Login
Leichte Sprache
Gebärdensprache
Deutsche Zusammenfassung – “Feminists are unstoppable: Ukrainian activities during the war”
Feministische Aktivistinnen führen die NGO Feminist Workshop in Lviv im Westen der Ukraine.
Feministische Organisationen müssen unter schwierigen Umständen arbeiten. Die ukrainischen Aktivistinnen leisten auch im Krieg ihre Arbeit. Wie die Feministinnen der NGO Feminist Workshop in Lviv im Westen der Ukraine trotz der schwierigen Konditionen momentan agieren, gibt es hier in einer kurzen Zusammenfassung auf Deutsch zu lesen. Den ganzen Artikel findet ihr unten auf Englisch.
Die Organisation „Feminist Workshop“ nimmt sich nicht nur die Verbesserung der Position der Frau als Ziel, sondern versucht, tiefer anzusetzen und dementsprechend den Diskriminierungsbegriff weiter zu fassen. Gerade in Zeiten der Krise verschlimmert sich die Lage von ohnehin schon marginalisierten Gruppen, weil sich deren Probleme potenzieren.
Die Organisation hat sogenannte FemFlats als Notunterkünfte für Aktivistinnen gegründet, in denen jede mitwirkende Person hilft, ein Umfeld wie ein sicheres Zuhause zu kreieren anhand von nachhaltigem Leben und gewaltfreier Kommunikation. Die FemFlats bieten Schutz für Aktivistinnen, es gibt aber auch noch andere Unterkünfte für Frauen mit Kindern und wieder andere für Familien. Alle Personen kommen aus Gebieten, die von der Invasion Russlands betroffen sind.
Verschiedene Aktivistinnen sorgen in den FemFlats für ein gutes Zusammenleben, da die Organisation daran glaubt, dass auch in Zeiten des Krieges jede Person das für die Gruppe beitragen soll, was ihr am besten liegt. So wird ein feministisches Umfeld erschaffen, in dem für jede Person eine Art Safe Space erschaffen wird.
Cooperation with other organizations, sources of funding and finding housing for refugee women: The activities of feminist organizations all over the world present many difficulties and bring their own problems in daily life, as some activists have to hide from the authorities, some live in poverty, and some have to safeguard their activities in non-peaceful conditions of war. So today we are going to talk about one of the organizations in Ukraine that continues to develop and open up new prospects despite difficult conditions.
Organization “Feminist Workshop”
The Feminist Workshop, an informal organization, aims to develop and create space for the feminist movement in Lviv and Ukraine as a whole. And now, being located in the west of the country has helped them to reorient and respond to current challenges faster. So the organization does not stand aside from the current demands of society.
Feminism here is understood not just as improving the position of women in society, but as deeper changes in social norms, counteracting various forms of discrimination and violence. However, in today’s environment, these ideas have to be implemented in conjunction with new areas of activity.
Housing for refugee women
Media coordinator Anastasia, whom we spoke to, recalls that it took a little time to resume the activities and get them back on track.
For the first three months of the war, the Feminist Workshop team devoted themselves entirely to helping those in need. That’s how the concept of a FemFlat was created for activists from other regions who lost their homes due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. A shelter is a three-room apartment with everything you need for a comfortable life. In addition to housing, the organization provided support in the implementation of ideas and the opportunity to use an office.
Later, in the summer, another, larger house was built to accommodate 20 women with children. The idea of the organization is primarily to provide not only shelter and food, but also the needs of safety, support, communication, leisure, self-realization and development.
The organization aims to create a safe space that will help build trust in the team, increase social cohesion and engage refugees in a full life in the new region.
Ensuring a comfortable life involves the daily practice of non-violent communication and ecological living. Over time, a system of rules has been developed to help proactive residents create a productive environment that feels like home.
The organization’s team, of course, provides support and helps women not only with household chores. For example, there is a babysitter, Ivanka, who takes the children on excursions to the Ecocenter, to drawing and modeling workshops, often invites specialists who can teach the children something interesting, and they spend most of their time together in nature.
Another activist, Tetiana, organizes leisure activities, joint clean-ups and celebrations, residents’ meetings and meetings with a psychologist. The life of the residents and their children is not limited to the shelter. Tanya also organizes trips to exhibitions and picnics, museums and theaters.
