Six thematic anchors hold the Feminist Realities framework of the Forum. Each anchor centers feminist realities, experiences and visions, on the continuum between resistance and proposition, struggle and alternative. We seek to explore together what our feminist realities are made of and what enables them to flourish in different spheres of our life.

These realities may be fully articulated ways of living, dreams and ideas in the making, or precious experiences and moments. 

The anchors are not isolated themes, but rather interconnected containers for activities at the Forum. We envision many activities to be at the intersection of these themes, at the intersection of different struggles, communities and movements. The descriptions are preliminary, and continue to evolve as the Feminist Realities journey continues.

Resources for Communities and Movements & Economic Justice

This anchor centers questions of how we -- as individuals, communities, and movements -- meet our basic needs and secure the resources that we need to thrive, in ways that center care for people and nature. By “resources” we mean food, water, clean air, as well as money, labor, information, knowledge, time, and more. 

Drawing on feminist resistance to the dominant economic system of exploitation and extractivism, the anchor highlights the powerful and inspiring feminist proposals, experiences and practices of organizing our economic and social life. Food and seed sovereignty, feminist visions of work and labor, just and sustainable systems of trade, are just some of the questions to explore. We will bravely face the contradictions that emerge from the need to survive in oppressive economic systems. 
This anchor positions funding and resourcing for organizations and movements in a broad feminist analysis of economic justice and wealth creation. It explores how to move resources where they are needed, from tax justice and basic income to different models of philanthropy and creative & autonomous resourcing for movements.

Governance, Accountability and Justice

We seek to build new visions and amplify existing realities and experiences of feminist governance, justice and accountability. In the face of the global crisis and rising fascisms and fundamentalisms, this anchor centers feminist, radical and emancipatory models, practices and ideas of organizing society and political life, - locally and globally.

The anchor will explore what feminist governance looks like, from feminist experiences of municipalism to building institutions outside of nation-states, to our visions of multilateralism. We will exchange experiences of justice and accountability processes in our communities, organizations and movements, including models of restorative, community-based and transformative justice that reject state violence and the prison-industrial complex.

Centering experiences of travel, migration and refuge as well as feminist organizing, we seek a world without deadly border regimes; a world of free movement and exciting journeys.

Digital Realities

The role of technology in our lives is ever increasing and the line between online and offline realities blurred. Feminists make widespread use of technologies and online space to build community, learn from each other, and mobilise action. With online spaces, we can expand the boundaries of our physical world. On the flip side, digital communications are largely owned by corporations with minimal accountability to users: data mining, surveillance and security breaches have become the norm, as well as online violence and harassment. 

This anchor explores the feminist opportunities and challenges within digital realities. We’ll look at alternatives to privately owned platforms that dominate the digital landscape, well-being strategies for navigating online spaces, and uses of technology to overcome accessibility challenges. We’ll explore the potentials of technology in relation to pleasure, trust and relationships.

Bodies, Pleasure and Wellbeing

We hold feminist realities also within ourselves -- the embodied experience. Control of our labour, mobility, reproduction, and sexuality continues to be central to patriarchal, cis-heteronormative and capitalist structures. Defying this oppression, people of diverse genders, sexualities and abilities create encounters, spaces and sub-cultures of joy, care, pleasure and deep appreciation for ourselves and each other.  

This anchor will explore multiple ideas, narratives, imaginations, and cultural expressions of consent, agency and desire as held by women, trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and intersex people in different societies and cultures. 

We will exchange strategies for winning reproductive rights and justice, and articulate social practices that enable and respect bodily autonomy, integrity and freedom. The anchor links different struggles and movements to inform each other’s perceptions and experiences of wellbeing and pleasure.

Planet and Living Beings

Imagine a feminist planet. What is the sound of the water, the smell of the air, the touch of the earth? What is the relationship between the planet and its living beings, humans included? Feminist realities are realities of environmental and climate justice. Feminist, indigenous, decolonial and ecological struggles are often rooted in transformative visions and relations among people and nature. 

This anchor centers the wellbeing of our planet, and reflects on the ways in which humans have interacted with and reshaped our planet. We seek to explore aspects of traditional knowledge and biodiversity as part of sustaining a feminist planet, and learn about feminist practices around degrowth, commoning, models of parallel economies, agro-ecology, food and energy sovereignty initiatives.

