Sabriya Simon
Marcha da Mulheres Negras 2016
Marcha da Mulheres Negras 2016
Marcha da Mulheres Negras 2016

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.

Co-Creating Feminist Realities

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While we dream of a feminist world, there are those who are already building and living it. These are our Feminist Realities!

What are Feminist Realities?

Feminist Realities are the living, breathing examples of the just world we are co-creating. They exist now, in the many ways we live, struggle and build our lives.

Feminist Realities go beyond resisting oppressive systems to show us what a world without domination, exploitation and supremacy look like.

These are the narratives we want to unearth, share and amplify throughout this Feminist Realities journey.

Transforming Visions into Lived Experiences

Through this initiative, we:

  • Create and amplify alternatives: We co-create art and creative expressions that center and celebrate the hope, optimism, healing and radical imagination that feminist realities inspire.

  • Build knowledge: We document, demonstrate & disseminate methodologies that will help identify the feminist realities in our diverse communities.

  • Advance feminist agendas: We expand and deepen our collective thinking and organizing to advance just solutions and systems that embody feminist values and visions.

  • Mobilize solidarity actions: We engage feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements and allies in sharing, exchanging and jointly creating feminist realities, narratives and proposals at the 14th AWID International Forum.

The AWID International Forum

As much as we emphasize the process leading up to, and beyond, the four-day Forum, the event itself is an important part of where the magic happens, thanks to the unique energy and opportunity that comes with bringing people together.

We expect the next Forum to:

  • Build the power of Feminist Realities, by naming, celebrating, amplifying and contributing to build momentum around experiences and propositions that shine light on what is possible and feed our collective imaginations

  • Replenish wells of hope and energy as much needed fuel for rights and justice activism and resilience

  • Strengthen connectivity, reciprocity and solidarity across the diversity of feminist movements and with other rights and justice-oriented movements

Learn more about the Forum process

We are sorry to announce that the 14th AWID International Forum is cancelled

Given the current world situation, our Board of Directors has taken the difficult decision to cancel Forum scheduled in 2021 in Taipei. 

Read the full announcement

Find out more!

Related Content

Type

Sarah Maldoror

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Civil & Political Rights
Region
Europe
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

“I’m no adherent to the concept of the ‘Third World’. I make films so that people - no matter what race or color they are - can understand them. For me there are only exploiters and the exploited, that’s all. To make a film means to take a position.” - Sarah Maldoror 

Sarah Maldoror, a French filmmaker of West Indies descent, was a pioneer of Pan-African cinema. At the core of her work, she placed political concerns along with her longstanding involvement in decolonization movements.

Her groundbreaking film and “revolutionary picture” Sambizanga (1972) follows Angolan militants’ anti-colonial liberation struggle, as well as captures a woman’s perspective in a historical moment she finds herself in. 

“For many African filmmakers, cinema is a revolutionary tool, a political education to raise consciousness. It is inscribed in the evolution of a Third Cinema striving to decolonize thought and advocate radical changes in society.” - Sarah Maldoror

Throughout her career, Sarah - together with a number of African and Caribbean artists - co-founded (1956) the first Black theatre troupe in France. She made around 40 films, comprising important documentaries that amplify the lives and work of black artists, including her friend and poet Aimé Césaire who wrote to her: 

“To Sarah Maldo
who, a camera in hand,
fights oppression, alienation
and flies in the face
of human bullshit.”

Sarah was also committed to giving African women more ownership of the filmmaking process. In an interview, she pointed out: 

"African women must be everywhere. They must be in the images, behind the camera, in the editing room and involved in every stage of the making of a film. They must be the ones to talk about their problems." 

Sarah left an incredibly powerful legacy to be carried forward. 

Born 19 July 1929, Sarah passed away on 13 April 2020 from complications of the coronavirus.

Watch Sambizanga and read a film review in a 1973 New York Times article
 

Reason to join 5

Expand your boundaries. AWID members increasingly represent a diverse and vibrant cross-section of feminists working on land rights, workers’ rights, sexual rights and bodily autonomy, among other issues. By joining us as a member, you can connect your struggles across movements.

ماذا لو لم أتمكن من الحضور شخصيا؟ هل ستكون الفعالية هجينة؟

نعم! نحن نستكشف حاليًا تقنيات مبتكرة للسماح بالاتصال والمشاركة الهادفين.

Cristina Bautista

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Region
Latin America
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Killed

“If we stay quiet they kill us and if we talk [they kill us] too. So, let’s talk.” -  Cristina Bautista, 2019

Cristina Bautista was a member of the Nasa Indigenous people’s community whose home is situated in the region of Northern Cauca, Colombia. She was part of their resistance as a leader, land rights defender, social worker, and governor of the Nasa Tacueyó Indigenous reserve. 

