Drawing corollaries between Marauding of Earth and Women’s Bodies- Also Reclaiming Agency, Autonomy and Movement Building of Women Across

The COVID 19 pandemic brought out a vivid dissection of our capitalist, patriarchal and xenophobic world and how tenuous is the ecology which we do not hesitate to maraud with impunity! Claimed to be an equal opportunity infector, the pandemic exposed the inequalities of indigeneity, race, gender and geography, magnifying all existing inequalities.
While the class character was evident in ‘work from home’ of White collared jobs with protection, the poorest were left on the mercy of unsafe reverse migration on the brink of starvation. With overwhelmed public health and privatization of basic services, the precarious have sunk into being the most impacted and silent survivors of the pandemic.
Women, both as care givers and as essential service providers working class, have been adversely impacted in both public and private spheres. Within the patriarchal, capitalist and racist forms of governance and homes, women as a class of care givers, less wage earners and as devalued house hold workers, they have faced multiple exclusion, exploitation and violence- inside and outside the home, they have faced multiple exclusion of the recent pandemic.

Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the coalition plans to host a series on ‘Looking at COVID 19 from a Feminist Lens’ starting from 25th November 2020, to gather voices from across continents from feminists and activists working towards a just world. The events are proposed to amplify the on-going struggles, challenges and threats to feminist ecological justice during the pandemic induced lockdown and thereafter. It would also critically evaluate the situation of increased gender-based violence in the context of the pandemic and the struggles women are facing post lockdown in several countries.

The Coalition aims to create new prospects for assessing the achievements and setbacks to women’s rights and addressing the new challenging implications of COVID-19 on the lives of women in the present and in order to collectively envision a secured future.


The Forum Panel Will Consist of the following speakers:

• Ms. Anu Sivaganesan: University of Zurich and President of the Swiss Centre of Competence Against Forced Marriages (Fachstelle Zwangsheirat). She will share her overall observations from Switzerland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

• Dr. Marion Breteau: Anthropologist, and Assistant Professor at the American University of Kuwait. She will focus on the recent concept of ‘Femicide’ in France.

• Ms. Maria Rashid: Feminist practitioner, trainer, and researcher. She will share her observation on Gender Based Violence in Pakistan.

• Ms. Sarika Sinha: Autonomous women’s movement and an ActionAider. She will share her experiences and observations on increased domestic violence during the lockdown in India.

• Dr. Flavia Rios: Professor of Sociology at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Brazil. She will share her work on gender, race and democracy in Brazil.

• Ms. Christine Schuler Deschryver: Director of V-Day Congo and City of Joy, Congo. She will share her experience on femicide and rape against women in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hosted by:

Ms. Soumya Saxena,
Programme Officer, Action Aid, India

Ms. Aisha Sarwari,
Women rights advocate, Women's Advancement Hub, Pakistan


Register  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NhH5qxsNT8eqz6buhHY1Pw