Skip to content
Coming Together to Protect Ourselves
By Laura Carlsen “We are not one, we are not a hundred, damn government, count us right!” The slogan refers to the traditional Mexican government strategy of minimizing feminist strength by lying about their numbers.…
READ MORE
Navigating Gender-Based Violence in Indonesia
By Dewi Aryanu, community organiser, Indonesia  Trigger Warning: Sexual harassment, sexual violence “Why did you take off your hijab? I sent you to live in a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) so that you know to…
READ MORE
Facilitating Safe Spaces for Womxn in Indonesia
By Theresia Siti, community organiser, Indonesia  I joined FAMM Indonesia (Young Indonesian Women Activists’ Forum) during their intergenerational meeting and Movement Building Institute (MBI) in 2010. Initially, I received an invitation from the director of…
READ MORE
Learning from the Indigenous Womxn of Lou Bawe
By Yuliana, community organiser, East Kalimantan, Indonesia When I decided to migrate from Sulawesi to East Kalimantan, the people around me said “be careful of the Dayaks, they like to cut off people’s heads.” Their message stuck…
READ MORE
The Search for Critical Friends
By Mufliha Wijayanti, lecturer at a State Islamic University in Indonesia “These “gender ladies” just add more work. Making regular planning is already a hassle, let alone having to use gender analysis, complicating things.” “PSGA…
READ MORE
Everyday is women’s day
A conversation with Makoma Lekalakala, Earthlife Africa  What is the state of organising by women in your sector and context? I respect women, particularly South African women because they don’t ever wait for Women’s Day…
READ MORE
Guatemala Faces a Critical Juncture
* Photograph credit: Saul Martinez/ Reuters  By Laura Carlsen, Edited by the JASS Mesoamérica Team Guatemala is teetering on the brink following the surprising results of the first round of elections on June 25, where…
READ MORE
International Women’s Day in Mexico City: A mega-march against the patriarchy
By Laura Carlsen   The International Women’s Day march in Mexico City was one of the largest in the world in recent years. After receding during the pandemic, the traditional mobilisation returned in 2023 stronger…
READ MORE
Reflections on a New Era in Honduras
By Delmy Martínez The scene after the 2021 presidential election: There is an air of freedom, and hope for change. The feeling of bonding is everywhere–in the looks, in the smiles, in the dance of the…
READ MORE
Popular Demonstrations in Guatemala are a Product of Built-Up Outrage
The country was still reeling from the impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota when a new crisis hit Guatemala last week, this one the product of a history of accumulating pressure in the country. The…
READ MORE
The Long Haul
Right now, my thoughts are with the long haulers and the way the personal is always political but often in surprising ways. Two weeks or so ago, I attended a meeting organised by my doctors…
READ MORE
What’s Next for Malawi’s New Dawn?
A few weeks ago, chief opposition leader, Lazarus Chakwera was appointed as the new president of Malawi, generating new expectations and renewed hope. Following the election, we asked our allies to reflect on the significance…
READ MORE
A wake up call: A Conversation between Hope Chigudu and Rudo Chigudu
By Hope Chidugu (HC) and Rudo Chigudu (RC) HC: Wake up RC and service your vehicle known as your body. It is the only one you have; once it gets grounded or overloaded, it will…
READ MORE
Fighting for Abortion Access amid Bans & Gag Rules
In 2019, anti-abortion groups and their political allies have launched of a full-scale war on abortion access and rights. This year alone, nine U.S. states have passed early abortion bans. Among them, Alabama has gone…
READ MORE
Standing up when everything is at stake – land, territories & rights
Written by Mikas Matsuzawa With President Donald Trump poised to pull the US out the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, a hard-won global commitment to reduce carbon emissions, many fear the consequences for vulnerable communities and…
READ MORE
Carrying on Maria’s Legacy
We chatted on Facebook the day before Maria Mustika died. We talked about the #DefendHer campaign of JASS (Just Associates), Global Fund for Women and MADRE. Maria volunteered to translate the #DefendHer messages into Indonesian…
READ MORE
Nourishing our movements: Reflections from JASS’ Cross Movement Dialogue
As women, we are always vulnerable to violence but there are shades of violence directed to women who do not conform to the social expectations of what it means to be a good woman: lesbians,…
READ MORE
What Women Crossing the Line Means to Me
Four years ago, a young girl – Januba – from an impoverished family in a village in Tamilnadu, a province in the heart of southern India, finished middle school thanks to the determination and sacrifice…
READ MORE
Indigenous Woman Activist: “We Need to Unite to Fight for Our Rights”
What drives indigenous Indonesian activist Pipi Supeni to fight for indigenous women’s rights? The prevailing discrimination towards indigenous women is at the top of her list of reasons. Indigenous women and indigenous peoples in general…
READ MORE
Justice Does Not Apply to Indonesian Migrant Women, How Come?
