International Women* Space

When Does It Rain Here?

IW*S — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:50:54 +0000

By Rose Wanjiku

I first arrived in Berlin a while back, and I still ask one of my friends, “When does it rain here?”

Talking about rain or the health of the land is often the icebreaker during long-distance calls with my family, especially my mother and sister. A general family welfare check always includes updates about the farm animals and crops. When I call my sister, her stories about how the maize is doing, how big one of the calves has grown, or how many chickens have hatched, truly warm my heart.

When it hasn’t rained for a long time, I can feel the pain in her voice. She worries that with a failed crop, she won’t be able to afford food at the local market. She agonises over the possibility that her family may have to take “dry breakfast.” That means tea without milk, or the occasional sweet potatoes or arrowroots; foods that reflect the abundance of the land when things are good.

She laments that her last roasted maize was during the last harvest, which should have been in June or July, but the rains came late and were too light. It is now August, and she groans at the thought of how expensive one cob of maize has become. She jokes that she’s only reading about roasted maize in newspapers. In our context, “reading about it in the newspapers” means something is rare, out of reach; almost like a fairy tale.

We often talk about how life has changed, adding humorously, “wazee hukumbuka”—”the old folks remember.” This phrase often leads us into memories of the past, especially when the long rains, from March to May, are delayed. For her, and for almost all Kenyans who rely on their land for food, these months are critical. It is the time when most food is planted. The short rains are in October and December.

My sister says she’s unsure whether the short rains will come. The long ones were too short and too light to soak the land well enough for food to grow. And now, if the short rains come, the ground will be too thirsty.

One day, a friend in Berlin overheard my phone call and said, “You know there’s something called Google Weather? That’ll tell you the outlook for the next months. That’s all you need.”

“No, I don’t want to Google it. I want to talk about it,” I replied. “It’s a real concern when it hasn’t rained at this time of year. People could die and…” I stopped myself before going off on her.

She didn’t notice my restraint. She continued: “Google Weather is based on real science.”

“Real science?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s precise and proven by science.”

By this point, my mouth was aching from holding back from arguing, but my sister had already hung up. She was off to look for water because the selling point near her home had broken down.

“You know, in Kenya, I could smell the rain. Here, I can’t. I don’t even know when it rains,” I told her.

“Smell the rain? How does it smell?”

“Like rain,” I said.

“Google it,” she told me.

“My grandmother didn’t Google it, and she knew. She taught me, and I knew it then and I did not Google it then,” I replied.

I could not explain further, but I suppose I inherited this ability by watching and listening to my grandmother. Hours before it rained, she would order my cousins and me to collect dry firewood and take the clothes off the hanging lines. It was nearly a capital offense to let firewood get wet. If the first drops of rain found firewood still outside, there was a household emergency. She would call all 11 grandchildren by name to remind us of the misfortune that would befall us if the firewood “caught water.” It was a crime to let firewood get wet.

Besides the smell of rain, my grandmother read the clouds, the birds, especially the swallows and even the animals. Each gave its own message about the coming rains, sometimes even their intensity.

Growing up in the village, one learnt this art or science of ‘reading the rain ‘. You learn to tell which clouds carry rain, and which ones will pass. You learn to name the “passing cloud” that brings only a drizzle. My grandmother called it “the scarer of lazy people.”

When you ran from the fields because of a passing drizzle, you were labelled lazy. “You’re not clay to melt in a few drops,” my grandmother would scold. During planting season, any excuse to leave the field was tempting, but rain was not a valid one. No one wanted to be branded “the village lazybone”.

The label of laziness could follow you even beyond the village. A distant aunt might suddenly decide not to invite you during harvest season, simply because she had heard whispers. Harvest season, especially in August, was a time when a visit to such an auntie came with responsibility: helping harvest maize and beans, which are labour-intensive crops. In our family, we created a “Harvest Fest”; a rotating effort where several families worked together on one another’s farms.

I think that’s why I had to learn to read the rain, not just for survival, but to be included. There was a sign and a story for every weather: rainbows, thunder, lightning. We believed thunder and lightning were signs of anger in the spiritual realm; heavenly beings expressing conflict. We believed this because we had heard stories of people struck by lightning and killed.

Today, my niece protests the ‘Harvest Fest’. She feels it is exploitative, especially since their generation is smaller. She rolls her eyes and says she cannot wait to go to college and leave it behind. I tell her things have changed and the harvests are smaller, the rains less reliable, the seasons confused.

