Founded in 2012, kolekTIRV (ex-Trans Aid) is the first trans group to form in Croatia, working to create a just society that includes the right to gender and sex self-determination.
kolekTIRV (ex-Trans Aid) was formed in 2012 to support the needs of the community. It is the first organisation in Croatia dealing specifically with the rights of trans and intersex persons. Last year, they succeeded in securing a first paid position for the intersex coordinator of the intersex project and a stable intersex program. They engage in community support with online counseling, and with hosting the 2019 European Intersex Community Event and Conference. They are also involved in awareness–raising with training in high schools and social media campaigns with original content and translations from OII Europe content. They are also helping researching the hospitals practices on intersex children in Croatia.
Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC) advocates for full respect of human rights and social inclusion of LGBTI people and women.
Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC) advocates for full respect of human rights and social inclusion of LGBTI people and women. Sarajevo Open Centre is an independent, feminist civil society organisation aspiring to empower LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and intersex) persons and women by strengthening the community and building an activist movement.
Sarajevo Open Centre also publicly promotes human rights of LGBTI people and women, and advocates improvement of legislation and better policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina at state, European, and international level. By working on issues of European integration, Sarajevo Open Centre is improving human rights in general and encouraging further development of civil society. Sarajevo Open Centre was founded in 2007 and its professionalization began in 2011. Today, with 11 team members, a steering board, its founders, activists, and an intensive partner network in BiH and all over Europe, the organisation is recognised as one of the key actors in the civil society of Bosnia and Herzegovina when it comes to human rights.
Based in East London, Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender Women of Africa (S.H.E.) was formed in 2010 to address the gender imbalance in the African trans movement, build the leadership of trans women, and work for greater inclusion of trans women and their issues in African women’s and feminist movements at the local, national and regional levels.
Based in East London, Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender Women of Africa (S.H.E.) was formed in 2010 to address the gender imbalance in the African trans movement, build the leadership of trans women, and work for greater inclusion of trans women and their issues in African women’s and feminist movements at the local, national and regional levels. At the local level, S.H.E. works with trans women in peri-urban informal settlements and township communities, predominantly in the Eastern Cape Province, where they run support groups and ‘co-powerment’ programs. At the national level, they collaborate with women’s movements to raise issues of violence against trans women, and with trans and intersex organizations to advance campaigns for access to health care. At the continental level, they build the capacity of trans and women’s rights organizations. They held the first African Transformative Feminist Leadership Institute, which brought together 14 transgender women activists from 8 countries working to advance a feminist agenda for trans women on the African continent, starting with the release of the “African Transfeminist Charter.” Check out our 2018 International Trans Day of Visibility video featuring an interview with S.H.E. Founder Leigh Ann Van Der Werwe:
Founded in 2007, Rromnjako Ilo (Roma Women’s Center) empowers and encourage Roma women and multi- marginalized women of different sexual orientation to freely make their own choices in life.
Founded in 2007, Rromnjako Ilo (Roma Women’s Center) empowers and encourage Roma women and multi- marginalized women of different sexual orientation to freely make their own choices in life. Using the framework of ‘bodily integrity,’ Rromnjako Ilo opens up dialogue on gender and sexuality in Roma communities in Serbia. Their work empowers LBTI Roma women from within the community to demand their rights to live free from domestic violence in the form of forced marriages. It advances Roma civil society acceptance of LGBTQ issues and increases engagement from state institutions responsible for protecting the rights of marginalized populations in Serbia. Rromnjako Ilo also works to have the LGBTQ movement recognize the lives and voices of Roma lesbians.
The Rainbow Identity Association is a trans and intersex-led organization working to build strong, active and resilient transgender and intersex communities in Botswana and improve their lived realities.
Rainbow Identity Association was formed in 2008 to address challenges faced by trans and intersex communities in Botswana. They are facilitating referrals for health care focusing on mental health specialists and counsellors and for psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health care, rehabilitation centres for drug and alcohol abuse; they are also disseminating information and providing training relating to HIV and STIs including information on HIV and STI prevention, treatment, care and support, disseminating HIV barrier products specifically geared towards the needs of transgender and intersex bodies. They provide legal referral assistance by linking up the persons who need legal advice or representation relating to the protection and promotion of their gender identity and expression rights. They promote advocacy through workshops for community organisers, activists, police, health workers, politicians, and other leaders, and information sessions for transgender and intersex people outlining their human rights. They are working in advancing trans and intersex issues in civic and legal platforms. During covid-19 they organized a webinar on the impact of the pandemic on trans and intersex people.
Formed in 2011, Limpopo LGBTI Proudly Out (LLPO) was the first formal LGBTI organization to exist in Limpopo, South Africa’s poorest province.
Formed in 2011, Limpopo LGBTI Proudly Out (LLPO) was the first formal LGBTI organization to exist in Limpopo, South Africa’s poorest province. It organized the first LGBTI Pride event in the province in 2012. LLPO’s work centers on three strategies: empowering LGBTI communities in the province to exercise their rights, building public support for LGBTI issues, and supporting the inclusion of LGBTI rights in government services and civil society programs. Heteronormativity prevails in Limpopo and is enforced by government officials, traditional authorities and communities at large. LGBTI communities experience high levels of hatred and violence, including “corrective rape” and murder.