Two Indonesian women on death row in Saudi Arabia, 47-year-old Siti Binti Zaenab and 37-year-old Karni Medi Tarsim were executed recently. In November 1999, Siti Zaenab admitted to stabbing her female employer 18 times because…
READ MORE
I Write (and Wear) What I Like
Sister ko mabva matakura masofa acho mukati rega ndifambe ndakasenga (Sister, your body looks like you carried the couch with you into town). Hure (prostitute) Eish mukoma vari kunakirwa kumba uku (Eish, your husband/boyfriend should…
READ MORE
Tripping Over Inequality
Kicking off 2015 with an odd bang, the African Union (AU) both commited to an agenda of women’s empowerment and elected 90 year-old Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as chair – despite international criticism of his…
READ MORE
President Obama: Break Barriers to Post-Rape Care
During 16 Days of Activism on December 9, JASS Crossregional Program Director, Carrie Wilson spoke at a White House Rally on behalf of the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict—which JASS…
READ MORE
Climate and Indigenous Peoples: the real dispute at the UN
As a global capital, New York City is accustomed to high-level discussions on earth-shaking issues. But something different is happening.  Two events in a single week – the UN Climate Summit and the UN World…
READ MORE
Women, Seize the Online Space!
November 20, 2013 — I will be traveling to Bangkok with hesitation. I had an email from Bytes for All, inviting me to represent JASS Southeast Asia about a discussion on the freedom of expression…
READ MORE
Feminist BUZZ: Beyoncé has us asking WHO & WHAT is a feminist?
Beyoncé has the internet abuzz, but this time it’s not just about her music and the groundbreaking launch of her new album—it’s also about whether or not she is a feminist. From academics to culture…
READ MORE
Thai Activists Stand for Women’s Right to Make Choices
“We can make it happen. People need to break the culture of silence. Women’s experiences on undergoing abortion are real and we only need to communicate these to the world. Art performances and film screenings…
READ MORE
Upcoming Zimbabwe Elections, Wiztech, and Feminist Politricks
7 am TALKCITY cyber cafe, Joina City Mall, Harare A long, winding queue has formed from the Julius Nyerere entrance, past the Edgars shop, across Jason Moyo, stopping right at the corner of the main…
READ MORE
Remembering Women in Zimbabwe’s Land Reform
A few weeks ago, I attended a discussion on Land Grabbing in Zimbabwe. As a Zimbabwean who grew up on a farm, I assumed I knew everything there was to know about this issue. Yet,…
READ MORE
Sex Workers’ Rights are Women’s Rights
Written by Wala Nalungwe, a young Zambian feminist activist who is also the Coordinator for the Young Women’s Leadership Academy Project at JASS partner organisation, Youth Vision Zambia. “Would you fight for the rights of…
READ MORE
The Fairy Tales Patriarchy Tells Us
I am sitting in a private taxi. Earlier, when I stepped into it, I noticed the cab driver’s gaze run over my body—the kind of look that makes my skin crawl and my fingers dig…
READ MORE
Should We Care about International Women’s Day?