I ask her if she knows how to smell the rain. She laughs.

“Are you for real?” she asks.

I tell her I am. Her mother and I could smell the rain. She says she cannot. Somehow, she does not understand why this makes me sad. She does not understand the despair in her mother’s voice when she talks about failed rains.

Here in Berlin, I still want to talk about rain. I still want to recognise its signs.

I still want to know: When does it rain here?

I don’t want to Google it.

Diese Vision(en) brauchen wir heute mehr denn je… Zweite Auflage “Als ich nach Deutschland kam”

IW*S — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 07:58:07 +0000

Sieben Jahre Später…

Erinnerungen an die Konferenz
Diese Vision(en) brauchen wir heute mehr denn je

Einleitung zur zweiten Auflage – (jetzt erhältlich bei Unrast Verlag)

Im vergangenen Sommer erreichte uns die Nachricht vom Unrast Verlag, dass unser Buch Als ich nach Deutschland kam neu aufgelegt wird – Juju! Als wir die Anfrage erhielten, ein paar Worte für die Neuauflage zu schreiben, hatten wir die Idee, die Sprecherinnen* der Konferenz 2017 zu fragen, ihre Erinnerungen, Gedanken und Reflexionen mit uns zu teilen. Es war eine Freude und zugleich berührend, diese Beiträge nach und nach zu erhalten. Sie ermöglichten uns nicht nur, rückblickend auf das Projekt zu schauen, sondern auch unsere aktuellen Kontexte und Entwicklungen einzubeziehen.

Die zwei Tage unserer Konferenz waren bewegend und stärkend. Die Gespräche – kulturell-, sprach- und generationsübergreifend – eröffneten Räume für gegenseitige Bestärkung und neue Perspektiven. Die Erzählungen geben einen einzigartigen Einblick in die vielschichtigen Realitäten von Frauen*, die oft mehrfach marginalisiert werden – und zeigen zugleich ihre Stärke und ihre Fähigkeit, sich gemeinsam gegen Ungerechtigkeiten zu behaupten. Diese Geschichten sind nicht nur Zeugnisse der Vergangenheit, sondern bieten auch Orientierung für die Zukunft: Für feministische Solidarität, für intersektionale Kämpfe und für die Vision einer gerechteren, gleichberechtigten Gesellschaft. Diese Vision brauchen wir heute mehr denn je.

Wir stehen vor besonders schwierigen Zeiten- angesichts des Erstarken von faschistischen Bewegungen und autoritären Regimen weltweit. In Deutschland gewinnt eine faschistische Partei mehr und mehr an Einfluss und ihre Regierungsbeteiligung wird stetig wahrscheinlicher. Für die deutsche Mehrheitsgesellschaft scheint es ein bequemer und vertrauter Reflex zu sein, rechten Diskursen Raum zu verschaffen, in denen ein Weltbild von Ausgrenzung und Gewalt vertreten wird. Anstatt ernsthaft der ständig ignorierten Gefahr von rechten Bewegungen und Terror entgegenzuwirken und sie zu bekämpfen, wird rechten Diskursen nachgeeifert. Geflüchtete, Migrant*innen aber auch deutsche Schwarze und People of Colour werden marginalisiert und kriminalisiert. Jüdische Perspektiven finden in der Mehrheitsgesellschaft dann Beachtung, wenn sie sich in die sogenannte Deutsche Staatsräson einfügen. Der vermeintliche Kampf gegen Antisemitismus und Terror wird missbraucht, um die Rechte von Geflüchteten und Migrant*innen weiter einzuschränken.

Mit der Einführung der Gemeinsamen-Europäischen-Asylsystem-Reform (GEAS) auf EU-Ebene werden das Recht auf Asyl de facto abgeschafft und die Festung Europa weiter zementiert. Deutschland stuft immer mehr Länder als “sichere Herkunftsländer” ein und schiebt neuerdings sogar nach Afghanistan ab. Die (Wieder)einführung der “Bezahlkarte” (wir nennen sie Schikanekarte) ist ein weiterer Baustein in der Stigmatisierung und Entwürdigung von geflüchteten Menschen.

