Guatemala - Rural Women Diversify Incomes and Build Resilience
Left
Half
Left
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.
Building Feminist Economies is about creating a world with clean air to breath and water to drink, with meaningful labour and care for ourselves and our communities, where we can all enjoy our economic, sexual and political autonomy.
In the world we live in today, the economy continues to rely on women’s unpaid and undervalued care work for the profit of others. The pursuit of “growth” only expands extractivism - a model of development based on massive extraction and exploitation of natural resources that keeps destroying people and planet while concentrating wealth in the hands of global elites. Meanwhile, access to healthcare, education, a decent wage and social security is becoming a privilege to few. This economic model sits upon white supremacy, colonialism and patriarchy.
Adopting solely a “women’s economic empowerment approach” is merely to integrate women deeper into this system. It may be a temporary means of survival. We need to plant the seeds to make another world possible while we tear down the walls of the existing one.
We believe in the ability of feminist movements to work for change with broad alliances across social movements. By amplifying feminist proposals and visions, we aim to build new paradigms of just economies.
Our approach must be interconnected and intersectional, because sexual and bodily autonomy will not be possible until each and every one of us enjoys economic rights and independence. We aim to work with those who resist and counter the global rise of the conservative right and religious fundamentalisms as no just economy is possible until we shake the foundations of the current system.
Our Actions
Our work challenges the system from within and exposes its fundamental injustices:
Advance feminist agendas: We counter corporate power and impunity for human rights abuses by working with allies to ensure that we put forward feminist, women’s rights and gender justice perspectives in policy spaces. For example, learn more about our work on the future international legally binding instrument on “transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights” at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Mobilize solidarity actions: We work to strengthen the links between feminist and tax justice movements, including reclaiming the public resources lost through illicit financial flows (IFFs) to ensure social and gender justice.
Build knowledge: We provide women human rights defenders (WHRDs) with strategic information vital to challenge corporate power and extractivism. We will contribute to build the knowledge about local and global financing and investment mechanisms fuelling extractivism.
Create and amplify alternatives: We engage and mobilize our members and movements in visioning feminist economies and sharing feminist knowledges, practices and agendas for economic justice.
“The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing”.
Affectionately known as “Mama Efua”, her work to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) movement spanned three decades and helped bring international attention and action to end this harmful practice.
In 1983 Efua co-founded FORWARD (The Foundation for Women’s Health, Research and Development), which became a leading organisation in the battle to raise awareness about FGM. Her 1994 book, “Cutting the Rose: Female Genital Mutilation,” is considered the first on FGM and, featured in Columbia University’s “Africa’s 100 Best Books for the 20th Century”.
Originally from Ghana and a nurse by training, Efua joined the WHO in 1995 and successfully pushed for FGM to go on the agendas of WHO member states. She also worked closely with the Nigerian government in formulating a comprehensive National Policy that laid the groundwork for Nigeria’s anti-FGM laws, still in place today.
Her ground breaking work culminated in an Africa-led campaign, “The Girl Generation,” which is committed to ending FGM within a generation. Efua demonstrated how one person can become the unifying voice for a movement, and her wise words - “shared identity can help bring activists from different backgrounds together with a common sense of purpose” – are more relevant than ever.
Snippet Forum Quoate Jac s m Kee, Malaysia (EN)
There is nothing like being in a shared space, exchanging body energies,... seeing the world and doing something together. Events like the Forum are among the strongest of the global feminist movement. - Jac s m Kee, Malaysia
Tenderness is the Sharpest Resistance
A Film Series on Asian/Pacific Feminist Realities
Curated by Jess X. Snow With assistance from Kamee Abrahamian and Zoraida Ingles
Across Asia and the Pacific, and all of it’s vast diaspora, fierce women and trans folks have been fighting for a future where they can all be free. As rising sea levels threaten the Pacific islands, and the coasts of continental Asia, the fight to protect other Earth and the Ocean intensifies all over the globe. Our planet stores a geologic memory of everything that it has experienced. The rise of colonization, industrialization, and environmental destruction is connected to the rise of the binary patriarchal nation state. The power within the Earth, to reincarnate, heal, and bloom in the face of violence, must then be connected to the woman, to motherhood, to indigeneity and all forces that are expansive, sacred and queer. It is no coincidence that Feminist Realities unite the fight to protect the rights of women, trans and LGBTQ+ people with the fight to protect the Earth. From mother-daughter protectors of Mauna Kea in the Kingdom of Hawaii, to the complex mother-child relationships of Vietnamese refugees, to queer sexual awakenings in conservative India, the reclaimation of home in Inner Mongolia, to the struggle toward LGBTQ liberation in the Phillipines -- this collection of films is a cosmology of the ways current-day Asian Pacific women and queer and trans folks champion the journey to our collective liberation across oceans and borders.
