Young Feminist Activism
Organizing creatively, facing an increasing threat
Young feminist activists play a critical role in women’s rights organizations and movements worldwide by bringing up new issues that feminists face today. Their strength, creativity and adaptability are vital to the sustainability of feminist organizing.
At the same time, they face specific impediments to their activism such as limited access to funding and support, lack of capacity-building opportunities, and a significant increase of attacks on young women human rights defenders. This creates a lack of visibility that makes more difficult their inclusion and effective participation within women’s rights movements.
A multigenerational approach
AWID’s young feminist activism program was created to make sure the voices of young women are heard and reflected in feminist discourse. We want to ensure that young feminists have better access to funding, capacity-building opportunities and international processes. In addition to supporting young feminists directly, we are also working with women’s rights activists of all ages on practical models and strategies for effective multigenerational organizing.
Our Actions
We want young feminist activists to play a role in decision-making affecting their rights by:
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Fostering community and sharing information through the Young Feminist Wire. Recognizing the importance of online media for the work of young feminists, our team launched the Young Feminist Wire in May 2010 to share information, build capacity through online webinars and e-discussions, and encourage community building.
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Researching and building knowledge on young feminist activism, to increase the visibility and impact of young feminist activism within and across women’s rights movements and other key actors such as donors.
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Promoting more effective multigenerational organizing, exploring better ways to work together.
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Supporting young feminists to engage in global development processes such as those within the United Nations
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Collaboration across all of AWID’s priority areas, including the Forum, to ensure young feminists’ key contributions, perspectives, needs and activism are reflected in debates, policies and programs affecting them.
Related Content
Snippet FEA Audio A Caring Economy (ES)
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Snippet - COP30 - International Eco-Socialist Encounter - EN
International Eco-Socialist Encounter
Panels, workshops, plenaries and spaces for exchange between collectives, activists and organizations in struggle to collectively walk the path towards an agenda and a program of struggle for ecosocialism.
📅 November 8 - November 11, 2025
📍 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Les défenseuses de l’Afrique subsaharienne
Cette année, dans le cadre de notre hommage en ligne aux défenseuses des droits humains qui ne sont plus parmi nous, nous célébrons la mémoire de quatre femmes originaires d’Afrique subsaharienne. Trois d’entre elles ont été assassinées en raison de leur travail et/ou à cause de leur identité de genre ou de leur orientation sexuelle. Leur mort souligne la violence à laquelle les personnes LGBT* sont confronté-e-s dans cette région et dans le monde entier. Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous pour commémorer la vie de ces femmes, leur activisme et l’héritage qu’elles nous ont laissé. Faites circuler ces mèmes après de vos collègues et amis ainsi que dans vos réseaux et twittez en utilisant les hashtags #WHRDTribute et #16Jours.
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Snippet FEA Travesti (FR)
TRAVESTI :
une identité de genre latino-américaine
Le terme travesti désigne une identité de genre latino-américaine sans équivalent dans d'autres langues, et exclusivement féminine. C'est une personne désignée de genre masculin à la naissance qui s'identifie comme une femme.
Elles doivent toujours être adressées avec le pronom “elle”. Travesti n'est pas seulement une identité de genre située en dehors de la binarité de genre, c'est aussi une identité culturelle enracinée dans les mouvements latino-américains.
Le terme était initialement péjoratif, mais a ensuite été réapproprié comme symbole de résistance et de dignité. Chaque travesti est trans parce qu'elle ne s'identifie pas au genre désigné à la naissance, mais toutes les travesti ne se considèrent pas comme femmes trans, car travesti est déjà une identité de genre en soi.
Référence: Berkins, Lohana. (2006). Travestis: una Identidad Política . Trabajo presentado en el Panel Sexualidades contemporáneas en las VIII Jornadas Nacionales de Historia de las Mujeres/ III Congreso Iberoamericano de Estudios de Género Diferencia Desigualdad. Construirnos en la diversidad, Villa Giardino, Córdoba, 25 al 28 de octubre de 2006.
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Diana Sacayan
Snippet - COP30 - Resistance Hubs Section Column 2 - ES
La organización de los nodos para la COP30 está a cargo de los siguientes aliados:
- Caribbean Feminist Climate Justice Movement, Barbados
- Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA)*, Pakistán
- Women’s Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE)*, Nigeria
- Réseau des Acteurs du Développement Durable (RADD)**, Camerún
- MASIPAG*, Filipinas
*Sitios web en inglés
**Sitio web en francés
Snippet FEA Lohana Berkins (EN)
One of the founding leaders of the cooperative was Lohana Berkins, an activist, defender and promoter of transgender identity. Lohana played a crucial role in the struggle for the rights of trans and travesti people.
This brought about, among many other things, the passing of the Gender Identity Law. It is one of the most progressive legislations in the world, guaranteeing fundamental rights to trans and travesti people. Now, people can change their names and genders only with an affidavit, and have access to comprehensive healthcare without judicial or medical intervention/approval (Outright International, 2012).
