AWID Forum: Day 1 in illustrations

The Forum opened with an invitation for us all to collectively celebrate our victories, acknowledge our wounds, and co-create the futures we aspire to.

Visioning Feminist Futures: Opening Plenary at the 13th AWID Forum

  • “Tell me what a feminist looks like?”
  • This is what a feminist looks like!”

The “this” in question is a room full of healers, activists, academics, storytellers, truthsayers and high priestesses at the Opening Plenary for the 13th AWID International Forum in Bahia, Brazil.

Opening Plenary: Energy, song and feminist rituals to ward off evil

The 13th AWID International Forum began on Thursday with an opening plenary to the tune of Bahian music, song and dance to honor Oxum, orisha of Brazilian hospitality, followed by inspiring presentations and questions posed by guest panelists on the topic of “our current realities.”

Three things I learned at the13th AWID Forum

The AWID Forum was a time for celebration, reflection and creativity. That’s what you get when some 1800 feminists get together. But amidst the energy, the inspiration and the sleep deprivation, a serious process also took place.

From cultural change strategies to building communities of collective care

Plenary two of the 13th International AWID Forum.

"Higui will be liberated by all of us together"

The strong organization of lesbian activists across Argentina achieved Higui’s release pending trial. Higui, an Argentine lesbian, was imprisoned for fatally wounding one of her attackers while trying to avoid being gang raped by a group of ten men.

Fiction as a powerful way to talk about abortion

The book Código Rosa. Relatos sobre abortos [Pink Code. Narratives about abortions] is a collective creation emerging out of testimonies from women who’d had medical abortions and who had been accompanied in that decision by the Colectiva. AWID spoke to  Dahiana Belfiori, feminist activist, member of the Pink Relief Network and author of the book.

The women behind El Salvador’s historic environmental victory

This article is dedicated to all Salvadoran women who have actively resisted and defended their territories, to all those who continue to resist, and to those who have passed on as a result of their resistance.

Berta Cáceres: A seed that has been multiplied in the rebel struggles

The 3rd of March 2017 will mark a year since Honduran feminist and human rights defender Berta Cáceres was murdered. In memory and celebration of Berta, we inquired what she meant, and still means, in the lives and activism of some of her compañeras. We asked them: What legacy has Berta's struggle, for women's rights and the defense of territory, left for your activism and commitment to social justice?

Trans Narratives and Potential Transformations

By Maria Araujo

To write about my experience at the AWID Forum while taking into consideration just how fulfilled I felt throughout the entire event will be a difficult task. This is mainly because writing may not be enough to enable you, the reader, to grasp the impact that the encounters I experienced during the event had on me.