All of these films have a strong sense of place: indigenous activists protect their sacred lands, youth peel back colonial narratives of their homeland to uncover hidden truths, complex motherhood and relations of care are explored, and characters turn to their own bodies and sexuality as sanctuary when the family and city that surrounds them threaten their safety.
AFTEREARTH
By Jess X. Snow
“A haunting film with stunning shots invoking feminist environmental resistance and how deeply rooted this is in connection to cultural history and land…”
- Jessica Horn, PanAfrican feminst strategist, writer and co-creator of the temple of her skin
In the experimental documentary, Afterearth, four women fight to preserve the volcano, ocean, land and air for future generations. Through music, poetry, and heartfelt testimonial that honors locations touched by the Pacific Ocean–Hawaiʻi, the Philippines, China, and North America, Afterearth is a poetic meditation on four women’s intergenerational and feminist relationship to the lands and plants they come from.
STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS
By Jalena Keane Lee
In Standing Above the Clouds, Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists stand together to protect their sacred mountain, Mauna Kea from being used as a site to build one of the world’s largest telescopes. As protectors of Mauna Kea, this film highlights the interconnected relationship between Aloha ʻĀina (love of the land) and love for one’s elders and the future generations to come.
NƯỚC (WATER/HOMELAND)
By Quyên Nguyen-Le
In the experimental narrative short, Nước (Water/Homeland) a Vietnamese-American genderqueer teen challenges dominant narratives of the Vietnam War in Los Angeles, California. Through striking dream sequences and breaks from reality, this film follows their journey to piece together and understand their mother's experience as a Vietnam War refugee.
KAMA’ĀINA
By Kimi Lee
In Kama’āina, a queer sixteen-year-old girl must navigate life on the streets in Oahu, until she eventually finds refuge by way of guidance from an auntie at Pu’uhonua o Wai’anae–Hawaiʻi’s largest organized homeless encampment.
DEVI
By Karishma Dev Dube
In Devi (goddess in Hindi) a young closeted lesbian, Tara risks both family and tradition to embrace her attraction to her family’s maid. Set in New Delhi, Devi is a coming of age story, as it is a commentary on the social and class lines that divide women in contemporary India today.
HEADING SOUTH
By Yuan Yuan
In Heading South, Chasuna, an 8 year old girl, raised by her mother in the Inner Mongolian Plateau, visits her abusive father in the big city. While at her father’s house, she is introduced to a new addition to the family, and must come to terms with the fact that her true home is inseparable from her mother and land.
Outrun
By Johnny Symons & S. Leo Chiang
In the feature film, Outrun, we follow the journey of the first transgender woman in the Philippine Congress. Facing oppression in a predominantly Catholic nation, her triumphant journey becomes an outcry for the rights of LGBTQ+ people globally.
Spanning documentary, narrative, and experimental forms, these films illustrate that community care, self-love, and deep transformative listening between our loved ones is a portal to the Feminist Realities we are bringing into existence today. From all across the Asia Pacific and it’s diaspora, these stories teach us that in the face of violence, tenderness is the sharpest force of resistance.
Jess X. Snow is a film director, artist, pushcart-nominated poet, children’s book author and community arts educator who creates queer asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries and time.
Follow us on Social Media to receive news about upcoming events and screenings:
Yelena Grigoriyeva, often called Lena by friends, was a prominent LGBT rights campaigner in Russia.
She was part of democratic, anti-war and LGBT movements. In her activism, Yelena was a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and his administration, expressing her opposition against Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and the ill-treatment of prisoners.
Yelena came out as bisexual earlier in 2019.