One of my friends posted a question in her Facebook account about why there should be an International Women’s Day (IWD).  For her, it is reflecting women’s dualism: women feel oppressed and at the same…
READ MORE
Women’s Peace in Liberia
Twenty-six women – Liberian and their visitors – several small children and a few men are pressed into the round, mud-walled hut. The Liberians wear matching bright yellow lapas (cloth wrap) and white T-shirts with…
READ MORE
CYWEN: Shaping the Feminist Movement in Cambodia
In June 2008, JASS widened its movement-building institute in Southeast Asia, in line with its multiregional capacity-building initiative.  This initiative, led by Indonesian activists Nani Zulminarni and Dina Lumbantobing, aimed at strengthening women’s leaderships and…
READ MORE
Blaming the Victim Sparks Outrage in Indonesia
“Sometimes it can be intentional. They do it for fun and then the girl alleges that it’s rape. Cases of teenage rape are sometimes the victims’ fault.”   – Minister Mendikbud Nuh, Indonesia’s Education Minister…
READ MORE
The Unshakeable Spirit
“For me, cancer is a rite of passage – from darkness to light, from sorrow to joy, from despair to hope, from confusion to enlightenment.  Above all, from clinging to self-pride to warming up to…
READ MORE
Still a Long Way to Go for Malaysian Women?
There is no need for a women’s rights movement in Malaysia. This recent pronouncement of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has earned the ire of feminists and social activists in Malaysia.  Ironically, Prime Minister…
READ MORE
Marching All the Way to Parliament
It’s hot. 36 degrees. We are not sure the march is going to happen. How can women take to the streets with the sun burning down on their heads? As we arrive at Kamazu Statue, there are not many…
READ MORE
Highlights from the National Women’s Dialogue and More in Malawi
Over two days, more than 140 HIV positive women activists met to celebrate the campaign they built to access to better ARVs and treatment literacy. As a prelude to the Global Race to SAVE Lives…
READ MORE
One Step Forward: Filipino Women Protest against the New Anti-Cybercrime Law
Young women activists are posting their comments on the “freedom wall” during  a protest action in Manila. The women’s movement in the Philippines, along with social movements that have been actively campaigning to repeal the new anti-cybercrime…
READ MORE
The slippery business of gender equality
Last week, in the typical last-minute dash to finalize an excruciatingly detailed, mammoth end-of-grant report for the last 3.5 years, my task was to “churn” a response to this zinger of a donor question: “What…
READ MORE
How Long? – Thoughts on Women and Occupy Wall Street
Translated from Spanish by Emily Goldman A few days ago, Iread the following item on Democracy Now!:   “In other news from ‘Occupy,’ activists in New York erected a tent to be used only by…
READ MORE
My experience at the 6th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR) in Indonesia
It was a great opportunity to be part of an Asia Pacific level conference that is so reputable, particularly for my personal development. The experience allowed me to gain new knowledge and was a moment…
READ MORE
Citizen action and the perverse confluence of opposing agendas
When opposing political interests are using the same terms and tactics in diametrically opposed agendas, Lisa Veneklasen asks how we can transform the power of citizen action into sustained change for justice and equality. What…
READ MORE
JASS SEA: Strengthening Solidarity and Sisterhood
JASS SEA women from Cambodia, East Timor, Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia are in Bandung, Indonesia for a regional political planning focused on strengthening and amplifying the alternative agendas produced by grassroots organizing and young feminist…
READ MORE
They can cut down flowers… but they CAN’T STOP SPRING FROM COMING!
Since the coup d’etat, Honduras has suffered many blows. The military has maintained its power, in ways both visible and invisible and brought a wave of threats and death into our lives.We live in fear…
READ MORE
Putting gender justice into alternative economic agendas
In 2010, many of us across the JASS community are thinking about how to define and promote economic democracy as a critical element of our gender justice efforts, and any equality effort for that matter.…
READ MORE
Microbicides – HIV prevention in women’s hands!