Feminist organizing

While we see all the anchors as related, this one is truly cross-cutting so we invite you to add an organizing dimension to whatever anchor(s) your proposed activity links to.

How is feminist organizing happening in the world today? This question turns our attention to actors, power dynamics, resources, leadership, to the economies we are embedded within, to our understanding of justice and accountability, to the digital age, to our experiences of autonomy, wellbeing and collective care. Across all anchors, we hope to create a space for honest reflection on power and resources distribution and negotiation within our own movements.

The Forum is a collaborative process

The Forum is more than a four-day convening. It is one more stop on a movement strengthening journey around Feminist Realities that has already begun and will continue well beyond the Forum dates.

Join us on this journey!

Derechos humanos

Sostenemos la completa aplicación del principio de derechos, incluidos aquellos consagrados en leyes internacionales, y afirmamos la convicción de que todos los derechos humanos están interrelacionados y son interdependientes e indivisibles. Estamos comprometidxs a trabajar por la erradicación de todas las discriminaciones basadas en el género, la sexualidad, la religión, la edad, la capacidad, la etnia, la raza, la nacionalidad, la clase, u otros factores.

La Asociación para los Derechos de las Mujeres y el Desarrollo (AWID) es una organización internacional feminista de membresía.

Trabajamos para alcanzar la justicia de género y los derechos humanos de las mujeres mediante el fortalecimiento de la voz colectiva, el impacto y la influencia de las/os activistas, organizaciones y movimientos por los derechos de las mujeres de todo el mundo.

Más información sobre AWID

Para cada Foro de AWID, pedimos a un amplio espectro de movimientos feministas y por la justicia social que propongan actividades, para crear así el programa.

Para el 14° Foro Internacional de AWID queremos armar un programa que sea verdaderamente representativo de la diversidad de los movimientos.
 
Con este objetivo, hemos adoptado una forma nueva y atractiva para elegir las propuestas que generarán el programa final del Foro: el Proceso de Selección Participativa (PSP).

¿Qué es el Proceso de Selección Participativa (PSP)?

El Proceso de Selección Participativa es la etapa final de la revisión de las propuestas de actividades y de la selección de aquellas que formarán parte del programa oficial del Foro.

Funciona de la siguiente manera:

1. Las propuestas de actividades fueron enviadas originalmente a partir de nuestro Llamado a Presentar Actividades para el Foro, que estuvo abierto a todxs las personas y los grupos interesadxs en presentar sus realidades feministas en el Foro.
2. De todas las actividades presentadas, el equipo de AWID selecciona aquellas que reflejan mejor  el tema del Foro y que  utilizan un formato creativo para la participación del público.
3. Luego, las actividades son evaluadas y preseleccionadas por los diferentes Comités del Foro, para garantizar que haya una buena diversidad de regiones, movimientos e ideas.
4. Finalmente, las propuestas seleccionadas son evaluadas y calificadas por las personas y los grupos cuyas propuestas también hayan sido preseleccionadas. Las propuestas que obtengan mayor cantidad de votos de lxs colegas candidatxs serán incorporadas al programa final del Foro.

  Vistazo al esquema del proceso completo de selección de actividades:

¿Por qué AWID decidió organizar un PSP para las actividades del 14° Foro Internacional?

Pensamos que un PSP es relevante para el Foro de AWID porque:

• Coloca en el centro del proceso de toma de decisiones a las comunidades que viven las realidades feministas que serán presentadas y discutidas en el Foro.

• Es consistente con nuestra identidad y nuestro rol como organización de apoyo y acompañamiento a los movimientos

• Concuerda con nuestra visión del Foro como creación conjunta con los diferentes movimientos feministas y por la justicia social que le dan forma al Foro a través de su participación en comités (contenido y metodología, acceso, artivismo y país anfitrión),  de la creación y facilitación de actividades como contrapartes de AWID, y también mediante la toma de decisiones sobre el programa vía el PSP.

