerings for Black Life”
By Sokari Ekine (@blacklooks), New Orleans
Coming from a place of healing and self-care is a political act that guides us to be focused and to move as one. In New Orleans, we created and will be creating altars in honour of those murdered by police and white supremacists vigilantes!
Culturellement nomade, née à Hong Kong et enracinée dans un héritage turco-pakistanais, l'amour de Fatima pour les récits - tant pour les lire que pour les cocréer - a alimenté sa passion pour l'activisme à travers la communication. Forte de sa formation en journalisme, Fatima a travaillé pendant 7 ans dans les domaines de la communication numérique et médiatique avec des ONG qui offrent des opportunités d'éducation et de l’aide juridique aux réfugié·e·s et demandeur·se·s d'asile, ainsi qu'avec le mouvement féministe musulman qui applique une perspective féministe et fondée sur les droits dans la compréhension et la quête d’égalité et de justice au sein de la tradition juridique musulmane. Elle rédige régulièrement des tribunes sur les questions féministes dans les pays du Sud.
Grâce à la narration dans cette ère ultra digitale des réseaux sociaux, Fatima continue de collaborer avec des animateur·rice·s communautaires et des activistes de terrain pour créer du contenu audiovisuel dans le but de cultiver des ponts de compréhension vers la libération collective et la décolonisation. Les jours où elle ne travaille pas, elle regarde attentivement des films féministes indépendants venant d’Iran, du Maroc et du Pakistan, et les autres jours elle interprète de la poésie orale avec ses camarades à Kuala Lumpur.
Position
Responsable des communications numériques et des partenariats de l'ICM
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Сколько вопросов содержится в опросе?
Всего 47 вопросов, из которых 27 являются обязательными*, а остальные 20 – дополнительными. Большинство вопросов – это вопросы с множественным выбором. Мы надеемся, что вы ответите на все вопросы.
Reason to join 2
Encuentra y crea conexiones. AWID cuenta con más de 9000 afiliadxs, todxs dedicadxs a abordar cuestiones complementarias e interconectadas. En esta diversidad se apoya la sostenibilidad de los movimientos y actorxs feministas.
Laurie Carlos was an actor, director, dancer, playwright, and poet in the United States. An extraordinary artist and visionary with powerful ways of bringing the art out in others.
“Laurie walked in the room (any room/every room) with swirling clairvoyance, artistic genius, embodied rigor, fierce realness—and a determination to be free...and to free others. A Magic Maker. A Seer. A Shape Shifter. Laurie told me once that she went inside people’s bodies to find what they needed.” - Sharon Bridgforth
She combined performance styles such as rhythmic gestures and text. Laurie mentored new actors, performers, writers and helped amplify their work through Naked Stages, a fellowship for emerging artists. She was an artistic fellow at Penumbra Theater and supported with identifying scripts to produce, with a goal of “bringing more feminine voices into the theater”. Laurie was also a member of Urban Bush Women, a renowned contemporary dance company telling stories of women of the African diaspora.
In 1976, as Lady in Blue, she made her Broadway debut in Ntozake Shange’s original and award-winning production of the poetic drama For colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. Laurie’s own works include White Chocolate, The Cooking Show, and Organdy Falsetto.
“I tell the stories in the movement—the inside dances that occur spontaneously, as in life—the music and the text. If I write a line, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a line that is spoken; it can be a line that’s moved. A line from which music is created. The gesture becomes the sentence. So much of who we are as women, as people, has to do with how we gesture to one another all the time, and particularly through emotional moments. Gesture becomes a sentence or a state of fact. If I put on a script ‘four gestures,’ that doesn’t mean I’m not saying anything; that means I have opened it up for something to be said physically.” Laurie Carlos
Laurie was born and grew up in New York City, worked and lived in Twin Cities. She passed away on 29 December 2016, at the age of 67, after a battle with colon cancer.
Tributes:
“I believe that that was exactly Laurie’s intention. To save us. From mediocrity. From ego. From laziness. From half-realized art making. From being paralyzed by fear.
Laurie wanted to help us Shine fully.
In our artistry.
In our Lives.” - Sharon Bridgforth for Pillsbury House Theatre
“There’s no one that knew Laurie that wouldn’t call her a singular individual. She was her own person. She was her own person, her own artist; she put the world as she knew it on stage with real style and understanding, and she lived her art.” - Lou Bellamy, Founder of Penumbra Theater Company, for Star Tribune
¡Bienvenidxs a Crear | Résister | Transform: un festival para movimientos feministas!
Principios de participación para el Festival
AWID está comprometida con la creación de un espacio virtual que nos invite y desafíe a todxs a funcionar desde un lugar de valentía, curiosidad, generosidad y responsabilidad compartida.
Te invitamos a crear conjuntamente con nosotrxs espacios libres de acoso y violencia, donde todas las personas sean respetadas en su identidad y expresión de género, raza, capacidad, clase, religión, idioma, etnia, edad, ocupación, tipo de educación, sexualidad, tamaño corporal y apariencia física. Espacios donde reconozcamos las desigualdades que prevalecen en nuestro mundo, y nos esforcemos por transformarlas.
