Grupo Safo was formed in 2004 with the aim of making lesbian and bisexual women in Nicaragua visible.
Grupo Safo is a group of lesbian and bisexual women who defend human rights and citizenship. Founded in 2004 with the aim of helping lesbian and bisexual women in Nicaragua achieve visibility, the organization has a presence in Managua and the West of the country. Grupo Safo promotes sexual and reproductive rights, lesbian sexual health and family rights. The areas of work include: psychological and legal support to lesbian mothers, sexual and reproductive health, advocacy and prevention of STIs/HIV. Grupo Safo aspires to be an organization of national and international reference that promotes broad political and educational impact on the defense of human rights and citizenship of lesbian and bisexual women and their families, and contributes to the empowerment of Nicaraguan lesbian identity. The organization contributes to and affects lesbians and bisexual women and entire LGBT community have more and better access to justice. Towards that, Safo Group provides legal and psychological support to lesbian and bisexual women who have suffered discrimination or incidents of physical, emotional and economic violence. Grupo Safo manages a Hate Crime Observatory to record cases of violence and discrimination against lesbian women; this documentation helps lesbians achieve legal visibility. Grupo Safo shows discrimination in its various manifestations and simultaneously initiates a process of awareness with key stakeholders. *** Grupo Safo es un grupo de mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales que defienden los derechos humanos y de ciudadanía; que se fundo en el 2004 con el objetivo de visibilizar y acompañar a las mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales de Nicaragua. La organización tienen presencia en Managua y el Occidente del país. Promueven los derechos sexuales y reproductivos, salud sexual lésbica y derechos de familia. Los ejes de trabajo incluyen: acompañamiento psicológico y jurídico a madres lesbianas, familiares de Lesbianas, salud sexual reproductiva, incidencia política y prevención de las ITS, VIH. Grupo Safo aspira a ser una organización de referencia nacional e internacional que promueve una amplia incidencia política y educativa en la defensa de los derechos humanos y de ciudadanía de las mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales y sus familiares, y que contribuya al empoderamiento de la identidad lésbica nicaragüense. La organización contribuye e incide para que las mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales, así como toda la comunidad LGBT tengan un mayor y mejor acceso a la justicia. Hacia eso, Grupo Safo aporta su acompañamiento legal y psicológico a mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales que han sufrido discriminación o incidentes de violencia física, emocional y económica. Grupo Safo administra un Observatorio de Crímenes de Odio para registrar casos de violencia y discriminación hacia las mujeres lesbianas. Mediante el registro se logra visibilizar y evidenciar la discriminación en sus diferentes manifestaciones y a la vez iniciar un proceso de sensibilización con actores claves.
MAB trains and supports other organizations in feminist self-care and in artivism, offering each year a theater school in Bogotá and a community video trainings throughout South America.
Mujeres al Borde (MAB) is a transfeminist collective founded in 2001 with the mission of raising visibility, fostering leadership, and creating networks of affection and creative work among sexually and gender dissident people, as well as promoting Recognition and respect for the rights of women and LGBTIQ communities. Its main strategies are Artivismo (Art + Activism), popular education, transfeminist methodologies and grassroots community work, creating links between the various movements with which they work. It was the first organization in Colombia to open spaces for people of bodies and multiple identities, thus contributing to the recognition and politicization of experiences that had remained poorly visible or that had been stigmatized by the LGBT community itself. At the regional level, their transfeminist practice has been expressed in important actions such as the co-creation of the “Come to the South” LesBiTransInter meeting, which challenged the idea that only women can be feminists and the initiative of the Southern Transfusion Network. MAB trains and supports other organizations in feminist self-care and in artivism, offering each year a theater school in Bogotá and a community video trainings throughout South America. *** En Español*** Mujeres al Borde (MAB) es una colectiva transfeminista que se fundó en el 2001, con la misión de elevar la visibilidad, fomentar el liderazgo, las redes de afecto y de trabajo creativo entre personas disidentes sexuales y del género, así como también promover el reconocimiento y respeto de los derechos de las mujeres y de las comunidades LGBTIQ. Sus estrategias principales son el Artivismo (Arte + Activismo), la educación popular, las metodologías transfeministas y el trabajo comunitario de base, creando lazos entre los diversos movimientos con los que trabajan. Fue la primera organización en Colombia en abrir espacios para personas de cuerpos e identidades múltiples, aportando así al reconocimiento y politización de experiencias que habían permanecido poco visibles o que habían sido estigmatizadas por la misma comunidad LGBT. A nivel regional su práctica transfeminista se ha expresado en acciones importantes como la co-creación del encuentro LesBiTransInter “Venir Al Sur” que retó la idea de que solo las mujeres cisgénero podían ser feministas y la iniciativa de la Red Transfeministas del Sur. MAB capacita y apoya a otras organizaciones en autocuidado feminista y en artivismo, ofreciendo cada año una escuela de teatro en Bogotá y una de video comunitario que itinera por América del Sur.