"Her coming out was a surprise to me, and I didn't approve of it. I told her 'Listen, Lena, you already have a target painted on you because of your political activity. You've just pinned another to your chest." - Olga Smirnova
Yelena did receive multiple death threats and according to some of her acquaintances, was listed on a homophobic website that called on its visitors to hunt down LGBT persons. She reported the threats to the police, however the Russian state failed to provide protection.
But even in a society where political opposition, as well as members of the LGBT community and advocates for their rights, face continuous and increasing violence, Yelena kept campaigning for social justice and equality.
“She did not miss a single action. And they detained her so often that I already lost count,”
- Olga Smirnova (fellow opposition activist and friend).
Yelena was murdered on 21 July 2019, not far from home. A suspect was arrested but according to some sources, many friends and fellow activists believe that the suspect is a scapegoat and that this was a targeted political killing.
For Yelena’s relatives and friends, her case remains unsolved even though the suspect confessed.
In 2013, Russia passed legislation banning the spreading of what it described as ‘gay propaganda’. In 2014, Human Rights Watch published a report relating to this.
What about the visas?
We are acutely aware of the practical hurdles and emotional distress associated with international travel, particularly from the Global South. AWID is working with TCEB (the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau) to support Forum participants with acquiring visas. More information about this visa assistance will be available upon registration, including contact information for where and how to apply.
المانغو
ترجمة رولا علاء الدين
جوريما آراوْخو، معلّمة وشاعرة من ريو دي جانيرو. ساهمت في مجلة Urbana التي حرّرها الشاعران برازيل باريتو وسامارال، وفي كتاب Amor e outras revoluções “الحب والثورات الأخرى” مع العديد من الكتّاب الآخرين. بالتعاون مع أنجليكا فيراريس وفابيانا بيريرا، شاركت في تحرير O livro negro dos sentidos “الكتاب الأسود للحواس”، وهو مختارات إبداعية عن الحياة الجنسية للمرأة السوداء في البرازيل. جوريما عمرها 54 سنة. لديها ابنة وثلاثة كلاب وقطة والعديد من الأصدقاء.
مَن يودّ المصّ معي؟
المانغو هي الثمرة المفضّلة عندي.
أفتح ثغري وأمصّها كلّها،
ويعلق لبّها بين أسناني
وأسناني تنعم كي لا تؤذيها.
أضعها بين لساني وسقف حلقي وأضغط عليها
ثم أُخرجها وأمصّ كلَّ شبرٍ منها،
وعصيرُها يسيلُ في فمي وحوله
وأنا أتبلّل وأغرق في رحيقها الساحر.
وأعود وأدخلها كلّها في ثغري،
لأنّ المانغو هي البَذْرَة والعسل
وهي العِرْق والنَكهة.
ولمّا ينتهي الأمر، أجد نفسي منتشية
مُندّية بالرحيق مُحلاة وشفتاي مبلولتان.
المانغو خُلِقَت لمتعة المرغ.
تقديم كتاب الحواس الأسود The Black Book of Senses
يومَ دعتني أنجليكا وفابي لأكون القَيِّمة على تشكيلة نصوص شبقية من تحرير نسوة سود لم أكن أعرف ما يعنيه عملُ القيِّم. الشبق ومشتقاته، هذه فهمتها جيداً، لكن عمل القَيِّم... ابتسمت تحت وطأة الخجل والإطراء. أظن أنّي شكرتهما، على الأقلّ آمل أنّي شكرتهما، وقلت في ذاتي: ماذا تعني هذه الكلمة اللعينة؟! حسناً، سأضطر إلى سَبر معاني هذا اللقب المُبهرَج وأنا أطبّقه.
اليوم، أنا على دراية بما يعينه عمل القيِّم. هو بمثابة ممارسة الحبّ مع نصوص شخصٍ آخر، مع فنّ شخصٍ آخر، بغية تجميع كتاب وتنظيمه. وهذا تماماً ما قمت به. عرّيت بشهوانية أدبية كلّ نصّ لكلٍّ من الكاتبات. تعمّقت في كلمات وحواس الآخرين. ولَجَتني قصائدُ لم أكتبها. حكايات ما كنت لأجرؤ على تخيّلها قلبتني رأساً على عقب وأربكت مشاعري وعبثت بشهوتي الجنسية. وكانت نشوةٌ رائعة وفريدة: سماويّة وجسمانيّة وسامية في آنٍ واحد، فكريّة وحسّيّة.