• Posibilita una mayor diversidad de las texturas que conformarán el tejido del Foro (o de las voces que compondrán el canto del Foro). Garantiza que  podamos trascender a la misma AWID y a los movimientos asociados que ya conocemos y con los que ya trabajamos: abre la puerta a lo inesperado.

 ¿Cómo surgió en AWID esta idea de PSP?

Esta es la primera vez que AWID considera un proceso de este tipo.

La idea inicial surgió de las Co-directoras Ejecutivas y el equipo de AWID. Antes de comprometernos con una decisión, consultamos a algunos de los fondos comunitarios que vienen implementando procesos de selección participativa desde hace años, como FRIDA: El Fondo de Jóvenes Feministas, el Fondo Internacional Trans, UHAI (el fondo de África Oriental para minorías sexuales y trabajadorxs sexuales), y el Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres. Los consultamos para aprender de sus amplias experiencias y recibir sus comentarios.

Actividades preseleccionadas

• Autonomia financiera, el Rompedor de Silencio
  ORGANISATION DES FEMMES AFRICAINES DE LA DIASPORA (OFAD) ASSOCIATION LES PETITES MERES PRODADPHE ASSOCIATION AMBE KUNKO (AAK)

• Contribución de las organizaciones feministas a la lucha contra el extremismo violento en Niger
  Femmes Actions et Développement (FAD)

• Autofinanciamiento: lxs mujeres a prueba de los telebancos
  Rassemblement des Femmes pour le développement endogène et solidaire RAFDES

• Alimentacion y soberanía alimentaria de lxs mujeres rurales
  Association Song-taaba des Femmes Unies pour le Développement (ASFUD)

• Líderes feministxs, comprometidxs en invertir la masculinidad positiva en la construcción de un nuevo orden social equilibrado en las localidades de la Región de Cavally, en la parte oeste de la Costa de Marfil: ¿Cómo provocar un cambio de mentalidad?
  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-creación de una metodología de madrinazgo
  NEGES MAWON

• Miles de oportunidades para salvar la tierra (MOST) apoyando la justicia climática para las comunidades locales e indígenas en la cuenca del Congo
  Jeunesse Congolaise pour les Nations Unies (JCNU), Association Genre et Environnement pour le Développement (AGED)

• Imaginar una política feminista queer asiática
  ASEAN Feminist LBQ Womxn Network Sayoni

• Apoyando la autogestión: doulas de aborto, acompañantes y redes radicales de apoyo
  inroads

• Feminismos en línea: cómo están recuperando la tecnología las mujeres
  Feminism In India

• Comité para la eliminación de la discriminación contra las trabajadoras sexuales
  Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), The International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP)

• Liderazgo y organización feminista sostenible: experiencias personales y colectivas
  HER Fund, Institute for Women's Empowerment (IWE) ,Kalyanamita, AAF

• Realidades del Caribe: Radio Sauna Negra
  WE-Change Jamaica

• Cuidado a través de líneas telefónica de ayuda y experiencia de las mujeres
  Generation Initiative for Women and Youth Network (GIWYN),Youth Network for Community and Sustainable Development (YNCSD), Community Health Rights Network (CORENET)

• La sensualidad como resistencia: taller de movimiento corporal
  UHAI EASHRI

• Discoteca lésbica de estilo europeo oriental
  Sapfo Collective

• Instalación Utopía Feminista de FitcliqueAfrica, campamento de sanación del trauma y de autodefensa
  FitcliqueAfrica (Fitclique256 Uganda Limited)

• Hacer que las comunicaciones sean más queer para una internet abierta
  Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

• ¿Es capacitista la forma en que piensas sobre la salud sexual y reproductiva (SSR)? Buenas prácticas para programas e incidencia en SSR inclusivos de las personas con discapacidad.
  Asia Pacific Network of Women with Disabilities and Allies

• Decolonizar la comunicación no violenta
  API Equality-LA, Sayoni, ASEAN Feminist LBQ Womxn Network

• Enfoques centrados en el feminismo para llevar a juicio el acoso sexual en el mundo del trabajo
  Women's Legal Centre

• Mujeres en conflicto en Myanmar
  Women's League of Burma, Rainfall

• Espacios creativos caribeños, expresiones creativas y prácticas espirituales para la transformación comunitaria
  CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice

