Mapping Disability and Feminisms:
Giving visibility to collective action exercises in Latin America and the Caribbean
In 2019, with the help of an interdisciplinary consulting team comprising Ana María Barragán, Lorena Murcia, and Bubulina Moreno, we carried out a process of reflection, research and analysis on what it means to be women with disabilities in our region. That first mapping (which you can consult here) showed us that it was urgent for feminisms to include women with disabilitiesand center an intersectional approach.
During 2022, we decided to broaden our perspectiveeven more and update the mapping to continue reflecting and documenting these realities. In addition, we wanted to acknowledge and integrate the voices of trans, queer, non-binary and gender-dissident people. A methodology was developed to collect the voices,stories and experiences of each of the participants in the process.
Every word, every gesture, every tear, every smile, every silence, every question and answer, was an invitation to listen, see and feel experiences that often sound like oblivion, rejection, or ignorance. But they are alsofelt and seen as experiences of struggle, resistance, a vindication of rights and, above all else, the construction of subjectivities and bodies outside of the norm, which transgresses and questions daily life and systems of power and oppression.
Themappingwasexpandedbasedontheexperiencesof 66 organizations in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, theDominicanRepublic, Uruguay and Venezuela.
This work makes it possible to continue raising awareness that being a woman or gender dissident person implies vulnerability in regards to gender, while having a disability leads to being stigmatized and perceived as incapable. When both are combined, the disadvantages are amplified, leaving “discas” on the margins of everything.
We invite you to learn about, explore and share the materials that emerged from this project:
Needs Document
Based on honest and guided conversations, the consulting team identified the priority needs of disca women, trans, queer, non-binary and gender dissident people. These needs focus on making organizing practices more accessible, funding, tools and resources that are urgent and indispensable to continue constructing intersectional feminisms.
Learn more here
Directory of Organizations
If you want to get to know andconnect with the people and organizations that participated in this mapping, you can do so through this directory.
In this directory, you’ll find names, addresses and some ways to get in touch with organizations, networks and collectives that work within the intersection of disability and gender in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Map
Here you can see the geographic location of the organizations that participated in the different phases of this process.
Video
As a way to synthesize this project and share back the voices and experiences of those who participated in it, we worked together with La Sandía Digital to create an animated video that shares the principal findings of the updated mapping project.
You can watch the video here
Thank you to everyone who participated in the meetings, interviews and surveys. We want to continue hearing about your experiences to accompany your struggles in closer and more loving ways.
The revolution will be feminist, intersectional and disca or it will not be.