Lisa Veneklasen, JASS Executive Director, celebrates the news and congratulates JASS board member, Lori Heise:   I wanted to share some great news from our fellow JASS-ist, Lori Heise. As many of you may know,…
READ MORE
JASS is like jazz
When I think of JASS, the first thing that comes to mind is jazz music. Travis Jackson describes jazz music as “swinging, improvising, group interaction, developing an ‘individual voice’ and being ‘open’ to different musical…
READ MORE
Maria Suárez Toro reports from Haiti: Violence against women and social assessment in the camps in Haiti
by María Suárez Toro, FIRE While I lay in a tent in FIRE´s camp in Haiti, I remember one of the first popular songs that changed social consciousness regarding violence against women, at a time…
READ MORE
GUARDIANS OF HISTORY
By María Suárez Toro, and RIF-Fire Communications CenterFeminist International Camp Translation by Amandla Gigler, Executive Director at CALALA Fondo de Mujeres / Women’s Fund Lise Marie Jean, a feminist leader from SOFA in Haiti, warned…
READ MORE
Prioritize Aid to Women in Haiti: Open Letter to the Heads of State and to the United Nations
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010. Estimates of the death toll currently exceed 200,000, and approximately one million Haitians have been displaced from their homes. As a result of the gender…
READ MORE
A day in the life of a zimbabwean woman
Public taxis are a nightmare, the screaming and rude conductors, the cursing drivers and the vulnerable passengers. Normally I don’t pay particular attention to other passengers in these dilapidated taxis, but what I witnessed today…
READ MORE
Women’s Human Rights Situation in Honduras following the Coup
We, the Honduran Feminists in Resistance, are convinced that the restitution of democracy to Honduras does not mean only the return to government of President Zelaya – it must also signify respect for the Honduran…
READ MORE
Mobilizing against Homophobic Legislation in Uganda
Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill is generating outrage among African human rights advocates. A strong argument comes from Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe, Executive Director of Akina Mama wa Afrika and author of a chapter in JASS’ collection Women…
READ MORE
Repression in Honduras
We have been receiving message from Daysi, a young woman who is a feminist in Honduras, writing from the frontlines in Honduras. 22 September, 2009 – Tegucigalpa, Honduras Early this morning, military forces attacked those…
READ MORE
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate (1997) Visits Atenco
Furthering our solidarity with the people of Atenco over the past two years, JASS, the Nobel Women’s Initiative, and Mexican allies brought Laureate Jody Williams to San Salvador Atenco on September 8 to support women…
READ MORE
Video from the Observatorio in Honduras
Video of Honduras: Young Feminist in Resistance Speaks Out   JASS and allies organized an international delegation to travel to Honduras (August 17-21, 2009) for a week-long womens rights watch. The delegation is conducting a…
READ MORE
Media Ignores Escalating Sexual Aggression Against Honduran Women Protesters
Escalating Sexual Aggression Against Feminist And Women ProtestersAgainst Military Coup In Honduras Ignored By Global & National Media By Margaret Thompson FIRE – Feminist International Radio Endeavour/Radio Internacional Feminista August 17, 2009 – Tegucigalpa, Honduras —…
READ MORE
Women Mobilize Against Coup in Honduras
  July 21, 2009 – In a show of solidarity, women throughout the Americas are mobilizing to pressure the US government and international organizations to take a stronger stand against the June 28 coup in…
READ MORE
Declaration of the Nobel Women’s Initiative Conference
Declaration of the Nobel Women’s Initiative ConferenceonWomen Redefining Democracy for Peace, Justice and EqualityAntigua, GuatemalaMay 10-12, 2009   [The declaration was drafted by JASS board members: Malena de Montis and Srilatha Batliwala with input from…
READ MORE
Reflections on the NWI Conference and Guatemala Observatorio
After the Nobel Women’s Initiative Conference in Antigua, a group of us – Petateras, JASS, FIRE, and key international allies – conducted an Observatorio and Fact-Finding Mission on the situation of violence against women in…