• POP-UPS: Poder justo: herramientas de poder popular para un futuro feminista
  JASS/Just Associates

• No anónimo: haciendo más queer las prácticas feministas de la diáspora negra africana acerca de la sobriedad

• Brujería digital: pensamiento mágico para los futuros ciberfeministas
  The Digital Witchcraft Institute

• Construyendo manifiestos de mujeres: la agenda de las mujeres de base para el cambio en Asia-Pacífico
  Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development

• Diseñando tus viajes astrales
  EuroNPUD, narcofeminists as a loose group

• Cuidado colectivo
  RENFA Rede Nacional de Feministas Antiproibicionistas

• Música de nuestros movimientos
  Radical imagination

• De desecho a carbón amigable con la ecología
  KEMIT ECOLOGY SARL

• El cuidado colectivo y la insurgencia de movimientos feministas antirracistas bajo contextos autoritarios y violentos
  CFEMEA - Feminist Center of Studies and Advisory Services, CRIOLA - black women`s organization, Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras

• Quebrando el dominio de la religión patriarcal sobre la legislación de familia que afecta nuestras vidas #FreeOurFamilyLaws [liberen nuestras leyes de familia]
  Musawah

• Enfoque feminista para reclamar y controlar tierras dentro de inversiones
  Badabon Sangho, APWLD

• Paro mundial de mujeres: nuestra resistencia, nuestro futuro
  Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law & Development, ESCR-Net, Women's March Global

• Hacia una «Madre Tierra» inclusiva
  Disability Rights Fund, Open Society Foundation

• De la inclusión a la infiltración: estrategias para construir movimientos feministas interseccionales
  Mobility International USA (MIUSA)

• Las historias ocultas de las mujeres con discapacidades invisibles: arte en acción
  The Red Door, Merchants of Madness, Improving Mental Wellbeing through Art

• Asociación entre lo público y lo privado y derechos humanos de las mujeres: aprendizajes a partir de estudios de casos en el sur global
  Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)

• El viaje interconectado: nuestros cuerpos, nuestra ciencia ficción
  The Interconnected Journey Project, Laboratorio de Interconectividades

• Recopilar y construir: una visión feminista alternativa para desafiar el orden económico mundial dominante
  IWRAW Asia Pacific

• La autopublicación como acto feminista
  International Women* Space

• Buenas prácticas de protección legal para minorías de género y sexuales en Pakistán y su interseccionalidad
  Activists Alliance Foundation, Khawja Sirah Society, Wajood Society, Wasaib Sanwaro

• Enfoques feministas para contrarrestar el tráfico
  IWRAW Asia Pacific, Business & Human Rights Resource Center

• Críticas al individualismo y a las políticas estatales: organización internacional contra la violencia dirigida
  Masaha: Accessible Feminist Knowledge

• Decolonizando la intimidad: cómo las identidades queer cuestionan las estructuras familiares heteronormativas
  WOMANTRA

• Yeki Hambe – Teatro de lxs trabajadorxs sexuales
  Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force

• Creando la realidad feminista indígena: honrando lo sagrado femenino y construyendo nuevos caminos para las mujeres indígenas
  Cultural Survival, International Funders in Indigenous Peoples

• Los ojos en el antiprohibicionismo por parte de las mujeres brasileras
  Mulheres Cannabicas, Tulipas do Cerrado

• Comisión de la verdad feminista negra: abordando las injusticias para revolucionar el feminismo interseccional como nueva realidad
  Black Women in Development

• El cuidado comunitario es autocuidado: en los espacios seguros se cuentan historias verdaderas
  Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, Metzineres, Urban Survivor’s Union, Salvage women and children from drug abuse

• Ningún movimiento prohibido: conexiones a través del baile entre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad, los derechos de las personas trans y los derechos sexuales contra la violencia
  National Forum of Women with Disabilities, Autonomy foundation, Nazyk kyz

• El impacto de la captura corporativa de las realidades feministas: desarrollando herramientas para la acción
  ESCR-Net | Economic, Social, Cultural Rights Network

• Reimaginando el SIDA: construyendo una respuesta feminista al VIH
  Frontline AIDS, Aidsfonds, IPPI (Indonesian Network of Women Living with HIV), UHAI-EASHRI (East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative)

• Promoviendo la justicia económica para materializar nuestra visión de un planeta feminista
  International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ESCR-Net

• Café de lxs trabajadorxs sexuales
  Hydra e.V.