تنبض هذه النصوص كالبظر المنتصب رغبةً، رطبةٌ، ينسال منها الفرح مع كلّ قراءة. كلمات ابتلعتني بإيحاءتها اللعوبة، تأخذني أعمق فأعمق في هذا العالم الرّطب.
غطست هذه النسوة السود إلى قعرِ هَيْجِهنّ وحوّلن أعمق تخيّلاتهنّ الشبقيّة إلى فنٍّ.
أُخْصِبَت هذه الأعمال بأسلوبِ كلٍّ من الكاتبات الخاصّ في التجربة الجنسانية، بحريّة، بسوداوية، بأنفسنا، بطريقتنا الخاصّة، بتمكّن.
اخترت أن أوزّع هذه النصوص في مختلف أجزاء الكتاب ونظّمتها بحسب محتواها الأكثر رقّة أو انفعالية أو بديهية أو ضمنيّة.
استهلالاً لهذا «اللبّ الأسود المفترج»، تأتي أقسام ’التمهيدات‘ (Preliminaries) بنصوصها التي تقدّم لمحةً للقرّاء عن عالم الأطايب هذا، وهي بمثابة لمسَة شاملة رقيقة تُعرِّف بالمواضيع التي تطرحها النصوص في باقي الكتاب.
يلي ذلك لهيبُ ’اللمس‘ (Touch) وهو جزءٌ يُعنى بكلّ ما تشعر به البشرة. تلك الطاقة التي تحرق أو تُثلِج أجسادنا، التي تفجّر هُرموناتنا وتوقظ حواسنا الأخرى. صحيحٌ أنّ كثيرين بيننا يستمتعون بشهوة التلصُّص، لكنّ ملامسة البشرة بالفم الدافئ والرّطب مثيرٌ، وهو كالتطواف في نعومة الآخر. تُغرينا اللمسة اللطيفة أو الحازمة وتجتاحنا القشعريرة، وذلك التوتّر الجميل الذي يسري من العنق إلى الظهر ولا يختفي إلا اليومَ التالي. ودفء الشفاه والفم واللسان الرّطب على البشرة، آه من حلاوة لسانٍ ينساب داخل الأذن، أو احتكاك الجلد بالجلد، والملابس تتموّج على الجسد وكأنّها امتدادٌ لليدّ. ولمّا يكون التروّي جزءاً من المتعة، وتعصف بك الإثارة بفعل قبضة مُحْكَمة وبعضٍ من الألم – أو الكثير منه، من يدري؟
أمّا ’الصوت‘ (Sound) – أو اللحن؟ – فيبيّن لنا أنّ الانجذاب يحصل أيضاً عبر حاسّة السمع: صوت الشخص، الهمسات، الموسيقى التي تشعل التواصل بين جسدٍ وآخر وقد تمسي محورَ الرغبة. فبالنسبة لبعضٍ منّا، لا يتطلّب الأمر إلّا الأوتار الصوتية لشخصٍ ذي صوتٍ جميل، فذاك الصوت الأجشّ أو العميق أو الرخيم يكون كممارسة الجنس سمعياً. أن نسمع سِبابَهم الصارخ أو كلامهم المعسول همساً في الأذن يكفي لتجتاحنا قشعريرة الإثارة من الرأس إلى أخمص القدميْن.
في ’المذاق‘ (Flavor)، نأتي إلى اللسان وهو الخبير في استكشاف الخبايا يجول هائماً على جسد الآخر ويتلذّذ. وأحياناً يُقحَم اللسان قحماً لتذوُّق رحيق الآخر. فكرة أن يُشاركنا أحدٌ فراولته أو مانغته الشهيّة الملأى، بالعضّ واللحس، أو اللحس ثم العضّ، فكرةٌ كفيلة بإذابتنا. لكن لا شيء يعلو على حلاوة تذوُّق جسد الآخر بكهوفه وتلاله. إقحامُ اللسان في العمق لتذوُّق الثمرة، أو قضاءُ ساعاتٍ في تذوُّق رأس القضيب في الفم، أو رضعُ ثدي شهيّ لتذوُّق الحلمة... كلّها أفعال تسعى إلى حفظ ’مذاق‘ الآخر في الذاكرة.