READ MORE
Participant Profile: Safaa Adam and Redefining Democracy
Video of Participant Profile: Safaa Elagib Adam Safaa Elagib Adam is a bold voice for Darfurian women, working to ensure these vital stakeholders are involved in building peace. Though Darfurian women are at risk of…
READ MORE
End of Day Two of Nobel Women Conference
Video of Jody Williams Closes Day Two  
READ MORE
End of Day One of Nobel Women Conference
Video of End of Day One Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire closes day one of the international conference “Women Redefining Democracy.” Participants reflect on the full day of learning and knowledge, and proceed to a lively…
READ MORE
Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum Opens Conference on Redefining Democracy
Rigoberta Menchú Tum welcomed participants to the second international conference of the Nobel Women’s Initiative in Antigua, Guatemala on May 10th. She introduced the Vice President of the Republic of Guatemala, who welcomed the women…
READ MORE
JASS at the Nobel Women’s Initiative Conference: Women Redefining Democracy
Video of Getting Ready for the Conference JASS, along with the Nobel Women’s Initiative and the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation, are convening an international conference, “Women Redefining Democracy” from May 10-12th in Antigua, Guatemala. Follow…
READ MORE
Prejudices
I was looking forward to a restful Easter, when on the eve of Good Friday I went into a meeting where I thought I would be in a safe space. This was a feedback meeting…
READ MORE
Guatemalan Lawyer Gladys Monterroso Kidnapped and Tortured
March 25, 2009 – Gladys Monterroso, lawyer, University professor, and Secretary General of the Encuentro por Guatemala party, and wife of Human Rights Ombudsman Sergio Morales, was kidnapped in Guatemala City on Wednesday March 25…
READ MORE
Las Petateras at the Feminist Forum in Mexico City
  JASS and Las Petateras are participating actively in the 11th Feminist Forum in Mexico City. The 6th Feminist Transformation Watch began with Radio Petatera, a radio program broadcast on Feminist International Radio Endeavor (FIRE).…
READ MORE
International Women’s Day: Still a long way to go!
Not yet Uhuru! March 8 was International Women’s Day. This is a day marked to ‘celebrate women and recognize the great role they play in the world’. Women are not just women they are mothers,…
READ MORE
The government war on women’s rights in Nicaragua
Feminists stand up against anti-abortion crusade and Daniel Ortega’s rightward turn On Nov. 25, 2008, police blocked 400 women’s rights activists from marching in Managua’s annual commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of…
READ MORE
Obama
Hey good people I’m in the moon, screaming happy and sobbing because of joy that the has come for change. To you ladies I’m telling you change will come for us women to enjoy and…
READ MORE
Women Crossing the Line in Cape Town at AWID ’08
JASS had a strong and visible presence at the AWID (Association for Women’s Rights in Development) Forum held in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2008. JASS core team leaders Nani Zulminarni (Indonesia) and Martha…
READ MORE
Young feminist at AWID
As I look forward to the opening of the AWID forum , I am quite excited about the work that the young feminist have planned for the conference.It pleases me to know that space has…
READ MORE
Things Fall Apart
We have a bad cholera outbreak. Everywhere I look, I get worried – anyone, including me, has a high chance of contracting cholera. As if we have not had enough troubles with the political jokers…
READ MORE
Troubling Twists of History in Nicaragua
Since my return from Guatemala, I’ve been trying to keep up with the unfolding political repression in Nicaragua. I admit that it’s impossible for me to watch from a rational distance. It’s very personal for…
READ MORE
Urgent Action in Support of Nicaraguan Feminists
Dear friends, Please read the urgent condemnation letter to register support for the Nicaraguan feminists who’ve been targeted by their government for their support for reproductive rights and criticism of the shrinking democratic space in…
READ MORE
Back To Top