Established in 2002, Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) is a black lesbian feminist organization that engages in advocacy, education and action.
Established in 2002, Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) is a black lesbian feminist organization that engages in advocacy, education and action to ensure that black lesbians enjoy holistic freedom, wellness, dignity and bodily autonomy in all aspects of their lives. FEW is currently focused on building the Rainbow Activist Alliance (RAA), a network of 15 community based LGBTI organizations in several provinces across South Africa, collectively working to create safer communities, ensure access to appropriate public health care, ensure non-discrimination within the criminal justice system, and build black lesbian leadership. While the issue of pervasive violence against Black lesbians in South Africa has seen a increased visibility over quite a period of time, black lesbians and gender non-conforming people continue to face heightened level of violence, discrimination, marginalization and exclusion. FEW’s cultural activism, direct action and advocacy builds pressure for state accountability for this violence.
CREA is a Global-South-based international feminist human rights organization formed in 1999 by a group of development professionals working in the human rights.
CREA is a Global-South-based international feminist human rights organization formed in 1999 by a group of development professionals working in the fields of reproductive rights, sexuality, violence against women, media and women’s human rights. Together with partners from a diverse range of human rights movements and networks, CREA works to build feminist leadership, advance the rights of women and girls, and the sexual and reproductive freedoms of all people. CREA currently plans to pursue targeted public education activities to reduce stigma and discrimination against LGBTI people over the next three years. They are building on recent success last year where they provided planning and training support to a pioneering student program called “Breaking Barriers” at the Tagore International School, which won first prize in a National Youth Leader competition and garnered significant positive media coverage. CREA also organized debates in colleges on issues of gender and sexuality, and ran an online campaign with Youth Ki Awaaz, which reached over a half a million people.
MyCS works with youth who live on the streets, LBT women, girls, sex workers and street vendors, and supports them to empower others and foster their own leadership.
Mujeres y Cultura Subterránea (MyCS) is a grassroots community organization led by poor and marginalized self-identified lesbians in Mexico City, a stigmatized urban area of Mexico City. MyCS works with youth who live on the streets, LBT women, girls, sex workers and street vendors, and supports them to empower others and foster their own leadership through self-esteem workshops, human rights workshops and documentary projects. Its goal is to create a world where sexism and lesbophobia are nonexistent, through the arts and cultural activism, the fight for alternative poetry, music, culture, and the protection of the human rights of their communities.
*** En Español***
Mujeres y Cultura Subterránea (MyCS) es una organización comunitaria de base liderada por lesbianas autodenominadas pobres y marginales en Chimalhuacán, un área urbana y estigmatizada de la Ciudad de México. MyCS trabaja con juventud que vive en las calles, mujeres LBT, niñxs, trabajadorxs sexuales y mujeres vendedoras en las calles y les apoya para que se empoderen unxs a otrxs y fomenten su propio liderazgo a través de talleres de autoestima, talleres de derechos humanos y proyectos de documentales. Su meta es crear un mundo donde el sexismo y la lesbofobia sean inexistentes, a través de las artes y el activismo cultural; el rescate de la poesía, la música y la cultura alternativas; y la protección de los derechos humanos de sus comunidades.
