Feel Good Friday - Feminist Network

International Women’s Day was March 8th and we’re going to continue the celebration by highlighting the international women of Feminist Network.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Lviv, Ukraine, the mission of Feminist Network is the “creation of space for the development of the feminist community in Lviv and Ukraine.”

The activists who started this organization originally wanted a space where they could discuss feminism with other women. Since those early days, Feminist Network has grown in both size and scope. Now, they do work focusing on gender and feminist education; creation, support and development of the feminist community; and building a network to unite different leaders and city institutions in order to bring feminist values to life.

Projects they run include public lectures and events, art exhibits, street protests, a club for teenage girls called Girls Can, events focused on LBGTQ rights, and online classes in medi, writing, and feminist theory.

Since the Russian invasion last year, Feminist Network responded by starting new activities to support the people of Ukraine. These include finding housing for refugees and activists from regions where active hostilities are taking place, providing free babysitting services for refugee’s children, holding free sessions with psychologists for people in the community, providing humanitarian support to elderly women in Lviv, and creating online content to address the needs of vulnerable groups during the war. You can see the volunteers behind these efforts in this short video and read these stories of how and why they got started. 

The best way to provide support to Feminist Network is with a donation. You can also help by amplifying their work on social media. Like the Feminist Network Facebook page, follow them on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Feel Good Friday - Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights

It’s the first Feel Good Friday of Women’s History Month and the country of Ukraine is under attack. That’s why we’re profiling an organization supporting women in Ukraine, Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights. 

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Alameda, California, Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights(UAF) is “a feminist fund that protects, strengthens and sustains women and transgender human rights defenders at critical moments.” They respond to requests for assistance within 24 hours and have funds of up to $8,000 USD on the ground within 1- 10 business days.

 

Right now, to support women, trans, and nonbinary activists in Ukraine, UAF is responding to requests from groups and individuals seeking:

• Support with emergency evacuations and relocations
• Legal, financial, and medical support
• Security and disaster survival training
• Increasing shelter capacities for children, women, and all other civilians
• Access to alternative communication channels, mobile internet, power banks, VPNs, proxy, spare phones, and tablets

This rapid response grantmaking is one of the ways UAF supports women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate defenders. Another focus of UAF’s work is advocacy and alliance building. When they see that certain issues are trending, UAF “brings together grassroots activists, feminists, women’s human rights defenders, academics and policy-makers to design the best strategic response.” Solutions range from fundraising to policy change.

 

In order to better direct their grantmaking and fundraising efforts, UAF established autonomous, urgent action sister funds in Africa (2001), Latin America (2009) and Asia (2017). This global consortium has awarded over 2,000 grants to women’s human rights activists in 110 countries around the world. You can use this interactive map to see who has received grants in the last 10 years, and if you know anyone who would benefit from receiving funds, send them this link.

 

If you want to support the work of UAF, you can donate to the Urgent Response Fund: Ukraine, make general donation, or volunteer. You can also amplify the work of UAF on social media. Like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @UrgentAct and Instagram @urgentactionfund.