Und gerade in diesen Zeiten ist es wichtig, sich zu besinnen und Stärke aus unseren gemeinsamen Kämpfen zu ziehen, anstatt uns spalten zulassen. Wir werden nicht aufhören, auf vielfältige Weise Widerstand zu leisten und uns unermüdlich für eine gerechtere Welt einzusetzen. Indem wir uns vernetzen, unsere Kämpfe miteinander verknüpfen, uns organisieren, solidarisieren, uns unterstützen, unsere Geschichten erzählen, uns zuhören, streiten, lernen und wachsen und so sichtbar machen, was manche unsichtbar machen wollen, was und wer Teil dieser Gesellschaft ist und es immer sein wird.

International Women* Space, Februar 2025

Resilient Voices Vol 1. – Words as Survival

IW*S — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:19:23 +0000

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More than a poetry collection — Resilient Voices Vol. 1 is a powerful act of remembrance and resistance. Born from the margins and pulsing with truth, each poem is a survival strategy, a political statement, and an intimate offering. From mangoes to menstruation, exile to embodiment, longing to liberation — the pages bleed, bloom, ache, and remember. These are not just poems; they are documents of defiance against state violence, colonial erasure, and enforced invisibility.

Created by the queer working group Resilient Voices within International Women* Space, this collection emerged from a series of electrifying Poetry Slam Nights at OYA Bar in Berlin — a sanctuary for radical storytelling, vulnerability, and collective power.

Whether whispered in dim corners or shouted with righteous fury, the words in this volume carry ancestral memory, queer desire, sensuality, rage, and tenderness. They are declarations: We were here. We are still.

20+ texts by 14 FLINTA*S
72 pages
Rooted in artivism, resistance, and radical care
Published May 2025

The production costs were supported by ILGA Europe

5,00 € – 15,00 €

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Dein Beitrag auswählen: // Choose your contribution: Clear

Words as Survial

This publication is more than poetry — it’s a record of resistance.

In these poems, our bodies bleed, bloom, hunger, ache, remember. They resist erasure and soften into becoming. Through metaphor, rhythm, and memory, we gather the fragments of ourselves scattered by systems designed to disappear us. Femme, queer, Brown, Black, migrant, displaced — here, in this book, we are unmistakably present.

The voices come from survival and sensuality, from exile and embodiment. They are not just artistic expressions — they are acts of rebellion against silence, (state) violence and colonial archives. Every line is a declaration: We were here. We are still.

You will find poems about mangoes and menstruation, longing and liberation. You’ll find pain and power. You’ll meet writers who are sharing a whisper of something for the first time, and those who’ve been shouting out loud for years. Together, they form a chorus.

As a queer working group within International Women* Space, Resilient Voices understands very well that storytelling is political work. With this first publication, we honor the sacred practice of documenting our truths — before they are rewritten, softened, or stolen. We name this work for what it is: defiance. Through artivism, we document rage and tenderness, grief and joy. In a time when borders are tightening, AI surveillance stalks our bodies, when voucher systems return under new names – we see you Bezahlkarte, and queer BIPoC asylum seekers are once again silenced, our voices refuse to disappear. In the face of growing fascism, fractured solidarity, and institutional neglect, our collective storytelling is a balm, a scream, a declaration.

We are grateful for every single artist and activist who contributed our Slam Poetry Nights at OYA Bar, for all those who sat in vulnerability and power or who made space for others. We want to thank all those who submitted their work for this publication. Thanks to OYA Bar for holding us, to ILGA Europe for funding us, and to the allies in the Break Isolation Group, IW*S, and beyond for amplifying us.

To those reading, may these poems find you where you are — and carry you where you need to go.

Resilient Voices
International Women* Space

May 2025

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Reflections and Call for Accountability: Toward a More Just EDGE Conference

IW*S — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 12:26:41 +0000

Reflections and Call for Accountability: Toward a More Just EDGE Conference

At the EDGE Funders Conference, held in Berlin in 2023, grassroots activists arrived not just with hope, but with lived expertise, ready to co-create justice. Instead, many of us were tokenized and sidelined, our presence reduced to symbolic inclusion rather than meaningful partnership. At the 2025 conference in Bogotá, themed “From Pledge to Action: Accountability in Philanthropy,” taking place from April 28–30, Jennifer Kamau from IW*S spoke for most of the grassroots organizations attending, in her input, that we must confront this imbalance head-on. True accountability means more than panel invitations or listening sessions — it means shared power, equitable funding, and a fundamental rethinking of philanthropy’s role. We are not here to be managed or observed. We are here to lead, build, and transform.