• Adoptando un enfoque ecofeminista para lidiar con el cambio climático y la seguridad alimentaria
  Umphakatsi Peace Ecovillage, Human Rights Educational Centre

• Conectando la base con lo internacional: la experiencia de una movilización creativa de lxs trabajadorxs sexuales en Europa
  International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe, STRASS - French Sex Worker Union, APROSEX, Red Edition

• Experimentar con cómo puede ayudarnos la tecnología innovadora a sentirnos más segurxs cuando nos movemos en nuestras ciudades
  Soul City Institute for Social Justice, Safetipin, Womanity Foundation

• ¿Son INfeministas las jerarquías dentro de las organizaciones?
  Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya National, Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

• Todas somos diferentes, pero tenemos valores compartidos
  UNWUD (Ukrainian network of women who use drugs), JurFem Association, Women's Prospects

• Un mundo sin clases
  Bunge La Wamama Mashinani (Grassroots Women's Parliament)

• Las mujeres empoderan a la comunidad
  Institute for Women's Empowerment (IWE), Solidaritas Perempuan, ASEC Indonesia, Komunitas Swabina Pedesaan Salassae (KSPS)

• Organización feminista: liderazgo transformador- trabajadoras en América Latina creando un movimiento sindical feminista y un mundo laboral feminista
  Solidarity Center

• Representar, portarse mal: feminismo de las personas con discapacidad decolonizando las narrativas de estigma a través del teatro participativo
  Rising Flame, National Indigenous Disabled Women Association, Nepal, The Spectrum & Union of Abilities, The Red Door

• Valorando y poniendo en el centro el descanso, el placer y el juego
  ATHENA Network

• El proyecto de juicio africano feminista
  The Initiative for strategic Ligation in Africa (ISLA)

• Voces desde las líneas del frente: apoyando el poder colectivo para poner fin al encarcelamiento de mujeres en el mundo
  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

• Activismo queer joven: imaginando en una era de derechos humanos y desarrollo sostenible
  African Queer Youth Initiative, Success Capital Organisation

• Nuestras luchas, nuestras historias, nuestras fortalezas
  Oriang Lumalaban, Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan

• Rompiendo las barreras para la acción indígena colectiva sobre el clima en el Sudeste Asiático
  Cuso International, Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact

• Amar a las mujeres positivas: yendo más allá del amor romántico hacia el amor comunitario profundo y la justicia social
  Eurasian Women's Network on AIDS

• Intersexualidad y feminismo
  Intersex Russia

• Entendiendo las experiencias y necesidades de salud reproductiva de las personas transgénero y de género diverso
  Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN)

• Porque ella cuida: conversaciones críticas sobre el activismo en VIH como trabajo de (des)cuidado
  Because We Care Collaborative

• El Manifiesto de los sistemas alimentarios del Mississippi
  Center for Ideas, Equity & Transformative Change, National Council of Appropriate Technology - Gulf South, MS Food Justice Collaborative, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

• La experiencia de la copresidencia del movimiento de mujeres kurdo como ejemplo de logro feminista radical: ¡la copresidencia es nuestra línea PÚRPURA!
  The Free Women’s Movement (TJA)

• «Caminando sobre cáscaras de huevos»
  Eldoret Women For Development (ELWOFOD), Mama Cash, Young women against Women Custodial Injustices Network

• Libertad

• La cárcel no es feminista: analizando el efecto y las alternativas a depender de la policía y el encarcelamiento
  Migrant Sex Workers Project, Showing Up For Racial Justice

• Bondo sin sangre: una forma feminista de reimaginar los ritos de pasaje de Sierra Leona
  Purposeful

• Tierra y territorios liberados: una conversación panafricana
  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)

• Educación popular y organización para una economía feminista
  Jamaica Household Workers Union (JHWU), United for a Fair Economy, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL)

• ¿Así que quieres movilizar con una billetera vacía? Hagámoslo realidad
  Breakthrough India