Queremos crear un espacio donde:
podamos estar “presentes”:
Esto significa escucharnos, comprendernos y vincularnos. Sentirnos cerca, a pesar de la virtualidad. Para eso, contaremos con interpretación y abriremos canales (como el chat y otras herramientas) para reaccionar y compartir. Para lograr escucharnos mejor, les invitamos a utilizar audífonos o auriculares durante la sesión. Si puedes hacerlo, te sugerimos cerrar tus correos electrónicos y cualquier otra posible distracción mientras estás en la conversación.
todas las formas de conocimiento son valoradas:
Celebremos los distintos saberes y las múltiples formas en que estos se expresan. Nos acercamos al espacio con curiosidad y apertura para aprender de otrxs y permitiéndonos desaprender y reaprender a partir del intercambio, sentando las posibilidades para la construcción colectiva de conocimiento.
todxs nos sintamos bienvenidxs:
Estamos comprometidxs con un enfoque holístico de la accesibilidad, conscientes de las diferentes necesidades físicas, mentales, de idioma y de seguridad. Queremos un espacio que acoja a gente de contextos, creencias, capacidades y experiencias diversas. Seremos proactivxs, pero también te pedimos que nos comuniques tus necesidades, para que, dentro de nuestras posibilidades, nos ocupemos de satisfacerlas.
todxs nos sintamos segurxs y respetadxs:
Asumimos compromisos individuales y colectivos de respetar la privacidad y contar con el consentimiento de otrxs para difundir imágenes o contenido generado durante la conversación.
Crear un ambiente más seguro, respetuoso y disfrutable para las conversaciones es responsabilidad de todxs.
Cómo reportar
Si notas que alguien se está comportando de forma discriminatoria u ofensiva, por favor, contacta a la persona de referencia que se indicará al comienzo de la sesión.
Cualquier participante que se exprese con lenguaje opresivo o imágenes ofensivas será eliminadx de la videoconferencia y no será admitidx nuevamente. No interactuaremos con esa persona de ninguna manera.
É preciso responder a todas as perguntas de uma só vez ou posso responder quando quiser?
Se quiser guardar as suas respostas e voltar ao inquérito mais tarde, pode fazê-lo sempre que precisar.
Solidarity: membership why page
Solidarité
nous prenons position en solidarité les un·e·s avec les autres ainsi qu’avec différentes luttes en défense de la justice et des libertés. Nous nous efforçons de mobiliser et renforcer l’action collective et de pratiquer des méthodes significatives de collaboration.
Fadila M. fue una activista tribal soulaliyate de Azrú, en la región Ifrane de Marruecos. Luchó contra una forma específica de discriminación territorial dirigida a las mujeres tribales.
Como parte del Movimiento de Mujeres Soulaliyate por el Derecho a la Tierra, trabajó para reformar el marco legislativo relacionado con la administración de la propiedad comunitaria, a través de la adopción, en 2019, de tres proyectos de ley que garantizan la igualdad de mujeres y varones.
Según las leyes consuetudinarias vigentes, las mujeres no tenían derecho a beneficiarse de la tierra, en especial aquellas que eran solteras, viudas o divorciadas. En Marruecos, los derechos a las tierras colectivas eran transmitidos tradicionalmente entre los varones de la familia mayores de 16 años. Desde 2007, Fadila M. ha sido parte del movimiento de mujeres, la primera movilización nacional de base por los derechos a la tierra. Una de sus conquistas ha sido que, en 2012, las mujeres soulaliyate pudieron registrarse por primera vez en las listas de beneficiarixs, y recibir compensaciones relacionadas con la cesión de tierras. El movimiento también logró la enmienda del dahir (decreto del Rey de Marruecos) de 1919, para garantizar el derecho a la igualdad de las mujeres.
Fadila M. falleció el 27 de septiembre de 2018. Las circunstancias de su muerte no son claras. Participó en una marcha de protesta relacionada con el tema de las tierras colectivas y, si bien las autoridades informaron que su muerte fue accidental y que tuvo un paro cardíaco camino al hospital, la sección local de la Asociación de Derechos Humanos de Marruecos (AMDH) señaló que Fadila fue sofocada por un miembro de la fuerza policial utilizando una bandera marroquí. Su familia solicitó una investigación, pero los resultados de la autopsia no fueron dados a conocer.
Nota: Como no ninguna fotografía/imagen de Fadila M. disponible, la obra de arte (en lugar de un retrato) pretende representar por lo que luchó y trabajó: la tierra y los derechos a vivir y tener acceso a esa tierra y lo que crece en ella.
Upasana Agarwal
Forgotten Song (Chanson Oubliée)Ode to the Moon (Ode à la Lune)Vapour and Fire (Vapeur et Feu)
À propos d’Upasana Agarwal
Upasana est un·e illustrateurice et artiste non binaire basé·e à Kolkata, en Inde. Son travail explore l'identité et les récits personnels en partant d’un vestige visuel ou d’une preuve des contextes avec lesquels iel travaille. Iel est particulièrement attiré·e par les motifs qui, selon Upasana, communiquent des vérités complexes sur le passé, le présent et l'avenir. Quand Upasana n'est pas en train de dessiner, iel organise et dirige un centre d'art communautaire queer et trans dans la ville.
A dynamic network of people around the world, AWID members are researchers, academics, students, educators, activists, business people, policy-makers, development practitioners, funders, and more. Our members - of every age - are those who make AWID a unique global feminist association.
Membership with AWID is open to anyone who shares our values
We offer different types of memberships geared to income level and whether you are an individual or an organization. Currently we have over 5000 members, individual and institutional, from 164 countries.
Our members are an important part of our work
We collaborate for advocacy on specific issues, members vote in elections for our Board, and can also participate in and contribute to our Priority Areas through webinars, surveys, or urgent actions, for example.
Our institutional membership draws from a broad range of organizations interested in advancing gender justice and women’s human rights, including women’s rights organizations, from the local to the global levels, grassroots networks, major international institutions, government departments, university programs and more. 63% of our members are from the global South and 38% are under the age of 30.
إن رغبتم/ن في سحب استطلاعكم/ن ومحيه لأي سبب كان، لديكم/ن الحق الكامل بالقيام بذلك. الرجاء التواصل معنا عن طريق هذا النموذج وكتابة "استطلاع المال" في عنوان رسالتكم/ن وسنقوم بسحب ومحي أجوبتكم/ن.