نجد أيضاً نصوصاً تصف كيف تُستثار الرغبة عبر الأنف. ’الرائحة‘ (Smell)، أعزائي القرّاء، قد توقظ فينا شهوات الرغبة. أحياناً نلتقي شخصاً رائحته عبقة لدرجة أننا نودّ التهامه بأنفنا. يريد الأنف أن يجول في أنحاء الجسد ويبدأ من العنق وآهٍ من الرعشة الحلوة التي تصيبنا وتعرّي الروح! يقلّ حياء الأنف فيتعمَّق ويلفّ حول العنق ليلتقط عَبَق رائحة الآخر فيحفظها. وفي غياب هذا الشخص، إن إلتقط الأنف رائحة شبيهة يحضر الشخص في ذاكرتنا، أو إن استحضرته الذاكرة تجتاحنا الرائحة والإثارة.
نصل إلى ’النظر‘ (Look)، وهو برأيي غدّار الحواس، ومن خلاله ندرك الرغبة من وجهة «نظر». هنا النصوص تصف الرغبة والإثارة عبر حاسة النظر التي توقظ باقي الحواس. أحياناً، ابتسامةٌ تكفي لِنُصاب بالجنون. تبادُل النظرات؟ تلك النظرة التي تقول «أريدك الآن». نظرة التملّك تلك التي لا تنكسر إلا مع انتهاء المضاجعة، وقد تدوم بعدها. هذه نظرة فريدة من نوعها، تجذب الآخر فيعجز عن إشاحة نظره لوقتٍ طويل. والنظرات المُسترَقة حيث يشيح واحدٌ بنظره ما أن يلتفت إليه الآخر كأنّهما في مطاردة كالقط والفأر. وما أن تلتقي الأعين وينفضح أمرنا جُلّ ما يمكننا فعله هو أن تنفرج أساريرنا بابتسامة فاغرة.
ختاماً، يأتي الانفجار في جزء ’الحواس كافة‘ (All Senses) حيث النصوص تمزج المشاعر لتبدو كحالة تأهّب لنصل إلى اللذة القصوى، إلى النشوة.
طبعاً، لا شيء يفصل بوضوح بين هذه القصائد والحكايات. بعضها رقيقٌ بتلميحه. الإثارة تُشغِل الحواس كافّة، والأهمّ أنّها تُشغِل الرأس، فهُنا مقام كلّ ما يحدث والجسد بكامله يستجيب. لقد نظَّمتُ القصائد وفقاً لما أثارته فيّ عند قراءتها، ولكم الحريّة في مخالفة رأيي هذا. لكن بالنسبة لي، الرغبة تنبع من حاسّة معيّنة ومن ثم تنفجر، وثمّة لذّة في تتبّع مسار الرغبة وتحديد أيٍّ من الحواس استقلّت.
إنّ القدرة على تحويل الإثارة إلى فنّ تعني تحرير أنفسِنا من الأحكام المسبقة والسجون ووصمات العار كلّها التي حبَسَنا فيها هذا المجتمع المُتمَحوِر حول العرق الأبيض.
كلّما تقوم كاتبة سوداء بتحويل الشبقيّ إلى فنّ فهي تخلع السلاسل العنصرية المؤذية التي تشلّ جسدها وتقمع جنسانيتها وتجعل منّا غرضاً لجشع الآخرين. إنّ كتابة الشعر الشبقيّ هي استعادة لسلطتها على جسدها وهي التنقّل بلا خوف بين ملذّات الرغبة من أجل ذاتها ومن أجل الآخرين ومن أجل الحياة.
الكتابات الأدبية الشبقيّة هي نحن عندما نتّخذ الشكل الفنّي. الشكل الذي يتيح لنا إظهار أفضل ما لدينا وآرائنا في الحبّ الملأى لذّة والمتبّلة بشهوة أجسادنا والتي تُترجَم عبر وَعْينا الفنّي. نحن متنوّعات، وهنا نشارككم هذا التنوّع في الأحاسيس عبر الكلمات المُشبَعَة إثارة. صحيح، حتّى كلماتنا ترشَح برغبتنا الجنسية وترطّب آياتنا وتجعل من شهواتنا قصائدَ. النشوة، بالنسبة لنا، إنجاز.
