Building personal and collective empowerment for womenās rights and action
Building on the JASS’ Mar de Cambios (Sea Change) region-wide gathering in July and the accompanying Wings of the Butterfly-sponsored play, Salvadoran Petateras by September had launched Rios de Cambios (Rivers of Change), a country level process to strengthen womenās movements and engage government in supporting and advancing womenās human rights. To pull off this amazing feat that brought together women from across society, they worked in collaboration with the Salvadoran Womenās Association (AMS), the Womenās Collective of El Salvador, the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women (ISDEMU), and other regional colleagues and supporters. Mar de Cambios evolved and spilled over into Rios de Cambios rippling out from the region to San Salvador, the nationās capital, and on to provincial towns across the country. Theatre performances that highlighted womenās stories of courage followed by dialogues that involved key government officials took center stage in a political context that is changing, in some ways rather dramatically.
The Rivers of Change process is designed to do just that. By surfacing the concerns of women at national and local levels, acquainting them with unsung heroines from daily life, and engaging them in dialogues with strategic government representatives, JASS and allies have launched an education and advocacy effort that supports womenās empowerment and sustained political engagement and action. Calling their initial effort, On the Threshold of Democracy, it brings together major womenās groups, feminists, and others in collaboration with the Wings of the Butterfly initiative. Inspired by the butterfly effect potential and the power of art and activism, it combines theatre performances that showcase the experience of women from El Salvador and around the world — women who have challenged violence and discrimination and provided alternative visions of society based on human rights, solidarity, equality and harmony with humanity and nature. UNIFEM has supported the effort as part of an upcoming interagency campaign to eliminate violence against women sponsored by the UN Secretary General.
Valerie’s reflections on Rios de Cambios and Mar de Cambios can be read on Facebook.