The experience in providing such a safe space and donor support allowed the organization to recently open another large shelter. It also has a capacity of 20 people and is equipped for families.
In addition to providing housing, the organization has launched other initiatives in this difficult time: they have developed a mechanism for interaction for volunteers with elderly women. The activists deliver humanitarian aid packages to those who are unable to take care of themselves. In addition to food, the activists also offer help in everyday life: they can do household chores, and cook. And when they leave, they make sure to leave their contacts so that the seniors can call them if they need to.
In times of crisis, the situation of vulnerable groups becomes even worse, as all the problems only get deeper. Therefore, the organization takes care of psychological support for women who really need it.
Cooperation and sources of funding
All these initiatives are supported by partner organizations from abroad and Ukraine. For example, together with The Malteser Relief Service and The Ukrainian Red Cross Society, they organized a lecture for mothers on modern methods of raising children. Local spaces and NGOs take care of the leisure activities of children living in the shelter.
Financial needs are partially covered by funds and donations from ordinary citizens. But of course, there are not enough resources to meet all the requests that come in, so sometimes they have to refuse women and introduce them to other organizations that can help.
Implementing feminist ideas
In parallel with its volunteer activities, the organization continues to broadcast its mission of developing the feminist community. Thus, they are now actively conducting various lectures, workshops, collective meetings, etc. Interestingly, they are mostly offline.
During our meeting, Anastasia explained that after a long period of online meetings caused by the quarantine, they are very eager for live communication and therefore now grab any opportunity. However, if the format allows, sometimes events are held online, and then women from other regions can easily join.
Of course, holding live meetings has many challenges, such as long power outages or air raid alarms. “But we have to adapt to the realities: adjust our schedule every time there is a power outage and go down to the bomb shelter when there is a threat of a missile attack, and then be guided by the situation: if the anxiety lasts for a short time, wait it down and get back to business, or postpone the events to another time ”, commented media coordinator Anastasia.
The war has placed its own limitations on the options, but the organization still believes that everyone should contribute in the area in which they are competent. Therefore, to help feminists distract themselves and relieve some of the tension, they also involve more educational and entertaining content, such as: Stand-up evening “A Woman’s Place is on Stage”; a master class on creating zines; a lecture-discussion on the waves of feminism; a meeting of the reading club on what feminists do during the war and much more.
An important platform for the implementation of ideas is the YouTube channel, where you can find videos of various kinds: a review of cinema through the prism of feminist values, historical background and the current situation of women in the military.
Special attention should be paid to the project “Ukraine War Feminism”, where a difficult topic is transmitted through personalities – by talking to women from different fields of activity and their role in the war. By the way, English subtitles are available for this program, so that feminists from other countries can also hear ordinary stories of extremely strong women.
The war also affected the audience: many feminist members of various initiatives were forced to go abroad, but new activists who moved to western Ukraine from the eastern regions began to join.
For example, the teenage club “Girls Can” was revived. New teenagers have joined the community of like-minded people, and at regular meetings they form a new space of friends, ambassadors of a generation of new sincerity and feminist values.
Feminism is inventing new meanings today that are important for the future of Europe and the world. This is not a renunciation in favor of something conservative and patriarchal. It is a development, feminists remain fundamentally feminists, who build the society of the future.
You can donate to The Feminist Workshop via:
Patreon: www.patreon.com/feministworkshop
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/f5vzxa-war-relief-fund-for-ukrainian-feminists
Official organizational bank account in Ukraine:
UA563253650000000260040014271
SWIFT/BIC WUCBUA2X
Receiver: Non-Governmental Organization «Feminist Workshop»
Purpose: Сharitable contribution
Account of our partner organization in Germany: https://www.inwole.de/post/spendenaufruf-für-geflüchtete-ukrainische-aktivist-innen
Very important! In the field “payment purpose” type: Feminist Workshop
And inform us about the transaction via email (feministworkshop@gmail.com) or DM us on social media
PayPal: papercloset@protonmail.com
Anna Neshcheret
Deutsche Zusammenfassung: Jule Malin Oeser
Schreibe einen Kommentar