أن تكون عقولنا وأجسادنا وجنسانياتنا سوداء هو أمرٌ ضروري لاستئناف لذّتنا واستعادة نشوتنا. عندها فحسب نصير أحراراً. هذه العملية برمّتها إنجازٌ وهي لا تخلو من الألم. لكنّه من المفرح أن نجد أنفسنا في مكان مختلف جداً عن حيث تمّ وضعنا.
أشعر أنّي لكنّ/لكم، أنّي لنا. تذوّقوا هذه الكلمات العذبة معنا، تلذّذوا بها، ولْتَكُن وليمة.
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.
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.
Mena Mangal was a prominent TV journalist, women’s rights advocate and cultural adviser to Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Afghanistan's national parliament.
For more than a decade, she worked for Ariana TV, Tolo TV's Pashto-language channel Lamar, and the private Afghan national television broadcaster Shamshad TV. As a presenter, Mena focused on women’s rights and cultural talk shows.
"Women's rights activist Wazhma Frogh said Mangal "had a loud voice" and actively spoke out as an advocate for her people."
Off-screen, she also ran popular social media pages that advocated for the rights of Afghan girls and women to education and work. In terms of her private life, Mena wrote extensively about being forced into an arranged marriage in 2017 and the process she had to go through to finally obtain a divorce.
In a Facebook post, Mena wrote she was receiving death threats from unknown sources but would continue to carry out her work.
On 11 May 2019, she was attacked by unknown gunmen and shot dead in broad daylight in a public space in Southeast Kabul.
"We are concerned about the situation because it has a direct impact on women who work outside their homes...Female journalists are changing their professions due to the increasing risks they are facing." - Robina Hamdard, Kabul-based women’s rights activist.
CFA 2023 - Hybrid like never before: in person - EN
Hybrid like never before
For the first time, the AWID Forum offers three modes of participation
In-person
Participants will come together in Bangkok, Thailand. We can’t wait!
Pleasure(s) as the key to personal freedom
By Nkhensani Manabe
The conversation title "Pansexual, Gynasexual or Abrosexual? A dive into queerness, pleasure and sex positivity" gives one much to think about. Tiffany Kagure Mugo, author, educator and curator of HOLAAfrica, begins the discussion with a reading from Touch, a recently published collection of fiction and non-fiction essays on sex, sexuality and pleasure. In this excerpt, the author puts forward the idea that pleasure is constant and ongoing, it is to be found in everyday activities and is not confined to sexual intercourse.
This idea, that pleasure is as much a part of daily life as anything else, runs through the discussion, which also covers topics of desire, attraction and sexual orientation.
Early on, there is this sense of hope and possibility. Tiffany presents options and explains alternatives, giving us new language to speak about who we are, what we like, and how we want it. This is about desire and sex, but mostly it is about self-knowledge and empowerment. Tiffany speaks passionately about making decisions from a place of power: learning your own identity so that you are able to make the best choices for yourself.
In a conversation that is open and free, representing the attitude that Tiffany would have us all adopt, we learn that knowledge about sex and sexuality is ever-changing, the boundaries are shifting. What we may have learned or, more importantly, been kept away from as children or adults is exactly where we should start unlearning and reprogramming. Tiffany notes that young people these days need tools to understand the experiences they are already having, a reminder to never underestimate what children and teenagers know about the kind of pleasure(s) they want to pursue in life.
The conversation opened my mind to something: knowing myself will help to build my confidence; I will be able to approach relationships with care not only for myself but for others, too. Learning the language of orientation, attraction, desire and pleasure will go towards deepening my future connections. I appreciated the space to think about this aspect of my life -- the private, intimate parts that I don’t access often. Tiffany’s enthusiasm about pleasure and identity pushed my own boundaries, allowing me to entertain new personal possibilities.
The idea of learning how to make holistic connections is still not common. Largely, we live in a culture of instant and fleeting connections. There is hardly any time to truly reflect on how and why we are seeking relationship or partnership -- at least, not until a moment of crisis.
Of course, there are selected spaces that welcome questions and discussions, such as the AWID Crear Résister Transform Festival and other free-thinking online platforms or publications -- but access to information from a helpful, non-judgemental source is something people are still trying to figure out. This may be in part because people are not confident in the language of sexuality and pleasure.