A tireless defender of the rights of Nasa people, Cristina spoke strongly and loudly against the violence directed at her community. In a speech before the United Nations, she called for the protection of Indigenous women’s lives and their involvement in different spheres of life. In 2017, Cristina was a UN Human Rights Office Indigenous fellow and she was awarded a grant from the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples in 2019. 

“I would like to bring to light the current situation of the Indigenous people in Colombia, the killing of Indigenous leaders, the repression of social protest. Instead of helping, the peace deal has increased war and the exploitation of sacred territories in Colombia… In the current situation, in almost all Indigenous nations as women we have been working to find a better future for our families. I don’t want more women from the countryside to continue living under these circumstances. We need opportunities for Indigenous women to participate in politics, in the economy, in society and in culture. Today gives me true strength, to see all these women here and that I am not alone.” - Cristina Bautista, 2019

On 29 October 2019, Cristina was murdered along with four unarmed Indigenous guards in an attack which was allegedly carried out by armed members of “Dagoberto Ramos”, a FARC dissident group. 

According to Global Witness, “the murder of community and social leaders has risen dramatically in Colombia in recent years.” 

“The Nasa community has repeatedly raised the alarm with the authorities about threats to their safety. Despite efforts by successive Colombian Governments, indigenous peoples continue to face great risks, especially religious or community leaders like Cristina Bautista.” - UN press briefing, 1 November 2019

Watch a speech by Cristina Bautista in August 2019 in which she denounced previous murders of Indigenous guards (Spanish only)

“Where is the Money for Women’s Rights?" AWID’s WITM Toolkit (landing page intro)

A new edition of the Where is the Money?  research is underway.

Learn more.

A Do-it-Yourself Research Methodology

AWID offers the WITM Toolkit to support individuals and organizations who want to conduct their own research on funding trends for a particular region, issue or population by adapting AWID’s research methodology.

AWID’s WITM Toolkit builds on 10 years research experience. AWID’s WITM research and WITM Toolkit is a political and practical demonstration of the resources and steps it takes to conduct solid action-research.

Learn more about the context around the WITM research methodology

The Resourcing Feminist Movements team also offers technical and political support before and during the research process. Review the toolkit and contact us at fundher@awid.org if you need more information.

Rising together - Logo and Button - EN

Call for Activities: Deadline extended to February 1st 2024!

AWID Forum - Rising together

Co-create the The 15th AWID International Forum in Bangkok, Thailand.

Submit your activity now!

FRMag - Armenians

Armenians, Feminism is our Past and Future

by Sophia Armen

Like it or not fierce ungerhouis have been part and parcel to our histories of resistance and are here to stay. (...)

Read

Snippet - Intro WITM - EN

Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing? Survey Results

Thanks to our global feminist community! From May to August 2024, nearly 1,200 organizations working for Women's rights, gender justice, and LBTQI+ equality shared their experiences in the WITM survey. The results offer a unique picture of how feminist movements are resourced and where gaps remain.

Stay tuned for the upcoming report for more analysis!
 

Learn more about the insights

Feminist film club - holding up the skies

Check out the AWID Feminist Film Club program “Holding up the Skies” - a film series on Feminist Realities from Africa and the African Diaspora curated by Gabrielle Tesfaye

WATCH

Snippet - WITM about research col 2 - EN

 The full “Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing” report will be published in 2026.

To learn more how AWID has been shining a light on money for and against feminist movements check out the work of our Resourcing Feminist Movements Initiative here.

Animation: Calling all Feminist Superheroes!

Animation:

Calling all Feminist Superheroes!

Follow our Superhero as she embarks on a quest to reclaim the narrative from anti-rights actors across the globe.

Watch animation

How do you define external funding?

External funding includes grants and other forms of funding from philanthropic foundations, governments, bilateral, multilateral or corporate funders and individual donors – from both within your country or abroad. It excludes resources that groups, organizations and/or movements generate autonomously such as, for example, membership fees, the voluntary contributions of staff, members and/or supporters, community fundraisers, venue hires or sale of services. For ease and clarity, definitions of the different types of funding as well as short descriptions of different donors are included in the survey.

Sexting Like a Feminist: Humor in the Digital Feminist Revolution | Content Snippet

Sexting Like a Feminist: Humor in the Digital Feminist Revolution

On September 2nd, 2021, the amazing feminist and social justice activists of AWID’s Crear | Résister | Transform festival came together not only to share resistance strategies, co-create, and transform the world, but also to talk dirty on Twitter.