Para participar en el Foro, ¿tengo que ser afiliadx de AWID?
No, no es necesario que seas afiliadx de AWID para participar en el Foro, pero lxs afiliadxs de AWID tienen un descuento en el costo de inscripción, y varios otros beneficios.
Priyadarshini Thangarajah
Snippet - COP30 - Feminist Economic Alternatives Brief - ES
📖 Informe sobre las alternativas económicas feministas
Una herramienta para activistas feministas presentes en la COP30 que luchan por soluciones transformadoras, equitativas y comunitarias para responder a la crisis climática.
6. Menez une recherche documentaire
La recherche documentaire peut se dérouler tout au long de votre initiative. Elle peut vous aider à encadrer vos travaux, à choisir des questions de sondage et à comprendre vos résultats.
Dans cette section
- Préciser le contexte
- S’appuyer sur les connaissances existantes
- Sources éventuelles d’information pour la recherche documentaire
1. Sites Web et rapports annuels des donateurs
2. Sources d’information en ligne
Préciser le contexte
La réalisation de recherches documentaires tout au long de votre initiative peut vous aider à encadrer vos travaux, à choisir les questions de sondage et à vous fournir une clarté contextuelle, tout en rehaussant votre compréhension des résultats de votre sondage. Vous pourriez notamment comparer les similarités et les différences entre les résultats de votre sondage et l’information diffusée par la société civile et les donateurs.
Il se peut que vous déceliez des tendances dans les résultats de votre sondage et que vous souhaitiez mieux les comprendre.
Par exemple, vos données de sondage pourraient révéler que les budgets des organisations diminuent, mais cela ne vous dit pas pour quelle raison cette situation se produit. L’analyse des publications vous donne un contexte et vous révèle certaines des raisons pour lesquelles ces tendances surviennent.
Exploiter les connaissances existantes
La recherche documentaire garantit également que vous appuyez votre recherche sur les connaissances existantes touchant à votre sujet d’intérêt, confirmant ainsi la validité et la pertinence de vos résultats.
Vos résultats pourraient être complémentaires ou contradictoires par rapport aux connaissances actuelles, mais ils doivent faire référence aux données existantes sur le sujet.
Pour que votre recherche soit complète et englobe tout le panorama du financement qui entoure votre sujet, examinez une gamme de secteurs de financement.
Vous pouvez notamment considérer :
- Les fonds pour les femmes
- Les fondations privées et publiques
- Les organisations non gouvernementales internationales (ONGI)
- Les agences bilatérales et multilatérales
- Les acteurs et actrices du secteur privé
- Les philanthropes
- Les groupes de financement participatif
Inclure tout secteur pertinent dans le cadre de référence de votre recherche.
Par exemple, vous pourriez décider qu’il est important d’effectuer des recherches sur les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) locales.
Sources éventuelles d’information pour la recherche documentaire (liste non exhaustive)
1. Sites Web et rapport annuels des donateurs
Voici des sources directes d’information sur les actions des bailleurs de fonds qui contiennent habituellement des renseignements sur les politiques et les budgets. Si vous réalisez vos recherches avant d’interviewer les donateurs, vos questions seront mieux ciblées et vos interviews plus solides.
2. Sources d’information en ligne
- Alliance Magazine (en anglais)
- Lettre d'information du Council on Foundations (en anglais)
- Blogs & nouvelles de Devex (en anglais)
- Ressources du Foundation Center (en anglais)
- Les articles rédigés par les activistes et les organisations faisant partie de votre population cible
- La liste des donateurs de l’AWID (en anglais)
- Philanthropy Journal (en anglais)
- Institute of Development Studies (en anglais)
Étape précédente
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Temps estimé :
• 1-2 mois
Personnel requis :
• 1 personne (ou plus) chargée de la recherche
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7. Synthétisez les résultats de votre recherche
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Snippet FEA Exclusion and Stigma (ES)

LA EXCLUSIÓN, ESTIGMA Y ABUSO INSTITUCIONAL
que las personas trans y travesti siguen enfrentando diariamente
No encontré la respuesta a mi pregunta aquí
Para preguntas adicionales, por favor escríbenos utilizando nuestro formulario de contacto. Selecciona «14o Foro de AWID» como asunto de mensaje.
Olena Tsukerman
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5 Major Threats
In the current context, we have identified five major threats to the struggle towards feminist just economies.
1. Financialisation of the world economy.
“Financialisation refers to the increasing importance of financial markets, financial motives, financial institutions, and financial elites in the operation of the economy and its governing institutions both at the national and international levels”. - Gerald Epstein
Epstein Gerald A. 2006: Financialization and the World Economy. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Financial institutions exert a strong influence over economic governance and the direction of development policy. The growing dominance of the corporate sector and international financial institutions in defining local and global public policies, has resulted in the capture of the State in the interest of capital. The current financial system, including controversial credit and debt policies, are integral to the reproduction and expansion of capital accumulation processes.