As a migrant-led, feminist, anti-colonial group, International Women* Space — alongside the Migrant Justice Community of Practice — calls on funders to stop replicating the very hierarchies we aim to dismantle. In an era of rising authoritarianism and repression, grassroots movements are not only resisting, but offering bold, grounded visions of justice. Yet we remain underfunded and overextracted. If EDGE and its members are serious about systemic change, they must shift from comfort to commitment — from controlling narratives to co-creating liberation.

Read the whole Statement here.

“The issue is not just about listening— it is about acknowledging the lived realities, the diversity of our experiences, and the deep interconnectedness of our visions for justice. If funders truly cared about justice, they would stop building the vision of justice and social transformation in boardrooms, with communities and recognize that we all have a critical role to play in shaping the future. Right now, there is no real transformation—just the same old power structures, dressed up in new words.”

Watch the Panel with Jennifer Kamau on Border regimes, migration controls, anti-colonial dissenting voices

IW*S — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 08:25:28 +0000

On the 2nd of April Jennifer Kamau took part in a conversation with Martin Wassermair in Linz

Europe erects barriers and military defense systems to keep economically disadvantaged people out of the global South. The (post-)colonial responsibility for poverty and environmental destruction remains largely unnoticed. Resources are exploited unhindered and global injustices are perpetuated. Questions that are being addressed in this conversation are: What conclusions can be drawn from this? How can we break out of ignorance, violence and defencelessness in the age of migration?

Watch the conversation here: https://dorftv.at/video/46256

Break Isolation Group: Slam Poetry as Protest

IW*S — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:48:48 +0000

In a recent interview with ILGA Europe, members of the Break Isolation Group shared how spoken word and slam poetry serve as vital tools for resistance, catharsis, and survival for queer racialized asylum seekers and refugees facing systemic repression in Germany. Ann and Rose explained how poetry offers them a platform to express anger, tell their stories, and create community in spaces where traditional political engagement is often inaccessible. Through their work, our Break Isolation Group challenges Eurocentric notions of art, reclaiming storytelling as a powerful form of expression deeply rooted in BIPOC cultures. Their activism not only reshapes art but amplifies the voices of those often silenced by the state. In the rest of the article, the interview explores how BIPOC queer activists across Europe are using “artivism” — a fusion of art and activism — to resist marginalization, address oppression, and build solidarity within their communities. Read it here.

Open Call for Submissions: Resilient Voices Vol. 1

IW*S — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 10:41:47 +0000

We’re going to print! Are you a queer FLINTA* creative? Have you shared your work at one of the Resilient Voices poetry slams? Or do you have a powerful text or image that deserves a platform? We’re looking for texts, poetry, prose, illustrations and photographs to publish in print and digital formats.

Have you got something in mind? Let’s amplify our voices together. Send us your texts and images: resilient-voices@iwspace.de

Deadline 30.04.25

Palestine: We call for an intersectional and feminist solidarity that transcends borders

IW*S — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 11:23:33 +0000

As we mark one year since the beginning of the current brutal assault on Gaza, we stand unapologetically in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

We honor the Palestinian women*, who, in the face of immense pain, death, and oppression, sustain families and communities.

Our feminism is anti-colonial and anti-racist at its core, meaning a radical transformation of society. We reject capitalist greed, colonial violence and patriarchal exploitation, which lead us only to death and destruction. Instead, we choose solidarity, sustainability and freedom. We choose life.

We call for an intersectional and feminist solidarity that transcends borders. The fight against colonialism is urgent and global; it connects women and queers everywhere who experience the violence of cis-hetero-patriarchy, capitalism and white supremacy.

We condemn sexual violence while rejecting the exploitation of sexual violence in the service of genocide. Our lives and bodies must be free from all violence: patriarchal, homo/transphobic, colonial, capitalist. We are united in our demand for freedom, safety, dignity, and the right to self-determination.

After a year of unimaginable terror in Gaza, and escalation of colonial violence in the West Bank and Lebanon, we say loud and clear:

Stop the genocide in Gaza!
Stop all military aggression!
Abolish all colonial projects, nations and borders!
Abolish patriarchy and capitalism!

How was IW*S active in October?

IW*S — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:13:11 +0000

Curious about what we’ve been up to? Here’s a look at all the events we (co-)organized, spoke at, or attended throughout October, along with other topics and news that had our attention. Where did we go? Who did we connect with? What opinions did we share? How are we making a difference? With our monthly review posts, we want to give insight into our work: building community, creating support systems, sharing resources, and amplifying the voices within our community in political discussions.