The exercise was led by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, co-founder of the blog Adventures From The Bedrooms of African Women and author of The Sex Lives of African Women, who paired up with the Pan-Africanist digital queer womanist platform AfroFemHub, to ask the question: How can we safely and consensually explore our pleasure, desires, and fantasies via text?

Basically: How would a feminist sext?

I believe this is a critically important question because it looks at the larger issue of how one navigates the online world with a feminist understanding. Under capitalism, discourse around bodies and sex can be dehumanizing and distorting, and navigating sexual pleasure in virtual spaces can feel performative. So seeking out avenues where we can explore how we share our desire in ways that are affirming and enthusiastic can push back against dominant models of presentation and consumption to reclaim these spaces as sites for authentic engagement, proving that all sexting should be just that: feminist.

Plus, allowing feminist discourse to embody its playful side in online discourse helps reframe a popular narrative that feminist engagement is joyless and dour. But as we know, having fun is part of our politics, and an inherent part of what it means to be feminist.

Using the hashtag #SextLikeAFeminist, scholars and activists from all over the world chimed in with their thirstiest feminist tweets, and here are my top ten.

As these tweets show, it turns out that sexting like a feminist is sexy, funny – and horny. Yet, it never loses sight of its commitment to equity and justice.

I don't feel comfortable sharing the name of my group and our contact information with AWID, should I still fill out the survey?

Absolutely. These questions are optional, we value your right to remain anonymous. Please fill the survey regardless of your decision to share the name and contact information of your group, organization and/or movement.

Lindiwe Rasekoala | Snippet EN

Portrait of Lindiwe Rasekoala

Lindiwe Rasekoala is a life coach who specializes in intimacy and relationship wellness coaching. She is a sexual health enthusiast and online contributor. Through her own experiences and unconventional methods of research, she believes she can bridge the education gap and lack of access to information around sexual wellness. She is a contributor on various radio and television shows, and has completed her coach training with the Certified Coaches Alliance. Lindiwe’s mission is to break down the barriers to conversations around sexual wellness and to empower her clients to achieve greater understanding of themselves so that they can experience a more healthy and holistic lifestyle and relationships. 

Snippet - WITM why - PT

Por Que Devo Realizar Este Inquérito?

Ester Lopes | Snippet AR

Ester Lopes Portrait

إيستر لوبيز  راقصة وكاتبة تركز أبحاثها على الجسد والنوع والعرق والعلاقات الطبقية. هي مدرّبة بيلاتيس ومعلمة فنون. تخرجت إستر في دراسة المسرح المعاصر – العمليات الإبداعية (في FAINC) وفي الرقص والوعي بالجسم (في USCS). يشمل تخصصها الموسيقي الغناء الشعبي والإيقاع. تلقت تدريبًا في “نوفوس برينكانتس” مع فليرا فيرو وماتيوس برادو وأنطونيو مييرا في معهد Brincante في عامي 2015 و 2016.

Snippet - WITM Start the survey 1 - RU

 

Globe

Опрос доступен на английском, арабском, испанском, португальском, русском и французском языках!

 

Embodying Trauma-Informed Pleasure | Small Snippet AR

تَجسُّد اللذة المدرِكة للتروما

الصدمة ليست الحدث؛ إنها أجسادنا التي تستجيب للأحداث التي تشعرنا بخطرها علينا. وفي أغلب الأحوال تبقى عالقة في أجسادنا، إلى أن نتعامل معها. لا يوجد حديث عن أجسادنا خارج هذه الاستجابة – لأنها كذلك.

 

قرأ أكثر

Snippet - WITM about research - RU

Об исследовании «Где же деньги для феминистских объединений?»

Глобальный опрос «Где деньги для феминистских объединений?» является ключевым элементом третьего этапа нашего исследования, ориентированного на конкретные действия: «Где деньги для феминистских объединений» (короткое название – «Где деньги?»). Результаты опроса будут доработаны и обстоятельно изучены в ходе бесед с активистами и донорами, а также сопоставлены с другими имеющимися аналитическими материалами и исследованиями о состоянии ресурсов феминистских движений и инициатив по достижению гендерного равенства во всем мире.

Полный отчет организации «Где деньги для феминистских объединений?» будет опубликован в 2026 году.

Чтобы узнать больше о том, как AWID освещает вопросы финансирования феминистских движений, ознакомьтесь с историей инициативы «Где деньги?» и нашими предыдущими отчетами здесь.