WHAT WE DO
JASS is a feminist movement support organization.
In this movement moment, when people across the world are rising up against inequality, violence, planetary destruction and corruption, it is not a surprise that women – those most impacted by these crises – are also at the forefront demanding change.
But mobilizations can fade away. Real change takes time.
JASS equips community-based women activists to organize effectively and support feminist movement leadership to turn outrage and grief into lasting change. We offer tools, training, knowledge and on-going accompaniment to women and their organizations so they can build and sustain resilient and powerful movements. We build bridges, open doors and stand in solidarity with them to challenge and change the policies, practices, structures and norms that perpetuate injustice.
We call this feminist movement building.
Strategies We Use
Develop Women Leaders
Build Cross-Movement Networks
Amplify Grassroots Feminist Stories
Document Activist Insights
Influence Policy & Practice
What We’re Changing
JASS supports women’s organizing to transform the systems and beliefs that perpetuate inequality and violence by addressing the priority issues they define in their context. While issues vary according to economic, social and political circumstances, there are consistent problems women changing in relation to: voice, resources, the environment, bodies, and safety.
VOICES
The ability to speak out has never been a given for women and other marginalized groups. When they speak out, they often experience backlash and violence to silence them. We equip women to break the silence created by internalized discrimination, shame and fear. We build women’s confidence in their lived and shared experiences to demand a say in the decisions that affect their lives and to be heard.
BODIES
Making decisions about our own bodies is the heart of gender equality and freedom. For this reason, in all societies, women’s bodies “are a battle ground” over political and social control. Religious fundamentalists and conservative belief systems seek to dictate women’s choices, appearance and what is acceptable. We place women’s bodies at the center of our work. We create safe spaces for questioning taboos and healing from physical and emotional wounds. We bring women together to build a just future in which all bodies are free and valued.
RESOURCES
Today, the ferocious scramble to control and exploit resources—from land and forests to technology and human DNA—is a scramble for power. The focus on profit at the expense of people and the planet is driving the climate crisis as well as unlivable wages and basic services. We support and accompany women and organizations who are defending land, water, and the environment, and who are demanding their fair share of the economic resources needed to thrive including decent education and healthcare.
SAFETY
Across the world, people who dissent encounter increasing repression. Women face uniquely gendered forms of violence when they step out of traditional roles. The powerful institutions that want to silence women’s organizing efforts fight back with threats, and violence, in addition to the everyday sexism and harassment that too many women experience in their homes, workplaces, and the streets. JASS supports women in hostile contexts work together to build collective power and find safety in numbers.
Power Up!
Power Up! is a consortium of women’s rights organizations led by JASS, together with PEKKA, and Gender at Work (G@W). Together with over 200 partners, we have come together to build, organize, mobilize and transform power in 17 countries across the globe.