• Compartir experiencias para establecer una red de defensoras de derechos humanos en África del este: la perspectiva ugandesa
  Women Human Rights Defenders Network Uganda

• Clínica tecnológica
  Stichting Syrian Female Journalists Netowrk

• Construyendo movimientos inclusivos: más allá de la inclusión simbólica
  Rising Flame

• Justicia y sanación para las sobrevivientes de la violencia de género: un debate interactivo sobre la justicia reparadora y la anatomía de una disculpa
  One Future Collective

• Acciones colectivas para poner fin a la transfobia con una perspectiva feminista
  Asia Pacific Transgender Network, Iranti, Transgender Europe

• Mujeres LBQ y asilo
  Sehaq

• Aborto y discapacidad: hacia un enfoque interseccional basado en los derechos humanos
  Women Enabled International

• Aprender cómo apoyar a las comunidades auto-organizadas de indocumentadxs, migrantes y trabajadorxs sexuales criminalizadxs
  Buttrerfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network)

• Autocuidado: una herramienta fundamental para sostener el activismo LGBTQI y feminista
  United and Strong Inc., S.H.E Barbados, Lez Connect

• Reclamando las VOCES-REALIDADES-PODER feministas jóvenes africanas para la justicia climática
  Young Feminist organization Gasy Youth Up, Young African Feminist Dialogues

• Mujeres en acción y solidaridad: representando nuestras realidades (Asia y África)
  Women Performing the World (Asia/Africa)

• Juntas en esto: fondos de mujeres y movimientos feministas creando juntos realidades feministas
  Women Forum for Women in Nepal (WOFOWON)

• Las no-ciudadanas: asuntos de la ciudadanía de las mujeres en el contexto de comunidades migrantes y vulnerables de Asia meridional
  NEthing

• Imaginando para una voz en las crisis migratoria y climática
  Women's Refugee Commission, The Feminist Humanitarian Network, ActionAid

• Juntas en esto: fondos de mujeres y movimientos feministas creando juntos realidades feministas
  Mama Cash, Global Fund for Women, Urgent Action Fund - Africa

• Creando magia con los movimientos feministas jóvenes: prácticas participativas que provocan alegría
  Feminist organizing, FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund (Community), Teia

• Derecho de protección de las mujeres en realidades difíciles: tres organizaciones de mujeres de comunidades marginales
  NGO Asteria, Ermolaeva Irena and Bayazitova Renata. NGO Ganesha Musagalieva Tatiana. NGO Ravniy Ravnomu Kucheryavyh Tanya

• Feminal – tradiciones contra el arte y la expresión
  Bishkek Feminist Initiatives

• Resistencia a través del conocimiento, el arte y el activismo: creación de una biblioteca feminista en Armenia
  FemHouse, Armenia

• Conquistando el sistema de la ONU con estrategias feministas (no necesitas ser abogada para divertirte)
  Kazakhstan Feminist Initiative "Feminita", IWRAW Asia Pacific, ILGA World

• Datos. Huh. ¿Para qué sirven? Datos feministas y organización para resultados feministas
  International Women's Development Agency, Women's Rights Action Movement, Fiji Women's Rights Movement

• La voz, el liderazgo y la influencia de las mujeres criminalizadas en leyes, políticas y prácticas de Kenia
  Keeping Alive Societies Hope-KASH, Katindi Lawyers and Advocates, Vocal Kenya

• De Colombia hacia el mundo, mujeres africanas como fuerza de cambio
  Proceso de Comunidades Negras en Colombia -PCN, Solidarité Féminine por la Paix el le Develppment Integral -SOFEPADI,

• Espacio afro-queer para escuchar y contar historias
  AQ Studios, None on Record, AfroQueer Podcast

• Una reivindicación de la identidad corporal
  GBV Prevention Network : Coordinated by Raising Voices

• Aprendamos de la Diversidad
  Circulo de Mujeres con Discapacidad -CIMUDIS, Alianza Discapacidad por nuestros Derechos -ADIDE, Fundación Dominicana de Ciegos -FUDCI, Filial Puerto Rico de Mujeres con Discapacidad