This raises important questions of how to regulate and re-think the global financial system, not only to avoid serious negative consequences of debt-driven crises,but to allow for sustainable livelihoods and the realization of economic and social rights without retrogression.
For more details, see the article by Balakrishnan and Heintz “Debt, Power, and Crisis: Social Stratification and the Inequitable Governance of Financial Markets”
2. Harmful trade agreements.
For the past 20 years, trade agreements (both bilateral or multilateral) have expanded their role demonstrating increased interest in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to be given to corporations.
IPR has clearly benefitted transnational corporations with huge impacts on the ability of poorer nations and peoples to realize human rights, notably:
- the right to food,
- the right to conserve,
- the right to use and sell seeds, and
- the right to access to essential medicines.
In addition, agriculture import liberalisation resulting in an influx of cheap goods jeopardise women’s self-employed farmers in poor countries and food security. Investment protection clauses included in trade agreements limit the policy space of national governments to create and enforce regulations on issues as crucial as environmental protection, labour rights, and the duration of copyrights.
Feminist movements have been, and are, at the forefront of resistance to these agreements exposing its pitfalls.
(See for example, the reactions by feminist networks around the globe to both the Transatlantic and TransPacific Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement negotiations.)
3. Unprecedented scale of threat to ecosystems and biodiversity.
The commodification of the Earth’s resources and resulting environmental degradation and climate change produced by decades of aggressive industrialisation, plunder and extractivism of the world’s resources, have damaged biodiversity and ecological resilience. These damages are now threatening the existence of human society itself.
The international community has failed to address production and consumption patterns sitting at the root of the problem. Instead, governments –with the support of large corporations interested in making a profit - are leaning towards a “green economy” approach promoting “energy-efficient technologies” (including nuclear energy, biofuels, genetically modified organisms and geo-engineering) and carbon trade schemes as the silver bullet.
4.Commodification of land and accelerating global phenomenon of land and resource grabbing.
While the processes of land and resource appropriation is not new – in fact, they are central struggles in colonial histories- what is new is the advanced means by which land and natural resource wealth are becoming commodities in new markets.
International Financial Institutions play a central role in promoting land markets in developing countries. These institutions finance land reforms that enable powerful actors to use land for speculative gain in exchange of meagre promises of jobs and growth. Land-grabbing has far reaching negative impacts on local peoples’ access to essential goods and services apart from displacement and environmental degradation that are associated with it.
People who are resisting land grabbing, among them women human rights defenders, face diverse forms of violence including physical attacks and sexual abuse, on a daily basis.
5. Entrenched patriarchal foundations that structure the capitalist system
This patriarchal foundation is particularly hegemonic in today’s neoliberal models.
The many ways in which political economy and development are connected to sexuality or gender is evident: think how capitalism defines what can even be characterized as labour and ties human worth to wage-labour productivity.
For the most part, women’s position in the global economy continues to be one of gender-based labour exploitation with women’s work undervalued in precarious jobs, domestic subsistence, reproduction, and in unwaged household production. Because reproductive labour has been naturalized as women's unpaid work, it has provided an immense subsidy to capitalism at the same time as a source of gender oppression and subjugation.
This situation is aggravated by the fact that as social protection mechanisms begin to dwindle, women’s care burden increases.
Further, the phenomenon of global migration spurred on by thousands of economic refugees escaping oppressive poverty across the globe is not estranged to that of capitalist gender power relations. Remittances become a major source of development financing for the families and communities, but at a major cost for women migrants who struggle to earn a living wage in their new country.
In the same vein, we have seen how patriarchal capitalist systems are using violence and oppression to maintain their status quo. Rising global expenditures in militarism and violence, both perpetrated by state and non-state actors, is increasingly used to control dissent, women’s bodies and voice and settle economic, political and social disputes.
Across the world, violence, incarceration and discrimination disproportionately targets
- women, communities of colour,
- indigenous peoples,
- people with disabilities,
- sex workers,
- impoverished people, and
- LGBTQI people.
An intersectional analysis linking gender, race, ethnicity, age, ability, nationality, sexual orientation and gender identity, among other status is needed to challenge structural violence and its links with a capitalist global system.
A profound crisis in the current global governance system is also evident in the feeble inter-governmental agreements reached and how they often lack the most fundamental accountability mechanisms. The multilateral system that served global governance before is failing to respond to the current multiple crises. The same system continues to be deeply undemocratic, with increasing presence and power by corporations occupying the spaces where States used to be.
Rethinking, Renewing & Reactivating
These threats challenge feminists to re-think our framework and strategies. To renew and reactivate our commitment to movement building with others for a just economy.
They challenge us to consider broad agendas for socio-economic transformations, from a feminist perspective, in ways that address the realities of the majority of the impoverished. Now is the time to bring about change for a just economy and to address the persistent systemic challenges.
See also
Snippet FEA Audio Story 3 (FR)
Écoutez l'histoire ici :