Extractivism is violence!
Say the phrase: gender-based violence (GBV), and people usually think of domestic and sexual violence against women and LGBTQ+ people.
But gender and violence come together in many forms.
This 16 Days Of Activism Against GBV, join us as we spotlight the violence faced by women activists defending their ancestral lands and ways of life – the violence of extractivism.
Our 6-part digital series called ‘Extractivism is Violence!’ will unpack extractive development, take you behind the scenes to see what drives it, and showcase how women are fighting back and promoting alternatives to sustain the planet.
Episode 1: What is extractivism?
The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. —Audre Lorde
Extractive projects are rampant across the regions we work. They include large-scale mining, fossil fuel extraction, mono-crop plantations (e.g., palm oil), hydro-electric dams and sand dredging.
Episode 2: Whose (so-called) “development”?
Respect the decisions of the indigenous people regarding their territory and their futures..respect the ways of our life, our world-views which are not, at any time, inferior. —Laura Zúñiga Cáceres, land defender from Honduras, COPINH
Extractive industries are often promoted as a pathway to “development” by governments who assert that to grow the economy, we need to attract foreign direct investment, which will, in turn, create new jobs and improve lives. But the reality tells a different story.
Episode 3: What goes on behind the scenes?
The displacement of indigenous communities by companies and corrupt officials today is just a continuation of the colonization and genocide from decades earlier. But we are winning in small ways slowly every day. —Woman land defender from Guatemala
In episode 3, we take you behind the scenes of the extractive industry to see and understand the power dynamics that drive it and share tools to strengthen the strategies led by women land defenders and communities as they fight back.
Episode 4: Who is fighting back…in Southern Africa?
Don’t accept the money. Money can run out, but the land remains forever. —Amadiba Crisis Committee
Despite facing immense risks, the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) has been working with the Xolobeni communities for years to protect their precious titanium reserves and ancestral lands from a mining corporation.
Episode 5: Who is fighting back…in Mesoamerica?
We defend the land not because it belongs to us but because we are part of it. —Women in the Alquimia Feminist School
By resisting every day, women land defenders are generating alternatives for life in the face of looting and violence. JASS Mesoamerica accompanies these women as they confront the power behind extractives in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico through the Alquimia Feminist Leadership School
Episode 6: What are you standing up for?
I’m fighting for land, life and justice. —Justine Alyssa Siscar, JASS SEA
In episode 6, we hear from the JASS community on what are they standing up for this 16 days of activism and beyond.