• Fútbol como herramienta Feminista
  Fundación GOLEES (Género, Orgullo, Libertad y Empoderamiento de Ellas en la Sociedad)

• Constelaciones migrantes
  LasVanders

• Diálogos ecofeministas para la defensa de los territorios.
  CIEDUR (Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre el Desarrollo), Equit, Foro permanente de Manaos y Amazonia

• El movimiento "La Frida Bikes"
  La Frida Bike

• Brujeria, chamanismo y otros conocimientos insurrectos contra el patriarcado
  Colectiva Feminista MAPAS-Mujeres Andando Proceso por Autonomías Sororales

• Experiencias, aprendizajes y desafíos para la gestión de la seguridad holística de organizaciones horizontales feministas y de la disidencia sexogenérica en tiempos de crisis social y política. La experiencia del levantamiento popular del 18-O en Chile
  Fudación Comunidades en Interfaz

• Alimento que todxs sabemos
  Las Nietas de Nonó, Parceleras Afrocaribeñas por la Transformación barrial (PATBA)

• Prácticas de resistencia ante el cambio climático de mujeres indígenas de Perú y Guatemala
  Thousand Currents, Red de Mujeres Productoras de la Agricultura Familiar, Asociación de Mujeres Ixpiyakok (ADEMI, Ixpiyakok Women's Association)

• Construyendo ciudades feministas
  CISCSA, Articulacion Feminista Marcosur

• Ponte en Mi Lugar
  Alianza Discapacidad por nuestros Derechos - ADIDE, Circulo de Mujeres con Discapacidad -CIMUDIS

• Limpiando el camino para la plenitud de vida de las mujeres, sanando traumas colectivos e históricos
  Grupo de Mujeres Mayas Kaqla

• Mujeres indígenas zapotecas desafiadas por la naturaleza.

• Casas de Cuidado y Sanación para Defensoras De Derechos Humanos como parte el enfoque de la Protección Integral Feminista: Una Realidad Feminista
  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

• Sanando tu voz de unicornix: Tejiendo tecnologías ancestrales y digitales para afilar la lengua

• Trayectorias feministas para un protocolo de maternidad asistida en mujeres con discapacidad
  Circulo emancipador de mujeres y niñas con discapacidad de Chile, CIMUNIDIS, WEI

• Escuela para la niñez trans feminista
  Fundación Selena

• REDTRASEX: Experiencia De Organización Y Lucha Por Los Derechos De Las Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales De Latinoamerica y El Caribe
  RedTraSex Red de mujeres trabajadoras sexuales LAC

• Violencia de género en el mundo del trabajo sexual en México
  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

• La migración nos obliga hacer camino al andar.
  Asociación de Trabajadoras del Hogar a Domicilio y de Maquila. ATRAHDOM

• Nuevas narrativas para mujeres negras: cuerpo, curación y placer.

• Tejiendo memorias y redes - Feministas nehtas fortaleciendo los feminismos negros en América Latina y el Caribe (LAC)
  Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas, Afrocaribeñas y de la Diáspora, Articulação de Organizações de Mulheres Negras Brasileiras (AMNB), Voces Caribeñas

En participant à une activité exclusive pour les membres, j'ai été particulièrement touchée de voir que chacun·e y avait sa place et qu’il n’y avait pas le moindre jugement. Toute la session a été dynamique et vivante.- Kirthi Jayakumar, Fondatrice, The Gender Security Project, Inde

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!

< Anatomy of a Survivor's Story

My Queer Ramadan >

Linda Porn is yet another heroine of feminist union organizing and sex worker activism nationally (in Spain) and transnationally.

Originally from Mexico, she has been living in Spain since the 2000s. She is a sex worker, an activist, a single mother and a multidisciplinary artist. Drawing from these different identities, she uses performance, video art and theater to vizibilize struggles at the intersections of transfeminism, sex work, migration, colonialism and motherhood.

She combines art and sex work while caring for her daughter as a single mother.

Linda also belongs to sex workers collectives that fight for their rights, such as the OTRAS union and CATS Murcia. She also co-founded the group 'Madrecitas' - that visibilises and denounces racist institutional violence against migrant families. Violence to which she and her daughter were subjected as a sex worker and migrant single mother.

You can follow her art work here.

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