In diesem Abschnitt werden die verschiedenen Veranstaltungen hervorgehoben, an denen wir im Oktober teilgenommen, organisiert oder mit-organisiert haben, und die unser aktives Engagement für die Förderung von Gemeinschaftsbeziehungen, die Schaffung von Unterstützungssystemen, die gemeinsame Nutzung von Ressourcen und unsere politische Arbeit zeigen.

“Tech and Society Summit”; Panel: Safety beyond surveillance: a rights and justice framework for safety in EU digital policies

On the 01. October 41 civil society organizations, co-hosted the “Tech and Society Summit”. The event aimed to foster dialogue and debate between civil society and recently elected EU decision-makers, focusing on the intersection of technology, society, and the environment. Jennifer Kamau from IW*S took part in the panel talk “Safety beyond surveillance: a rights and justice framework for safety in EU digital policies”. The talk discussed how the last EU mandate saw a surge of tech and data-driven surveillance, within and at the EU borders, from spyware and mass hacking to migration control and racial profiling, dangerously eroding the EU’s fundamental rights and values. Instead of pouring resources into surveillance and criminalization infrastructures, the conversation explored the question of what political responses are needed to address the root causes of social problems and visions for safety centered on rights and justice, away from the current paradigm that prioritizes technological quick fixes and extensive or mass surveillance, which lead to harms and discrimination. The Talk was also joined by Anna Buchta (EDPS), Saskia Bricmont (MEP), Elina Castillo Jiménez (Amnesty International), and Sarah Chander, (Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice), moderated by Chloé Berthélémy, (EDRi).

Am 01. Oktober veranstalteten 41 Organisationen der Zivilgesellschaft gemeinsam den „Tech and Society Summit“. Ziel der Veranstaltung war es, den Dialog und die Debatte zwischen der Zivilgesellschaft und neu gewählten EU-Entscheidungsträger*innen zu fördern, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf der Schnittstelle von Technologie, Gesellschaft und Umwelt lag. Jennifer Kamau von IW*S nahm an der Podiumsdiskussion „Sicherheit jenseits der Überwachung: ein Rahmen für Rechte und Gerechtigkeit in der digitalen Politik der EU“ teil. In dem Vortrag wurde erörtert, wie während der letzten EU-Mandatsperiode ein Anstieg der technologie- und datengesteuerten Überwachung innerhalb der EU und an den Außengrenzen zu verzeichnen war, von Spionageprogrammen und Massenhacking bis hin zur Migrationskontrolle und der Erstellung von Racial Profiling, wodurch die Grundrechte und Werte der EU in gefährlicher Weise untergraben wurden. Anstatt Ressourcen in Überwachungs- und Kriminalisierungsinfrastrukturen zu stecken, wurde in dem Gespräch die Frage erörtert, welche politischen Antworten erforderlich sind, um die Ursachen sozialer Probleme anzugehen und Visionen für eine Sicherheit zu entwickeln, die sich auf Rechte und Gerechtigkeit konzentrieren, weg vom derzeitigen Paradigma, das technologischen Schnelllösungen und umfassender oder massenhafter Überwachung den Vorrang gibt, die zu Schaden und Diskriminierung führen. An dem Gespräch nahmen auch Anna Buchta (EDSB), Saskia Bricmont (MdEP), Elina Castillo Jiménez (Amnesty International) und Sarah Chander (Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice) teil, moderiert von Chloé Berthélémy (EDRi).

Pan-African Feminism in Conversation

On the 8th of October, Jennifer Kamau from IW*S took part in a Panel Talk about Pan African Feminism, organised by Frauenkreise Berlin. The talk was also joined by Marianne Ballé-Moudoumbou from the Pan-African Women’s Liberation Organization (PAWLO) and the Chkoun Collective, moderated by Céline Barry.

African independence processes are in motion. In this context, Eurafrican trade relations and migration and border regimes are often at the center of anti-colonial critique and intervention. As feminist pan-African thinkers and practitioners point out, intersectional perspectives are crucial for a decolonized future. Against this backdrop, the conversation explored which issues are currently on the agenda of pan-African feminism.