Founded in 2011, Association Okvir supports LGBTIQA communities reclaim public space through community building, cultural production, activism, and alliance building.
Founded in 2011, Association Okvir supports LGBTIQA communities reclaim public space in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) through community building, cultural production, activism, and alliance building. Working with a feminist “multiple discriminations” approach, Okvir roots its work in the intersections of sex, gender, race, class, ethnicity, age and ability. Their main projects include operating an LGBTIQA “SOS” helpline and psychological support training for LBTQ women, mobilizing for state accountability and prevention of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes, and producing video and digital media and a range of cultural events to raise public awareness of LGBTQ rights. Through their alliance building, their work integrates gender and sexuality issues with feminist movements and progressive articulations of citizenship. LGBTQ communities in BiH continue to face intense violence from religious extremists.
Iranti-Org formed in 2012 to help local and regional lesbian, trans, intersex and gender non-conforming (LTIGNC) movements in South Africa and across the continent use media as a platform for mobilization and shifting public dialogue.
Iranti-Org formed in 2012 to help local and regional lesbian, trans, intersex and gender non-conforming (LTIGNC) movements in South Africa and across the continent use media as a platform for mobilization and shifting public dialogue. They support organizations to document human rights violations and produce evidence-based materials, and they also support cultural production to change attitudes about sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Iranti-Org does this work to address the poor media capacity of LTIGNC groups, most of which don’t have media and documentation equipment or training in how to work with media; digital security is also a pressing need. In an exciting development, they recently launched an LBTIGNC Media Makers Network that supports activists across Southern Africa to produce their own media. In South Africa, Iranti-Org’s own media production and reporting plays a key role in strengthening the national LGBTQ movement. In collaboration with LGBTQ community groups across the country, they investigate hate crimes, use their reporting to hold the state accountable for addressing violence, and document LGBTQ mobilization.
Founded in 2005, the CURE Foundation is a women-led feminist organization advocating for gender equality and progressive change across Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Founded in 2005, the CURE Foundation is a women-led feminist organization advocating for gender equality and progressive change across Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) through cultural organizing, activist training and alliance building. They host the Women’s Network of BiH, made up of over 54 organizations and many individuals working for human rights. The first of its kind in the region, their annual ‘PitchWise’ regional feminist cultural festival brings together activists and communities for film screenings, exhibitions, workshops, lectures and street actions. CURE’s strategies include facilitating workshops with young women on women’s human rights, LGBTQ rights, activism and political participation; leading street actions to raise public awareness about women’s and LGBTQ rights; building the women’s movement and creating space for LGBTQ issues; and networking with women’s and LGBTQ groups in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro as well as in BiH. They also document women’s human rights violations and advocate with policymakers.
Aswat is a feminist queer movement for sexual and gender freedom for Palestinian women.
Aswat is a feminist queer movement for sexual and gender freedom for Palestinian women, who are part of an indigenous minority living and discriminated against in the state of Israel. Our mission is to empower queer Palestinian and Arab women, and stimulate an alternative discourse that promotes the struggle for sexual rights and freedoms with a community-based and grassroots focus. We envision a Palestinian society that respects the sexual and gender diversity of all its members and understands its struggle as intersectional against all forms of oppression and discrimination. By building a vibrant, mature, strong, and proactive cadre of young feminist queer and trans leaders, Aswat hopes to challenge the existing mainstream views and attitudes about sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity in the Palestinian society and regionally. Aswat remains the only group in Palestine that is entirely composed of queer and trans women that directly works on issues related to Palestinian women’s sexualities from an intersectional and queer perspective. As a grassroots organization, we are part of the community of beneficiaries for whom we work. We involve the community of queer Palestinian women in all of our activities, and we design our projects based on their needs and well-being, as well as the gaps that exist in the knowledge and sovereignty of the wider Palestinian societies. Legal and political discrimination hinders Palestinian women from developing their own discourse on sexual rights and freedoms. Aswat has to bypass a rigid system of Israeli laws to implement effective programs for sexuality education. At the same time, we deal with conservative stakeholders, and social and religious taboos that interfere with our work in the field. In the reality of Occupation, Colonization, Apartheid, and the geographical separation of Palestinians, Aswat contributes to offering an alternative to Israel’s Pinkwashing practices and Palestinian taboos regarding sexual freedoms and rights. By showcasing contextualized perspectives and positionalities from within Palestine and the region, or stemming from movements of queer resistance, it reaffirms the role of queer Palestinian resistance in the struggle for sexual freedoms and national liberation. At the same time, it highlights the importance of regional solidarity and collaboration by shedding the light on the intersectionality of regional struggles with the aim of advancing issues of sexual and bodily rights, and standing against occupation. Aswat’s work is needed to help queer Palestinian women and trans be more at ease with their identity as both Palestinians and queers, and rally them around the centrality of queer liberation for a free and just society. In addition to raising awareness within Palestinian societies, our work ensures that community leaders, activists, artists, academics and service providers are in engaged in and mobilized around a critical dialogue about sexuality and the discourse of sexual orientation and gender identity.