The notion of language and tools repeats itself throughout Tiffany’s presentation. Tiffany and her colleagues are doing the work of talking, teaching and nurturing. Seeing what people need, where they are, what they want for themselves, and walking alongside them as they build their ideal worlds. Giving them new words and definitions to help give shape to their identities at different stages of their lives.
These are the kinds of conversations that are necessary, even in a society that has myriad healthcare messages broadcast with varying degrees of details at any given moment. Sometimes people need to be brought back from the big picture moments and encouraged to learn about their individual opinions and desires. This is what Tiffany’s talk does: it gives people a space in the larger puzzle.
A highlight of Tiffany’s talk was the section on the different types of attraction.
Sexual -- as in, the express desire to have intercourse with a person or people Sensual -- the desire to touch a person or people, to be physically close without necessarily including intercourse Romantic -- the desire to date or be in a relationship with a person or people Platonic -- the desire to build close friendships Aesthetic -- the desire to look at and be pleased by the appearance of a person or people
These five types or levels of attraction offer a shorthand for desire and pleasure, and help to contextualise the different kinds of pleasure people can experience.
Thinking of attraction beyond the physical or sexual offers a new perspective on connection. It is a chance to take the pressure off relationships, which opens up opportunities for different, more enlightened and fulfilling partnerships.
This freedom and knowledge that Tiffany presents is a roadmap to the future. The presentation offered a new perspective on what is possible.
As the opening excerpt states, pleasure is ongoing. In light of Tiffany’s discussion, it is also clear that it is dynamic and exciting. There is always more to know.
This may be daunting at first, but on the other side of hesitation is hope, potential and freedom.
Aïssata Kane, also fondly known as “Yaye Kadia” (Mother Kadia), was a feminist with a lifelong committment in advocating for African and especially Mauritanian women’s rights.
In her career as a politician, she was appointed Minister of Family Protection and Social Affairs in 1975, the first time a woman held such a position and in which Aïssata fervently worked to improve the status of women in her country.
This work included advancing girls’ and women’s education, fighting against the practice of force-feeding of young women, lobbying for an inclusion of a marital rights provision, and advocating for a female representation quota to be created in the Parliament.
“[Aïssata] realized all her passions with humility, courage and determination. She didn’t want to disturb anyone by her fight on all these fronts at the same time.” Ball Halimata Dem, Aïssata’s niece
She founded the National Union of Women of Mauritania (UNFM), co-creating and publishing Marienou for them, a magazine dedicated to the emancipation of Mauritanian women. Aïssata also directed several sub-regional and local organizations, including as the President of the International Association of Francophone Women (AIFF) and as a resolute ecologist, she was President of the Association for the Protection of the Environment in Mauritania (APEM).
In 2018 she received the Pioneer Woman Award. It honors her work in advancing Mauritania’s women’s status and recognizes her strong leadership and sense of innovation.
We’re beginning a new year--2023. COVID-19 continues to infect and re-infect many, many people around the world. We are witnessing the resurgence of right-wing and fascist governments, even in places we may not have expected like Sweden. War, armed conflict, and dramatic increase in militarization, militarism, and military spending are enabling the unbridled capital accumulation by the few, with participation of seemingly “strange” alliances locking arms, both visibly and invisibly, where economic and political elites of the Global North and Global South are benefitting beyond our wildest imagination. In the meanwhile, our people and the natural environment pay enormous costs and suffer all the expected and unexpected consequences.
As all of you and all of us at AWID know, feminists in multiple movements around the world are resisting and organizing against multiple faces of tyranny, creating alternative structures, implementing grassroots strategies, and building transnational alliances. We are generating joy, inspiring one another, singing, and dancing within and against the prevailing culture of killing and cynicism that seems to have engulfed so much of the world.
We--Staff and Board--of AWID are prepared and inspired more than ever before to face challenges by strengthening our relationships with our members and organizational partners, meeting and getting to know those who we are yet to meet and do what we do best: support the global feminist movements. Although we were sad facing the departures of our beloved former Co-Eds Cindy and Hakima, our wonderful new Co-EDS Faye and Inna along with committed and creative staff have embraced the moment that encapsulates both opportunities and threats.
For sure, all of us at AWID and all our movement folks know: As the Caribbean US poet and activist June Jordan wrote to the South African women activists during the height of the apartheid regime, “We are the ones we have been waiting for”!