Am 8. Oktober nahm Jennifer Kamau von IW*S an einem Podiumsgespräch über panafrikanischen Feminismus teil, organisiert von Frauenkreise Berlin. An dem Gespräch nahmen auch Marianne Ballé-Moudoumbou von der Pan-African Women’s Liberation Organization (PAWLO) und das Chkoun Collective teil, moderiert wurde das Gespräch von Céline Barry.

Afrikanische Unabhängigkeitsprozesse sind in vollem Gange. Eurafrikanische Wirtschaftsbeziehungen und Migrations- und Grenzregime stehen dabei oft im Zentrum antikolonialer Kritik und Interventionen. Allerdings sind, wie panafrikanische Praktikerinnen* und Denkerinnen* aufzeigen, intersektionale feministische Perspektiven entscheidend für eine dekolonisierte Zukunft. Die Diskussion widmete sich der Frage, was vor diesem Hintergrund auf der aktuellen Tagesordnung des pan-Afrikanischen Feminismus steht.

Miss Read Berlin “To the Furthest Edge Where Our Freedom Begins: Afro-feminist Collective Struggles”

On the 12th of October, Jennifer Kamau took part in the discussion about “To the Furthest Edge Where Our Freedom Begins: Afro-feminist Collective Struggles”, at this year’s missreadberlin. Participants: Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou, Yezenia León Mezu, and Jennifer Kamau (IW*S), moderated by Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro.

Movements mark the stories of communities coming together and those rupturing to an end. Solidarity work comes with radicality, loss, grief, and the practice of conflict and repair to create spaces of safety, legal change, and forms of transformational justice. In the re-telling of our own narratives, we looked back and forward to the movements and moments of ritual, retreat, and revolt through literature and intimate gatherings that provided the imagination through transglobal connections from the Black women of the Black Panther Party, Combahee River Collective, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Riverwood (KEN) to ADEFRA. It is in our differences and our connections that we march common and uncommon struggles to redefine our experience of freedom as a healing journey.

Am 12. Oktober nahm Jennifer Kamau an der Diskussion zum Thema „To the Furthest Edge Where Our Freedom Begins: Afro-feministische kollektive Kämpfe“, bei der diesjährigen missreadberlin teil. Teilnehmer*innen: Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou, Yezenia León Mezu, und Jennifer Kamau (IW*S), moderiert von Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro

Bewegungen markieren die Geschichten von Gemeinschaften, die sich zusammenfinden und solche, die sich auflösen. Solidaritätsarbeit geht einher mit Radikalität, Verlust, Trauer und der Praxis von Konflikt und Reparatur, um Räume der Sicherheit, des rechtlichen Wandels und Formen der transformativen Gerechtigkeit zu schaffen. In der Nacherzählung unserer eigenen Geschichten blickten wir in der Diskussion zurück und nach vorne auf die Bewegungen und Momente von Ritualen, Rückzug und Revolte durch Literatur und intime Zusammenkünfte, die die Vorstellungskraft durch transglobale Verbindungen von den Schwarzen Frauen der Black Panther Party, Combahee River Collective, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Riverwood (KEN) bis hin zu ADEFRA. Es sind unsere Unterschiede und unsere Verbindungen, die uns zu gemeinsamen und ungewöhnlichen Kämpfen führen, um unsere Erfahrung von Freiheit als eine heilende Reise neu zu definieren.

ILGA Europe Conference, Bucharest

We’re thrilled to have participated in this year’s ILGA Europe Conference in Bucharest, represented by Jackline N Gathoni from Resilient Voices from the 16th – 19th of October. With over 400 activists and allies gathered under the theme “The Call to Courage”, we explored new strategies to protect LGBTI rights in challenging times. The energy was electric as we connected, shared ideas, and strengthened our movement. In an interactive Workshop, we explored collective strategies focused on the inclusion for disaster-impacted and persecuted LGBTIQ displaced persons in mainstream refugee work in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond, with presentations from key organizations, including Queer without Borders (Poland), Gender Stream (Ukraine, Slovakia), ALO (Czech Republic), and Resilient Voices of IW*S. The session aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the current landscape.

Each speaker shared their organization’s unique experiences, challenges, and solutions, highlighting successful practices and persistent barriers impacting the inclusion of LGBTIQ displaced persons. After the presentations, participants engaged in small group discussions to reflect on the strategies presented, explore their applicability in different contexts, and identify additional challenges and opportunities. The workshop fostered a deeper understanding of intersectionality in refugee services and promoted actionable insights for improving support systems.

Wir freuen uns, dass wir vom 16. bis 19. Oktober an der diesjährigen ILGA Europe Konferenz in Bukarest teilgenommen haben, vertreten durch Jackline N Gathoni von Resilient Voices. Mit über 400 Aktivist*innen und Verbündeten, die unter dem Motto „Der Ruf nach Mut“ zusammen kamen, erkundeten wir neue Strategien zum Schutz der LGBTI-Rechte in schwierigen Zeiten. Wir knüpften Kontakte, tauschten Ideen aus und stärkten unsere Bewegung. In einem interaktiven Workshop erkundeten wir kollektive Strategien, die sich auf die Einbeziehung von katastrophengeschädigten und verfolgten LGBTIQ-Geflüchteten in die reguläre Geflüchtetenarbeit in Mittel- und Osteuropa und darüber hinaus konzentrieren. Es gab Präsentationen von unterschiedlichen Organisationen, darunter Queer without Borders (Polen), Gender Stream (Ukraine, Slowakei), ALO (Tschechische Republik) und Resilient Voices von IW*S. Ziel der Veranstaltung war es, einen umfassenden Überblick über die aktuelle Situation zu geben.

Die Redner*innen berichteten über die einzigartigen Erfahrungen, Herausforderungen und Lösungen ihrer Organisation und hoben erfolgreiche Praktiken und anhaltende Hindernisse hervor, die sich auf die Integration von LGBTIQ-Geflüchteten auswirken. Nach den Präsentationen diskutierten die Teilnehmer*innen in kleinen Gruppen über die vorgestellten Strategien, untersuchten ihre Anwendbarkeit in verschiedenen Kontexten und ermittelten zusätzliche Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten. Der Workshop förderte ein tieferes Verständnis der Intersektionalität in der Geflüchetenhilfe und lieferte umsetzbare Erkenntnisse zur Verbesserung der Unterstützungssysteme.

Weaving Liberation – Digital Liberation Retreat

By the end of October Jennifer Kamau was a speaker on a panel about Fascism and its effects on migrant-led organisations and work in the EU from Weaving Liberation.

Weaving Liberation hosted a week of connection-building, practice-sharing and knowledge-strenghtening around transformative visions of digital technologies, organisational practices and movement resourcing. The days were packed with different formats and activities. The last day focused on organising, mapping and concretely thinking of next steps.

Ende Oktober nahm Jennifer Kamau als Rednerin an einer Podiumsdiskussion von Weaving Liberation über Faschismus und dessen Auswirkungen auf von Migrant*innen geführte Organisationen und die Arbeit in der EU teil.

Weaving Liberation war Veranstalter einer Woche, in der es um den Aufbau von Kontakten, den Austausch von Praktiken und die Stärkung von Wissen über transformative Visionen digitaler Technologien, organisatorische Praktiken und die Ressourcenausstattung von Bewegungen ging. Die Tage waren vollgepackt mit verschiedenen Formaten und Aktivitäten. Der letzte Tag konzentrierte sich auf das Organisieren, Kartieren und konkrete Überlegungen zu den nächsten Schritten.

Dear EU leaders: Change course and end your war on migrants!

IW*S — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:35:50 +0000

Following Ursula von der Leyen’s recent endorsement of offshore detention centres, and other EU leaders announcing various rollbacks on asylum and refugee rights, migrant-led organisations write to EU institutions to demand alternatives to the EU’s deadly border regime.

Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission, EU Interior Ministers,

We, organisations led by migrants and racialised people, along with our supporters, write to European leaders to condemn the violent, punitive and immoral turn in European migration politics in recent weeks.

In recent weeks, we, residents of Europe organising amongst both new and long-standing migrant communities, have watched as EU leaders have declared war on migrants and international law.

From illegal proposals to suspend the right to asylum and adopt offshore migrant processing models, the creation of EU ‘safe’ third-country lists and extended periods of internal border checks in the Schengen area, to our consistent reality of prison-like detention centres, state violence and racial profiling, illegal pushbacks and violent and unlawful deportations, European leaders have reached a point of no return.

These announcements are part of a trajectory of worsening demonisation of migrants and the complete erosion of international law. For almost a decade, the European Union has pursued violent, ineffective and expensive migration measures that expand prison-like detention centres, endorse racial profiling and facilitate pushbacks and violence at borders.