نرحب بالطلبات عبر مجموعة كاملة من المواضيع والتقاطعات المهمة للحركات النسوية وحركات العدالة الجندرية. في نموذج الطلب، ستتمكن/ين من تحديد أكثر من موضوع يناسب نشاطك.
أجساد حرة، أرواح حرة: كل ما يتعلق بالاستقلالية الجسدية، الجندر والجنسانية، الصحة والحقوق الإنجابية، التحرر من العنف القائم على النوع الاجتماعي، وحرية العيش بأمان، المتعة والفرح في أجسادنا وهوياتنا ومجتمعاتنا المتنوعة، وأكثر من ذلك بكثير .
مقاومة محاربة الحقوق: محليًا وعالميًا، تقود النسويات والنسويون الطريق في مقاومة جميع أشكال الاضطهاد المتعدد الجوانب، بما في ذلك الفاشية والأصولية والأنظمة الاستبدادية؛ لدينا الكثير لمشاركته ووضع الاستراتيجيات مع بعضنا البعض.
الحركات والتنظيم: دعونا نتعرف على حركات بعضنا البعض. من التنقل في السلطة (الداخلية والخارجية) إلى استراتيجيات الحماية في مواجهة قمع المرأة والمدافعين/ات عن حقوق الإنسان المتنوعي/ات الجندر، ومن بناء التحالفات إلى الأشكال الإبداعية والناجحة للتنظيم، دعونا نتعلم ونستلهم من بعضنا البعض.
العدالة الاقتصادية والاقتصاد النسوي: يشمل هذا الموضوع جميع الجهود النسوية لتحويل اقتصاداتنا، من تحدي النماذج الاستخراجية السائدة والدفاع عن حقوق العمل إلى تجسيد وعيش الممارسات والبدائل الاقتصادية النسوية في الحياة اليومية.
تمويل /توفير الموارد للنشاطات: يمثل تأمين التمويل الذي تشتد الحاجة إليه تحديًا مشتركًا للحركات في جميع أنحاء العالم؛ دعونا نفكك معًا نظام التمويل النسوي، بدءًا من التحليل النقدي وحتى التجارب المباشرة والطرق العملية لتمويل العمل النسوي.
المناخ، العدالة البيئية، الأرض والمياه: للعدالة البيئية والمناخية جذور عميقة في العديد من حركاتنا ومجتمعاتنا؛ من التقاليد القديمة إلى الرؤى المستقبلية، ومن القرى البيئية إلى الحملات لإنهاء الاستخراج وترقية العدالة الصحية، ندعو إلى نطاق كامل من الأنشطة المتعلقة بجميع جوانب العدالة المناخية والبيئية.
العسكرة، الحرب والصراع: نهدف إلى تسليط الضوء على تنظيم وتحليل التجارب النسوية في كثير من الأحيان في الجبهة الأمامية للاستجابة للأزمات والمساعدة في الحفاظ على الحياة والمجتمع والعدالة في أقسى أوقات الحرب والصراع الذي طال أمده.
إنهاء الاستعمار: يعتبر إنهاء الاستعمار أمرًا أساسيًا في كل موضوع من موضوعاتنا، ولكنه يقف أيضًا بمفرده، كأجندة نسوية رئيسية للمقاومة وبناء العالم في العديد من الحقائق الاستعمارية وما بعد الاستعمارية.
الواقع الرقمي والتكنولوجيا النسوية: نرحب بفرصة الاحتفاء بالمبادرات النسوية المذهلة التي تحول العوالم الرقمية، وتتحدى هياكل السلطة التكنولوجية الكبيرة، وتضفي الطابع الديمقراطي على التكنولوجيا من خلال الناس ومن أجلهم حقًا.
العدالة الشفائية: هناك تنوع مذهل في أساليب الرعاية الجماعية والعدالة الشفائية. في جميع أنحاء العالم، يستعيد المشافين/ات والحركات العدالة الشفائية كمبدأ سياسي، ومجموعة من الممارسات، ورحلة تعليمية، وأسلوب حياة، والكثير غير ذلك.
أضف/ أضيفي موضوعك هنا!
Donation Success
Thank you for taking a step further to change the world!
Your generous contribution will help us support feminist movements across the globe working to achieve gender justice and women’s human rights worldwide.
You can also support our work as an AWID Member. Find out how here.