Human rights organisations have consistently framed these developments as flagrant violations of international law. We agree. However, we should also clarify that European leaders are unashamedly emulating a fascist politics reminiscent of Europe’s genocidal and colonial history. We see the consistent demonisation and blame of our communities as a clear attempt to distract Europe’s residents from decades of political, economic and environmental failures.

Rather than orient policies toward safety, protection and social provision for all, European leaders have settled for a politics of securitisation, criminalisation, and violence. The EU has pursued migration policies geared toward criminalising our communities, militarising borders, and endorsing far-right and racist violence.

What you frame as a ‘migration crisis’, is actually a global inequality crisis. Recent announcements on migration conveniently evade responsibility for Europe’s past and present role contributing to the root causes of migration: displacement caused by climate change and environmental destruction, resource and wealth extraction, colonialism, conflict, military intervention and political destabilisation. The EU is presenting an inhuman, unworkable response to problems it itself has created and contributed to.

Attacks on migrants rights are the beginning of attacks on everybody. Anti-migrant politics and the subsequent degradation of rights have opened the door for rollbacks in women’s rights and the right to abortion, anti-gender movements, anti-worker movements and the widespread repression of civil liberties. The far-right forces that birthed this narrative and the centrist ones that normalise them are responsible for broader threats to democracy and the rule of law. Collectively, these trends disproportionately impact communities at risk of state violence, including (undocumented) migrants, racialised, queer and trans people, and sex workers.

We call on leaders to change course and present a meaningful alternative to current EU migration policy, which is illegal, immoral, and unworkable.

Instead of wasting billions on new offshore detention centres, illegal and costly deportation procedures, and the militarisation of borders, European leaders could implement policies in compliance with human rights, toward economic well being, safety and community care, and invest in long-term solutions to address climate degradation, conflict, and economic decline.

We need:

Safe and legal routes for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees;
Pathways to regularisation and an end to the criminalisation of people on the move;
Address the root causes of why people flee their countries, including by ending EU investment in the militarisation and securitisation of borders, the weapons trade, fossil fuels, and other industrial strategies contributing to conflict and climate degradation in the global South;
Policies that focus on addressing the needs of all people (including migrants, shift and gig economy workers, unpaid carers, and those in precarious work) instead of prioritising corporate profits;
A comprehensive economic and social strategy for everyone living in Europe.

We call on European leaders to change course and end their war on migrants. Instead, reorient your policies to centre a politics of care, protection and safety for all, including migrant communities.

Drafted by:

Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice – Europe
Greek Forum of Migrants – Greece
International Women* Space – Germany
Movement for Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) – Ireland
Equipo del Decenio Afrodescendiente – Spain

Read the letter with the signatories here.

This letter is the first joint initiative of the Migrant Justice Community of Practice. Consider joining the community of practice to develop future actions with us.

International Women* Space

When Does It Rain Here?

Diese Vision(en) brauchen wir heute mehr denn je… Zweite Auflage “Als ich nach Deutschland kam”

Sieben Jahre Später…

Erinnerungen an die Konferenz Diese Vision(en) brauchen wir heute mehr denn je

Einleitung zur zweiten Auflage – (jetzt erhältlich bei Unrast Verlag)

Resilient Voices Vol 1. – Words as Survival

Words as Survial

This publication is more than poetry — it’s a record of resistance.

Reflections and Call for Accountability: Toward a More Just EDGE Conference

Reflections and Call for Accountability: Toward a More Just EDGE Conference

Watch the Panel with Jennifer Kamau on Border regimes, migration controls, anti-colonial dissenting voices

Break Isolation Group: Slam Poetry as Protest

Open Call for Submissions: Resilient Voices Vol. 1

Palestine: We call for an intersectional and feminist solidarity that transcends borders

How was IW*S active in October?

“Tech and Society Summit”; Panel: Safety beyond surveillance: a rights and justice framework for safety in EU digital policies

Pan-African Feminism in Conversation

Miss Read Berlin “To the Furthest Edge Where Our Freedom Begins: Afro-feminist Collective Struggles”

ILGA Europe Conference, Bucharest

Weaving Liberation – Digital Liberation Retreat

Dear EU leaders: Change course and end your war on migrants!

Following Ursula von der Leyen’s recent endorsement of offshore detention centres, and other EU leaders announcing various rollbacks on asylum and refugee rights, migrant-led organisations write to EU institutions to demand alternatives to the EU’s deadly border regime.

Erinnerungen an die Konferenz
Diese Vision(en) brauchen wir heute mehr denn je